Finding Examples of Scams

What scams are out there? The designers of this course did a quick search. We found the following list. What can you find to add to the list? Post at least one new example to the discussion board.

Examples of scams include:

• Lottery and Sweepstakes Scams: Victims are told they've won a prize but must pay fees or taxes upfront to claim it.
• Romance Scams: Scammers build online romantic relationships and then ask for money for various fabricated reasons.
• Technical Support Scams: Scammers pose as tech support and claim the victim's computer has a virus and offer to fix it for a fee. Caution participants to NEVER let anyone "take over" their computer to fix it in cases like this.
• IRS Impersonation Scams: Callers claim to be from the IRS and demand immediate payment of back taxes, threatening legal action.
• Fake Charity Scams: Soliciting donations for non-existent charities, often following natural disasters or other crises.
• Grandparent Scams: Scammers call seniors pretending to be a grandchild in need of emergency funds. This has gotten very sophisticated with AI-generated messages that can actually sound like a relative.
• Social Media Quizzes: Seemingly fun quizzes that gather personal information or may lead to malicious websites.
• Online Marketplace Scams: Selling goods that are never delivered or are significantly different from the described item.
• Counterfeit Prescription Drugs: Selling fake or low-quality prescription medications online.
• Gift Card Scams: Offering free gift cards in exchange for information
• Online Shopping Scams: Sending phishing emails that look like order confirmations or customer service communications, leading victims to fake websites they think are real stores.
• Medicare Scams: Scammers pose as Medicare representatives to obtain personal information or offer fake services. Examples include: offering "free" medical equipment or services and then billing Medicare; calling or emailing to "verify" or "update" Medicare information, leading to identity theft; promoting bogus Medicare prescription drug discount cards.
• Social-Security Scams: Scammers impersonate Social-Security Administration (SSA) employees to gain access to personal information. Examples include: calling to say the victim's Social-Security number has been suspended due to suspicious activity, then requesting personal details to "resolve" the issue; sending official-looking emails asking the recipient to click a link and provide personal information to "update" their Social Security records; threatening legal action or arrest if immediate payment or personal information is not provided.

Want to learn more?

Watch these short videos about protecting yourself about scams. (These may include short ads at the beginning that you can eventually skip over.)

You can also review this list of Senior Scams organized by type from the North Carolina Attorney General's Office.

The ABC's of Email Cybersecurity. Online Scams to watch for in 2023