You meet an attractive, smart, and funny person online. As you get to know each other, you never meet in person — but that won’t feel like it matters. Nothing will seem off for months; you and this person exchange pictures, you even speak on the phone. You believe you’ll meet face-to-face at some point, but right now he/she’s on the other side of the world doing humanitarian work. This dream person suddenly tells you they’ve had an emergency and need money. He/she doesn’t ask for a lot, only a few hundred dollars. Then, the next week, someone in his/her family gets sick. Wanting to help, you send a few more hundred dollars.

The reality is, this dreamy person you’ve fallen in love with online is  probably an old man sitting in a cubicle somewhere. He’s built your trust, and now he wants to take you for all your money.

Be smart and do not send money to people you meet online.

You receive amazing news in your email today. You won the lottery! The grand prize is enormous and you have already begun dreaming of what you’ll do with that money. You don’t recall entering the lottery, but who cares? You can’t remember what you had for breakfast either. There is one little catch: the sender needs some funds from you in order to cash out your prize.  Just a small amount.

This is a scam. Do not send money to collect a larger prize. If someone is asking for an upfront fee, there is no larger prize.

You receive an urgent email or phone call saying a family member of yours is traveling in Mexico and needs money. You don’t remember this family member telling you they were going to travel to Mexico, but you’re worried about their safety and want to ensure they are okay.

This is a common scam used because no one wants to leave their family stranded in another country. However, no matter how convincing the story is, you should not send money to a friend or family member without talking with them personally.

Congratulations! You landed a new job as a mystery shopper and have been assigned your first job. All you need to do is evaluate the customer service of a local retail store. Sounds easy enough, right? There is just one catch. You were sent a check or money order with instructions to deposit it, yet you find out the amount is more than it should be. So, now you need to send money back to the sender. Sounds a little odd, but it’s not a lot of money and you have their check so the money is covered. Yet, as soon as you send your transaction, you learn that the original check was counterfeit and now you can’t get back the money you just sent. Now you’re out for both amounts.

Be smart and do not deposit checks from people you do not know, especially if they ask you for some of the money in return.

You found a great deal on the car of your dreams!  (Or maybe it is an apartment, or a puppy, or a vacation rental.)  An online seller is offering the car you want at a much lower price than your local dealership.  You contact the seller and he tells you to send a down payment and the service fees for the application loan through a money transfer so you can avoid sales tax and get a better rate.  He even sends you a receipt.  Then, he disappears and you are left with no dream car and no money.

Be smart and do not send a down payment or service fees via a money transfer for a great deal.  If it sounds too good to be true, it is!

A recent natural disaster has left an entire nation reeling to rebuild in the aftermath of destruction and you want to do your part to help by donating money. Sadly enough, natural disasters such as earthquakes, wild fires, floods, tornados, or hurricanes often result in scammers staging “charitable” organizations that prey on well-intentioned people. Your heart goes out to these people who have just lost everything. You receive a call or a letter from a charitable organization telling you exactly where to transfer money.

Be smart and never send money to people or organizations that you don’t know.  Instead, contact the American Red Cross, Teleton, or another trusted organization that you personally know.  Chances are, if you transfer money to an organization you don’t know, your money will not go to the intended cause but rather into the pockets of scammers.