There’s something thrilling about opening the mailbox or front door to find an unexpected package. While free gifts might seem exciting, receiving an unanticipated delivery could come with hidden risks.

Scammers are now sending counterfeit “luxury” items, such as rings, beauty products, and even Bluetooth speakers. This deceptive tactic is known as a “brushing scam,” named for the way it helps the scammer “brush up” their sales. Here’s how it works: scammers or sellers of counterfeit goods gather personal details, like your address, online. They then send you items you never ordered and use your information to post fake reviews about their products under your name, boosting their sales in the process.

You might wonder, “Who cares if a fake review is posted in my name?” The issue is, if you’ve received a package you didn’t order, it’s likely that someone has your personal information. Dealing with the fallout from identity theft could lead to significant time and financial loss.

If you’ve received an unexpected package, here’s what you should do:

1. Change your passwords on all your online shopping accounts to protect them in case they’ve been compromised.
2. If the package came from a marketplace like Amazon, report it to the platform so they can investigate and possibly remove the seller.
3. Monitor your credit weekly by checking your report for free at AnnualCreditReport.com to look for any signs of identity theft.
4. Avoid contacting the sender. If you search for their contact details and reach out, there’s a chance you’ll be targeted for further attempts to steal sensitive information.

If you’ve received a package you didn’t order, keep the items and report the scam, along with any fake reviews, to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Be cautious when sharing your personal information, especially in a “smishing” scam, where fraudsters send deceptive messages to trick people into revealing sensitive details. This allows them to steal credit card numbers and other personal data.

Even those who are tech-savvy can fall victim to scams, such as fake text messages pretending to be from the Postal Service. These messages may claim that a package can’t be delivered due to an incorrect address, prompting you to take action.

Here’s how it usually unfolds: You’re busy when you get a message. Knowing you have deliveries on the way, you quickly fill out your address and payment details on a website that looks completely legitimate. Only moments later, you realize you might have made a costly mistake.

The USPS offers tips through its website on sniffing out “smishing,” but it all boils down to the basics of don’t click a link you don’t recognize and can’t verify and always be cautious about providing personal information when someone reaches out to you. Hackers send out hundreds of thousands of text messages a day hoping a small percentage of recipients will fall for their scam.

Older Americans are increasingly being caught up in elaborate scams designed by perpetrators to drain them of their retirement savings, with the detail and scale of such scams sometimes requiring the intervention of federal law enforcement. Subjects of interviews were ensnared in scams that could be so elaborate it’s as if they were created in a writer’s room testing different plot devices. Scammers can impersonate government officials, tech support staff or love interests. They coach victims on how to sidestep fraud prevention measures at financial institutions, and they use manipulative psychological tactics — isolation, a sense of urgency or preying on people’s willingness to trust or connect — to keep the scam going.

Retirees have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement savings due to the persistent efforts of these bad actors. A gentleman lost this money over a period of only three months, spending just about every weekday doing the legwork and making withdrawals from his bank accounts as part of an intricate scam. He believed he was helping the feds safeguard his money and catch thieves who were after it. Such scammers are present in a variety of online areas, including dating websites, social media platforms, messaging apps and through the use of invasive, malicious software — just to name a few. The nature of these schemes makes it nearly impossible to recover the money, leaving victims with little recourse. The stolen funds are often whisked to overseas accounts or laundered through cryptocurrency wallets, which are quickly emptied. The losses are sometimes exacerbated by taxes. Withdrawals from retirement accounts — especially in such large amounts — can often come with a heavy tax bill that the victims have few resources to cover after being scammed.

Here’s what happens…

A person comes into the bank to withdraw $10,000 for a fraudulent scheme supposedly to pay a bondsman on a fraudulent arrest warrant for missing jury duty. The caller poses as a Sergeant in the Sheriff’s dept instructing the customer to pay the bond or turn himself into the local police station. The fraudsters will often send pictures of an arrest warrant, which looked very official, with instructions to make payment to a bitcoin kiosk.

What we can do….

We can call the Sheriff’s department to verify that they do not call or issue arrest warrants for missing jury duty. We can then provide the details of the scam to a Deputy Sheriff, so they can stay aware of these ongoing incidents.

If someone has asked you to purchase a gift card and share the PIN numbers to pay for things like the FTC, FBI, or IRS fees, keep your Social Security benefits, keep your utilities on (electricity, water, or heat), pay for tech support, help a family member in trouble, assist a servicemember needing money, pay bail or ransom, avoid arrest or deportation, or fix any problem for any reason? If you answered yes, hang up immediately—it’s a scam.

