How online scammers target victims and how to protect yourself

By Jeff Wendt
Mail

Online scams have evolved from basic phishing emails into sophisticated operations that cost consumers billions of dollars each year.

According to fraud.com, the Top 10 online scams in 2025 included: phishing/spoofing, general merchandise on the internet, prizes/sweepstakes, investments including cryptocurrency, advance fee loans, fake check scams, friendship/sweetheart swindles, family/friend impostor, home repair and credit repair.

Rachel Caballero, community developments director and public relations manager for TruWest Credit Union, says they see people getting scammed on a daily basis.

“We see this is growing widespread, especially with AI increasing,” Caballero said. “We still see that the most vulnerable are the older groups.”

Joe Ducey of the Better Business Bureau said he believes there are contributing factors as to why older groups may be the most vulnerable.

“I think that the overall concern I have is when people are alone and people have nobody to talk to,” Ducey said. “People can’t run ideas off of other people. And a lot of these are seniors.

“And they’re maybe widowed, they may be on their own, and they’re lonely,” Ducey added. “I think it’s a loneliness. I think there’s a little bit of greed in all of us.”

According to a Pew Center Research report, about three-quarters of adults under 30, as well as those ages 30 to 49 and 50 to 64, report experiencing an online scam or attack. A slightly smaller share of those 65 and older (66%) report the same.

In Arizona, according to a report from the Common Sense Institute, those ages 70-79 report the most fraud (0.74%), followed by those ages 60-69 (0.65%) and those 80 and over (0.51%).

Online shopping fraud remains the single most common scam reported by the public, according to Ducey, spiking sharply during the holiday season as millions of shoppers search for deals on unfamiliar websites.
While online shopping scams hit the largest volume of victims, other types of digital fraud take a far more devastating financial and emotional toll. Romance scams and cryptocurrency investment schemes rank among the highest for financial loss per victim.

A lot of times, people get in too deep within the scams and start to lose money and don’t think anything about it.

“We try to tell people to slow down, ask questions, don’t feel pressured,” Caballero said. “Be diligent with the current trends. If anything comes up, notify us at the credit union. We keep up to date with all the current scams on our website.”

The integration of artificial intelligence is further lowering the barrier for cybercriminals. Bad grammar and awkward phrasing — long considered reliable warning signs — are disappearing as AI tools refine text and generate convincing voice clips or video deepfakes. AI also enables scam operations to scale rapidly, bombarding consumers with high volumes of realistic fake ads, emails, and customer service portals that rank near the top of search engine results.

Ducey says the BBB has several precautions to emphasize when being on the lookout for a scam:

• Research before you buy — don’t purchase from unknown sites and verify URLs correctly.

• Avoid unknown callers and texts — let unknown numbers go to voicemail. Legitimate callers will leave voicemail messages.

• Log in directly — check in your online app or organization’s website to verify its legitimacy. Don’t use information given in the message for it could be fake.

• Always use credit cards — Credit card purchases can be disputed, whereas if you use a debit card or gift card, the funds are removed immediately.

• Stay on monitored platforms —Be cautious if the scammer asks you to move conversations off standard platforms to unmonitored messaging services.

• Check on family — discuss threats regularly and help them spot red flags before financial harm occurs.

For Caballero, TruWest tries to help its customers in every way possible.

“We try to hit it from every angle possible,” Caballero said. “We’ll talk to them about the situation, we’ll put holds on accounts if we have to.

“We’ll even get law enforcement involved to do welfare checks if we need to,” Caballero added.

Anyone who suspects they have encountered or fallen victim to a scam, can report the incident to the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, or the Arizona Attorney General’s office to help prevent others from falling victim to similar schemes.

Jeff Wendt
Reporter | Phoenix/Cave Creek

jwendt@iniusa.org

Meet Jeff
Jeff Wendt started at Independent Newsmedia in January 2023, after 25 years working for Gannett and The Arizona Republic. Started as a high school sports scoretaker, worked up to reporting high school sports and then became an associate high school sports editor in 2002. Also worked in the Design Studio as a copy editor.

Community: Jeff serves on the Board of Elders at his local church.

Education: Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication

Random fact: Attended Game 2 of the 2001 World Series.

Hobbies: Playing video games (yes still the kid in me), watching reality TV, playing poker.