Staying Safe from Scams

Scammers’ tactics are always evolving, but their goals are the same: to create a sense of urgency or excitement to make you act without thinking. Here are some of the most common scams targeting Pennsylvanians:

• The Imposter Scam: A scammer calls, texts, or emails pretending to be from a government agency like the IRS, a utility company, or a tech company like Microsoft. They may threaten you with arrest or service disconnection and demand immediate payment, often through unusual methods like gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency. 
  • Remember: No legitimate government agency or company will ever demand payment via gift card.
• The Grandparent/Grandchild Scam: Scammers call seniors and pretend to be a grandchild in trouble—often claiming to have been arrested, in an accident, or stranded overseas. They may use AI-cloned voices to sound convincing. They create a sense of panic and urgency, begging for money to be wired immediately and pleading with the grandparent not to tell anyone.
• The Tech Support Scam: You receive an alarming pop-up on your computer or an email warning that your device is infected with a virus. The message directs you to call a phone number, where a fake technician will try to persuade you to grant them remote access to your computer, allowing them to steal your personal information or install malicious software.  
• The Sweetheart/Romance Scam: A scammer creates a fake online profile on a dating site or social media and builds a romantic relationship with you over weeks or months. Once they have your trust, they will invent an emergency—a medical crisis, a business problem, or travel trouble—and ask you to send money.  
• The Lottery/Sweepstakes Scam: You receive a call or letter congratulating you on winning a large prize. The catch is that to claim your “winnings,” you must first pay for “taxes” or “processing fees”.  
  • Remember: You never have to pay money to receive a legitimate prize.
• Medicare & Health Insurance Scams: Scammers pose as representatives from Medicare or an insurance company to trick you into revealing your Medicare number or other personal information, which they then use to commit fraudulent billing.