21 Money Scams to Watch for in 2026 (and How to Avoid Them)

Money scams are everywhere right now, and they don’t always look like scams at first.

If you’re trying to figure out whether a text, email, phone call, or online offer is real, here’s the main thing to understand:

Scams have changed.

These days, scammers don’t usually steal your money directly. They trick you into sending it to them yourself!

Americans reported losing about $16 billion to fraud in 2025, the highest amount ever recorded and about 25% more than the year before.

According to the FTC, most of that money wasn’t taken out of people’s accounts. They sent it themselves, because a scammer made the payment feel urgent, normal, or even necessary.

And that’s exactly why the way you pay matters so much.

If a scammer tricks you into paying with a credit card, you can usually dispute the charge and get your money back. But if they convince you to send a wire transfer, pay through Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App, buy gift cards, or hand cash to someone at your door, there’s often no way to undo it.

That’s why knowing what to do before you send anything matters more than most people realize.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through 21 money scams that are costing people real money in 2026. You’ll learn how each one works, the warning signs to watch for, and what to do instead so you don’t become the next victim.

I’ll also cover two rule changes from the past year that affect whether you can get your money back, plus exactly what to do if you’ve already sent money to a scammer.

Impersonation Scams: When Someone Pretends to Be a Person You Trust

Right now, impersonation scams are the biggest type of money scam in the country.

Americans lost $3.5 billion to them in 2025, and nearly one out of every three fraud reports involved someone pretending to be a trusted person or organization.

Here’s why they work so well:

Scammers don’t call asking you for money. They call pretending there’s a problem, and that they want to help you fix it.

Your bank account has been hacked. Your Social Security number was used in a crime. Your Amazon account was charged. Someone opened a credit card in your name.

Instead of taking advantage of your generosity, they scare you into thinking you have to act fast before something bad happens.

That’s the trick!

And scammers use that same trick in several different ways. Here are the most common ones:

1. Bank Impersonation and Fake Fraud Alerts

One of the biggest money scams today starts with what looks like a normal fraud alert from your bank.

Maybe it’s a text asking if you made a purchase. Maybe it’s a call about suspicious activity. Either way, the goal is the same: get you worried enough to stop thinking clearly.

Next, you’re transferred to the “fraud department.”

The person on the phone sounds professional. They know your name. They tell you your account has been compromised, and the safest thing to do is move your money to a “secure account” right away.

That secure account belongs to the scammer.

I’ve actually gotten this scam twice.

Both times I knew it was fake because it claimed to be from a bank where I don’t even have an account. Scammers send these messages to millions of phone numbers, hoping enough people happen to bank there.

The FTC calls this a false alarm scam, because it uses fear instead of force.

In 2025, Americans lost nearly $1 billion to scammers pretending to be legitimate businesses, and fake bank scams caused the biggest losses of all.

Older adults are hit especially hard.

Here’s what the FTC found when it looked at scams draining retirees’ savings:

• Reports from people age 60 and older who lost $10,000 or more increased more than four times between 2020 and 2024.
• Reports of losses over $100,000 increased nearly sevenfold.
• The total amount lost by that group increased eightfold.

Now, I found something while researching this guide that I still can’t get over.

About 21% of people who lost more than $100,000 paid with gold.

Think about that for a second!

Scammers convince people to cash out part of their retirement savings, buy actual gold bars, and hand them to a stranger who shows up at their house.

It sounds unbelievable until you remember the victim thinks they’re protecting their money, not giving it away.

Pro tip: No legitimate bank will ever tell you to move your money to keep it safe. Not to another account. Not to cryptocurrency. Not anywhere. If someone tells you to do that, hang up and call the number on the back of your debit or credit card.

2. Government Impersonation: IRS, Social Security, and Yes, the FTC

Banks aren’t the only trusted organizations scammers pretend to be.

They also pretend to be from the government.

Fake government callers took about $920 million from Americans in 2025, up from $789 million the year before.

The call usually starts with fear.

