How To Tell if Someone Is Scamming You Online

You can tell if someone is scamming you online if they make grammatical or spelling errors, create a sense of urgency, ask you for personal information, offer you something that’s too good to be true or reach out to you unexpectedly.

Read the following signs that someone is scamming you online, learn about the most common online scams to watch out for and note our tips on how to protect yourself from becoming a victim.

1. Makes grammatical and spelling errors

Phishing emails tend to contain noticeable issues with grammar and spelling. Sometimes, the scammers sending these emails don’t know the language they’re writing in, which is why there are so many typos and sentences that don’t make sense. Scammers might also hope that you are easy to trick and won’t notice the grammatical and spelling errors, thereby falling for the scam. You can tell a phishing email is a scam if it claims to come from a legitimate company but contains typos since real companies go through multiple phases of review for any email they send out.

2. Creates a sense of urgency

Scammers typically use fear-inducing language in phishing attempts and imply that there’s a reason for you to act quickly. The sense of urgency that scammers create can make you want to act immediately without a chance to think, causing you to send money or share personal information out of fear. A scammer might pretend to be the IRS and claim that you need to send money immediately or else you will be arrested. Of course, out of fear of being arrested, you will most likely give in to the threat and send the scammer money. Remember that if something feels uncomfortable or looks suspicious, don’t feel obligated to send any personal information or money to someone, regardless of the ultimatum or urgency.

3. Asks for personal information

Legitimate companies will never ask for your personal or financial information if you do not contact them first. If you receive an unsolicited email or phone call from a company or individual asking for any private information, you can assume that this is a scam. Some scammers rely on technological advancements like Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make their scams seem more real by impersonating the voice of a friend or family member that they get through videos posted on social media. Even if someone you know asks you for private information over email, text or on the phone, and you feel nervous about giving it to them, be aware that scammers could be using their likeness to trick you.

4. Sounds too good to be true

Sometimes, scammers will offer you something that sounds too good to be true, which is how you can detect that something is a scam rather than a real prize. For example, if you receive an email claiming that you’ve just won $50,000, a trip to Fiji or a $200 Amazon gift card, you should be skeptical of this offer’s legitimacy. By clicking a link to “receive” the prizes from this offer, you could actually be downloading malware onto your device. Clicking an unsafe link may infect your device and network with malware, which is software intended to steal your private information. You can check if a link is safe by hovering your mouse over the link to preview the URL without clicking on it. You can also use a URL checker to determine if a link is legitimate.

5. You get unexpected calls

If you continue to get random phone calls from someone claiming to work at a company or government agency, there is a high chance that they are a scammer. For example, someone might pretend to work for an insurance agency and call you to verify your private information. Do not believe that these scam calls are legitimate and make sure to hang up immediately if you answer them. You should reach out to the company or agency directly through a trusted line of communication to verify any personal information.

Common online scams to look out for

There are many types of ways for you to get scammed online. Here are some of the most common scams you could fall for and how to watch out for them online.

Phishing emails and text messages

The most common type of online scam is phishing. For cybercriminals, the goal of phishing is to trick victims into sharing personal information, such as passwords or credit card numbers, by impersonating a person or company the victim is familiar with. Phishing attacks are generally conducted over email, but they can also happen over text messages in what is called smishing. These attacks include a link or attachment that the victim is urged to click on quickly, and they will be asked to enter account credentials, reveal personal information or send money. After the victim clicks on a malicious link or attachment, malware can start to download on the victim’s device and share the victim’s private data with a scammer. If you ever receive an unsolicited email or text message, be cautious before clicking any links or sharing any personal information.

