In an age where phones act as your personal gateway to the world, the recent rise in scam calls and scam texts can feel like danger is lurking behind every ringtone. Phone scams disrupt our daily life and destroy our peace of mind. As scammers grow increasingly savvy, it’s crucial to arm ourselves with the necessary knowledge to recognize and thwart these attempts. In this article, we’ll explore a variety of ways to help you identify common scam calls to watch out for, ways to protect your personal information, and how reclaim your phone as a tool for connection rather than a source of anxiety.

At Market Advisory Group, we care about your financial peace. We deal with things like social security, taxes, and Medicare for our clients, and often see or hear of scams related to these topics. We want to help you watch out for these common scams.

Scammers often call you claiming to be from the IRS. They may claim that you owe money and threaten legal action if you don’t pay immediately. Pay attention to the level of urgency – an overwhelming sense of urgency is a tactic commonly used by many scammers. They might ask you to pay over the phone using gift cards or wire transfers.

It is important to know the IRS will NEVER request that you pay over the phone using an unconventional payment method like these. If you notice they asked for a strange method of payment, you can instantly recognize that you are undergoing a scam attempt. 

The key signs of a scam call from someone pretending to be the IRS include urgent threats, requests for payment in other unconventional forms, and the usage of high-pressure tactics.

More: Here’s what the IRS says to do about phishing scams.

Scammers often attempt to pressure you into providing personal information or money by impersonating members of the Social Security Administration (SSA). These scammers often use high-pressure tactics, claiming that there are issues with your Social Security number or that legal action will be taken against you unless you pay a fine or confirm your information. They may even fraudulently replicate the SSA’s official phone number to make their calls appear legitimate.

It’s crucial to remember that the SSA will never contact you via phone to ask for sensitive information. If you receive such a call, it’s best to hang up. To watch out for Social Security scam calls, stay alert and be skeptical of unsolicited phone calls claiming to be from the SSA.

If you receive a call that threatens legal action or promises benefits in exchange for personal information, it’s best to hang up immediately.

More: Here’s the latest from the Social Security Administration on scam attempts.

The impersonation of a family member or loved one is one of the cruelest ways a scammer can try to take advantage of you.

Their goal is to manipulate you into providing personal information or sending large sums of money by calling you and pretending that they are your loved one and that they are in a crisis. These scammers can target individuals, businesses, or even entire communities.

In these cases, scammers usually claim to be a relative (like a child or grandchild) who is in trouble, often pleading that they need money for bail, medical expenses, or some sort of emergency. The scammer may use social media to gather information about your family to make their story more believable.

Always verify by hanging up the phone first, and then by both calling and texting the family member directly at a trusted phone number that you know belongs to them. Avoid sending money immediately. Scammers tend to force an almost overwhelming sense of urgency upon you.

Spotting The Family Scams

If you are trying to figure out whether the call is truly a scam; requests for secrecy, urgent pleas for help, and unfamiliar phone numbers should always sound alarm bells in your mind. Some families have successfully thwarted scam attempts like these by establishing a “codeword” for their loved one to use to verify a real emergency. 

Scammers may call you and claim that your device has been “compromised” or that unusual activity has been detected on your personal computer.

They often follow up by asking you to visit a website where they can fully take control of your device to “solve the problem”. You should regard any unsolicited call involving tech support as automatically suspicious.

Legitimate tech companies do not call customers out of the blue regarding a problem like that—nor do unfamiliar tech companies even have access to the data that would let them know if your computer truly had a legitimate problem.

The bottom line is that you should never give an unsolicited caller remote access to your personal computer—because even an unsolicited call from a legitimate tech representative would never include a request for remote access. 

Identifying a scam text can be straightforward if you know what to look for. Again, watch for messages that create a false sense of urgency, such as claims that your account will be suspended, a bill is overdue, or that you’ve won a prize for a contest that you don’t remember entering.

Scammers often use depersonalized greetings like “Dear Customer” instead of your real name, which can be a red flag.

Poor grammar and spelling errors are also common in scam texts.

Additionally, watch out for any links, phone numbers, or email addresses included in the body of the text, and DO NOT click on them. These links may lead to fraudulent websites and attempts to steal your personal information.

If something feels even slightly off or “too good to be true”, trust your instincts and refrain from responding or clicking any links. Sometimes, scam texts will pretend to be a wrong number— asking questions such as, “Hey Alicia, are we still on for golf on Wednesday?” If you respond with something like “Sorry, wrong number” or, “Who’s Alicia?” they can use that as a chance to build a relationship with you, and eventually scam you.

It’s best to totally ignore the text, or better yet, block the number. Don’t worry about being impolite…Scamming is impolite! 

Staying alert and informed can help you avoid falling victim to the types of scams we went over in this article.

Some of these scams can be highly convincing and emotionally charged, but remember: When in doubt, verify. If something feels off, trust your gut—it’s better to take a moment to hang up and verify the call than to act impulsively.

As a financial advisory firm, we look out for our clients’ best interest with finances, which includes possible losses due to spam.

You can report fraud to the Federal Trade Commission here.