Common Scams by age bracket

Youth — Age 17 and Younger

Social Media Scams

Scammers will catfish teens, pretending to be unknown individuals trying to befriend them with the purpose of stealing their personal information or money. They may also target teens by posting fake surveys or contests that can trick teens into giving out personal data.

Tip: Advise teens to set social media accounts to private so information and pictures are not easily accessible to scammers.

Text Message

Phony text messages claiming to be from a legitimate account or website, such as asocial media or gaming site, can create a sense of urgency. These messages typically ask children to confirm their password, user data or payment card information or contain links that download spyware onto the user’s phone.

Tip: Remind teens not to click links in suspicious text messages. If the message appears to come from a known site, they should visit the site directly instead.

Gaming Platforms

Scammers promise to pay users in-game currency in exchange for actions such as clicking on ads that contain malware that can track login information. Scammers also set up fraudulent sites that claim to sell in-game currency to capture users’ login and/or credit card information.

Tip: Recommend that teens enable two-factor authentication wherever possible to add an extra layer of security to their accounts. Don’t allow your kids to make purchases in the game without your supervision.

Students and Adults — Age 30–59

Employment

Fraudsters offer jobs working from home for fast and easy money. After a quick hiring process, they’ll send a fake check to the victim’s home and ask them to send a portion of the check back. Since financial institutions are required to make funds available, it may be several days before the fake check bounces. By then, the scammer is long gone, and the person is required to pay back the money to the bank/credit union.

Tip: Walk away from any job offers that require you to send back portions of your check or that ask for any money upfront.

Investment/Cryptocurrency

Investment scams involve a bad actor enticing people to send their cryptocurrency to the fraudster with promises of “huge gains.” Scammers can play many parts, such as an “investment manager,” a celebrity or even a love interest on an online dating site. Whatever role is assumed, they promise to grow your investment if you transfer your cryptocurrency to them.

Tip: Don’t respond to unsolicited contact. No matter who contacts you from your crypto brokerage or other financial institution, the best practice is not to respond.

Online Purchase

Scammers often pose as real companies online –or make up fake companies –to try to get your money or personal information. They may post fake ads for things on social media or other websites and even use a real company’s logo to try to seem legit. But then they take your money and don’t send what you ordered.

Tip: Before you buy, search online for the company’s name along with words like “scam” or “fraud” to see what issues others might have had.

Older Adults and Grandparents — Age 60+

Investment/Cryptocurrency

Investment scams involve a bad actor enticing people to send their cryptocurrency to the fraudster with promises of “huge gains.” Scammers can play many parts, such as an “investment manager,” a celebrity or even a love interest on an online dating site. Whatever role is assumed, they promise to grow your investment if you transfer your cryptocurrency to them.

Tip: Don’t respond to unsolicited contact. No matter who contacts you from your crypto brokerage or other financial institution, the best practice is not to respond.

Romance

Scammers create fake profiles on online dating sites by stealing photos from real accounts. Over a short period of time, they build a fake relationship with the person they’re targeting, and once the relationship seems to be getting serious, they will request money to visit or for a family emergency. Once the money is exchanged, the scammer requests more or stops communicating altogether.

Tip: Scammers will start manipulating you by talking about trust and its importance. This often is the first step to asking you for money.

Home Improvement

Scammers will promise to do the work but leave you and your home worse off than when you started. They may do shoddy work, damage your home, overcharge you or just take your money without performing any services.

Tip: Consider only contractors who are licensed and insured. Check with your state or county government to confirm a contractor’s license and ask the contractor for proof of insurance.

New Customers, any age

Check Overpayment Scams

Fraudulent checks are sent by scammers for a higher amount than expected. They instruct the person to deposit the check and wire a portion of the amount back for reasons like paying for taxes, fees or supplies. Scammers can target people by pretending to be hiring mystery shoppers or personal assistants, or they may even target people selling items online.

Tip: Don’t accept any checks that are for larger amounts than you were expecting. If companies are asking you to send a portion of the check via wire transfers, it’s almost certainly a scam.

Unsolicited Check Fraud

Scammers will send fraudulent checks that look like rebates or refunds for an overpayment. While these checks are typically for low amounts and can look very real, they’re scams that can rope victims into unknowingly enrolling in monthly memberships that are difficult to cancel or a high-interest loan.