Online dating and romance scams

When online dating, you have to be careful about whom you believe, even before you meet up with a potential love interest in person. You may be falling for a romance scammer if you notice they have confessed their love very quickly or want to start communicating off the dating app. While some hopeless romantics might also share these traits, one of the most important signs of a romance scammer is if they ask you for money to assist with a plane ticket, major surgery, car accident or another emergency. Romance scammers will build your trust and start to understand what you care about, so they will create pretext as to why they need your money to make it as believable as possible. If anyone from an online dating app asks you for money, you should be cautious because the person you think you’ve fallen in love with might be a scammer. Unlike most potential love interests on these dating sites, a romance scammer will come up with any excuse not to meet you in person, such as claiming that they have lost their job, are dealing with family issues or a financial shortcoming. If someone from a dating app avoids meeting you in person or always cancels due to sudden emergencies, you are most likely communicating with a romance scammer, also known as a catfisher.

Grandparent scams

Even though the name of this scam implies that scammers only target the elderly, grandparent scams can happen to anyone a scammer believes they can deceive. The goal of grandparent scams is for scammers to take money from a victim by impersonating a victim’s loved one. A scammer, pretending to be someone the victim cares about, will claim that they are in danger and need money to help in an emergency. The reason grandparent scams target the elderly is that scammers rely on older people’s fear and willingness to help being greater than those of someone younger and perhaps more skeptical. Scammers download videos from social media and can use AI to clone a victim’s loved one’s voice to make their scam even more believable. Typically, a grandparent scam will involve a scammer asking for money quickly and asking the victim not to tell anyone else they’ve been contacted, out of embarrassment or fear of repercussions from a parent. If you ever receive a phone call that sounds like this, take a few seconds to think logically before reacting out of fear and sending money to someone, even if they claim to be your family member.

Tech-support scams

Imagine you are having issues with your computer and you are told by tech support that they can fix your device’s problems if you allow them to access your device remotely. Although this sounds like a convenient solution to your computer’s problems, allowing someone access to your device can be part of a tech-support scam if the support agent is actually a scammer. You should be suspicious if someone from tech support says they need to run tests that may take a long time or asks you to install certain applications or software onto your device. It is most likely that a scammer will gain access to your private information through malware or viruses if you allow them to install anything on your computer.

Online shopping scams

If you frequently shop online for clothes, appliances or anything else, you should be aware of the number of online shopping scams. In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that $2.7 billion has been lost from social media scams with almost half of those instances being related to online shopping. Scammers target users while they’re shopping online by creating fake websites that appear to be legitimate businesses in order to steal your personal or financial information. Sometimes, scammers pretend to be legitimate businesses that have many customers, like Amazon or Walmart, in spoofing attacks to trick people into believing they are shopping on real company websites. You should be cautious of any ads and remember not to click on them while online shopping because they could be created by scammers to promote their fake websites. After you enter your information on a fake website or even click the link for it, malware might start to infect your device or your information could be sent directly to a scammer.

Cryptocurrency scams

One of the most modern types of scams revolves around cryptocurrency, a digital form of currency that exists only electronically, like Bitcoin. Because cryptocurrency does not exist physically, scammers are becoming more clever at stealing people’s money through cryptocurrency scams. Some scammers pose as legitimate businesses and ask for payment in the form of cryptocurrency, but you should know that very few legitimate businesses are going to accept payment in cryptocurrency. Many scammers try to convince you to invest in cryptocurrency on social media or online dating apps, claiming to know what they’re doing with cryptocurrency and can help you get more money. However, these are all signs that you are communicating with a scammer.

Avoid falling victim to common online scams

Now that you know the most common types of online scams, it’s important to know how to protect yourself and your private data from scammers. Here are some best practices to remember when interacting online to avoid becoming a scammer’s next victim:

• Use strong and unique passwords for each of your online accounts
• Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on your accounts when available
• Block scam callers in your phone’s settings
• Do not click on unsolicited links or attachments in emails or text messages
• Avoid oversharing on social media to keep your digital footprint clean
• Be cautious about who you provide your personal information to

By following these best practices, you can avoid becoming a victim of online scams and keep your data safe. To assist you in securing your online accounts and keeping your private data safe, you should invest in a password manager. Start a free 30-day trial of Keeper Password Manager today to keep your personal information safe.