Your Social Security number was linked to a crime. You owe back taxes. There’s a warrant out for your arrest…

The stories have gotten more believable over time. Instead of a simple threat, scammers may claim your Social Security number turned up in a drug smuggling case or a money laundering investigation.

The goal is always the same: make you panic so you move your money where they want it.

They may tell you to transfer your savings to a “safe” account, buy gift cards, send cryptocurrency, or pay a fee to clear your name.

And yes, scammers even pretend to be the FTC.

Sometimes they use the names of real employees to make the call sound legitimate. But remember this: the real FTC will never tell you to send cash, buy cryptocurrency, or put money into a Bitcoin ATM to protect yourself.

The FTC created a new rule in 2024 that makes it easier to take legal action against impersonators. Since then, the agency has brought more than a dozen cases and recovered over $70 million.

That’s good news, but here’s the problem: those cases usually happen after people have already lost their money.

The best protection is recognizing the scam before you send anything.

3. Tech Support Pop-Ups

The next version of this scam doesn’t start with a phone call.

It starts with a scary message on your screen.

You’re browsing the internet when a full-screen warning pops up saying your computer has a virus or your information is at risk.

It looks official.

It may even have the Microsoft or Apple logo on it, along with a phone number telling you to call right away.

But that warning isn’t there to protect you.

It’s the scam!

If you call the number, the person on the other end walks you through installing software that lets them control your computer.

Now they’re inside.

From there, they may “discover” another problem. Maybe your bank accounts were hacked. Maybe someone stole your identity.

And just like that, it turns into the same fake bank scam we talked about earlier.

That switch is not random!

The FTC has found cases where scammers work in pairs. One starts with the fake tech support warning, then transfers you to a second scammer pretending to be from the FTC or another trusted agency who can “help” fix the problem.

These scams cost real money too. The FBI ranks tech support fraud as the third most expensive cybercrime it tracks, and the FTC once returned more than $25.5 million to people tricked by just two tech support companies.

Pro tip: A real security warning never gives you a phone number. Antivirus software doesn’t want you to call anyone. If there’s a number on your screen, close the browser. Force-quit it if you have to.

4. Fake Customer Service Numbers in Search Results

This scam is tricky because it often catches people who are actually trying to be careful.

You get a strange email or notice a problem with an account, so you decide not to click any links. Instead, you search for the company’s customer service number yourself.

That seems like the safe move.

But here’s the problem…

The number at the top of the search results might not belong to the real company.

Scammers pay for ads so their fake support numbers appear above the real ones. The website looks convincing, with the right logo, the right colors, and a toll-free number that looks official.

You call, expecting help.

Instead, the person who answers may ask you to pay a fake fee, hand over your account information, or install software that gives them access to your computer.

The FTC recommends skipping search results entirely when you need customer support. Use the number on the back of your card, on your account statement, or inside the company’s official app.

The pattern should be clear by now.

All of these scams rely on one thing: getting you to trust someone who isn’t who they claim to be.

AI Scams: When the Voice on the Phone Is Someone You Know

The scams we’ve covered so far all depend on creating that trust.

But scammers are getting much better at it.

They don’t always pretend to be a bank, a government agency, or a company anymore. Sometimes they pretend to be someone you love.

The FBI recognized artificial intelligence as its own category for the first time in its 2025 Internet Crime Report. It counted 22,364 AI-related complaints and nearly $893 million in losses.

And one of the scariest uses of AI is something called voice cloning.

5. AI Voice Cloning and the Family Emergency Call

The old grandparent scam was easier to spot.

The caller might sound nervous. The connection might be bad. The story might not quite add up.

AI has changed that.

Now scammers can take just a few seconds of someone’s voice from social media and create a copy that sounds surprisingly real.

Then they call a parent or grandparent with an emergency story:

“I’ve been arrested.”

“I was in a car accident.”

“I need money right now.”

The goal is to catch you during a moment of panic, before you have time to think.

The FBI has warned that criminals are using voice clones and fake videos of loved ones to pressure people into sending money. Scammers usually add a detail to explain away any glitch, like saying the person can’t talk clearly because they have a broken nose or a bad connection.

