Scams and how to avoid them

The more you know about scams, the more you can avoid them. Here are common traits of scams to watch out for:

It’s personal: Some scammers pretend to be a friend or family member who has an emergency and needs money.

Someone asks for a wire transfer: A scammer might ask you to transfer money out of the blue, perhaps through a company such as Western Union. Once you wire money, it’s gone — and you probably can’t get it back.

You’re being enticed by money: If an email, text or phone call suggests that you can collect a lot of money by taking some trivial action, that’s a red flag.

You’re asked to be a go-between: Don’t fall for a request to handle and transfer money between other parties.

It claims to be official: Many scammers will call, text or email you pretending to be a government entity or financial institution, in order to try to get your personal information or a payment from you. Their emails can look convincing, and their messages might be persuasive. Beware. Look up the organization, and contact it through official channels; don’t click any links or call a phone number a possible scammer has given you (or give money or information to a caller).

It’s urgent: If you’re informed that you must act very soon, you’re probably being manipulated into acting rashly, on emotion.

It plays on fear: Some scammers will try to scare you into action — suggesting, for example, that you might lose your Social Security benefits — or even your job — if you don’t make a certain payment or divulge personal information.

The bottom line is that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And if it seems a bit too weird, such as requesting that you make a payment before receiving a sweepstakes prize, that’s also a red flag.