Detecting a scam: How to avoid fraudulent phone numbers, emails and more

Technology and a sense of urgency often combine and lead to an innocent person being scammed.

Maybe an airline or an airport in the United States is experiencing massive cancellations and delays because of bad weather or some other reason. What does a scammer do? Maybe secure a phone number that can be used to pose as an airline’s customer service department, advertise that number online through search engine optimization and try to get travelers to cough up a payment to rebook.

That’s what has happened in various cases, including incidents in 2023 when travelers stranded in New York City stumbled across imposter phone numbers through an online search.

Or maybe it’s tax filing season and you get an email that seems to be from the Internal Revenue Service or a major tax preparation software company and it’s trying to get your personal information. These scams are plentiful.

More recently, drivers nationwide have been receiving fraudulent text messages about supposed unpaid tolls owed for highway travel.

What can you do to avoid getting ripped off?

• Be cautious if you’re doing an online search for the phone number for a company or government office. If you’re looking for the IRS, for example, make sure you actually land on the IRS’s legitimate web page, signified in part by .gov in the URL. Don’t just call the phone number listed on the side or that’s a “sponsored” item.
• Watch out for imposter URLs. For example, if you get an email that appears to be from Ticketmaster that’s advertising hot tickets for a concert or sporting event, it may contain a fraudulent link aimed at capturing your credit card or debit card information.
  For example, a scammer could create a website with the URL: TlCKETMASTER.COM (Did you notice that URL contains a lower-case L and not an I? It’s not actually Ticketmaster’s website).
  Just don’t click on links in unexpected emails.
• If you get an email, hover over the sending email to determine whether it’s actually coming from where you think it’s coming from. A bad guy can change the name of the sender to say anything. The underlying email will show you what’s true.

• If you get an unexpected text, email or phone call, don’t click on links, answer the call or do an online search for a customer service number. Instead, sign in to an account you already have or look on the back of your bank card or your last statement or find another way to look up a phone number or website independently.
• If you periodically get two-factor authentication codes by text or email, don’t delete them all when you’re finished with them. Instead, save a couple so you can make sure the next text or email you get is coming from the same number. If you want to do more to protect yourself, create a contact in your phone for the bank or insurance company or whoever sends you the texts.