That gives them an excuse if the voice doesn’t sound quite right.

Older adults have been hit hardest. Americans age 60 and older reported losing about $7.7 billion to internet crime in 2025, up 37% in a single year.

Here’s how to protect yourself:

Pick a family code word before you ever need one. Something simple that nobody outside your family would know.

If you get a scary call asking for money, hang up and call the person back on their real number.

A cloned voice can sound like someone you love.

But it can’t answer a phone that isn’t theirs.

6. Deepfake Celebrity and Brand Investment Ads

Voice cloning isn’t the only way scammers are using AI.

Now they’re creating fake videos that make it look like celebrities, financial experts, news anchors, and even well-known companies are promoting investment opportunities.

You’ve probably scrolled past one already.

The person looks real.

The voice sounds real.

But neither one is.

These fake videos often run as paid ads, which gives scammers the same targeting tools legitimate businesses use. As the FTC points out, scammers can spend very little money and still reach billions of people around the world.

The celebrity isn’t the scam.

They’re just the bait.

The ad sends you to a fake investment website promising easy profits, usually through cryptocurrency or another “can’t miss” opportunity.

You invest a little.

Your account shows impressive returns.

Everything looks legitimate.

Until you try to take your money out.

That’s when you find out the profits were fake and your money is gone.

Here’s a simple rule to remember: if a celebrity is promising guaranteed returns or telling you exactly where to invest, assume it’s fake until you can prove otherwise.

Romance and Investment Scams: The Long Con

So far, most of the scams we’ve covered have one thing in common: they try to scare you into acting fast.

These scams do the opposite.

Instead of rushing you, they take their time.

Scammers may spend weeks or even months earning your trust before they ever ask you for money.

That’s why they’re called the long con.

And it works!

Investment fraud was the biggest source of money lost to scams in 2025. It accounted for nearly 49% of all scam losses reported to the FBI, and crypto-related complaints alone totaled more than $11 billion.

The biggest change isn’t what they’re selling.

It’s how they get you to believe them.

These scams don’t start with an investment. They start with a relationship!

7. Romance Scams and Pig Butchering

Pig butchering is basically a romance scam that turns into an investment scam.

Someone spends weeks or even months getting to know you. Once you’ve started to trust them, they tell you about a crypto site where they’re supposedly making great money.

You invest a little. Your account shows big profits. You might even cash out a small amount without any problems.

That’s the trick.

That first withdrawal is there to convince you it’s real. Once you invest more, your account suddenly gets locked, and your money is gone.

The FTC’s data shows how people end up in these scams:

• Nearly 60% of romance scam losses in 2025 started on social media.
• Romance scams that began on social media cost Americans $298 million last year.
• Facebook was the platform where people lost the most money.

A lot of these scams don’t even start with dating. They start with a random text from someone who “messaged the wrong number.” Something like, “Hey, are we still on for lunch?” You reply just to be nice.

According to the FTC, wrong-number texts are one of the top text scams. The conversation starts off friendly, turns into regular chatting, and eventually shifts to investment advice.

The FBI even runs a program called Operation Level Up that contacts people who are actively being scammed. So far it has warned more than 8,000 victims and helped prevent over $500 million in losses.

The scary part?

Most of the people the FBI contacts have no idea they’re being scammed.

8. Fake Investment Platforms and WhatsApp “Investor” Groups

Once scammers earn your trust, they need somewhere for you to send your money.

That’s where fake investment platforms come in.

The websites look completely real.

There are charts, account balances, trading history and even customer support.

But it’s all fake!

There’s no real investment, and your money isn’t growing.

The numbers on the screen are there for one reason: to convince you to invest even more.

Many scammers don’t stop there.

They also create WhatsApp and Telegram groups filled with people who seem to be making thousands of dollars.

Members post screenshots of huge profits, thank the “investment expert,” and encourage everyone else to invest.

Here’s the catch:

Almost every person in that group is working with the scammer.

