Scams Are On The Rise: How To Spot Them & Protect Yourself

Who gets scammed?

We think it will never happen to us, till it does. Many people think scams mostly affect older adults, however, anyone can be scammed. Reports suggest that many scams are harming younger people more than older adults. 1 in 4 Americans reported losing money to some form of scam in 2023. In that same timeframe, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 2.6 million consumer complaints about online, over-the-phone, and in-person scams.

With the rise of advanced technology, fraudsters are tricking consumers out of more money than ever before, through more channels than ever before: emails, texts, social media, phone calls and crypto transfers. At a Sept. 20th Ethnic Media Services briefing, experts from the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection share tips on how to avoid some of the most devious scams and what to do if you or someone you care about becomes ensnared.

Fake ads & business impersonators

The latest scams impersonate businesses and government agencies, like the FTC or the Social Security Administration or a well-known company like your bank, Amazon, or Microsoft. Many now start with a call or message about a routine problem, like suspicious activity on an account. The details of the pitch may vary, but a common element is that the consumer they are targeting needs to send or transfer money to address an urgent issue or serious problem. This news is usually accompanied by a combination of dire warnings or threats designed to put their target in a state of mind where the urgency of the moment bypasses any doubts they have.

The key fact is this: government agencies will never call, email, text, or message you on social media to ask for money or personal information, and they will never demand a payment. Only a scammer will do that. “The idea is to heighten your emotions, create a sense of urgency. Alarm you of the things that would make it difficult for any of us to be able to think clearly to be able to summon what we know about scams,” warns Emma Fletcher Senior Data Researcher with the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The newest scams are where the consumer thinks they are protecting their money from bad actors, and will as we’ve seen, empty their bank accounts, even empty their retirement savings,” she adds.

You could be scrolling on social media and see a sale ad for one of your favorite brands. It looks just like other ads you’ve bought from before. But, the discount will be really good, so you click and go to what looks exactly like their website, even with a free shipping headline. And boom, they got you!

How they get to you

Step 1: You get a text from Amazon saying you’ve made a purchase that you never did, but it could just easily be a message from your bank or a security alert on your computer. It almost always has a phone number to call. You may think you are calling the legitimate business.

Step 2: Once you call in, the scammer’s job is to escalate the problem, so they make it sound urgent. Once you are sufficiently alarmed, they tag team, giving you badge numbers and other details. If you have doubts they put them to rest and ask you to goggle them (they are impersonating a real US Marshal) to make it seem very realistic. They also keep you on the phone as long as possible, so you don’t consult with anyone else.

Step 3: They direct you to move money—to protect you and your cash, or to fix a problem.

“We’re seeing huge losses by bank transfer and by cryptocurrency. These two payment methods have just skyrocketed in terms of the reported losses. And many of the cryptocurrency losses, particularly when we’re talking impersonation scams involve the use of Bitcoin ATM machines. People are being told to go to Bitcoin ATM machines and load cash into those machines. The scammers are even calling these machines Federal Safety Lockers,” says Fletcher. If you send or trade real money for cryptocurrency, it is potentially lost forever.

Top 5 Impersonation Scams

1. Copycat account security alerts (e.g., a bank or Amazon)
2. Phony subscription renewals (e.g., Geek Squad)
3. Fake giveaways, discounts, or money to claim (e.g., Publishers Clearing House)
4. Bogus problems with the law (e.g., your SSN is associated with drug smuggling or money laundering)
5. Made-up package delivery problems

How To Avoid a Scam

1. Block unwanted calls and text messages. Take steps to block unwanted calls and to filter unwanted text messages .
2. Don’t give your personal or financial information in response to a request that you didn’t expect. Honest organizations won’t call, email, or text to ask for your personal information, like your Social Security, bank account, or credit card numbers.
3. If you get an email or text message from a company you do business with and you think it’s real, it’s still best not to click on any links. Instead, contact them using a website you know is trustworthy. Or look up their phone number. Don’t call a number they gave you or the number from your caller ID.
4. Resist the pressure to act immediately. Honest businesses will give you time to make a decision. Anyone who pressures you to pay or give them your personal information is a scammer.
5. Know how scammers tell you to pay. Never pay someone who insists that you can only pay with cryptocurrency, a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram, a payment app, or a gift card. And never deposit a check and send money back to someone.
6. Stop and talk to someone you trust. Before you do anything else, tell someone — a friend, a family member, a neighbor — what happened. Talking about it could help you realize it’s a scam.
7. Report Scams: tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov .
8. Change passwords for email, financial institutions, computers and mobile devices and any other sensitive accounts. Always use two-factor authentication, if you don’t already.
9. Get a free copy of each of your credit reports from the three credit agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — to see if fraudsters have opened up any accounts in your name. Then freeze your credit files, which restricts access to your credit reports and makes it more difficult for scammers to open new lines of credit in your name.

“The FTC Impersonator Rule went into effect April 1, 2024, whereby, it is a rule violation to ‘materially and falsely pose as, directly or by implication, a government entity or officer thereof’ or to misrepresent ‘affiliation with, including endorsement or sponsorship by’ a government entity or officer,” says Kati Daffen, Assistant Director of the FTC’s Division of Marketing Practices , which may deter some of these bad actors.

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