Common Scams and How to Handle Them

While it would be nearly impossible to compose an exhaustive list of all types of scams, here is a list of the most common scam pretexts and some suggestions for dealing with or avoiding them.

Advance-Fee Scams

The advance fee scam is one of the most common scam pretexts. This strategy is often embedded into other types of scams. This pretext involves an individual promising the victim a share of a large amount of money in return for a small payment up front. This claim is shrouded under the guise of an investment, where the scammer claims they need the smaller amount in order to obtain the larger sum. This is simply a scam to steal this smaller amount from you. You will never actually see the larger sum of money they are promising you. If you ever encounter something like this, do not trust these claims.

For more information on Advance-Fee Scams, visit the Advance-fee scam Wikipedia page.

Blackmail Scams

Blackmail scams are fairly self-explanatory. They involve scammers poised under a number of different pretexts, with the goal of gaining information or media that the victim would find embarrassing or personally damaging if it were released to the public. One of the most common instances of blackmail scamming is seen in the midst of romance scams, where a scammer posing as someone romantically interested in the victim will ask the victim for nude photos or videos of themselves. If the victim complies, the scammer will then blackmail the victim into paying ransom at risk of the photo(s) or video(s) being released to the public or close family/friends. It’s advised to simply not share digital media like this with anyone, but certainly not with someone you have never met. However, if you do encounter a blackmail scam like this, the best thing you can do is block the scammer. Paying will only result in more ransom requests.

Cartel-Threat Scams

Cartel-Threat Scams involve a phone call or message claiming to be from the cartel, demanding money on the threat of violence. They may include death threats, threats that they are holding a friend, family member, or loved one ransom, or even violent pictures of human body parts and weapons. This is all an unsubstantiated attempt to cause panic. If you ever encounter anything like this, the best thing to do is hang up the phone, block the number, and avoid responding in any way to any messages.

For more information, Google Cartel-Threat Scams. Be advised that there may be violent or graphic imagery associated with this search.

Cryptocurrency Scams

The topic of cryptocurrency scams is a large umbrella that covers a lot of different scams, all revolving around cryptocurrency. Among the most prominent “crypto” scams are the investment scams, where scammers claim to be cryptocurrency investment portfolio managers. They claim to have made millions of dollars investing their own money in crypto and are offering their services to the public. They’ll ask you to send them money so that they can invest it in what they see to be the most promising cryptocurrencies. They’ll usually mention Bitcoin or Ethereum, or they’ll claim that they know of a new crypto that is going to take off soon. This is a lie to try to steal your money, the money you’ve sent them for the purpose of investment.

Another common cryptocurrency scam, one that is less direct, is called a Rug Pull scam, where investment scammers will hype up a new cryptocurrency of their making in an attempt to churn up investment. Once they receive the investment money they’re looking for, they’ll take the cryptocurrency off the market and disappear with the investment funds, essentially “pulling the rug out” from under the investors.

Unfortunately, whether scammers are defrauding you of your money directly, conducting a large scale rug pull scam, or even a Ponzi scheme, the cryptocurrency scene is fraught with scams. It is recommended that you avoid crypto investing altogether unless you have done a fair amount of research ahead of time.

For more information on cryptocurrency and Cryptocurrency scams, see What To Know About Cryptocurrency and Scams from FTC.gov.

Fake Check Scams

Fake check scams, a variant of overpayment scams, occur when a scammer asks you to deposit a check for them, usually under the pretext that they owe you a portion of the money from the check. For example, they may claim that you accidentally paid for something you shouldn’t have, and they owe you $300. They’ll make up a story about how they can’t send you a check for any less than, say, $2500. They’ll either have you deposit the check and then request that you send them the difference by purchasing gift cards and sending them the codes, or they’ll ask you to buy the gift cards first and then deposit the check. Either way, the check will eventually bounce and you’ll have sent them your own money. They could ask you to provide compensation for the difference by a number of means, gift cards are just an example.

For more information on Fake Check Scams, check out How To Spot, Avoid, and Report Fake Check Scams on FTC.gov.

IRS/Tax Scams

One of the most common types of scams, and the subject of perhaps the most common robo-call we’ve all likely heard a thousand times, IRS and various forms of tax scams have cost thousands of people their hard earned money by impersonating the IRS or other tax professionals. A common pretext for this type of scam is that you’re being contacted directly from the IRS and that you owe money, and they may even threaten charges of tax fraud if you don’t pay. The following quote is directly from the IRS website regarding IRS/Tax scams:

The IRS will never:

Call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer. Generally, the IRS will first mail a bill to any taxpayer who owes taxes.

Threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law enforcement groups to have the taxpayer arrested for not paying.

