A prize, a refund, unclaimed money, or an offer to get back what you lost, once you pay a fee or share your bank details. Real ones never cost you anything.
Text Message
IRS: You have a tax refund of $268.40 waiting. Claim it by Nov 15: https://irs-
On this page
Text Message
IRS: You have a tax refund of $268.40 waiting. Claim it by Nov 15: https://irs-
Giving away $210 to anyone with Cash App or PayPal. Nothing required. Comment “interested” and message me.
This is Agent Miller with the FBI. We've traced the money you lost. To release it, pay a $350 processing fee.
Examples. The names and amounts change; the shape doesn't.
You pay to get paid. A fee, shipping, a tax or a “release” charge first. A fee to release money is the scam itself.
You didn't enter, or weren't expecting it. You can't win a draw you never entered, or be owed money for a product you never bought.
They want your bank details, card or ID to “send” you the money. Or they send you money and ask you to pass part of it on: it's usually stolen, and you'd be moving it for them.
An offer to get back money you lost, or a hacked account, for a fee. It's a second scam, often by the same people. Police and fraud reporting services never charge to recover money, and getting an account back through its own app is free.
Pay by gift card or crypto. Real companies and governments don't ask for either.
Don't pay anything, and don't send bank details or your ID. Real prizes and refunds never cost you anything.
If it says a company or government owes you, check on its official website yourself, or in its app.
Still not sure? Check the message. We open its link on a phone and a computer, not yours, and tell you what it is.
Then delete it. You can report it to your police or your country's fraud reporting service. Your phone may also let you report it as junk or spam. In the US and UK, you can also forward a scam text to 7726.
In the US: ReportFraud.ftc.gov (the FTC's website, opens in a new tab)
It worked, thank you!
It worked, thank you!