Raise your hand if you have received a phone call, text, or email from someone claiming to be a legitimate company or government agency like Verizon, Netflix, Bank of America, the Post Office or FedEx, Social Security, EZ Pass, an employment recruiter, your insurance company, your internet provider, a utility, Medicaid, the DMV, or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

They are calling you to inform you that you are in BIG TROUBLE because there is a problem with your account, your benefits, or your taxes. They usually tell you that you need to deal with it immediately. In the course of the conversation, the caller asks you to divulge personal information, or the email or text asks you to “click here” to verify your information.

Most of us know by now that we should not answer an unfamiliar number, but if you answer, the scammers will say all the right things to hook us into believing. They tell us we must do it RIGHT NOW! They operate on fear, believing that if they catch us in a vulnerable moment, we will believe them.

These are scams intended to trick you into giving them personal information. They want to steal your money, your identity or both. If it’s an email and you click on a link, they can install ransomware or other illegal programs on your computer.

Legitimate companies and government agencies like the IRS will not use email, texts, or phone calls to request that you reply with your password, social security number, bank account number, or any confidential, personal information. If you think the email or phone call sounds suspicious, hang up, go directly to the company’s website or contact the company or government agency by phone (look up the phone number yourself, don’t rely on a phone number that is given to you in the email) and inquire as to whether there is a problem with your account.

The IRS never calls people to tell them they will be penalized – you would instead receive a letter from the IRS on their official letterhead. Never call the number that may be listed or click on any attachment. There are thieves in those attachments.

If it’s a phony email or text from a supposedly legitimate company, they will often have slight irregularities, bad grammar, or misspellings in the email address, all of which are tipoffs that it is a scam. Another clue is that you actually do not have an account with that company. In the case of phony emails from Netflix, the scammer used the British spelling of “Center” (Centre) and used the greeting, “Hi, Dear.” Also, listing only an international telephone number for a U.S.-based company is suspicious.

Another type of scam to watch out for is a call from someone informing you that you may have won a lot of money, but you need to do something before you can collect, usually involving you sending money somewhere. If you do, that money is gone, and it will not come back. People seldom “get rich quick!”

If someone tells you that the way to pay “your debt” is to buy a gift card and give them the number on the back, please don’t do it! No legitimate entity will tell you to pay with a gift card!

Most of us get a tiny warning in our brain when something is just not right. Much of the time we don’t listen’ we’re too busy, we are afraid we have forgotten something, or we want to be polite and answer the questions. There are many reasons we fall victim to scammers, but if you slow down, take a breath, and think about what they are saying – why would they be after you for a $3.99 EZ Pass fee? Why would your bank need your social security number? Why would the electric company call to tell you they are cutting off your service when they send letters for everything else? Why does the post office or other mail delivery systems ask you to verify your address?

If you can slow down and think about it, you can avoid being scammed. Research tells us that most people who fall for scams respond quickly.

With the increased use of AI, we are seeing more sophisticated scammers, who can capture someone’s voice in order to fool their family and friends. Think of the “Grandparent Scams,” in which someone calls and impersonates a family member, often sounding just like them. They are desperate and tell you that they have been in an accident or in jail – but they always need money. Hang up. Call a family member and ask if this could be true. And then have a good laugh about how you avoided being scammed when the person who “is in jail” answers your call!

Be careful who you share your information with; the bad guys just need a few pieces of information in order to recreate your profile. (And remember not to use your pet’s name or your birthday as passwords!)

As always, pass it on to family and friends.

This article was written by Catherine Blinder, chief education and outreach officer of the Department of Consumer Protection of the State of Connecticut. To learn more about how the Department of Consumer Protection can help, visit us online at www.ct.gov/dcp.