Do You Know How to Keep Yourself Safe from Scammers?

When it comes to protecting yourself from scams, it’s a good idea to be leery of strangers. The bad guys are always coming up with new ways to steal your private data — and your money.

There are steps you can take to protect yourself. Learn them now so you’ll know what to do. That way, you can keep your health and financial details private.

Common Scam Tactics

Scammers want to lure you into making a costly mistake. The Federal Trade Commission   says scammers may use these methods.

• Claim you’ve won a prize or special reward, urging you to act quickly to claim it.
• Alert you to a problem with your account, asking you to confirm personal details to “fix” the issue.
• Pressure you to make immediate decisions, not giving you time to think or confirm that it’s
• Request payments using unusual methods, like buying gift cards or wiring money.
• Invite you to click on suspicious links, call unknown numbers or join chat rooms that could expose your personal information.

Spoofing and Phishing Attacks

Scammers often use spoofing and phishing together to make their attacks more convincing.

• Spoofing attacks use email addresses, sender names, phone numbers or websites that look like a trusted source. It may look like it’s from your health plan, a government agency or an organization you recognize. They might change just one letter, symbol or number in the email address or URL to trick you into thinking the message is legitimate. Their goal is to gain your trust so you’re more likely to follow instructions, share personal information or click on something harmful.
• Phishing attacks use fake websites, emails or texts designed to steal your personal information or infect your device with malicious software. These messages often appear to come from legitimate businesses, government agencies or even people you know. The goal is to trick you into clicking a link, opening an attachment or entering sensitive details like passwords or account numbers.

What You Can Do

• Never share sensitive information like passwords, Social Security numbers or bank details in response to unexpected calls, emails or texts. Legitimate organizations won’t ask for this information that way.
• Use your phone’s built-in features to block unknown calls and texts from suspicious numbers.
• Choose strong, unique passwords for each account. Enable two-factor authentication whenever possible for added security.
• If you receive messages about your health plan or accounts, always verify it by calling the official number on your member ID card. Don’t use numbers or links provided in the message.
• Carefully review emails and texts for spelling mistakes, unusual sender addresses or suspicious links.
• Take time to think before responding. Scammers rely on rushing or scaring you into making mistakes.

If you’re not sure that a website, email, text or call came from a legitimate organization or person, be cautious. Don’t respond with sensitive information, click any links, download anything or call a number that is in the suspicious message. Instead, use the website, email address or phone number you already have for the organization or person, or look it up yourself. Contact them directly to see if they sent the request.

If you’re unsure of what to do, ask a friend or family member what they would do. Describing the situation to them may even help you see the clues to a scam.

Sources: How to Avoid a Scam,  Federal Trade Commission, 2023; Cybersecurity Best Practices,  U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; Spoofing and Phishing,  Federal Bureau of Investigation