Spot the scam before it works.
Short, clear guides to the most common scams - with the same warning signs our checker uses. Sources: BSI, FTC, Action Fraud, consumer-protection agencies.
Phishing emails & texts
Phishing messages impersonate a bank, shop, parcel service or authority and push you to a fake login page to "fish" for your passwords, card numbers or other personal data. They lean on urgency and a link that looks almost right.
Tech-support scams
A fake "Microsoft" or "Apple" warning - by pop-up, call or email - claims your computer is infected and tells you to call a number or grant remote access. The "technician" then installs malware or charges for a fake fix.
Account-suspension lures
A message warns that your account (bank, email, streaming, parcel) has been locked or shows "unusual activity", and you must verify your identity right now via a link - which leads to a credential-harvesting page.
Prize & lottery bait
You "won" a lottery, gift card or prize you never entered. To claim it you must pay a fee, tax or shipping cost, or hand over personal and banking details. The prize never arrives.
Advance-fee (419) schemes
A stranger offers you a share of a large sum - an inheritance, unclaimed funds, a business deal - if you first pay a "processing fee" or share bank details. Each fee leads to another; the fortune never exists.
Romance scams
A scammer builds an online relationship over weeks on a dating app or social media, then invents a crisis - a medical bill, a stranded trip, a customs fee - and asks you to send money. They always have a reason never to meet or video-call.
Job offer & money-mule lures
An effortless "work from home" job - mystery shopper, payment processor, package reshipper - that asks you to receive money or parcels and forward them. You become a money mule, laundering criminal funds and risking prosecution.
Invoice fraud & business email compromise
A scammer poses as a supplier, contractor or boss and emails a fake or altered invoice, or a "change of bank details", to redirect a legitimate payment to their account. Common against businesses but also private home buyers and tenants.
Refund & overpayment scams
You are told you are owed a refund (tax, subscription, parcel) and must "confirm" bank details to receive it - or a buyer "accidentally" overpays and asks you to return the difference before their payment bounces.
Parcel & delivery-fee scams
A text or email impersonating DHL, DPD, the post office or customs says a parcel is held and a small fee is needed to release or redeliver it. The link harvests card data; the "fee" is tiny to lower your guard.
Investment & crypto scams
Fake trading platforms, "guaranteed" returns and celebrity-endorsed crypto deals lure you to deposit money. Early "profits" on a fake dashboard tempt you to invest more; when you try to withdraw, fees pile up and the money vanishes. Often seeded via WhatsApp/Telegram groups ("pig butchering").
Grandparent & emergency scams
A caller or texter pretends to be a relative in trouble - "Mum, I lost my phone, this is my new number" or a grandchild who caused an accident - and urgently needs money or bail. They exploit love and panic to bypass your judgement.
Sextortion & blackmail emails
A threatening email claims to have hacked your webcam or device and recorded you watching adult content, demanding payment (usually in Bitcoin) or they will send the "video" to your contacts. The claim is almost always a bluff - they have no video. They may quote an old leaked password to scare you.
Quishing (QR-code phishing)
Scammers replace or plant QR codes - on parking meters, letters, emails, restaurant tables - that lead to a fake payment or login page. Because the destination is hidden inside the code, you cannot see where it really goes until it is too late.
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