Spotting scams

The scams we hear about most

The grandchild in trouble

Someone calls sounding upset, says they are your grandchild, has been arrested or in a crash and needs money now — and please do not tell their parents.

What to do: hang up and call your grandchild yourself, on the number you already have, or call their parent. The real person answers, safe and confused. Voices can be faked, so the voice sounding right is not proof.

The bank fraud department

A call or text says there is fraud on your account, so you must move your money to a "safe account" or read out a code they just sent.

What to do: hang up. Call your bank on the number printed on your card — never one the caller gives you. A bank never asks you to move money to keep it safe, and never asks you to read out a code.

Tech support

A pop-up fills the screen with a warning and a number, or someone calls from a "computer company" about a virus. They want to connect to your machine, then charge you.

What to do: close the window or shut the computer down. No real company watches your computer and rings you about it. If someone is already connected, disconnect the internet and call someone you trust.

Government impersonation

A call from the "IRS", Social Security, Medicare, or the police: you owe money, your number is suspended, there is a warrant out.

What to do: hang up. These agencies write to you first. None threatens arrest over the phone, and none takes gift cards.

Prizes and sweepstakes

You have won — but there is a fee, a tax, or a shipping charge first.

What to do: ignore it. A real prize never costs money to collect, and you cannot win a competition you did not enter.

Romance and friendship

Someone kind and attentive gets in touch online and the friendship grows over weeks. There is always a reason they cannot meet or video call. Eventually there is an emergency and they need money.

What to do: never send money to someone you have not met in person, however long you have talked. Tell someone you trust — this one relies on you being too embarrassed to mention it.

Fake invoices and subscriptions

An email says your subscription renewed for a few hundred dollars. To cancel, call this number. The number is the scam.

What to do: do not call the number in the email. Check the account itself, or your bank statement, for an actual charge.

If you are not sure

1. Stop. Nothing genuine falls apart because you took an hour.
2. Hang up. Do not use any number or link they gave you — look the organisation up yourself.
3. Tell one other person before you do anything with money: a relative, a neighbour, your bank branch.

If it has already happened

It is not your fault and you are not the only one — these are practised criminals. Acting quickly matters more than anything.

1. Call your bank now, on the number on your card. If money moved recently there may still be a chance to stop it.
2. Change the passwords for anything they touched — your email first.
3. Report it to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov. If personal details were taken, identitytheft.gov walks you through the steps.
4. Tell your local police department.
5. Tell someone you trust. Scammers come back to people who paid once, often posing as someone who can recover the money for a fee.

Those are public agencies, not partners of ours. They are simply where the reports go.