Scams now take more money from Americans than ever, and most start with a call, text or message that looks routine. This hub covers how the common scams work and the tells that give them away, what to do in the first hours if it happens to you, how to lock down your identity and credit, and how to protect an aging parent, with the FBI's 2025 figures and no products to sell.
Figures from the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center's 2025 Internet Crime Report.
Almost every scam runs on the same three moves: it reaches you uninvited, it creates urgency or fear or excitement, and it asks for money or information in a way that is hard to reverse. The caller may say they are from your bank, the IRS, Medicare, tech support or the police; the message may promise a job, a prize, an investment or love. The payment method is the clearest tell. Anyone who asks for gift cards, a wire, cryptocurrency, cash handed to a courier or a payment app, or who tells you to move money to keep it safe, is running a scam.
If it happens, speed matters more than anything else. The first call goes to whoever moved the money: your bank for a wire or transfer, the card issuer, the payment app, the gift card company or the crypto exchange. Some payments can still be stopped or recalled in the first hours; the FBI's Recovery Asset Team froze $679 million in 2025 when banks and victims moved fast. Then report to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The First 24 Hours tool puts those steps in order for your situation.
Your identity is the other thing scammers want. A credit freeze at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion is free and blocks new accounts in your name; lift it when you apply for credit. Turn on alerts for your bank and card accounts, use a different password for your email and money accounts with two-step login, and request an IRS Identity Protection PIN if your Social Security number has leaked.
Older adults lose the most per scam, and their losses are often life savings. Protecting a parent works best as a set of quiet defaults set up together: a credit freeze, account alerts sent to a family member, a trusted contact on investment accounts, a power of attorney before it is needed and a family code word for any call that asks for money in a relative's voice.
Each path is a short reading order. Start at step 1 and stop when your question is answered.
For the first hours and days.
For preventing the next one.
For families managing money together.
For recognizing the call, text or message before it costs you.
For crypto, checks, jobs and shopping.
For calls about money you may or may not owe.
Watch the payment method and the pressure. Anyone who demands gift cards, a wire, cryptocurrency, cash handed to a courier or a payment app, who tells you to move money to keep it safe, or who insists you act right now and tell no one, is running a scam. Hang up and call the organization at a number you look up yourself.
Call whoever moved the money first, your bank, card issuer, payment app, gift card company or crypto exchange, because some payments can still be stopped. Then report to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and freeze your credit if you shared personal information.
Contact Equifax, Experian and TransUnion online or by phone; a freeze is free at each and blocks new accounts in your name. You get a PIN or account to lift it temporarily when you apply for credit.
Set up the protections together: a credit freeze, alerts on their accounts sent to you as well, a trusted contact on investment accounts, a power of attorney and a family code word for calls that ask for money.
Sometimes. Credit card charges can be disputed and unauthorized debit transfers are covered if you report quickly, and banks can sometimes recall a wire; the FBI's Recovery Asset Team froze $679 million in 2025. Payments you approved by gift card, app or crypto are the hardest to recover.
Report internet crime to the FBI at ic3.gov and fraud or scams to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. For identity theft, use IdentityTheft.gov; people 60 and older can call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311.