They’re there to make the investment look safe, popular, and profitable.

The FTC found that investment scams starting on social media cost Americans $1.1 billion in 2025, more than half of all the money lost through social media scams that year.

Pro tip: Don’t invest a penny until you’ve checked the company on FINRA BrokerCheck. If they’re asking for your money but you can’t find them there, you already have your answer.

Text and QR Code Scams: The Four-Second Version

The last scams we covered can take weeks or even months to pull off.

These can take just a few seconds.

A single text message is often all it takes.

Text scams cost Americans $470 million in 2024, more than five times what they cost in 2020.

During my research, I found something that really surprised me.

The number of scam reports actually went down but the amount of money people lost went up.

You know why?

Scammers are getting better at convincing people to act before they have time to think. So they steal more money while scamming less people!

9. Fake Package Delivery Texts

One of the most common text scams starts with a package you weren’t even thinking about.

You get a text saying there’s a problem with your delivery, like your package couldn’t be delivered, address needs to be confirmed or you need to pay a small redelivery fee.

The message usually looks like it’s from USPS or another delivery company, and the link takes you to a website that looks real.

But of course it isn’t!

You go to the website and find out you have to pay a fee.

Usually it’s something small, like $1.99.

That’s not an accident.

The amount is low because scammers know most people won’t think twice about paying a couple of dollars.

But the $1.99 isn’t what they’re after.

They want your credit card number.

And in some cases, they’ll even ask for your Social Security number.

And once they have your credit card or SSN, they can do whatever they want in your name.

Here’s the rule to remember:

If you get an unexpected text about a package, don’t tap the link. Go directly to the shipping company’s website or app and check your tracking number there instead.

10. Unpaid Toll Texts

This scam works almost the same way as the fake package texts.

But instead of a delivery, it’s an unpaid toll.

You get a text claiming you owe a small amount to a toll agency like SunPass or FasTrak.

And most say you owe $12.51 and threaten a $50 late fee if you don’t pay right now.

The FBI received more than 60,000 complaints about these texts in 2024. No matter what state you’re in, the messages usually look almost identical.

I’ve actually gotten one of these here in Missouri claiming I owed a toll for a road I’ve never even driven on.

The funny part?

It was asking me to pay a $12 for the Ozarks Community Bridge which actually became totally free and stopped collecting tolls on April 30, 2024 after paying off its construction bonds two years early, lol.

That made it easy to spot.

The small bill is part of the scam. It feels easier to pay $12 than to question whether the text is real.

Pro tip: If you get a toll text out of the blue, don’t use the link in the message. Go to the toll agency’s official website or app and check your account there instead.

11. QR Code Scams

QR codes are everywhere now.

Parking meters, restaurant menus, package deliveries…

And scammers know that!

The reason QR code scams work so well is simple:

You can’t see where the code takes you until after you scan it.

That’s the whole trick!

One common version happens with parking meters.

A scammer puts their own QR code sticker right over the real one. You think you’re paying for parking, but you’re actually sent to a fake payment page.

You enter your card information.

The scammer gets it.

Sometimes they even sign you up for a monthly charge you never agreed to.

The FTC has also warned about packages that show up at your door with a QR code and no return address. The message usually tells you to scan the code for more information.

Don’t!

The code could send you to a fake website designed to steal your personal information or install malware on your device.

Pro tip: Before you scan a QR code, run your thumbnail across the corner. A sticker will peel up. Printed ink won’t. I caught a peeling code on a downtown parking meter doing exactly this, and it took about two seconds.

And if you’d rather not take the chance at all, skip the QR code when you can. Pay directly at the meter with a card, or use the city’s official parking app.

Pay-Up-Front Scams:Money for Something That Isn’t Real

The scams we’ve covered so far usually involve someone trying to take money you already have.

These work differently.

Instead of stealing your existing money, scammers convince you to pay upfront for something that doesn’t actually exist (like a prize, a service, a job, a rental, or an opportunity).

The trick is making you believe you’re about to get something valuable.

