Excuse me sir or madam, do you have a moment to talk about your car’s extended warranty? Oh, I mean, you won a free trip to Florida! All I need is your social security number and address, and I’ll send you all of the information you need. Oh, and you’re looking for concert tickets? Well, that’s an amazing coincidence because I just so happen to have tickets to that show that’s been sold out for months. Just PayPal me! 

Anyone who has a cell phone, an email account or has spent any time on the internet is well aware of the wide variety of scams out there. According to a Gallup poll, 8% of Americans admit that they’ve fallen victim to a scam in the past year, while another 7% report that at least one member of their household has been scammed. The majority of Americans say that they frequently worry about being scammed as well.   

To learn more about these scams that are flourishing online and how to protect ourselves from them, we reached out to Rebecca Edwards, safety expert and lead reporter at SafeWise. Rebecca was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and explain why these scams have become so common.

“With the 24/7 news cycle and social media, it’s hard to gauge if there are more scams running rampant right now—or if we’re just more aware of it,” the expert says. “While I think it may be a little bit of both, there’s no question that scammers seem to be more brazen and emboldened these days. I think some of the contributing factors are widespread access, use, and reliance on the internet for conducting everyday business, from buying groceries to ordering medications. And it’s also the main place many people go for entertainment and community.”

Rebecca noted that scams are often crimes of opportunity, so the more people who shop or bank online, the more opportunities there are for a scammer to strike. “I also think the lag between the justice system and technical progress is a factor,” she pointed out.

“Because many scams can be hard to classify as crimes and consequences are very difficult to enact, people are getting away with it. The more people who get away with it, the more they (and other scammers) are empowered to keep going,” Rebecca explained. “And, of course, the anonymity of the internet is another part of this perfect storm for scammers.”

According to Rebecca, the most common scams people fall victim to tend to be bait-and-switch types of scams. “Whether it’s a product you’re buying online from a site like Temu or Amazon, a scammer on a dating website, or a text or email that looks like it’s from your bank, the IRS, or a family member, these kinds of scams are easy to fall for at first,” she noted. 

As far as how they get away with these schemes, Rebecca says, “The most successful scammers lull you into a sense of comfort and trust by impersonating someone you know (AI is making this type of scam so much more viable) or presenting as someone or something you’re attracted to and trust.”

“I’ve seen multiple stories this year already about people like me, who are watching for scams professionally, being pulled into something that turned out to be a scam,” the expert shared. “That means the scammers are getting smarter and even the most diligent of us can be taken in if the scammer is able to get us to let our guard down. Once the scammer is ‘in’ their behavior often changes quickly, making threats and demands that are effective because of the information they’ve gained about you or the relationship they’ve established.”

When it comes to protecting ourselves, Rebecca says the best way to steer clear of scammers is to face new/unfamiliar communications with a sense of distrust from the start. “This doesn’t mean you have to be paranoid or start wearing a tin foil hat, but that you should be proactive in verifying that an email, text, DM, or call is legitimate and from the person or company it claims to be from,” she noted.

“When it comes to phone calls, the best advice is not to answer unknown or suspicious calls and let it go to voicemail. If you do answer, don’t say ‘yes’ or confirm any information,” the expert continued. “Sometimes scammers are testing the waters just to see if a number is legit—then they often continue to pursue you. If you do answer and it feels off, trust your gut and hang up immediately. If you stay on the phone, ask for their information and say you’ll call them back. Ask for their name, employee ID, department, direct line, and supervisor, If they won’t provide that information, hang up.”

Rebecca also urges readers not to click on anything or reply after receiving any suspicious emails, DMs, or texts from strangers. “If the IRS or your credit card company needs to contact you, they won’t do it through such informal channels,” she explained. “Save or screenshot the message (in case you need it to pursue a complaint or criminal charges) and then reach out to the supposed source through the traditional channels (publicly posted customer service numbers, etc.) to verify if the message was legit or not.”

Some red flags that Rebecca says to look out for are: “alarming language that creates a sense of fear and/or urgency to respond; messages that talk about an investigation, criminal case, or other scary event that you’ve never heard about before or received official notice of via regular mail or in person; and anything that asks you to confirm your name, birthday, social security number, bank information, or any other personal details.”

Rebecca also urges readers to document everything. “If you have to fight a scam or are able to help prosecute a scammer, every bit of evidence you can produce will help make sure this person can’t do this to anyone else,” she explained. “Take screenshots, save messages, take notes, and tell someone else.”

“If you’re already caught up in a scam, it’s hard for you to see the truth in the midst of all the panic,” she added. “Telling someone you trust can help clear the cobwebs from your eyes. After you talk to someone you trust, report the incident to the proper sources, which can include the FTC, local law enforcement, the company or organization being impersonated, and the platform where the scam originated or took place.”

If you’ve ever fallen victim to a similar scam, we hope you know you’re not alone, pandas. It can be incredibly difficult to know who to trust nowadays, but hopefully you’ve learned to be more cautious in the future. Keep upvoting the scams that you find particularly infuriating, and then if you’re interested in reading a Bored Panda piece featuring scammers getting told off, look no further than right here!