Spotting Modern Scams

Scams are evolving quickly. Artificial intelligence and social media have given fraudsters new ways to imitate loved ones, employers, banks, and even government agencies.

Beneath the technology, the psychology remains the same. Scammers still rely on urgency, secrecy, and emotional pressure to make you act before you have time to think.

Learning to spot patterns is far more effective than memorizing every new scam. Once you recognize the universal red flags, you can identify nearly any form of fraud before it causes harm.

Universal Scam Red Flags

No matter the setup, whether it be a desperate family call, a job offer, a new relationship, or a bank alert, most scams share the same warning signs. Watch out anytime you notice:

• Urgency or pressure: “Act now or something bad will happen.”
• Secrecy demands: “Don’t tell anyone else about this.”
• Unusual payment methods: Requests for gift cards, crypto, wire transfers, or “safe accounts.”
• Requests for sensitive info: Social Security numbers, bank credentials, one-time passcodes, or ID documents.
• Too good to be true offers: Quick job offers, easy money, or sudden romantic devotion.
• Caller ID or profiles that look right but feel wrong: Spoofed phone numbers, fake email domains, or stolen photos.

When in doubt: pause, verify, and get a second opinion.

Now that you know the warning signs, let’s look at how they appear in the most common scams we see today. Each one uses the same tools of urgency, secrecy, and emotion, just dressed in a different disguise.

Spotting Imposter Emergency Scams

Scammers pose as people you know, a family member, a distressed relative, or a figure of authority such as a priest or an emergency responder. They claim someone you care about is in danger and needs money immediately.

Common targets: Older adults

A frantic call comes in from a distraught family member. They say they have been in an accident, arrested, or even kidnapped. The caller shares personal details that seem private but were likely taken from social media, such as a nickname, address, interests, or age, to throw you off guard while gaining your trust. 

Whatever the setup, they demand that you wire money or buy gift cards to resolve the situation quickly.

Red Flags:

• The caller is in a rush or demands secrecy ("Don’t tell anyone else”).
• They refuse to let you hang up.
• The caller asks for a payment request involving a wire transfer, gift card, crypto, or your banking info.

Protecting Yourself:

1. Pause, take a breath: The scammer is pressuring you into acting without thinking.
2. Call them back: Hang up and call the family member or emergency service directly on a known phone number (even if the call came from the same known phone number). Scammers can fake phone numbers in an attempt to legitimize their scams. 
3. Use a code word: Establish a family “safe word” that only you and your close relatives know to verify real emergencies.

Remember: Real emergency responders, medical professionals, or law enforcement will never demand immediate payment over the phone.

These scams exploit your love and concern for others. Their power comes from creating panic and limiting your time to think clearly.

Spotting Job and Interview Scams

Scammers pose as legitimate employers or recruiters to trick job seekers into sharing personal information, sending money, or performing tasks that ultimately benefit the scammer.

Common targets: Young adults seeking work

A fake job listing for a “remote assistant” appears on Indeed or is solicited via text or email. After a quick conversation, the “employer” offers you the job and asks you to buy $200 worth of specialized software, promising reimbursement with your first paycheck. Sometimes a check or deposit appears for more than expected, and is often dismissed as a mistake for which you can keep the excess (how generous). Either way, the paycheck never comes, or the deposit eventually bounces. The scammer always disappears with your money.

Red Flags:

• A quick chat followed by an immediate job offer.
• Requests to buy software or pay upfront for training or equipment—all promised to be reimbursed later (you never will be).
• Early requests for sensitive information, such as your Social Security number, financial account details, or ID.
  

Protecting Yourself:

1. Research the company: Check the company's official website and verify the job posting.
2. Check email domains: Real businesses do not use free email services for recruiting (e.g., AOL, Gmail, Yahoo).
3. Verify any recruiters on LinkedIn: Review their profile, connections, and company affiliations before engaging further.
4. Guard personal info: Don’t provide sensitive details until after an official offer letter is received from a verified company.

Remember: Legitimate employers will never ask you to pay to start a job. You also don't need to share your sensitive personal information (Social Security Number, direct deposit information, etc.) until you are officially hired.

Just like emergency scams, job scams thrive on rushing you into decisions, false trust, and the fear of missing out.

Spotting Relationship Scams

Scammers build online relationships to gain your trust, then request money or personal information, while keeping you isolated and refusing to meet safely in person.

Common targets: Individuals who are lonely or isolated

It starts with an accidental text message from a random phone number. A friendly conversation ensues. Over weeks or months, additional messages, calls, or video chats build a sense of closeness and companionship. This can happen quickly.

