Spotting Common Scams

James Crump – attorney with Callahan Law Firm, LLC

Americans are increasingly the targets of financial scams, so learning about common scams and how to spot them is more important than ever.  Scams aren’t just impacting older adults.  In fact, the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel finds that scams are harming younger people more often than older adults.[i]

Scams can take many forms, and scammers use various tactics when taking advantage of innocent consumers.  Below are some common scams and how to identify them.  If you have lost money from a scam, please contact the attorneys at the Callahan Law Firm, LLC today for a free consultation.

Governmental Agency Scams

Many consumers have reported losing money to tax scams, or scams involving individuals who are pretending to be agents from a governmental agency like the IRS or Social Security Administration.  Generally speaking, agencies such as the IRS[ii] or the Social Security Administration[iii] do not contact the public by telephone, email, text message, or social media.  Instead, if a governmental agency wants to contact you, they will typically send a letter through regular mail delivered by the United States Postal Service.

If the scammer purports to be from a law enforcement agency (e.g. the police or FBI), they are unlikely to email you, text you, or call you. Law enforcement will likely send you a letter by mail or otherwise attempt to communicate with you in person.

In these governmental agency scams, an individual contacts a consumer and pretends to be an employee of a particular agency in order to solicit personal identifying information and financial information.  These scammers have been known to use threats and lies to scare consumers into paying bogus bills.

If you receive a call or questionable email, text, or social media communication from an individual who says they work for a governmental agency, do not respond to the contact information they provide and do not provide them with any information . Instead, reach out directly to the governmental agency at the contact information listed on their government website.  Additionally, if you have lost money due to a government agency scam, please contact the attorneys at the Callahan Law Firm, LLC today for a free consultation.

Shipping and Online Vendor Scams

Scammers are increasingly targeting consumers by pretending to be an employee or agent of Amazon, UPS, FedEx, USPS, or other vendors and shipping companies.  In these scams, a consumer receives a call or text message about a suspicious charge on a consumer’s Amazon account, or a package that cannot be delivered.[iv]  The scammer then tells the consumer about fraud on their account, or how a package is suspicious and cannot be delivered, and requests payment in order to resolve the issue.

If you find yourself in receipt of a suspicious communication or phone call like this, hang up the phone or delete the text message without responding.  Log in separately to your Amazon account through the Amazon website, or whatever online account you used to make the purchase or ship an item, and check on the status of your account and the item in question.  Importantly, Amazon, vendors, and shipping companies typically do not make telephone calls – they simply cancel orders that cannot be fulfilled.  They also never tell you to keep the issue a secret or threaten arrest for account fraud.

If you have lost money due to an Amazon or shipping scam, please contact the attorneys at the Callahan Law Firm, LLC today for a free consultation.

Email Scams

If you receive an email that uses multiple fonts, multiple font sizes, has misspellings and/or grammatical errors, or is from a sender that you do not recognize, this is a sure sign of a scam. Further, if the email threatens that you will be arrested for account fraud, if it provides a case number, or if it states that a process server or sheriff is on their way to find you, these are likewise sure signs of a scam.

If you receive an email like this, do not click on any links contained in the email, delete the email, and block the sender.  And, if you have lost money due to this type of email scam, please contact the attorneys at the Callahan Law Firm, LLC today for a free consultation.

Bank Scams

Scammers often pretend to be from an organization you know and trust, such as a bank, to try to obtain your personal and financial information and to trick you into handing over your money.  These bank scams often start with a phone call, email, or text message where the scammer tries to mislead and trick someone into revealing their personal information or transferring money by telling them there was fraud against their bank account.  Many times, the scammer will try to convince the consumer into downloading an app or software onto their phone or tablet that they then use to steal the consumer’s information or hold the consumer’s accounts ransom until the consumer pays the scammer.[v]  Other times, the scammer will try to convince the consumer to purchase gift cards to secure their money.

Generally speaking, if there is fraud against your bank account, your bank will simply freeze your account and wait for you to contact them.  If you receive a communication from an individual who claims to be from your bank alerting you to fraud on your account, and if they then try to get you to divulge personal information, hang up immediately and call the phone number listed on the back of your credit card, debit card, or the number listed on your bank’s website.  If you can visit your local bank branch and speak to a representative in person, even better.  If you have lost money due to a bank scam, please contact the attorneys at the Callahan Law Firm, LLC today for a free consultation.

Sweepstakes Scams

Scammers have been known to use the false promise of a prize to steal money or personal information from innocent consumers.  In these scams, a consumer receives a communication from someone pretending to be an employee or representative from the government, a lottery, or a business, and the consumer is told that the prize cannot be distributed until the consumer pays a fee or upfront taxes.[vi]  No legitimate sweepstakes or lottery will demand that you pay them before they can pay you.  Further, if the scammer tells you that you must “act now” to get the prize, or if they are pressuring you to give them information or pay them money, this is a sure sign of a scam.

If you find yourself on the receiving end of one of these scams, please ignore the scammer and don’t give them any personal or financial information.  Also, don’t let a scammer rush you into handing over your information.  Scammers will often try to pressure consumers with “time sensitive” and “urgent” deadlines in order to try to get consumers to act before they fully think things through or discuss the issue with a trusted friend or family member who might otherwise see the scam for what it is. Give yourself time to verify the truth and don’t make quick decisions based on pressure tactics.

Real sweepstakes are free and by chance.  It is illegal to ask a consumer to pay or buy something to enter, or to increase their chances of winning.

If you have lost money due to a sweepstakes scam, please contact the attorneys at the Callahan Law Firm, LLC today for a free consultation.

Steps to Take

Bottom line: don’t click on links, call numbers listed, or download attachments from unknown senders of emails or texts. Also, if you are unsure whether a communication is legitimate, find the contact number from the actual source’s webpage and call the number listed there—not the email or phone number listed in the suspicious communication. And in general, remember this: “When in doubt, don’t give it out.”  If you are skeptical of someone who contacted you and requested personal or financial information, don’t give them that information, don’t give them your time, and don’t be afraid to say no.

However, if you have lost money due to a scam as described above, or any other scam, please contact the attorneys at the Callahan Law Firm, LLC today for a free consultation.

[i] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2022/12/who-experiences-scams-story-all-ages#one

[ii] https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/how-to-know-if-its-really-the-irs

[iii] https://faq.ssa.gov/en-us/Topic/article/KA-10018

[iv] https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2024/03/did-you-get-call-or-text-about-suspicious-purchase-amazon-its-scam

[v] https://www.fdic.gov/resources/consumers/consumer-news/2023-10.html

[vi] https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/fake-prize-sweepstakes-and-lottery-scams