The first scam in this group has been around for decades, but it still works today:

12. Fake Check Scams

Fake check scams work because they take advantage of something many people don’t realize about how banks process checks.

When you deposit a check, your bank may make the money available within a day or two.

But that does not mean the check has fully cleared. It can take several days, sometimes even longer, for the bank to find out the check was fake.

Scammers take advantage of this little loophole if you can call it that.

They send you a check and ask you to deposit it. Then they tell you to send some of the money back, buy something, or pay a fee.

You see your bank balance go up and think, “Great, the payment went through.” So you use that money and send part of it to the scammer.

A few days later, the bank discovers the check was fake and removes the money from your account.

The problem?

The money you sent to the scammer is already gone. You end up paying it back with your own money.

Fake check scams usually show up in a few common situations:

• Marketplace overpayment: Someone buying your Craigslist or Facebook item sends a check for too much and asks you to send back the difference.
• Rental deposits: A fake landlord sends you a check for too much money and asks you to return the extra before you’ve even met.
• Prize checks: You receive a check because you supposedly won something. The scammer tells you to send back money for taxes or fees before you can claim your prize.

Job scams are another common place where fake checks show up. A fake employer may send you a check to buy equipment or cover work expenses, then ask you to send part of the money somewhere else.

I cover that version in more detail in my guide to job and side hustle scams.

13. Advance Fee, Lottery, and Sweepstakes Scams

The rule for this scam is simple:

If you have to pay money to get a prize, there is no prize.

Real sweepstakes and lotteries don’t ask you to pay a fee, tax, customs charge, or processing cost before they release your winnings.

This scam is basically the modern version of the old “Nigerian prince” email.

That version is mostly gone, but the idea behind it is still everywhere.

The story just changes.

Now the story might be an inheritance, a legal settlement, a forgotten account, or a lottery you don’t remember entering.

The goal is always the same: convince you that money is coming, then ask you to pay something first.

Pay attention to how they ask you to send the money.

Scammers love payment methods like:

• Gift cards
• Wire transfers
• Cryptocurrency

Why?

Because once you send the money, it is usually very hard or impossible to get back.

And remember: No real organization on earth collects a tax payment in Apple gift cards.

14. Government Grant Scams on Facebook Messenger

This scam is tricky because it doesn’t start with a stranger.

It starts with someone you know.

You get a Messenger message from a friend saying they received a government grant and you qualify for one too.

Sounds believable, right?

But that friend probably never sent it.

Their account may have been hacked, or a scammer may have created a fake copy of their profile using their photos and public information.

This happens all the time.

Here’s how you know it’s fake:

Real government grants don’t work that way!

The official federal grant website, Grants.gov, says right on its homepage that federal agencies don’t post personal financial assistance there. Federal grants are not free cash payments sent to regular people through Facebook messages.

Pro tip: Don’t reply through Messenger. Call your friend directly. Either you’ll find out their account was hacked, or you’ll discover someone copied their profile. Either way, you may help them stop the scam from spreading.

15. Rental Scams

Rental scams work because they target something people need right away:

A place to live!

And when you’re looking for a home, a listing that looks like a great deal can be hard to ignore.

Fake rental listings have cost Americans about $65 million since 2020, across roughly 65,000 reports. The typical loss is about $1,000.

Here’s how these scams usually work:

A scammer finds a real rental listing and copies the photos, description, and address.

Sometimes the property is real.

The problem is the person posting it has nothing to do with the owner.

They change the contact information and post the listing somewhere else, usually on sites where people are already looking for rentals.

When you reach out, they act like a normal landlord.

They answer your questions.

They send more pictures.

They may even give you a reason why the price is so good, like they moved away and need someone to take over the place quickly.

Then comes the money request.

They ask for a security deposit, first month’s rent, application fee, or some other payment before you can move in.

Once you send the money, they disappear.

And don’t assume a self-tour means a rental is legitimate. Some scammers copy listings from landlords who use lockboxes, then send you the access code.

You walk through the home and think, “This has to be real.” But the scammer may have no connection to the property at all.