If you’ve been scammed, report the incident to the gift card company. You should also ask for your money back and then report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Here are the contact details for some major gift card companies:

• Amazon: 888-280-4331
• Apple iTunes: 800-275-2273
• eBay: ebay.com/giftcardscams
• Steam: help.steampowered.com
• Target: 800-544-2943
• Walmart: 888-537-5503

An IRS scam occurs when someone contacts you, pretending to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They falsely claim that you owe taxes and must pay immediately to avoid serious penalties. It’s important to be aware of common tactics used by scammers so you can protect yourself and your loved ones.

Scammers often use aggressive tactics such as yelling at or insulting you, threatening deportation, arrest, or jail. They might send a bill through the U.S. Postal Service to inform you that you owe taxes, but they will also attempt to collect payment via email, text messages, or social media. Additionally, they may offer a chance to appeal the taxes owed or request payment in the form of gift cards, prepaid debit cards, or wire transfers. Some may even direct you to make payments directly to the United States Treasury.

It’s essential to understand that the IRS will never do the following:

• Call to demand immediate payment by gift card, prepaid debit card, or wire transfer.
• Threaten to involve local police or law enforcement to have you arrested or deported for nonpayment.
• Demand payment without giving you the chance to question or appeal the amount you owe.
• Contact you via email, text, or social media to request personal or financial information like PINs, passwords, or bank account details.

If you believe you owe taxes or are unsure, call the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040. If you suspect an IRS scam, report it to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484, and also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at FTC.gov/complaint.

If you receive an email claiming to be from the IRS, do not open any attachments or click on any links in the message. Instead, forward the email to phishing@irs.gov.

Scammers may offer you job opportunities, high earnings, or the chance to work from home, but they will require you to pay upfront before they help you. If you pay them, you will lose your money and won’t get a job.

To identify a job scam, be on the lookout for these warning signs. Scammers may promise you a job, claim they have access to a government job, or even suggest they have the secret to landing a job. They might guarantee you’ll make a lot of money working from home or offer you a certificate that they claim will boost your chances of getting hired. The key red flag is that scammers will always ask you to pay upfront. Never pay in advance. They may claim you can’t lose, but this is a lie—you will lose your money.

To avoid a job scam, never trust anyone who promises you a job. No one can guarantee you a position. Don’t pay upfront for job information, even if they offer a money-back guarantee. Avoid anyone who pressures you to act quickly. Lastly, ignore claims that you can make thousands of dollars working from home—they are lies.

If you’ve already sent money and didn’t receive any job assistance, you should report it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). You can call the FTC at 1-877-382-4357 or report it online at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Here’s how they work:

You get a call: “Grandma, I need money for bail.” Or money for a medical bill Or some other kind of trouble. The caller says it’s urgent – and tells you to keep it a secret.

But is the caller who you think it is? Scammers are good at pretending to be someone they’re not. They can be convincing: sometimes using information from social networking sites, or hacking into your loved one’s email account, to make it seem more real. And they’ll pressure you to send money before you have time to think.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Stop. Check it out. Look up your grandkid’s phone number yoursell or call another family member.

2. Pass this information on to a friend. You may not have gotten one of these calls, but chances are you know someone who will get one – if they haven’t already.

Here’s how they work:

Someone contacts you on social media – and they’re interested in getting to know you. Or maybe you meet someone special on a dating website or mobile app. Soon the person wants to write to you directly or start talking on the phone. They say it’s true love, but they live far away – maybe because of work, or because they’re in the military.

Then they start asking for money. Maybe it’s for a plane ticket to visit you. Or emergency surgery. Or something else urgent.

Scammers of all ages, genders, and sexual orientations make fake profiles, sometimes using photos of other people – even stolen pictures of real military personnel. They build relationships – some even pretend to plan weddings – before they disappear with your money.

Here’s what to do:

1. Stop. Don’t send money. Never send cash, or send money using gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or a payment app to an online love interest. Once you pay this way, it’s hard to get your money back.

2. Pass this information on to a friend. You may not have gotten tangled up with a romance scam, but chances are, you know someone who will – if they haven’t already.

Here’s how they work:

You get a call or message from someone who says they’re a computer technician. Or a number appears in a pop-up message on your screen. Or maybe you’re looking for tech suppoft and call a number you find in a search engine. The person on the phone says they’re from a well-known company like Microsoft or Apple. And they tell you about viruses or other malware on your computer. Maybe they’ll ask you for remote access to your computer or say you must buy new software to fix it. But are they someone you can trust? Judging by reports to the Federal Trade Commission, no. Tech support scammers will try to sell you useless services, steal your credit card number, or get access to your computer to install malware, which could then let them see everything on your computer (including your account passwords).

Here’s what to do:

1. Hang up. lf you get an unexpected call from someone saying there’s a problem with a computer – hang up, it’s a scam. lf you need tech help, go to someone you know and trust – and call them at a phone number you know to be true (the ones that show up in your search engine aren’t always legit).

2. Pass this information on to a friend. You might know these are scammers, but chances are, you know someone who doesn’t.