Scams are hitting wallets hard these days. The Federal Trade Commission reports that Americans lost a staggering $10 billion just last year.

According to Chuck Brooks, President of Brooks Consulting International and Cybersecurity Person of the Year, modern technology has made it easier to fall victim. For example, AI can now create video and voice recordings that impersonate loved ones in distress to trick you into sending money.

With 117k followers on Linkedin, Brooks shares insights on cybersecurity, emerging technologies, business development, and government relations. He notes that fraudsters pretending to be someone else is one of the most common scams.

This technique is known as spoofing. It’s usually done through phishing emails or text messages that look like they came from a trusted source, like a friend, a bank, or your workplace.

In the past, it was easy to spot spoofs because they often had misspelled words, bad images, and claims that didn’t make sense. Now, scammers can convincingly fake entire webpages, caller IDs, and even IP addresses.

Technology expert and TEDx speaker Burton Kelso also advises to be cautious of suspicious ads, as they can lead to fake versions of company websites. To stay safe, check official websites independently.

Even if you are tech-savvy, that doesn’t mean you’re necessarily immune to scams. For instance, younger generations who heavily rely on the internet are particularly vulnerable. According to a survey by Deloitte, American Gen Zs are 3 times more likely to fall for online fraud than boomers.

So while it may be entertaining to read these posts because some scammers are not the brightest, you need to be careful. The most effective way to protect yourself is simply to avoid interacting with them altogether.

Brooks and Kelso recommend using multi-factor authentication on your devices to prevent scammers from getting your private information in the first place.

“This raises the bar toward stealing your passwords by requiring two or three steps to access data,” says Brooks. “You can use biometrics such as facial recognition, an eye scan, or a thumbprint to add an additional level of security”.

Hackers are also really good at figuring out passwords by themselves. On social media, they can find people’s birthdays, places where they lived, and phrases they like to use. Don’t use that information to create your passwords and change them regularly.

Moreover, Kelso suggests being mindful of where you share your phone number and email address. If you give them out too freely, untrustworthy companies might sell your data. This could leave you with dangerous spam emails and unwanted calls.

Remember that scammers rely on psychological manipulation to take advantage of you. “They use fear-based tactics to get us into our primitive brain, which is always on alert,” Alex Melkumian, founder of the Financial Psychology Center, said for Time Magazine. “[This] really just hijacks our ability to rationally think through the situation.”

At the end of the day, Kelso says to “trust your gut.” Delete messages that make you feel uneasy and don’t make quick decisions. “If people really want to contact you, they will reach out [until they do].”