1. Learn the signs to watch for
Question and answer
What is a scam?Scammers create new scams all the time. But many scams share the same signs. These are the important signs to watch for:
- Threats: You're told if you do not pay right away or get back to the person quickly, something bad will happen. For example, your bank account will close, hackers will get all your money, or you will be arrested or deported.
- Urgent or short deadline: You're asked to pay quickly, or the price you're offered is only available for a short time.
- Unusual way to pay: You have to pay by cryptocurrency, gift card, a particular payment app, or drop money off at a certain place.
- Too good to be true: You're promised very high investment returns, profits or results. The price or deal you're offered is really low or cheap. Or a job offers high pay for little work, or a senior position for what your qualifications and work experience are.
- Told to lie or keep secret: You're told to lie to everyone including your family, bank tellers, and store employees about what you're doing. Or that it's secret that you cannot share with anyone.
If you're told any of these things in a phone call, email, text, social media message, or in person, be careful. There's a good chance that you're being scammed.
Do not rush to do what you're asked. Take some time to verify the information. Step 3 explains how you can do this.