Understanding Impersonation Scams
What are Impersonation Scams?
Impersonation scams are when a fraudster contacts their victim through phone, text, email or online message pretending to be from a government agency or trusted organization with the intent to manipulate their victims into providing sensitive information and/or urgent payment.
Red Flags of Impersonation Scams
Individuals claiming to represent a variety of different institutions, organizations, or companies including, but not limited to:
- Law enforcement agencies
- IRS
- Social Security Administration
- Political campaigns
- Large, trusted companies such as Microsoft, Apple or Amazon
- Utility companies
- Bank/financial institutions
- The individuals will unexpectedly contact you through atypical channels like email, texts, or online messages.
- The individual threatens legal action if immediate response and payment are not provided.
- The individual requests personal information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, banking information, or other sensitive information without a clear reason. The goal is to gain your trust by clicking a link in a text message or email, or by sharing additional information via phone that will be used to obtain your sensitive information and/or payment.
Most importantly, law enforcement, IRS and Social Security Administration will never contact you via phone, email or text message to resolve an urgent matter. Representatives for these agencies will never request payment via phone, email or text message. Additionally, large publicly traded companies are unlikely to conduct unsolicited outreach to customers or general members of the public requesting “urgent payment” to resolve unknown matters.
Guiding Principles for Fraud Prevention
Review the tips below to avoid becoming a victim of Impersonation Scams.
