Common scams
With cyberfraud incidents on the rise and fraudsters waging sophisticated attacks through phone, text, and email, it’s important to recognize the warning signs that someone is trying to scam you.
We’ve identified the most common scams that fraudsters are currently using to steal your money and personal information.
Am I being scammed?
It’s often difficult to tell the difference between a scam and an urgent request or a new opportunity. This tool will help you to determine whether or not you’re being targeted by a common scam and guide you to more information as to how to spot and avoid everyday scams.
Common scams that target your personal information
- Fake websites and online shopping fraud
- Impersonation
- Phishing and smishing
- Fake mobile apps
- Phone fraud (vishing)
Fake websites and online shopping fraud
Scammers and fraudsters are taking advantage of the growth of the digital marketing industry, specifically the increase in e-commerce, by creating fake websites that capture sensitive information or spread malware (malicious software).
These types of scams involve directing victims to fake websites, often online shopping websites, through the use of fake emails and online ads that offer deals that are too good to be true.
Just like legitimate websites, fake websites will prompt you to enter your personal and credit card information to complete a transaction or enter a contest. However, unlike legitimate sites, once you make a purchase or enter your information, you won’t receive your item or win a contest, and fraudsters will now have access to your personal and financial information.
At an initial glance, these types of scams are difficult to recognize because scammers use a technique called pagejacking to create convincing fraudulent websites.
Pagejacking is when scammers illegally copy legitimate website content to then use on their fake website, making a convincing duplicate of the real website.
Recognize it
Be wary of websites that are poorly designed, have broken links, aren’t secure (http), or don’t include proper contact information.
Reject it
If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It’s safer to just ignore it.
Report an incident or suspicious activity