The person may offer platitudes by saying things like “I feel like I’ve known you forever”, “I’ve never met anyone like you”, or they may rush into declarations of love. It is also common for the person to pose as a well-known celebrity looking for a “true human connection outside of Hollywood” or “someone to connect with while they are on tour”, for example. 

Once trust is sufficiently established, they request money and gift cards, inventing medical emergencies, business or investment opportunities, or travel costs to finally come visit you. They may create a sense of guilt, saying things like, “If you really loved me, you would help me.” 

If a potential mistake is made, they may use shame and isolation to discourage you from discussing your interactions with friends and family. This delay gives them time to disappear and allows the trail to grow cold. 

Red Flags:

• Relatively quickly, the forming of a deep friendship, potentially romantic, online.
• Avoidance of in-person meetings or video calls.
• Representation as a celebrity.
• Requests for money, software downloads, or personal information.
• Attempts to isolate you from friends or family.
• Use of emotional ties (friendship, trust, love) against you if you question them.
• Long periods without a response.
• Quick response times with large paragraphs of text (was it typed, or copied and pasted?).

Protecting Yourself:

1. Verify photos and profiles: Use reverse image searches to check if their photos appear elsewhere online.
2. Never send money, gifts, or download software: Legitimate online relationships don't require software or money transfers. Be especially cautious if you haven't met in person safely.
3. Keep details private: Don’t share financial info, personal documents, intimate photos, or information about your family. 
4. Talk to someone you trust if something feels off: Get a second opinion if you’re unsure about the relationship. Be open to the second opinion. A scammer will try to separate you from those who can damage their scam. 

Remember: Genuine relationships take time to build. Friendship and intimacy can easily be faked online. Even intelligent, caring people can fall victim when their empathy is used against them.

Here too, the pattern repeats: scammers build trust, then exploit urgency, secrecy, and emotion to get you to act against your best judgment.

Spotting Bank Call Scams

Scammers impersonate bank employees, fake a caller ID phone number, and claim your account is at risk. They pressure you to transfer funds or share login codes. What they're especially after: one-time passcodes sent to your phone. 

Common targets: Anyone with a bank account

You receive a call from someone claiming to be from your bank’s fraud department. The caller ID may even be faked (known as "spoofed") to match the bank’s actual phone number. They say your account has suspicious activity, a fraudulent charge, or a threat, and you must act immediately to protect it or your account will be frozen or confiscated. 

They will use urgency, threatening to lock you out of your account, close the account, or say they can’t do anything about the potential fraud unless you comply immediately. They may insist you must move the money to a “safe account”, pressuring you to transfer money via Venmo, Zelle, wire, or to gift cards.

They share enough of your sensitive information to gain your trust, while asking you for missing pieces, pretending to be verifying your identity and working to secure your account, while stealing the information you disclose. 

Red Flags:

• Requests for one-time passcodes that are sent to your phone.
• Urgent pressure to move funds elsewhere to protect your account.
• The call feels rushed, secretive, or threatening.
• Caller ID shows your bank’s correct number, but something feels off.

Protecting Yourself:

1. Slow down: The scammer is pressuring you into acting without thinking things through.
2. Don’t trust caller ID alone—it can be faked: Scammers can "spoof" phone numbers in an attempt to legitimize their scams. 
3. Just hang up: If you’re unsure about anything, just hang up. Call back using the number on the back of your debit/credit card, or on the bank’s website.
4. Set up account alerts through your bank’s official app: You can be alerted about real activity in real time.
5. Never share a code sent to your phone: This code is the magic key to a scammer. No one should ever ask you for a code sent to your phone.

Remember: Your bank will never ask for your PINs, passwords, or one-time security codes over the phone.

The details may differ, but the goal is the same—to use fear and pressure to make you move too quickly. Awareness and calm verification are your best defenses.

Staying Safe

Whether it is an urgent call, a promising job, a sudden romance, or a fake bank alert, every scam shares the same DNA pattern: they create urgency, demand secrecy, and pressure you to act before you have time to think.

The best protection is not memorizing every new scam but recognizing the shared patterns that drive them. When you pause, verify, and involve a trusted friend or professional, you strip scammers of their greatest weapon: your fear in the moment.

Even the most cautious and intelligent people can slip up in a moment of panic or hope. What matters is learning the red flags and creating simple safety nets for yourself and your family.

If you’d like help setting up fraud alerts, reviewing your credit, or building a family safety plan, we’re here to help. Call us at (775) 827-0670 or schedule a 'Quick Connection' with an advisor at www.openwindow.com/connection.