Scammers are always finding new ways to try to steal from you.  Here are a few common types of scams.

Spoofing – Spoofing is when someone disguises an email addres, sender name, phone number, or website URL – often just by changing one letter, symbol or number – to convince you that you are interacting with a trusted source.

For example, you might receive an email that looks like it’s from your boss, a company you’ve done business with, or even from someone in your family—but it actually isn’t.

Criminals count on being able to manipulate you into believing that these spoofed communications are real, which can lead you to download malicious software, send money, or disclose personal, financial, or other sensitive information.

Phishing – Phishing schemes often use spoofing techniques to lure you in and get you to take the bait. These scams are designed to trick you into giving information to criminals that they shouldn’t have access to.

In a phishing scam, you might receive an email that appears to be from a legitimate business and is asking you to update or verify your personal information by replying to the email or visiting a website. The web address might look similar to one you’ve used before. The email may be convincing enough to get you to take the action requested.

But once you click on that link, you’re sent to a spoofed website that might look nearly identical to the real thing—like your bank or credit card site—and asked to enter sensitive information like passwords, credit card numbers, banking PINs, etc. These fake websites are used solely to steal your information.

Phishing has evolved and now has several variations that use similar techniques:

• Vishing scams happen over the phone, voice email, or VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) calls.
• Smishing scams happen through SMS (text) messages.
• Pharming scams happen when malicious code is installed on your computer to redirect you to fake websites.

Tech Support Scams – Tech support scammers use many different tactics to trick people. Spotting these tactics will help you avoid falling for the scam.

Phone Calls – Tech support scammers may call and pretend to be a computer technician from a well-known company. They say they’ve found a problem with your computer. They often ask you to give them remote access to your computer and then pretend to run a diagnostic test. Then they try to make you pay to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.

If you get a phone call you didn’t expect from someone who says there’s a problem with your computer, hang up.

Pop-up Warnings – Tech support scammers may try to lure you with a pop-up window that appears on your computer screen. It might look like an error message from your operating system or antivirus software, and it might use logos from trusted companies or websites. The message in the window warns of a security issue on your computer and tells you to call a phone number to get help.

Overpayment Scams – A scam artist will purchase something from you and send you a counterfeit check.  They tell you to deposit it in your bank account and wire or Western Union part of the money back to them.  Since the check was fake, you’ll have to pay back the amount of the check, but you’ll lose any money you wired.

Government impersonation scam – Criminals pose as government employees and threaten to arrest or prosecute victims unless they agree to provide funds or other payments.

Grandparent scam – Criminals pose as a relative—usually a child or grandchild—claiming to be in immediate financial need.

Employment Scams – Younger people are more likely to be the victim of employment scams.  In most of these scenarios, the crooks offer a job but request a finder’s fee or other payment. Work-at-home jobs seem to be particularly ripe for scams, and fraudsters will try to charge a fee for supplies and information to help a person get one of these positions.

Mobile Check Deposit Scams – Fraudsters contact their victims through email or social media posing as a potential employer, lender, or interested buyer on a marketplace site. The fraudster will often provide the victim an opportunity to earn money quickly by depositing a check to their account or by asking for help in moving money from overseas. The fraudster will further request the victim’s bank account information and may even ask for online or mobile banking login credentials.

The fraudster uses the information to deposit a fake check. Once the deposit has been made, the scammer will request funds to be immediately transferred back to them via money order, person to person transfer, wire transfer, reloadable cards or even gift cards. Once the victim returns the funds, the bank alerts the victim that the check was fictitious and removes the funds from the account, causing a loss to the victim.

_{Information from:
https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/scam-alerts
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-spot-avoid-and-report-tech-support-scams#Spotting
http://education.bankerstrust.com/articles/mobile-deposit-scams/}