If 1 or more of the following is true for you, then the likelihood you’ve encountered a scam is basically 100%.

• You’ve received an unsolicited contact, either by phone, email, text message (SMS), or home visit;
• The contact is urging you to act quickly to avoid an unpleasant consequence. An example might be, “You need to pay now or you’ll be arrested or your account will be deactivated.” Another example is “you’ve won a prize, but you need to pay taxes or fees in order to claim it.” or “This prize must be claimed within 24hr or it will be given to someone else.”
• The person is asking you to pay via a quick transfer method such as Cash App, Zell, gift card, crypto, or wire transfer.
• If you receive a popup that locks your computer and claims it’s infected, it’s a scam. Don’t call the number. Shut the machine off if you need to, but don’t engage. No tech company like Apple or Microsoft is ever going to contact you like that.
• If someone contacts you and in the course of the conversation asks for your social security number either by phone, email, or text, never give it and hang up immediately. It’s a scam.
• If someone sends you money and asks you to send some of it to someone else, don’t do it. It’s a scam.
• If someone you don’t know sends you something and asks you to send it to someone else, don’t do it.
• If someone tells you to move or transfer your money to a “safe account”, don’t! It’s a scam! Also, do not use an account to buy gold or crypto to protect your money. That’s a scam also.

My advice? Run! like! the! wind!