Conn. (WTNH) — The Federal Trade Commission said that Americans lost almost $8.8 billion to scam artists last year. We’re Stretching Your Dollar with the latest scams to look out for.

Regulators are always on watch for the most popular scams happening now. The National Consumers League reported on the top 10 scams.

“Some of the most popular scams are things like Internet merchandise scams,” John Breyault of the NCL said. “This is where scammers will put up, you know, merchandise like luxury goods or electronics or fashion or medications at deeply discounted prices and try to get you to click through and provide them with information or send them money.”

Another popular scam is the so-called “impersonation scam.”

“These are scams where the fraudster will reach out to you claim to be with a government agency, the police, what they may be,” Breyault said. “They claim to be a doctor or a lawyer who’s representing a family member who’s in trouble.”

One of the fastest-growing scams involves cryptocurrency.

“It seems every day you have people who are trying to get you to send money to these bogus online cryptocurrency exchanges with promises of huge risk free returns,” Breyault said. “But it turns out all you’re doing is sending your money to a scammer and you never get your money back.”

Fraudsters like to take advantage of holidays to scam people and also try to exploit bad news like natural disasters.

“We very quickly see scammers who do things like charity scams or maybe claim to be someone who lost a lot of money in one of these disasters, but they need your help to get it back and you’ll get a cut of it,” Breyault said.

It’s important to note that we are all vulnerable to fraud. None of us, no matter how smart we think we are, are without risk, so it’s important to stay educated on the latest scams and remain vigilant.