Prevent scams

Be wary of unsolicited messages from people you don't know

Scammers and cybercriminals will try and cold-contact people. By ignoring messages, friend requests, or phone calls from people you don't recognize, you reduce the opportunities for a criminal to engage with you.

Follow two easy steps

Pause: Scammers like to create a false sense of urgency or panic in order to make it harder for a potential victim to think critically. Pausing gives you time to think if something makes sense.

Verify: Scammers often try to impersonate an authority figure, like a police officer, government official, company support representative, or even a family member, in order to get you to take an action. You always have time to verify if someone is real by independently checking if they are who they say they are.

Be on the lookout for unusual activity on your accounts

It's always a good idea to know whether or not something is happening in one of your accounts, particularly financial accounts. Make sure you are checking your credit card and bank statements for unusual activity. Set up alerts so you get notified for transactions that happen in your accounts.

If you notice unusual activity, investigate it and contact the company for help.

Don't have a false sense of security

You're not good enough to recognize every scam. Nobody is.

Be aware that it's no longer true that anyone can recognize a scam. Scams are realistic, they'll be personalized to you and your information, and they'll look like they're coming from people you know. The Global Anti-Scam Alliance found that two thirds of people are confident they can spot a scam, and that 43% of those who met one engaged with it anyway. Confidence and safety are not the same thing.