It’s more important than ever to recognize the signs.
Scams are on the rise, both online and off. AI makes it even more difficult to see through the misdirection.
Let’s review some of the signs of online and telephone-based scams.
Become a Patron of Ask Leo! and go ad-free!
Scam signs
Scams are increasingly sophisticated. They often use urgency, fake links, offers too good to be true, and requests for personal or financial information. Beware of unsolicited contact, impersonations, and payment via irreversible methods like gift cards. Verify independently, stay cautious, and keep your technology secure to protect yourself.
Before we dive in, I need to point out that many of these signs are not absolute signs of a scam. Sadly, sometimes even legitimate contacts will have some of these characteristics.
But you should be aware of them. Be cautious, particularly when there is more than one warning sign.
Online scams
These days, when we think of scams we think first of the online world. Email, social media, messaging apps, and more have all become tools for scammers and others with malicious intent. Here are a few things to watch for online.
Contact out of the blue. Many online scams begin with a simple email or message from someone you don’t know. Sometimes they’ll fake having contacted the wrong person in order to engage you in a conversation. Sometimes the message will say you’ve won a prize of some sort.
Dodgy links. Particularly in email scams but possibly in any online form, you’ll be asked to click on a link. Examining the link closely will show it to be to a website you’ve never heard of, or may be a URL you can’t interpret.
Urgency. This is a hallmark of many scams. There’s a sense of implied or explicit urgency. Sometimes it’s a threat to close an account, sometimes it’s some kind of legal action, and sometimes it’s threatened harm to yourself or a loved one.
Too good to be true. Everyone understands this phrase, but surprisingly few take it to heart. Scammers know this. We want what is being offered even though a moment’s thought would tell us that it can’t be true or is very unlikely.
Personal information. Asking for personal info is another hallmark of many scams. A legitimate company will never (NEVER) ask you for your social security number, password, or PIN via email.
Bad English. (Or whatever your native language might be.) This used to be one of the clearest signs of bogus messages. You’ll still see lots of it in your spam folder, I’m sure. But one thing AI allows scammers to do is create legitimate-sounding messages with nearly perfect grammar.
Crypto/gift cards/wire transfers. Each of these methods of money transfer is irreversible. Unlike credit cards, once you’ve sent money using these ways, you cannot get it back. Scammers love this.
Impersonation. Celebrities are getting impersonated right and left, but even friends and family are seeing fake accounts crop up. Celebrities will never reach out to you for any reason, but fake “family” and fake “friends” might contact you for any number of fake reasons.
Telephone Scams
The lowly telephone — landline or mobile — is another common way scammers try to reach out and scam someone.
In addition to the items listed for online scams, here are a few more things to watch for.
Unknown numbers. If you have caller ID, watch for numbers you don’t recognize. (If you don’t have caller ID, it’s worth every penny.)
Authority figures. Scammers often pretend to be people in positions of authority, such as the police, government agencies, technical support, and others. For example, most government agencies won’t call you, preferring the audit trail created by sending you physical letters in the mail.
Up-front payment. The so-called “advance fee” scam asks you to pay some amount of “fee” or “tax” in order to receive a larger amount in return. The larger amount never arrives.
Urgency. Very much like online scams, telephone scams often play this even more strongly, threatening dire consequences if you don’t act immediately. Often this includes instructing you not to hang up the phone.
Personal information. Personal information is valuable to scammers, but another variant that can bypass two-factor authentication on your online accounts is a phone call impersonating an authority and asking for a PIN you’re about to receive in an email or text.
Crypto/gift cards/wire transfers. Requests for any of these are almost always a sign of a scam, as your money transfer is irreversible. Once gone, it’s gone.
Do this
Here are some tips to keep yourself safe.
Know the signs. I’m certain the list above isn’t comprehensive, but it does represent some of the most common clues that something might be a scam. Pay attention to them. Never be afraid to take extra, independent steps to verify whatever catches your attention. Don’t worry about being polite.
Never use contact information provided over the phone, in email, or on websites you aren’t 100% certain of. Instead, contact the organization directly, using phone numbers, websites, or email addresses you already know are correct. Use this known-good contact information to verify what your potential scammer is asking.
When in even the slightest doubt, ignore the message or hang up. You can once again use the contact information you already know to be correct to verify whatever sounded fishy.
Keep your technology current and safe. Make sure your security software (and all your other software) is up to date. Add two-factor authentication to all your online accounts that support it. Use unique, long passwords, and a password manager to keep track of them all.
And, of course, subscribe to Confident Computing! More confidence and less frustration delivered to your inbox every week.
Podcast audio
Related Video
“When in even the slightest doubt, ignore the message or hang up.”
Unless I’m 100% sure a phone call is from someone I know or have done business with, I hang up without even saying goodbye.
In most cases, any legitimate callers will be in my contacts list. Again, it’s not a 100% sign of a scam or spam, but it’s one more sign.
Timely article again Leo.
We were reading of a horrific scam using Google Forms in a way that EASILY could fool even the most aware.
I hope it is okay to add a link to the story.
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/12/how-to-lose-a-fortune-with-just-one-bad-click/