Can you spot a scammer from a mile away? Being familiar with the most common baits keeps you ready to repel fraudsters when they call, email, text or approach you.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has shared the following common scams, offered here in addition to those we’ve covered in previous articles.

Most of them use urgency and scare tactics to cause you to act before you think. The Federal Trade Commission posts frequent updates on this page of their website as scams are reported, but below are some the FBI has seen most recently.

Make it hard for them by refusing to participate or fall for their creative convincing tactics.

Fraudsters may:

• Ask you to invest in cryptocurrency or in gold futures.
  
  
• Claim to be a bank or government agency – sometimes “spoofing” the real phone number of said entity – and ask for access to or credentials for your accounts “to secure” them or request you to send money or liquidate your accounts to clear you of a crime.
  
  
• Alert you to an “overdue bill” or debt and ask you to pay it.
  
  
• Robocall you with a recording asking you to enter your bank account number, Social Security number, debit/credit card number or PIN. If you answer one of these calls, don't press any numbers and don’t provide them with any information. Simply hang up.
  
  
• Pretend to be a tech or customer support representative, even using your bank’s name or other information they have about you. They’ll request money and/or access to systems or accounts to remove a virus or child pornography from your computer or secure your account.
  
  
• Tell you a family member is in danger or jail and you must send money now to avoid further harm.
  
  
• Say they’re romantically interested in you, wooing you for a period of time and then asking you to send them money or something else of value.
  
  
• Direct you to withdraw cash to purchase gold or silver bars or gift cards to send to them or someone else.
  
  
• Tell you you’ve won cash or other prizes and ask you to claim it by clicking a (phishing) link to enter your personal and bank information, which sometimes triggers malware on your device.
  
  
• Send individuals to your home or direct you to meet in a public place to drop off or pick up money, or other items of value to deliver to an unknown person.
  
  
• Ask you to obtain cash to deposit in a cryptocurrency ATM.
  
  
• Give you a QR code to deposit money into an ATM.

More information is available at the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), where you can also file a complaint if you are scammed.

Persons 60 and older may call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at (833) 372-8311 for assistance in filing a complaint with IC3.

What if you’ve already paid a scammer? Call your bank’s customer service department to enlist their help in preventing further loss. At Pinnacle, that’s our Client Service Center. The Federal Trade Commission offers tips on the immediate steps you should take to increase the chances of recouping your loss. No matter what payment method you used, the sooner you act, the better.