Tip: Don’t cash any check from an unknown sender. Make sure you read everything that came with the check thoroughly, especially any fine print.

Automatic Withdrawals

Scammers will take payment information from free trials that unsuspecting people signed up for from telemarketing calls. They’ll then begin to withdraw money from the person’s debit or credit account without the victim’s knowledge or consent.

Tip: Do not give your checking account number to anyone you don’t know, especially over the phone.

Other Common Scams

Imposter Scams

Scammers will contact victims pretending to be from a bank, a government agency like the IRS or Medicare or a charitable organization to try to get money or personal information that can be used to sell on the dark web. They may ask for payment for things like owing back taxes or having an unpaid debt that needs to be settled immediately.

Tip: Watch out for anyone reaching out to ask for personal information to verify your account or payment via gift cards, wire transfers or person-to-person transfers. Legitimate companies will not call to ask for your personal information or payment.

Urgency Scam

Any type of scam that pressures victims into taking advantage of a deal or urges them to send a payment, giving a tight timeframe in which to act. Their tone can be urgent,andtheymaypressurethemtoprovidepersonalinformationorsendaformof payment by pretending to be hospitals, bail bondsmen, the IRS or even family members.

Tip: Reputable companies or organizations won’t pressure you to act fast with tight time constraints. If an email is asking you to act urgently, take pause. Avoid clicking on any links until you verify if the email is legitimate through a secondary source.

 

Phishing Scam

These scams can look like official emails, text messages, social or voice messages from banks or other reputable companies meant to trick unsuspecting victims into giving out personal or financial information to steal personal information or money.

Tip: Look out for generic greetings, misspellings, grammatical errors or variations of logos or names of known companies. If you notice anything suspicious, don’t click on any links.

Utility Scam

Scammers pretending to be from the electric or other service company will attempt to pressure consumers into sending a payment to avoid having their service turned off. They’ll contact victims via phone call or email and use scare tactics to trick those targeted into providing financial information.

Tip: Utility companies will never ask for last-minute payments, especially over the phone or email. If making a payment over the phone, call the utility or service provider directly.

Support Specialist Scam

Pretending to be a support specialist from a known technology company, scammers try to steal information by claiming there is something wrong with the victim’s account or device. These scammers will try to trick victims into thinking that their computer is damaged to get them to allow remote access to scammers under the false claim that they can fix the issue.

Tip: Support specialists from legitimate companies do not cold call to help you fix an issue with a device or account, nor will they ask consumers to download an app or request access to their device.

Pay Yourself Scam

Scammers will send a text or email that looks like a fraud alert from the person’s bank asking if they authorized a transaction. They’ll then call as a bank representative, offering to help stop the alleged fraud and ask to be sent money via transfer or person-to-person payment. In reality, the payment is being sent to the scammer.

Tip: Be clear that your bank will never call you to verify information or ask to send money to themselves or anyone else. Remind consumers to never give out any personal or account information over the phone or through email.

Small Business Scam

Scammers pretending to be legitimate financial institutions or service providers will attempt to pressure small businesses into sending payments or providing sensitive information. They’ll contact victims via phone, email or fake websites, using tactics like phishing emails, fake invoices and business email compromise to trick those targeted into compromising their financial security.

Tip: Verify any payment requests or sensitive information solicitations through a secondary communication channel before taking action. Legitimate financial institutions will never pressure you into making last-minute payments or providing sensitive information over the phone or email.

Charity Scam

Imposters who try to trick you out of money by asking for donations for an organization, cause or person can reach you by phone, email, internet or even in person. Reported charity scams have steadily increased over the last few years. These scammers also favor targeting the elderly. Common charity scams can include holidays, after tragic events and donations to support front-line defenders and veterans.

Tip: To stay safe, watch out for anyone who requests donations using cash, crypto, wire or gift cards. Never give anyone personal information like your Social Security or bank account number. Also, avoid donating to any cause that cannot provide a formal receipt.

Tax Scam

Scammers posing as tax authorities, such as the IRS, contact consumers by phone, email or mail, claiming that immediate payment is required for unpaid taxes. They use threats of legal action, fines or arrest to pressure individuals into paying through untraceable methods like wire transfers or prepaid cards.

Tip: Tax authorities will never demand immediate payment over the phone or through email, nor will they ask for payment via wire transfer or prepaid cards. Verify any tax-related communication by contacting the tax authority directly using official contact information.