7 Most Common Scams and How to Avoid Them

It’s spooky season …but the real scares aren’t in haunted houses. They’re in your inbox.

Scammers don’t wait for Halloween to dress up; they put on disguises every day. From fake CEOs to AI-generated “friends,” today’s scamming methods use AI, voice cloning, and psychological trickery to make even the smartest people fall for frighteningly common scams.

You could be scrolling TikTok, answering your boss’s email, or paying a toll, and boom, you’ve met a monster in your messages.

So before you carve pumpkins or open another “urgent” text, read on. Learn about the recent scams haunting inboxes right now — and how to keep your DT set money from vanishing into the night. 

These scams are getting smarter — and so should we. That’s why we’re sharing a new YouTube series from our identity theft protection partner, LifeLock. Check out Control Room with new episodes every week. Start with Episode 1 below.

Table of contents

• 1. The CEO scam

• 2. The kidnapping scam

• 3. The deepfake scam

• 4. The romance scam

• 5. The pig butchering scam

• 6. The toll scam

• 7. The cemetery scam

1. The CEO scam

Imagine you’re new at work. Your phone buzzes: a text from your boss. She’s in a meeting, it’s urgent, and she needs you to grab $3,000 in Apple gift cards right now. You want to impress, right? So you do it.

Turns out, it wasn’t her: just a scammer who cloned her email signature and maybe even her voice. In one real case, a Hong Kong employee wired $25 million after a fake video call with a “VP.”

Scammers now use AI-generated voices and deepfake video calls — one of the latest scams going around — to impersonate company leaders in real time. They prey on employees’ fear of messing up and their instinct to respond quickly to authority.

How to spot it:

• Real executives don’t ask for urgent gift cards or wire transfers over text.

• Check the email address; scammers often use small variations (like [email protected]).

• Verify by calling or messaging your manager directly.

💡MoneyLion tip: Urgency is the enemy of logic. If someone says, “Do it now or else,” take a beat and verify.

2. The kidnapping scam

This is one of the darkest scam methods around. You get a call: your loved one’s been kidnapped. You hear their voice screaming in the background:  “Mom! Please, send money!”

Except… it’s not real. It’s a voice-clone scheme, one of the most alarming recent scams, pulled from social media clips or old videos. Scammers weaponize your panic to make you act fast, demanding wire transfers or crypto.

The FBI says this form of scam method is spreading fast, targeting anyone with a digital footprint. Victims describe it as one of the most psychologically brutal common scams because it attacks emotion, not logic.

How to spot it:

• Hang up and call your loved one immediately.

• Share this with relatives who might panic first, verify later.

• Never wire or transfer money over threats; real law enforcement doesn’t demand ransom via Venmo.

💡MoneyLion tip: Keep family videos and voice clips private. The fewer recordings out there, the less material scammers can steal.

3. The deepfake scam

AI doesn’t just power your selfie filters; it powers the latest scams that impersonate people you know. Deepfake technology can now create eerily convincing videos and voices of coworkers, friends, or even you.

What started with celebrities has morphed into a common scam method. All scammers need are a few seconds of your TikTok clip to create a fake call asking for “urgent” help or sensitive data.

How to spot it:

• Look for unnatural blinking, jerky movements, or too-smooth voices.

• Confirm any “urgent” video or voice message through another channel.

• Don’t trust a face alone; verify through a direct call.

💡MoneyLion tip: Deepfakes are like bad Botox … something always looks off. When in doubt, pause before reacting and always reach out to the person to confirm.

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4. The romance scam

Love hurts, especially when it drains your savings. Romance scams are one of the latest scams going around, blending emotional manipulation with digital deception.

It starts with a DM from someone charming and attentive. Weeks later, there’s a crisis: a frozen bank account, a sick relative, a stranded flight. You wire money to help, then they vanish.

Modern romance scamming methods now use AI-generated photos or stolen videos of real people, sometimes even deepfakes of military officers. Victims think they’re building trust; in reality, they’re being groomed for theft.

How to spot it:

• They refuse to meet in person or live-video chat.

• Their affection escalates into financial requests.

• Their backstory sounds cinematic (and suspicious).

💡MoneyLion tip: If your “soulmate” asks for crypto, it’s not fate; it’s fraud.

5. The pig butchering scam

One of the most disturbing recent scams is “pig butchering”:  a long-con investment hoax. Scammers “fatten” victims with daily contact, fake affection, and talk of quick crypto profits, then “slaughter” their savings.

It often starts with a wrong-number text. You chat, bond, trust them. They invite you into a “guaranteed” investment platform that looks real and may even pay small early returns. Then the site (and your money) disappear.

An estimated $75 billion in global losses have resulted from this scam method, much of it tied to human-trafficking compounds running the operations.

How to spot it:

• Ignore “wrong number” texts that keep chatting.

• “Guaranteed” investment returns are a lie.

• Never invest based on an online relationship.

💡MoneyLion tip: If a stranger suddenly cares about your portfolio, they’re not an angel investor; they’re carving you up for profit.

6. The toll scam

Timing is the trick here. You drive through a toll and minutes later get a text saying you owe a fee. It looks official, and even the plate number checks out. You click the link, pay, and gift scammers your card info.

This common scam relies on coincidence and fear. One traveler in Puerto Rico got a “missed toll” message right after crossing a bridge: pure luck for the scammer, pure panic for her.

How to spot it:

• Legit toll agencies don’t text for payment.

• Watch for fake “.co” or “.info” domains instead of “.gov.”

• Verify tolls only through your state’s official site.

💡MoneyLion tip: Never pay a toll via text. If you actually owe, you’ll get a mailed notice — not a midnight message.

7. The cemetery scam

Even the dead aren’t safe. The “Day of the Jackal” scam is one of the eeriest latest scams: criminals steal identities from cemetery headstones and obituaries, then open credit cards or loans under those names.

They target children or young adults who died early: clean identities that still exist in government systems but trigger no credit alerts. Families often find out years later when collectors come calling.

How to spot it:

• Limit birthdates and addresses in obituaries.

• Use credit-monitoring services to track new accounts.

• Check your children’s credit histories, too.

💡MoneyLion tip: Even ghosts have credit scores — help keep yours (and your family’s) protected with MoneyLion credit monitoring.

Stay Ahead of Scary Scams

The latest scams going around prove that crooks evolve faster than your phone updates. What used to be just a sketchy email is now a deepfake video of your coworker. But every scam method runs on the same fear formula: urgency + emotion = reaction.

Take a breath before you click. Verify before you trust. Awareness beats paranoia every time.

MoneyLion Has Your Back

We’re here to help you spot common scams, protect your accounts, and keep your money where it belongs: with you.

Download the MoneyLion app today to monitor credit, track suspicious activity, and outsmart scammers before they strike.