According to reported cases through June 2025, many rental scams start online:

• About half of rental scams started with a Facebook ad.
• Another 16% started on Craigslist.
• People ages 18 to 29 were three times more likely than other age groups to lose money.

That last number makes sense when you think about where many younger renters search college housing groups, roommate pages, sublet listings, etc.

But there is another rental scam that works a little differently.

The $1 Credit Check Rental Scam

Some scammers never ask for a deposit.

Instead, they ask you to prove you have good credit.

They send you a link to run a credit check that costs just $1.

The problem?

That $1 can sign you up for a monthly subscription with recurring charges, and the scammer may earn a commission every time someone signs up.

The rental was just the reason they gave you to click the link.

What they really wanted was your money or personal information.

16. Online Shopping Scams and Fake Stores

Shopping scams are one of the biggest problems on social media right now.

More than 40% of people who lost money to a social media scam in 2025 said it started with something they bought from an ad.

The scam usually starts with a deal that looks too good to be true.

You click an ad, land on a website you’ve never heard of, and find a huge discount. It looks like a great deal, so you place the order and pay.

Then the problems start…

Sometimes the store is completely fake.

Other times, it looks like a real brand but sends you a cheap fake product or something that looks nothing like the photos.

Many people say the item never arrives at all.

And when something does show up, returning it can be nearly impossible because the seller is overseas and return shipping costs more than the item is worth.

Fake concert and event tickets work the same way. The seller takes your money, but the ticket either doesn’t exist or isn’t valid.

Pro tip: Use a credit card when shopping online, especially with stores you’ve never heard of. Credit cards let you dispute fraudulent charges.

17. Charity Scams

Fake charity scams usually show up when people are most likely to donate, like after a disaster or during the holidays.

Scammers create names that look almost identical to real charities. They are hoping you recognize the name quickly and don’t stop to check.

The biggest warning sign is pressure.

A real charity will still accept your donation tomorrow.

A scammer wants you to act right now and may push you to pay with gift cards, wire transfers, or other hard-to-reverse methods.

Before donating, take a minute to verify the organization. You can look up any nonprofit using the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search to make sure it’s legitimate.

18. Home Improvement and Door-to-Door Repair Scams

This is one of the few scams that still happens face to face.

It usually targets older homeowners.

Someone knocks on your door and says they are working nearby.

They claim they have leftover materials and can fix your driveway, roof, or another problem today for a great price.

The warning signs are usually the same:

• No company name on the truck.
• No written estimate.
• They want payment upfront, often in cash or a check made out to a person instead of a business.
• The final bill suddenly jumps thousands of dollars higher than the original quote.

The work either never gets done or gets done badly with cheap material.

The good news is, you do have some protection here.

The FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule gives you three business days to cancel certain sales of $25 or more that happen in your home.

The seller also has to tell you about this right and give you two copies of a cancellation form when you sign.

If they don’t, that’s a big red flag and may be something to report to your state attorney general.

Pro tip: Never let someone pressure you into making a same-day decision. “I get three estimates before I hire anyone” is all you need to say. It’s a good rule to share with older family members too.

Long-Game Scams: The Slow Bleed

Every scam so far takes your money all at once.

These take it slowly.

That’s what makes them dangerous. People often don’t notice for months, and by then they’ve lost far more than they would have to a single fake text.

19. Debt Relief and Phantom Debt Collection

There are two debt scams working in opposite directions, and both are active right now.

• Debt relief scams
• Phantom debt collection scams

The first one comes after people already struggling with debt.

A company promises to negotiate with your creditors and lower what you owe. They charge you fees upfront, then do very little while your accounts fall further behind.

In July 2025, the FTC shut down one of these operations for pretending to be businesses and government agencies while targeting older adults.

The second one runs the other way.

Instead of offering to fix your debt, a fake collector calls demanding payment on a debt you don’t owe, or one so old it can’t legally be collected anymore. They back it up with threats of arrest or a lawsuit. The FTC won a permanent ban against a company called Blackstone Legal in June 2025 for exactly this.

