How To Avoid Online Scams: A Practical Safety Guide

You avoid an online scam by slowing down before you react, verifying the sender or company through an official channel you look up yourself, and never clicking an unsolicited link or sending money or a one-time code to anyone who pressures you to act immediately.

Fraud is a massive and growing problem: Americans reported losing nearly $16 billion to scams and fraud in 2025, up 25% from the year before, according to the FTC. Knowing the common scam types and red flags is what separates a suspicious message you delete from a costly mistake.

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Key Takeaways

• There's no dollar amount too small (or large) to be a target. Scammers pursue everything from $20 gift cards to six-figure investment "opportunities."

• Urgency plus an unusual payment method is the biggest tell. If someone wants you to act now and pay by gift card, wire, crypto or Zelle, stop.

• Investment and crypto scams cause the most financial damage. They accounted for roughly half of all reported fraud losses in 2025.

• Gen Z is getting hit disproportionately hard. They're three times more likely than Baby Boomers to fall for an online scam, and reports of scam attempts among Gen Z have tripled in the past year.

• A legitimate bank will never ask you to move money to a "safe" account. That request is one of the clearest scam signals there is.

• If you've been scammed, speed matters. Contacting your bank and reporting the incident quickly meaningfully improves your odds of limiting the damage.

Summary generated by AI, verified by MoneyLion editors

What Counts as an Online Scam?

An online scam is when a fraudster uses the internet, text messages or phone calls to trick you into revealing personal or financial information, or into sending money directly. Common forms include phishing emails, fake websites and fraudulent online shopping schemes.

Universal scam warning signs include:

• An unsolicited text asking you to click a link.

• A phishing email designed to steal your login or financial information.

• A fake-looking website built to capture personal or financial data.

• An online shopping deal that takes payment and never delivers.

• An investment pitch promising guaranteed high returns that never materializes.

What Are the Most Common Online Scams Right Now?

Recognizing the scams currently making the rounds is the fastest way to avoid becoming a statistic.

Imposter and Bank Impersonation Scams

Someone poses as a family member, a government agency or your bank to get you to send money or hand over financial information. A common current version is a text claiming you owe an unpaid toll, or a call claiming to be the IRS about back taxes. The FTC recorded more than $3.5 billion in imposter scam losses in 2025, the single most-reported fraud category, and fake toll-payment texts specifically drove a 40% jump in government impersonation reports. See our breakdown of bank impersonation scams for how these specifically target your bank accounts.

Phishing and Smishing Scams

You receive an email (phishing) or text message (smishing) directing you to a counterfeit page designed to steal your login credentials or financial details. These messages often mimic real companies closely enough to pass a quick glance.

Investment and Crypto Scams

A "company" promises guaranteed returns, sometimes backed by a slick AI-generated dashboard designed to look legitimate. Investment scams caused the highest dollar losses of any category in 2025, at roughly $7.9 billion, nearly half of all reported fraud losses that year.

Romance Scams

Someone builds an online relationship with you over weeks or months, then eventually asks for money, often framed as help with an "investment." Reported romance scam losses reached $1.48 billion in 2025, up 22% year over year, averaging roughly $2,020 lost per victim. One of the clearest red flags is a partner who always has an excuse to avoid meeting in person.

Job-Offer Scams

A "recruiter" offers an unusually easy or high-paying remote job, then asks you to pay upfront for training, equipment or background checks, or to deposit and forward a check. Real employers don't ask new hires to pay them.

Tech-Support Scams

A pop-up or call claims your computer is infected and pressures you to grant remote access or pay for immediate "repairs." Legitimate tech companies don't cold-call you about a virus.

AI Voice-Cloning Scams

You receive a call using an AI-generated voice that convincingly sounds like a family member, often in a distressed tone with an urgent request for money. The realism of the cloned voice is what makes this scam particularly effective.

Online Shopping Scams

A fake storefront takes your payment and never delivers the product. These sites are often promoted through social media ads and can be difficult to distinguish from real retailers at a glance. Paying by credit card offers more dispute protection than other methods, though scammers increasingly attempt credit card scams directly, so review statements closely either way.

Scam Types at a Glance

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How Do You Spot a Scam?

Watch for any combination of these red flags:

• Pressure to act now. A deadline of minutes or hours is designed to short-circuit careful thinking.

• Requests for sensitive personal information. An unsolicited request for your Social Security number, account numbers or one-time login codes should never be honored.

• Too-good-to-be-true offers. If a deal or return sounds unbelievable, it usually is.

• Unusual payment demands. A push toward wire transfer, gift cards, cryptocurrency or a P2P app like Zelle is a major warning sign, since these are all difficult or impossible to reverse.

• Unsolicited contact. A text or email you weren't expecting, from a sender you don't recognize, warrants extra suspicion.

• A request to move money to a "safe" account. A legitimate bank will never ask you to do this.

How Do You Protect Yourself From Online Scams?

You can't stop scammers from trying, but you can make their job much harder:

• Lock down your accounts. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA), use strong, unique passwords and keep your social media profiles private.

• Take advantage of passkeys. A passkey lets you sign in with your fingerprint or face instead of a password, which removes the risk of a stolen or guessed password entirely.

• Monitor your money. Check bank and credit card statements regularly, and set up alerts for withdrawals, purchases and new credit inquiries.

• Freeze your credit. It's free and prevents new accounts from being opened in your name; see our fraud alert versus credit freeze comparison if you're deciding which fits your situation.

