Online scam alert: How to avoid being scammed and ripped off online

Fraud Landscape - 73% of US adults have experienced some kind of online scam or attack [1] - Reported losses from fraud hit $125 billion in 2024, showing a significant increase [1] - Scammers exploit human desires and vulnerabilities for illicit gain, targeting areas like romance, travel, and relief efforts [6] - Scammers are leveraging AI and deepfakes to create more sophisticated scams [10][18] - Democratization of access to AI capabilities allows scammers to target anyone and everyone, including small business owners [17][18][19] Common Scam Tactics - Dating scams involve fake verification services that subscribe victims to recurring billing services [3][4][5] - Travel scams involve mimicking airline or hotel websites to steal payment information [7] - Scammers use phishing, smishing (SMS phishing), and data from the dark web to obtain personal and financial information [7][8] - Scammers scrape social media profiles to create synthetic identities to target family or co-workers [16] Prevention and Mitigation - Consumers should be wary of deals that are too good to be true or situations where they are pressured to make a quick decision [9] - Consumers should check their account statements regularly and sign up for transaction alerts [5][13][14] - Consumers should be careful about the data they share, especially on social media [15][16] - Visa has identified over $1 billion in scams across its network and is working with law enforcement to dismantle them [9] - The industry needs to invest in good applications of AI to combat the bad applications of AI used by scammers [11]