And running tons of other cons, frauds, and swindles too!
Scammers are sly. They’re constantly adapting their criminal methods to the ever-changing digital landscape to bilk you out of your hard-earned money. In fact, their methods change faster than the technology we use to stop them. You may answer your phone or receive a text or email, and the caller ID, text, or email shows the name of your bank, investment company, or financial advisor. It looks legitimate, exactly like a correspondence from your institution always does when they reach out to you. However, always be cautious. Legitimate institutions will NEVER send anyone to collect your debit or credit card. And they won’t ask or recommend that you move money to another account to stop fraud or protect your funds, and they should NEVER request your account details, social security number, or other personally identifying details over the phone.
How to identify and avoid scams
Here are some tips to help you stay ahead of scammers.
First, ALWAYS be vigilant for potential scams – TRUST NOBODY
As digital threats continue to grow and evolve, it’s a good practice to always stay vigilant.
If you receive any inbound communications, whether by email, text, phone, or social media, claiming to be from your bank, accountant, financial advisor, the IRS, a bill collector, a law enforcement agency (FBI, local Sheriff), or other financial institution, take a moment to verify before responding.
How? Never trust caller ID. The technology available today makes it too easy for scammers to “spoof” an agency or organization. Don’t ever be afraid to disconnect the call, even if you must be rude to do so, and call the agency or organization via the number you have in your contacts list or one on their official web site. You can also look at a recent invoice or statement for a customer service number.
Watch for red flags.
Scammers may change their stories, but these signs will stay the same.
Unsolicited contact
If you get an unexpected or unsolicited email, text, call or social media message asking for money or information, it could be, and most likely is, a scam.
Posing as someone you trust
Scammers pretend to be figures like government officials, companies, or even friends and family. Never trust caller ID or an email address to verify their identity. As mentioned above, phone lines can be “spoofed” to reflect just about any individual or organization, private or public as can email addresses.
Pressure to act fast
Scammers often use limited time offers, threats and intimidation, or emergencies to rush you into making quick decisions. By speaking fast and moving even faster, their goal is to not give you time to think the situation through. If they can keep you “off your game”, this gives them control of the narrative and the upper hand. Slow down, take a deep breath, and take control of the situation. It’s your time and your money, and the scammers want both.
Emotional manipulation
If you feel like someone is playing on emotions like fear, sympathy, or excitement to influence your decisions, it’s more than likely a scam. Emotions like fear, love, empathy, etc. are very powerful motivators to “take action now”. Scammers know this. They’re heartless and will use whatever avenue they can to separate you from your money.
Requests to pay in specific ways
Scammers will often insist on payment through cryptocurrency channels, wire transfers, payment apps, or gift cards. For example, if you have a person from a government agency threatening to send the police or sheriff to your home to arrest you for non-payment of a bill unless you send them ten $100 Visa® gift cards, you can 100 percent bet something’s wrong.
The STOP method can help protect you.
These steps can help you stay ahead of scammers
- Stay cautious – Always be on high alert when someone asks for personal information (social security number, bank account number, birthdate, etc.) or money. Especially when the request is unsolicited.
- Take your time – Scammers want to rush you. Don’t let them. By not giving you time to think and ask questions, they control the narrative and the situation. Take control, slow down no matter what they say, and always think before you act.
- Only trust verified sources – Double-check information through trusted channels. Never be afraid to hang up on a caller, even if it means being rude. Scammers count on your “polite nature” to keep you on the phone. The longer they can keep you on the phone, the better their odds of getting you to give them the information or money they’re pushing for. Once you’ve hung up, then call the contact number YOU have for your bank or financial institution.
- Protect your info – Never, ever share personal or financial details unless you’re absolutely, positively sure who you’re dealing with. If you aren’t 100 percent sure, terminate the conversation immediately and as mentioned above, call the institution using the number YOU have on file.
In this day and age, no financial advisor, accountant, banker, or other professional should be offended by you protecting your information. After all, it’s YOUR information. If somebody takes offense to your efforts to protect your data, find another professional to work with.
