Common Fraud Types

Charity fraud schemes seek donations for organizations that do little or no work —instead, the money goes to the fake charity’s creator. While these scams can happen at any time, they are especially prevalent after high-profile disasters. Charity fraud scams can come to you in many forms: emails, social media posts, crowdfunding platforms, cold calls, etc.

Check fraud is a counterfeit, altered, forged, not endorsed as drawn, or not authorized check that clears in an account. A popular way these fraud events occur is when a fraudster steals mail out of a mailbox or from the postal service, alters the check, and tries to deposit it. 

Scammers reach out to individuals who may be enticed by the promise that they can get their debts reduced or forgiven — for a steep upfront fee. Victims typically have high credit card debt, a large car loan, or student loans. This relief or reduction of debt never comes, and the victim is robbed of their money.

Elder abuse is the mistreatment of adults, typically over the age of 60. An abuser can be a family member, friend, someone the elder trusts, a healthcare worker, etc. Elder abuse can take many forms, including physical, emotional/psychological, neglect, financial, etc.

Services, goods, or apartments are listed on job or community boards for extremely low prices that seem almost too good to be true. Scammers copy legitimate listings but replace the contact information with their own. Once payment is sent, the perpetrator disappears without delivering what was promised. We often see these scams occur through sites like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, TikTok Shop, and Offer Up, and they usually involve the sale of pets or highly sought-after goods.

Identity theft, piracy, or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, such as their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without permission to commit fraud or other crimes.

Scammers trick the victim by pretending to be family, a bail bond agent, or an emergency service, notifying them that their grandchildren are in dire need of money. They ask unsuspecting victims for funds to be sent through peer-to-peer payments, wire money, transfer funds, or use other hard-to-trace methods like gift cards. These scams can be sophisticated and seem very real. By using information from the internet, the scammer can sound very convincing. One way to combat this scam is by having a family “code” word that the scammer will not know. 

Mobile payment apps like Venmo, Cash App, or PayPal let you send and receive money through your smartphone (or online). Some scammers may try to trick you into sending them money through a mobile payment app. 

These scams can include official emails, text messages, and social or voice messages from banks or other reputable companies meant to trick unsuspecting victims into giving out personal or financial information to steal personal information or money. This often occurs when a member receives a message advising of account issues and a link to log in and “correct” them. These links are not legitimate and are used to steal login credentials. Please note, Teachers will never send a link or ask for personal information through a message.

Scammers create QR codes that look legitimate but direct users to phishing sites or malicious content. These QR codes could appear in public places, on fake websites, or even on physical mail. Always preview the link associated with a QR code before opening it.

Romance scams occur when a criminal adopts a fake online identity to gain a victim’s affection and trust. The scammer then uses the illusion of a romantic or close relationship to manipulate and steal from the victim. Be wary of people who refuse to meet in person, speak on the phone, or request wires, especially to foreign countries.

Smishing is a social engineering attack that uses fake mobile text messages to trick you into disclosing sensitive information, such as your usernames, passwords, and 2-factor authentication codes. Fake text messages may contain links that direct you to spoofed websites, which are cleverly crafted to mimic a legitimate website.

Scammers will catfish members, pretending to be unknown individuals, trying to befriend them to steal their personal information or money. They may also target those by posting fake surveys or contests that can trick members into giving out personal data.

These scammers pretend to be tech support specialists from well-known companies. They try to steal information by claiming something is wrong with the victim’s account or device. They will try to trick victims into thinking that their computer is damaged to get them to allow scammers remote access under the false claim that they can fix the issue.

An urgency scam is any type of scam that pressures victims into taking advantage of a deal or urges them to send a payment, giving a tight timeframe in which to act. The scammers may pretend to be hospitals, bail bondsmen, the IRS, or even family members to pressure victims to provide personal information or send a form of payment.

Scammers impersonate representatives from utility companies (such as electricity or water providers) and will attempt to pressure consumers into sending a payment to avoid having their service turned off. They will contact victims via phone or email and use scare tactics to trick those targeted into providing financial information.