Here’s what protects you in both cases:

Real collectors have to mail you a written notice with the amount, who you originally owed, and what your rights are.

So ask for it in writing. Scammers won’t send one, because putting a fake debt on paper turns it into a federal problem for them.

20. Subscription and Free Trial Traps

These scams usually start with something that sounds harmless:

A free trial!

You sign up, enter your card information, and forget about it.

Then the trial ends, and suddenly you’re being charged every month.

Getting out is often the hardest part.

The cancel button is buried, you have to sit through a sales pitch, or you get sent through a long phone menu hoping you’ll give up.

The FTC tried to fix this with a rule called click-to-cancel, which would have required companies to make cancelling as easy as signing up.

But that rule never took effect.

A federal appeals court blocked it in July 2025, just days before it was supposed to begin. The FTC started working on a new version in January 2026, but right now there is no federal click-to-cancel rule.

So if you see someone saying this protection is already in place, that information is outdated.

What can still help?

Your state may have its own auto-renewal laws, and the FTC can still take action against companies that use deceptive practices. Check your state’s consumer protection website to see if there are extra rules where you live.

Pro tip: Use a virtual card number for free trials if your bank offers them. Companies like Capital One also offer virtual card numbers for online purchases, with options to set where they work and how long they stay active. I use these myself, and they add a real layer of protection when a website turns out to be fake.

21. Pyramid Schemes

The easiest way to spot a pyramid scheme is to ask one question:

Where does the money actually come from?

A real business makes money by selling products or services to customers.

A pyramid scheme makes money by getting more people to join.

That one difference is what separates it from legitimate direct sales, and it’s the test the FTC uses.

Here are the warning signs:

• Where the money comes from: If you earn by signing up new people instead of selling to actual customers, it’s a pyramid.
• Buying inventory: If you have to buy product you can’t realistically sell just to keep your rank or hit a bonus, that’s a bad sign.
• Pressure to sign now: If they won’t let you go research it first, walk away.

One thing scammers and recruiters often point to is a refund policy.

But the FTC has made it clear that a generous refund or buyback policy does not make an illegal pyramid scheme legal. It doesn’t fix the business model or remove the risk.

If someone presents it as a work-from-home job instead of an “investment,” the warning signs can look a little different. I cover those types of fake opportunities in my job scams guide.

The Scam That Comes After the Scam

Losing money to a scam is bad enough.

But there’s another scam you need to watch for:

Someone offering to get your money back.

They promise they can recover your funds for a fee. What makes it convincing is that they already know details about what happened to you.

Scammers buy what the FTC calls “sucker lists.”

These have your name, your phone number, what kind of scam you fell for, and how much money you lost.

That’s why the second caller may already know your story.

The FTC has seen this happen often with investment scams. Someone loses money on a fake trading platform, then gets contacted by a person claiming they can track it down and recover it.

They lose money a second time.

Remember: no government agency charges an upfront fee to help you recover money from a scam. Anyone asking you to pay up front to get your money back is running the second half of the same scam.

What to Do If You Already Paid

If you already sent money to a scammer, act fast.

The first thing to know is this:

Your chances of getting the money back depend heavily on how you paid.

How you paid	Typical chance of recovery	What to do first
Credit card	Better	Call your card company and dispute the charge right away.
Debit card	Possible	Report it within 2 business days to limit your loss.
Zelle, Venmo, Cash App	Usually low	Report in the app, then file with your state attorney general.
Wire transfer, crypto, gift cards	Very low	Call the company immediately anyway. Some transfers can be stopped.

The payment app part surprises a lot of people.

A lot of people think that if someone scams them through Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App, the bank will simply reverse it.

Usually, that’s not how it works!

The federal rule that covers electronic transfers is called Regulation E. It protects you from transfers you did not approve.

But if a scammer tricks you into sending the money yourself, the payment is usually considered authorized.

That’s why many claims get denied.

There was a push to change it. In December 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Zelle’s operator and three big banks over exactly this. Then on March 4, 2025, the CFPB dropped the case for good and can’t refile it.