Knowing some of the most common scams
Online job offers
Scammers can create exciting and realistic job opportunities. Then they’ll ask you to pay for training or equipment, promising to send you reimbursement check later. These checks often bounce, leaving you out the money.
- The money mule scam
Other times, scammers use the “job” to have you transfer stolen money or goods.
Car loan scams
Scammers list a car for sale online, often at a price that’s much lower than market value. They’ll claim the car is in great condition and offer to ship it to you, even if you’re far away.
After you pay them, they disappear with your money without ever sending the car.
Fake family emergencies
Scammers pretend to be family members in danger or claim your loved one is in trouble. They use emotional manipulation and sometimes threats to make you act quickly without verifying the facts. Many scammers have found ways to use AI to mimic the voice of a grandchild, son, daughter, or spouse to further the manipulation. DON’T FALL FOR IT! Trust your gut. If something feels off, or doesn’t quite sound like the person you know, or the cadence isn’t right and they sound different in some way, tell the person on the phone to give you a number and you’ll call them back. Hang up on the call and contact your relative directly. Then don’t be afraid to call the police as well.
Scammers impersonating your bank or other financial institutions
They’ll use texts, calls or emails and will pretend to be your bank, accountant, financial advisor, insurance agent, or other companies using official-looking phone numbers or email addresses.
They’ll tell you there’s an account issue, maybe a system upgrade, some suspicious activity on your account, or some other such problem. They’ll tell you your account is going to be locked to protect your funds in order to instill a sense of urgency. Then they’ll ask for personal details to prevent fraud, unlock your account, ensure your account is captured in the system upgrade, etc. Don’t fall for it! They’re just trying to steal your money.
Beware of growing investment scams
Scammers will contact you several times, sometimes in person, and will take their time to build trust with you and become your “friend” before convincing you to invest in things like some new cryptocurrency, a commercial real estate venture, or a stock or stocks that just “can’t lose”. Once you’re all in, and the scammer feels like they can’t get you to “invest” anymore of your hard earned money, they vanish.
Protect yourself from lottery scams
Scammers will contact you and say you’ve won a big prize. Then they demand transfer fees, taxes, or personal details like bank account information to claim it. But you never get the “prize.”
Watch out for scammers pretending to sell pets
Scammers will use your love for pets to trick you into paying for animals that don’t exist. They’ll post cute pictures of puppies or kittens and offer them at great prices.
Then they ask for money upfront for a deposit, shipping costs, vaccines, or some other excuse to get you to pay them. But once you pay, the pet never arrives, and the scammer disappears.
Protect your heart and your wallet
Scammers will create fake profiles on dating and romance sites and then use emotional manipulation to build trust between you and them. Once they feel you’re deeply involved in the relationship, they’ll ask for money from you, maybe for a plane ticket to come visit, or for some “sudden expense” that popped up and they don’t have the money for. Always guard your heart AND your wallet.
Outsmarting fake tech support scams
You receive an unsolicited warning email telling you your computer is infected with a virus. Or maybe you click on a link that takes you to a web site and suddenly your computer screen flashes a warning screen with a phone number telling you your data is locked and you must call the number to get it unlocked.
Scammers pretend your computer is infected and offer to “fix” it if you pay them a fee and give them access to your computer. Then they install harmful software, maybe a “keylogger” or something similar to steal your passwords or your personal financial information. Never grant anyone remote access to your computer. You should contact tech support, a computer repair technician, a network administrator, or other legitimate professional for help immediately.
Crypto Scammers are Big Business
Crypto is the up-and-coming technology of the financial sector. Even though legislation is being crafted and voted on almost monthly, many still consider the crypto industry to be the “wild west” of the financial and technology markets. In the year 2025 alone crypto scams cost investors an estimated $11.4 Billion in the U.S. alone and as much as $35 Billion globally. This marks a 22 percent increase over the 2024 numbers.
As such, crypto exchanges such as KuCoin, Binance, and Uphold, decentralized finance (DeFi) accounts, crypto wallets (both on and off the blockchain), as well as the myriad of other crypto investment and procurement vectors (Staking, IRA’s, ETF’s, Stablecoins, and NFT’s, to name a few) are the prime targets of scammers. Not a day goes by without some news of a hacker or scammer gaining access to some individuals DeFi account or digital wallet, hacking some crypto exchange, or holding something (or someone) important for a crypto ransom.
