The five tells in almost every scam

Scams look different on the surface but share a skeleton. Nearly all of them combine: a stranger who contacted you first; urgency or fear to stop you thinking; a request for an unusual or irreversible payment (gift cards, crypto, wire, or "Friends & Family"); a too-good-to-be-true promise; and a push toward secrecy ("don't tell your bank or family").

You don't need to recognise every individual scam. If two or three of these tells show up together, that's your signal.

What to do: slow down. No honest person, business or government will rush you, demand gift cards or crypto, ask for your password or one-time code, or charge a fee to give you money. When in doubt, stop and verify through a channel you find yourself. If you believe you've been targeted, you can report it at econsumer.gov.