Scam Examples & Online Safety Resources

Phishing emails

A message that impersonates someone you trust to get a password, a payment, or a click. Modern phishing is clean, well-written, and personal — the old "look for typos" advice no longer protects you.

Scam calls & texts

The same playbook as email phishing, but it arrives by call or text — where it feels more immediate, and where a single shared code can hand over your account.

Recognizing online predators

Predators build trust with a young person before attempting harm. The pattern is recognizable — and the single most protective move is always the simplest: tell a trusted adult.

Gaming scams

Scammers target what players value — accounts, skins, currency, rare items — usually by pulling you off the game's official systems and onto a lookalike.

Social media scams

Scams here blend into normal activity — DMs offering free products, fake job offers, money-flipping schemes, and messages from a friend's account that's actually been hacked.

Urgency traps

Urgency is the engine behind nearly every scam. Spotting manufactured pressure is the most transferable skill there is — it works across email, calls, texts, and apps alike.

Scams targeting older adults

These scams impersonate authority and exploit trust — a grandchild in trouble, an agency demanding payment, "tech support," or a relationship built patiently over months. The aim is to move money quickly and quietly.

Deepfake scams

AI can now clone a familiar voice from a few seconds of audio, or fake a face on video. The realism is no longer proof of who you're actually talking to.

Crypto scams

Crypto scams exploit one fact: transfers are fast and can't be reversed. Once money leaves your wallet, there's usually no way to get it back.