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Whether it’s a love scammer on one dating app or avoiding phishing attempts disguised as emails that clog up your inbox, avoiding scam attempts is part of our online lives. So why do so many victims find it so hard to talk about it? Maybe they’re embarrassed, maybe they don’t know how or where to report being scammed, or maybe they don’t think they’ll be believed. Whatever the reason, experts say unreported scams shroud the perpetrators in mystery, leading to the general public treating very real and very serious scam incidents like urban legends. When people believe that scammers are mythical threats, they are more likely to get caught up in fraudulent schemes.

Unfortunately, scammers pose a very real threat to your wallet and personal data. Read on for an overview of common scams to spot. And if you’re a victim of one, we’ll break down exactly what you should do.

Anyone could be a scammer

The creators’ portrayals online make the scam look like their work silly little scammers. In reality, real-life criminals run global online fraud operations with a level of sophistication that could impress people like Ponza.

“They covered it from every angle,” said Lisa Plaggemier, executive director at National Cyber ​​Security Alliance. Earlier this year, we discussed building credibility via video call AI-powered tax scams. Plaggemier said scam operations trap victims with data collected through the same tracking methods used by legitimate companies.

“They’ve got a call center and they’ve got emails. They’re doing SEO… There’s going to be a malicious website. They’ve got all the backstory locked down in a more sophisticated way than we’ve seen in the past,” Plaggemier said.

The most popular scams right now

Scam is an industry and like any other business it follows trends. The r/Scams the Reddit community provides a pretty good picture of this niche in the criminal spirit. Highlights include exposing scammers who use AI generated photos and videos, social media scams targeting artistsand payment application scams.

Social engineering still works

Despite all the high-tech scams involving artificial intelligence or malware, low-tech social engineering schemers are still doing business online. Posts on r/Scams include stories of romance scams that end in possible blackmail, or classic bait-and-switch schemes involving Scammers based on TikTok offering advice on reselling luxury brand scams for cash.

In the past, PCMag has warned readers about phishing links in emails, disaster scams, romantic swindlersand a litany of other online scams. Plaggemier noted that current scam trends point to the elaborate business operations mentioned above. This means that spotting a scammer in progress is no longer so easy and anyone can be a victim.

Let’s talk about pig slaughter scams

In the past year of monitoring this subreddit, I’ve seen a burst of posts about pig butchery scams. For the uninitiated, the scheme’s name is a nod to fattening a pig before slaughter. Here’s how it works:

First, the scammer will contact a victim, often via SMS, under the pretense that they know them through a mutual friend or that they accidentally entered the wrong number. The scammer will often be charming and may drop little personal details about the victim’s real-life friends or family to gain trust.

After the scammer wins a new friend, he offers the victim a chance to invest in a financial opportunity, usually involving cryptocurrency. These schemes often promise high profits over a short period.

Pig butcher scammers use fake applications, investment portfolio documents, social media profiles and banking websites to legitimize the opportunity in the eyes of the victim and collect bank account details, ID numbers and other personal information. After the victim invests the money (usually through a payment app or cryptocurrency), the scammer disappears, cash and data in hand, leaving only financial devastation in their wake.

What to do if you are cheated

Plaggemier said the reason scammers continue to get away with their crimes is less that the victims are scammed, an understandable circumstance given the level of effort involved in today’s scams. Instead, scammers continue to win because victims are afraid to speak up.

“There’s a huge shame factor in reporting,” Plaggemier said. People don’t report scams because they worry about being seen as stupid for “falling for” a crime, or because the scammer lured them into using embarrassing personal information.

Because these crimes often go unreported, law enforcement and government agencies may continue to believe that the scams are the work of scattered individuals rather than the coordinated efforts of criminal organizations. Plaggemier told me that the people who can take down scam businesses simply don’t have enough public data.

“Law enforcement doesn’t get an accurate picture of what the landscape looks like. Is he a petty criminal or is he a big gang stealing hundreds of millions?”

How to report a scam

Before taking your case to the authorities, we recommend that you talk to family and friends about your experience as a victim of the scam. Given the sophistication of the scam methods, chances are good that someone you know she was a victim.

As mentioned earlier, shame is often the reason people don’t report these crimes. Take the shame out of the equation and tell the people you love about what happened to you so they can support you as you get your life back together.

Plaggemier noted that attempts to report scams can sometimes miss the mark. “If you call the local police, a lot of times they don’t know what to tell you,” she said, noting that some states use the 311 call system for scam reports. The FBI’s website lists common scams and various methods of reporting, such as in person at an office or online.

To report any type of online scam, go to Internet Crime Complaint Center and the Identity Theft Resource Center report crimes and get tips for recovering from identity theft. I also recommend checking out the FTC’s online Identity Theft Recovery Center, identity theft.govto add your report of the scam and follow their guidelines to reverse some of the damage.