Demand that taxes be paid without giving taxpayers the opportunity to question or appeal the amount owed.

Call unexpectedly about a tax refund.

These bullet points are all claims that scammers have made to victims of this scam in the past. The IRS also states on their website that they will never initiate contact with a taxpayer via email, social media, or text messaging, to ask for personal information or payment. They have stated that they use USPS primarily, and will only call a taxpayer if they need to get in contact with them urgently, but will never request or demand any form of payment on the spot.

For more information about IRS Scams, visit Tax Scams / Consumer Alerts at IRS.gov.

Job Scams

Sometimes scammers will advertise fake jobs on job posting sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, among others. When you get in contact with them, there are a number of different things they might tell you to try to steal your money or data. A common scam is to tell the applicant that they are part of a job placement service, and in order to get you hired at a number of agencies they claim to represent, they’ll need you to cover a fee up front. This should be a major red flag, as any fees like this will typically be covered by the hiring agency. This is especially true for government jobs, as those are always free to apply to and always hosted on USAJobs.gov.

Other fake job scams might involve an “interview” over email or a messaging platform. They will then offer you the “job,” but will tell you that in order to get started you’ll need to purchase a starter kit from them. They’ll claim that for only a couple hundred dollars, they can send you the kit and you can start making money right away. They’ll often wear people down, get them invested in the idea that this is going to be their big break or a great opportunity for them, and then make the play for the money. Let the text-based interview be a big red flag to you. You’ll never find a legitimate industry conducting interviews solely over email/text. Furthermore, very few industries will require you to purchase “starter kits” or the like. The ones that do, typically MLMs, are technically not considered scam agencies… we’ll let you do your own research on that.

For more info on Job Scams, check out this article on Job Scams from FTC.gov.

Pet/Puppy Scams

These scams are exactly what they sound like; you search online to buy a new puppy or other pet, and find a listing for a “free” or cheap pet. They’ll usually offer the pet for free, but claim that they can ship the pet directly to you for a fee, but they won’t stop there. Once the first payment is received, they’ll usually follow up by claiming that there are new requirements for more expensive accommodations for this pet that need to be paid for before your pet can be shipped. If you begin to question these payments and start refusing them, they may even threaten to report you for animal endangerment or abandonment. In reality, there is no pet, and you’ve likely just been sent a series of stock photos of the same animal. If you know how to, a quick way to check this is by conducting a reverse image search, but this strategy isn’t full-proof.

If you’re looking to adopt a pet, please do so through a trusted organization, like a rescue or animal shelter. Scammers will often try to convince you of their credibility by telling you a sad story about why they can no longer care for the animal. They may say that this was their child’s puppy who recently passed, or that they were forced out of their home and can no longer care for the animal. Essentially, they’ll tell you anything to try to tug at your heart-strings.

For more information on Pet and Puppy Scams, check out this article on Current Pet Scams from IPATA.org.

PIN/Verification Code Scams

PIN scams or verification code scams are when scammers impersonate a legitimate organization in order to convince you to give them your PIN/verification code, giving them access to your accounts. This is especially common with banks, where the scammer will pretend to be from your bank and claim they need your bank/ATM PIN in order to fix an issue on your account. They may also impersonate mobile phone companies, credit card companies, or any other business that requires you to use a PIN.

In a similar manner, scammers may attempt to use these tactics to retrieve a two-factor authentication code from you. If they are trying to gain access to an important account of yours, like your bank account, but need to get past two factor authentication, they might tell you that they’ve just sent you a code via text message to “verify your identity”, and they need you to read this code to them. You will never be asked by a legitimate agency to give a two-factor authentication code over the phone. Pay close attention to the code they’re asking you to give them. If the text message containing the code says anything about two-factor authentication, the person asking for it is attempting to scam you.

Recovery Scams

If you thought the others were bad, these ones are downright dirty. Recovery scams target people who have already fallen victim to a scam. They claim they can help you get your money back, but are really just trying to scam more money out of you. Scammers will refer to a list of people who have already been successfully scammed (usually purchased from other scam organizations). They will then call these individuals back, and get them to believe they are going to help them get their money back. Usually these individuals are already vulnerable and beaten down from the previous scam. Either that, or the victims haven’t realized they were scammed yet, in which case the scammer will let them know about the previous scam, making them sound more trustworthy, like they’re only here to help. The scammers may claim to be from a government agency or advocacy group that helps people who have been defrauded.

This is where the recovery scam comes into play. Once they’ve convinced you they can help you, they’ll claim they need you to pay a processing fee or the like in order to get your money back. Never trust someone who is requesting an upfront payment to help with a refund. If you are ever asked for payment information or money in any form (even if they claim you won’t actually be charged) in order to get a refund, you are being scammed.

