Impersonation scams in the U.S. have caused over $1.1 billion in losses in 2023, with nearly half a million cases reported.

The FTC has introduced a new rule banning the impersonation of government and businesses in interstate commerce to combat such scams.

The new rule empowers the FTC to pursue scammers in federal court.

The FTC is considering expanding the rule to include the impersonation of individuals, with a focus on combating emerging threats like video deepfakes and AI voice cloning.

Recent examples of sophisticated impersonation scams include the unauthorized takeover of Linus Media Group's YouTube channels and a fake Amazon business account scam resulting in a $50,000 loss.