New York’s attorney general also filed a separate lawsuit against Zelle’s operator in August 2025.

So what does that mean for you?

Don’t count on the federal government to fix a payment app scam. Your state attorney general is the more realistic route now, and you should treat payment apps (Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, etc.) more like handing someone cash than using a credit card.

Also, make sure to report the scam:

• File with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
• File with the FBI at IC3.gov.
• If you gave out your Social Security number, go to IdentityTheft.gov for a recovery plan.

Will reporting always get your money back?

No, but reporting still matters.

These reports help agencies connect cases, investigate patterns, and build larger cases against scammers. About 95% of fraud goes unreported, which is one reason scammers are able to keep operating.

Frequently Asked Questions About Money Scams

What is the most common money scam right now?

Imposter scams are the most reported fraud in the United States. They made up nearly one in three fraud reports in 2025 and $3.5 billion in losses. Within that group, fake bank fraud alerts cost people the most money. Phishing and spoofing are the most frequently reported crimes to the FBI.

Can you get your money back after being scammed?

That comes down almost entirely to how you paid. Credit card charges can usually be disputed and reversed. Debit card losses are limited if you report within two business days. Wire transfers, cryptocurrency, gift cards, and payment app transfers you approved yourself are rarely recoverable, because no rule requires a bank to refund a transfer you sent.

Why won’t my bank refund a Zelle scam?

Regulation E only requires banks to reimburse transfers you did not approve. If a scammer talked you into sending the money, the bank treats it as authorized and isn’t required to refund it. The CFPB’s lawsuit challenging this was dropped in March 2025, though some state attorneys general are still pursuing it.

How do scammers know I was scammed before?

They buy lists. Scammers trade “sucker lists” containing past victims’ names, contact details, the type of scam involved, and how much was lost. That’s why a recovery scammer already seems to know your story.

Do scammers really ask for gift cards and gold?

Yes, and gold far more often than most people would guess. Among FTC reports of imposter losses over $100,000 in 2024, about 21% involved gold, usually cashed out of savings and handed to someone at the door. Gift cards, wire transfers, and crypto stay popular because none of them can be undone.

Are older adults really targeted more?

They’re targeted for bigger amounts. Americans over 60 lost about $7.7 billion to internet crime in 2025, up 37% in a year. But younger people get hit plenty too. Social media was the costliest way scammers reached every age group under 80, and people ages 18 to 29 were three times more likely to lose money in a rental scam. Everyone’s a target, just for different scams.

How I Researched This Guide

I researched this guide using primary sources and verified every statistic before including it.

The numbers and examples here were checked in July 2026 using the FTC’s 2025 fraud data, its reports on social media scams, imposter scams, rental scams, and text scams, the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, and official FTC enforcement announcements from 2025 and 2026.

For rules and consumer protections that changed recently, I went directly to the source. That includes the FTC’s click-to-cancel rule and the CFPB’s Zelle lawsuit, which both changed in 2025 and are still described incorrectly in a lot of places online.

I also checked how each scam actually works, not just the statistics behind it. If a claim, number, or warning sign couldn’t be traced back to a government agency, court record, or other reliable source, I left it out.

Staying Ahead of Money Scams

You don’t need to remember every scam on this list.

You need to remember one habit:

Whenever someone creates urgency around your money, stop and verify it yourself!

Call the number on the back of your card, not the one in a text message. Call your grandson’s real phone, not the one that just called you. If someone claims to be your bank, hang up and dial the bank yourself.

That one extra step stops a lot of scams.

Scammers know it, which is why they work so hard to keep you rushed, emotional, and on the phone before you have time to think.

Keep these three rules in mind:

• Use a credit card when you can, especially for online purchases.
• Treat requests for gift cards, wire transfers, crypto, or payment apps as a major warning sign.
• If someone offers to recover money you already lost, it’s probably another scam.

Scammers took a record $16 billion from Americans in 2025 by convincing people to send money themselves.

The more you understand how money scams work, the harder you are to trick.