For more information on Recovery Scams, check out Refund and Recovery Scams from FTC.gov.

Refund/Overpayment Scams

Easily one of the most common scams on this list, refund scams or overpayment scams are one of the most prolific go-to techniques for phone scammers to steal your money. The above Fake Check scams are a variant of these types of scams. Usually the scam begins with an email or message claiming to be from a reputable company that over or improperly charged you for something. Maybe they’ll say an extra Amazon item was ordered on your behalf and they need to refund you for the additional cost, or they could be posing as an anti-fraud department or agency (ironic I know) and they’ll tell you about a fraudulent charge on your account that needs to be refunded to you immediately.

From here, they’ll likely ask you to login to your computer and have you download a remote access software like AnyDesk or TeamViewer (see Red Flags for more on this). With this software, they’ll gain access to your computer device and ask you to fill out a “refund form”. This is usually a crude command-line program, or a hastily thrown together Google Form or WordPress site. This is where the climax of the scam comes in; this is when you’ll be asked to enter your refund amount. Suppose they’ve told you you’re getting a refund of $200. When you type in $200, the scammer will add an extra zero to the end of the number and press enter. They’ll then claim that a payment for $2000 was processed instead of $200, and they’ll either blame you for making the mistake, tell you they made a mistake themselves, or that this was caused by a glitch in the program.

Often these scammers will even use their remote access to manipulate the HTML code on your bank account page, or a mock bank account webpage, to make it look like they have actually sent you the money and further convince you of the scam. If they’ve had you log into your bank ahead of time, they might actually use this access to authorize a legitimate money transfer between two of your existing accounts, and then adjust the HTML label on this transfer to make it look like it came from them.

Regardless of their reasoning, they’ll tell you that you need to pay them back the $1800 difference immediately. They’ll likely tell you one of two reasons for the urgency: they’ll lose their job if you don’t send it back, or you’ll be in legal trouble or arrested if you don’t comply. They’ll use this reasoning to justify the need for unconventional means of repayment. Often you’ll be asked to go to a local retail store and purchase gift cards for them, but they could also ask you to send a wire transfer, Zelle or Cashapp them the money, or just ship them the cash or a check directly.

Referring back to our Red Flags page, you’ll never be required to give remote access to someone in order to get a refund. Note that they may not tell you the real purpose of this software, they might tell you it’s “refund software”. Just remember this: if you’re being asked to download a program in order to get a refund, you’re very likely being scammed. Additionally, if anyone ever requires payment (especially over the phone or email) via gift card, wire transfer, peer-to-peer payment apps, or by shipping cash/check, they are trying to scam you.

If you realize you’ve given a scammer remote access to your computer, have it checked by a computer professional to make sure the remote access is shut down and there are no viruses on your computer. You’ll also want to change any passwords to accounts you logged into while the scammers were on your computer, as they may have stolen those passwords from you for their own future use. If you realize you’ve been scammed, report it to your local law enforcement immediately, and reach out to your bank or credit card company to see if there is anything they can do to get some or all of the money back. Lastly, you can use the reporting tools on FTC.gov and IC3.gov to report the scam. See the Additional Resources page for more info.

For more information on Refund/Overpayment Scams, visit the Overpayment scam Wikipedia page.

Rental Scams

Similar to job scams, rental scams occur when scammers post fake rental listings in order to steal money from you under the pretext that you’ll need to pay the security deposit or first month’s rent before seeing the apartment or house. Scammers will post advertisements of beautiful homes/apartments for well under the current average rent of the area. This will usually draw in many inquiries, and when asked to tour the apartment, the scammer will make up an excuse as to why that isn’t currently possible. They’ll likely then pressure these individuals into signing a lease and paying first month’s rent and/or a security deposit sight-unseen. If the rent is being listed well below current market rates, or you’re being asked to sign a lease before seeing the apartment/house in person, you are likely being scammed.

For more information on Rental Scams, check out Rental Listing Scams from FTC.gov.

Romance Scams

Romance scams can be both emotionally and financially devastating, and hard to recover from, as many people who are victimized by them unfortunately find it hard to talk about what they’ve been through. These scams can be lengthy investments, where the scammer will attempt to engage in a romantic relationship with a person as a way to gain the victim’s trust and affection. They often start on dating applications, and they can take place entirely over text messaging, or even in-person. Once they feel they have formed a bond with the victim, they will then abuse this relationship in order to manipulate the victim into sending large amounts of money under false pretenses. This could be a single monetary scam, but is often a string of requests for money until the victim either refuses to pay or is unable to pay.

Though they can occur over the long-term, these types of scams are also fairly common short term scams. Scammers may send flirtatious messages with an victim, and at a certain point request to meet up. However, when the meetup is to take place, something will go wrong and the scammer will request a bit of financial help from the victim in order to make it to their date. Once paid, the scammer may quit replying, or see how much money they can get from the victim before they catch on.