• Sign up for credit and account monitoring. Monitoring your credit can help flag fraudulent activity early, which matters since a sudden drop out of good credit score territory (670 to 739) or fair territory (580 to 669) is often one of the first visible signs something is wrong.

• Guard your personal information. Don't share your Social Security number, address or date of birth unless it's genuinely necessary; see our tips on protecting your personal information online.

• Act fast on anything suspicious. The sooner you report unusual activity to your bank, the credit bureaus or an identity protection service, the less damage it tends to cause.

For a broader rundown of fraud types beyond online scams specifically, see our guide on common types of financial fraud, our overview of how to avoid online fraud more generally, and consider these fraud prevention tips as ongoing habits rather than a one-time fix.

What Should You Do if You've Been Scammed?

Once you realize you've been scammed, move quickly:

1. Cut off contact. Stop responding to the scammer immediately.

2. Call your bank using the number on your card. Never use a phone number the scammer gave you. Tell your bank or card issuer what happened so they can freeze the account and block further charges.

3. Change your passwords. Update the passwords on any compromised accounts right away.

4. Enable 2FA. If you haven't already, turn on two-factor authentication in your account settings now.

5. Place a credit freeze or fraud alert. Choose based on how serious the exposure is; see our credit freeze versus fraud alert breakdown.

6. Review your credit reports. You're entitled to a free report from each bureau every week.

7. Report it. File a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and, if identity theft is involved, generate a recovery plan at IdentityTheft.gov. For internet-specific crimes, also file with the FBI's IC3.gov.

If your Social Security number was part of what was exposed, our guide on what to do when your Social Security number is compromised walks through the additional steps to take. It's also worth reviewing how to protect your bank account from identity theft and, if a card was involved, our overview of debit card fraud protection.

Why Is Gen Z Getting Scammed More?

Gen Z is more than three times as likely as Baby Boomers to fall for an online scam, according to Deloitte's Connected Consumer Survey. Consumer Reports' 2025 Cyber Readiness Report found text and messaging scam attempts jumped 50% in the past year, with reports of scam attempts among Gen Z tripling, the fastest growth of any age group.

The reasons come down to exposure and habit. Gen Z lives most of its social and financial life through texting and social media, both prime scam channels, and grew up trusting the speed and convenience of digital life in a way that can override caution. A packed group chat with unfamiliar numbers, constant notifications and a job market where "too good to be true" offers sound plausible all compound the risk. The speed of Gen Z's online life is exactly what scammers count on.

The Bottom Line

The single most important habit for avoiding an online scam is slowing down and verifying before you act. Before you click a link or hand over any information, confirm the message or website is legitimate by going directly to the official source yourself, not through a link or number the message gave you. A few other habits worth keeping top of mind:

• Don't share passwords with anyone.

• Enable 2FA on every account that offers it.

• Use strong, unique passwords or passphrases.

• Never comply with an unusual payment request, especially gift cards, wire transfers, crypto or P2P apps.

• Trust your gut if a site, call or message feels off.

Key Terms

• Phishing: A scam that uses fake emails or texts (also called smishing when sent by text) to trick you into revealing personal or financial information.

• Imposter scam: A scam where someone poses as a trusted entity, like a bank, government agency or family member, to obtain money or information.

• Two-factor authentication (2FA): A security step that requires a second form of verification beyond your password, such as a code sent to your phone.

• Passkey: A digital credential that lets you sign in using a fingerprint or facial recognition instead of a password.

• Credit freeze: A free tool that blocks lenders from viewing your credit report, preventing new accounts from being opened in your name.

• Fraud alert: A flag on your credit file that requires lenders to verify your identity before extending new credit.

• Smishing: Phishing conducted via text message rather than email.

Summary generated by AI, verified by MoneyLion editors

Sources

• Federal Trade Commission: FTC Data Show People Reported Losing $3.5 Billion to Imposter Scams in 2025

• Federal Trade Commission: New Trends in Reports of Imposter Scams

• Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Online and Digital Scams

• Consumer Federation of America: The Scam Economy Report

• Consumer Reports: 2025 Consumer Cyber Readiness Report

• Deloitte: Connected Consumer Survey

• ReportFraud.ftc.gov and IdentityTheft.gov

Summary generated by AI, verified by MoneyLion editors

FAQ

Here are quick answers to common questions about avoiding online scams.

How can I tell if a website or message is a scam?

Look for a few telltale signs: pressure to act urgently, a link you're pushed to click, and a request for payment via Zelle, gift cards, crypto or wire transfer. Misspellings in a URL, generic greetings instead of your name and other small inconsistencies are also common giveaways that a site or message isn't legitimate.

What should I do if I already clicked a scam link?

Disconnect your device from the internet, change your passwords on any accounts that could be affected, and review your browser extensions for anything unfamiliar. If you entered any financial information, contact your bank right away and monitor your accounts closely.

Will my bank refund money I lost to a scam?

Your bank will generally refund an unauthorized transfer as long as you report it promptly. However, if you authorized the transaction yourself, even under a scammer's deception, such as paying for an item you never received, your bank typically isn't required to refund that amount, since federal electronic transfer protections apply differently to authorized versus unauthorized transactions.

How do I report an online scam?

Report it in three places: notify your bank or credit card company if your money or accounts were involved, file a report with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov (and IdentityTheft.gov if identity theft occurred), and submit a complaint to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov.

Does freezing my credit actually stop scammers?

A credit freeze stops lenders from viewing your credit reports at the three bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, which prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. It won't undo fraud that's already happened, and it can't help you recover money you sent voluntarily to a scammer.