The 10 Most Common Scams and How to Avoid Them

These days, it seems that scams are a dime a dozen. Unfortunately, even if you’re a regular person, there will always be people trying to get a hold of your personal information or your hard-earned cash.

Whatever the reason may be, you’ll always find people trying to send scams to hundreds of users, hoping someone will fall for them. Unfortunately, even some of the smartest people still often fall for some of these scams.

Although scammers are always trying to invent new ways to attack their possible victims, they’re also inherently lazy, so you’ll find they repeatedly use simple variations on many common scams.

If you want to keep yourself safe online, read on for 10 of the most common scams you need to be aware of — and a few tips on how to avoid them.

Most Common Online Scams

There are countless scams out there, but here are some of the most common ones that you should stay on the lookout for.

Phishing

The phishing scam is probably one of the oldest and most popular scams that, unfortunately, still works to this day.

In a phishing scam, cybercrooks send out random emails far and wide. These typically try to impersonate a popular bank or other platform that they know you’re likely using. They build and email and fake website using the platform’s assets and logo so you believe it’s legitimate.

The message typically says something like your account is at risk of being hacked and that you need to follow the link they provide in order to fix your issue. In an alternative form, they’ll send out a fake but legitimate-looking receipt or order confirmation for something you didn’t buy. These are usually for a large enough amount to encourage you to panic and click through to investigate out of fear that either a company made a mistake or somebody placed a fraudulent order using your credit card.

Of course, any such links are to fake websites, made to look like the bank or platform’s official site.

After you enter your username and password, they’ll use that data to get into your account.

Job Offer Scams

This is a scam that’s become more popular now that working from home is a thing. There are many ways that these scams can happen, but one of the common scams is that a “company” says they’ve hired you and then ask you to buy specific equipment for your job.

They then say that they’ll send you the money to buy those products but, as you can probably guess, they never do. They just ghost you. 

Remember that a company should never ask you to buy something before you start working for them. And if they do, simply wait until they actually send you the money.

Dating Platform Scams

Online dating is really popular nowadays, so it makes sense that scammers are trying to use it as well.

One of the most common scams is called the pig butchering scam, in which a scammer will try to gain your trust in order to get you to send them money.

Usually, they pretend to be a wealthy investor, and they tell you that they can help you start investing if you send them money. They’ll use your money to start “investing” and will have you believe that your investments are making more money with fake screenshots.

Charity Frauds

With the rise of influencers and platforms like Twitch and YouTube, these scams appear to be increasing as well.

This scam is “simple.” The scammer will ask you for money and tell you they’ll put it in a charity or use it to give money to less fortunate people, only to grab the money for themselves.

Investing Scams

You’ve probably already heard about these “gurus” on social media. These are people who guarantee you that you can make a ton of money if you follow their classes. 

The only problem? Usually, their classes are extremely expensive, and usually, they don’t deliver on their promise.

Other social media influencers will tell you that they know the secrets to being a profitable day trader, and if you send them money, they’ll teach it to you.

Family Emergency Scams

This one is a hard scam to be on the lookout for, given the circumstances. Scammers use this scam because of the sense of urgency people have to help a loved one.

Scammers will send you a message or call you telling you that one of your family members has been in an accident. They will then tell you that they need something from you — either money or some of your data — so you can help them.

Because of the urgency, most of us would not think twice about helping our loved ones, but it’s important to be careful and make sure you aren’t being scammed.

“Accidental” Money Transfer Scams

With this scam, a person — usually impersonating a customer support representative — will tell you that they “accidentally” sent you some money to your account.

They will then say that you can’t just send it back because they’ll get in trouble. Instead, you should just use that money to buy something like gift cards and send them the codes.

How to Avoid Scams

While you might think some of these scams are easy to detect, they can still affect you or people you care about.

Fortunately, you can use these tips to be safer, both online and off.

Always Make Sure You’re Talking to the Right Person

Whether it’s an email, a social media post, or a message on a dating site, you need to make sure the person is who they say they are. 

First, you should check the email address. Usually, they’ll use something similar to the name of the company they’re trying to impersonate. But if it’s an address from Gmail or Yahoo or something similar, it’s probably fake.

If you’re talking to someone on a dating site, you can ask them to send you a specific picture or video chat with you just to make sure they’re the same one in the picture.

Don’t Click on Any Links

It doesn’t matter if you got a message or an email; you should avoid clicking on any links that you get, especially if they’re unsolicited. 

Simply opening a link has the potential to install malware on your computer. Not only that, but you might also give away specific information that they need from you. If you’re being asked to link to your banking site or something like Amazon or iCloud, and you think there might actually be a problem with your account, open a separate browser window and type in the address manually to make sure you’re visiting the legitimate site.

If You’re in Doubt, Talk to the Company Behind the Message

Sometimes, you get an email that just looks way too real. If that’s the case, instead of talking to the person who sent the email, try reaching out to the company. 

Talk to its customer service and find out if what the message says is true.

Don’t Give Anyone Your Information Online

People you meet online don’t really need any type of information from you. If they’re reaching out asking for your password or email address, you should never share that information with them — or anyone for that matter.

Don’t Give Money to Strangers

This is harder said than done, especially if you’ve already developed feelings for the other person, but you should never give money to strangers.

If someone who reached out to you starts asking you for money, the best thing you can do is ignore them.

Likewise, if you’re going to give money to a charity, make sure the charity is actually receiving that money and that the charity event is actually real. In some cases, if you do want to donate money, you can do it directly to the charity you want.

Use Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication, or 2FA for short, is a quick and easy way to secure your accounts.

When this feature is turned on, even if the other person has gotten a hold of your password and email address, they still can’t log in without supplying the one-time code that comes from your authenticator app or in a text message or email that’s sent directly to you. If you want to be extra secure, you can protect your most important accounts with a hardware security key.

Remember: If Someone Sounds Too Good to Be True, it Probably Is

In the end, using common sense will save you a lot of trouble. 

If, out of nowhere, someone reaches out to you and tells you they want to make you rich, or that they’re falling in love with you, or anything similar, you should just stay away from them. 

There isn’t a way to get rich quickly, and people can’t just fall in love by looking at your pictures, no matter how good-looking you are. More often than not, they just want something from you, and that’s usually money.

Stay Safe Online

As you can see, there are many ways you can get scammed, even if you aren’t putting yourself at risk.

The good news is that if you keep your accounts and passwords secure, and you follow the steps above, you should be able to stay safe online.

Remember, even the smartest people in the world have been scammed, so don’t think you’re above it.