For more information on Romance Scams, visit the Romance scam Wikipedia page. For an extreme example of a romance scam with in-person elements, check out Netflix’s documentary The Tinder Swindler.

Tech Support Scams

Tech support scams are another extremely common type of scam, usually starting from a popup on your computer claiming you’ve been infected with a virus, or an email telling you to “renew” your anti-virus software. In either scenario, you would be provided with a number to call for technical support. Before getting into this scam, let’s address the “what should I do?” question up front. If you encounter something like this and you’re concerned about the security of your device, either run a virus scan on your computer yourself, or take your computer into a computer repair store to have it looked at. In Windows 10, you can run a virus scan by typing “Windows Security” into the Windows search bar, selecting “Windows Security”, selecting “Virus & Threat Protection”, selecting “Scan options”, choosing the scan you would like to run, and selecting “Scan Now”.

With that out of the way, let’s dive into tech support scams. Once you call the number provided on the email or popup, the scammer will answer the phone and likely ask what you’re calling about. Often these scam call centers are posing as multiple different legitimate tech support or anti-virus companies. They won’t answer the phone with “Hi, Michael from Geek Squad” because you may have gotten a pop-up claiming to be from McAfee. They’re asking you hoping you’ll say something like “is this McAfee Anti-Virus support?” Then they’ll know the role they have to play for the rest of the call.

After the pleasantries (or lack-thereof), they’ll need you to download a remote access program like SupRemo, AnyDesk, or TeamViewer in order to get into your computer and check it for viruses. The pretext for this may be more believable than it is with Refund scams, but this should still be a big red flag. Again, if you’re worried about viruses, we recommend scanning the computer yourself or taking your computer to an in-person tech support service.

Once in your computer, the scammers will open up your Command Prompt window or your Event Viewer. In Command Prompt, the may run the netstat or tree commands. These commands will display information about your computer and local network (netstat) or a listing of the file directories on your computer (tree). Either will mean little to someone who is unfamiliar with computers, and the scammers will prey on this, claiming that this information is showing viruses on their computer. In Event Viewer, they’ll point out the individual events and say that these are warnings of viruses or hackers. This is a tactic to try to scare the victim into the next part of the scam, but what they are displaying is not actually evidence of hackers or computer/network viruses.

This is when they’ll make the play for your money. After showing you these “viruses” and “hackers”, they’ll tell you that you need to purchase their software or pay for their services immediately in order to stop the “hackers” and “viruses” from stealing your information and/or money (yeah, super ironic). They may even install free PC cleaning software, run it, and then tell you that you need to pay them for their services. If you refuse, they might try to guilt trip you into paying, claiming that they provided a service and you’re a thief for not paying. In extreme cases, because they have remote access, they might try to lock down your computer, either as a last-ditch ransom or as a way to further prove that there are “viruses” and “hackers” on your computer.

There are many many variations of tech support scams, so if you ever encounter a this type of situation, or something similar, you are very likely dealing with a tech support scam. Remember to avoid clicking on links or calling numbers in pop-ups or emails about viruses on your devices, expiring anti-virus software, or similar subjects.

For more information on Tech Support scams, visit the Technical support scam Wikipedia page or the article How To Spot, Avoid, and Report Tech Support Scams on FTC.gov.

Wrong Number Scams

A wrong number scam, often referred to as a Mandy Scam, begin with a text message from an unknown number, usually asking for someone other than yourself. The Mandy Scam name refers to a common theme that the scammer will introduce themselves as Mandy (but not always). All they’re hoping for is something to get a conversation started with you, like “Sorry, this isn’t Billy, you must have the wrong number.” They’ll then apologize to you, usually thank you for your kindness, and attempt to start a conversation out of this. The long term goal is to get you to agree to send them money in someway. This scam can be a pretext opener of sorts to many different types of scams. This could end up being a crypto scam, where the scammer tries to get you to buy into their “crypto investment plan,” or it could be the beginning of a romance scam, or maybe they’re going to send you a link at some point to try to phish some usernames and passwords from you. Regardless of their ultimate intentions, be wary of wrong number text messages. If the person at the other end tries to continue on a conversation after they’ve been told they have the wrong number, you’re likely speaking to a scammer. Another important thing to note here: the longer you continue to text this person, the more vulnerable they’ll think you are. It is recommended not to engage with texts like this at all, or as little as possible. The more you engage, the harder they’ll try to get money out of you, and the more likely they are to pass your number on to other scammers as an active number and potential target.

For more information on Wrong Number scams, check out this Better Business Bureau Scam Alert article on this type of scam.