Useful Tips to Protect Your Crypto Assets:
- First and foremost, never share your private keys, seed phrases, passwords, or personal wallet information related to ANY crypto account with ANYONE. Also, never share what you own in crypto assets with anyone aside from your financial advisor or accountant.
- Scammers will sometimes ask you for your seed phrase or password and tell you they need them to “troubleshoot” a particular issue or to help you set up staking rewards. They do not! Don’t do it!
- Never tell people what crypto you own and how much. It’s an invitation for scammers (including family members in some cases) to target you should your crypto investment 100x or more overnight.
- Always protect your login credentials — Use a strong, unique password and consider resetting your password every 90-180 days.
- Take Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) seriously — be aware that while better than not having MFA at all, SMS MFA (text messages to your phone) can make you vulnerable to scammers using SIM card swaps. Cybersecurity experts recommend using an authenticator app for MFA.
- ALWAYS verify communications — Use security questions when calling your financial institution. If they called you, don’t be afraid to give them zero information. When in doubt, end the conversation right away, even if it means hanging up on the person you’re talking with, and call your bank or financial institution directly at the number they list on their web page, paper statements, or the number in your contact list.
- When trying to access your account (crypto exchange, bank, investment, retirement, etc), avoid using search engines to get to the web site.
- The links on search engines such as Google and Firefox can be attack vectors for bad actors who create and post fake links to very real-looking fake landing pages. These are designed to mimic the real web page and collect your personal data.
- Bookmark the websites of the crypto exchanges, financial institutions, and other important websites you frequently visit.
- Be wary of Artificial Intelligence (AI) videos that promise to double or triple your crypto holdings
- There are a myriad of very real looking AI videos out showing a high profile individuals (a crypto CEO, a government official, etc) promising to double, triple, (or more) an amount of crypto if you just send some to them first. Some explicit instruction to send an amount of Ethereum for example to a digital wallet address, and within seven days you’ll receive four time that amount in return.
- Scammers and “bots” have made the comments section of social media platforms like You Tube and X a virtual no-mans land. They spoof the crypto influencer to make it seem as if he or she is responding to your comment and then tell you to contact them at their “WhatsApp”. Or they’ll post a comment telling a story of how they would like to learn how to trade and ask for someone to help them. Then a FLOOD of replies telling the original poster to contact a Mr. so-and so, or a Mrs. so-and so and they’ll give contact information. The idea is to catch people new to the space with the idea that this is a legitimate situation of help and assistance.
In Summary, If Something Seems Even a Little Bit Off…
- Hang up, even if it means being rude
- Contact the organization or institution directly using the number listed in your contacts, on a statement, or on the official website
- Do not respond to or click on ANY links in an email or text message
- NEVER send money or crypto or gift cards to any person, site, organization, or digital wallet on the request of someone you’ve never met
- Never be intimidated. Remember STOP!
- Stay cautious
- Take your time
- Only trust verified sources
- Protect your information
- Take a deep breath, slow down and take control of the situation. Don’t let the scammer use emotion or a sense of urgency to manipulate you
- Never hesitate to call the police or local sheriff. Also, all US states have agencies to report fraud, typically managed through the state’s Attorney General’s office, consumer protection division
Some Key Agencies for Reporting Fraud:
- State Attorney General: The primary contact for most scams. Search “[State] Attorney General Consumer Protection Office”
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Reports fraud at Reportfraud.ftc.gov.
- Federal Consumer Protection Agency: (falls under the FTC) Handles consumer complaints and business fraud.
- Adult Protective Services (APS): State agencies that fall under the Department of Health and Human Services. Specialized offices within the state DHHS created to protect adults from the ages of 18 through 59 (maximum age varies by state) with a physical or mental disability that limits one or more major life activities
- FBI Field Offices: Handles financial fraud and cybercrime at www.tips.fbi.gov
- National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA): NACA is a nonprofit organization that supports consumer attorneys and provides resources for consumers to find legal help, understand their rights, and report fraudulent practices https://www.consumeradvocates.org/
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