6 Top Scams to Watch Out for in 2024

One reason that scammers are so difficult to stop, security experts say, is that they keep raising their game. They’re continually perfecting their scams, taking advantage of tech innovations and honing their methods to better manipulate their targets.

“We keep coming up with different tools to combat scams and fraud, but it’s just like playing whack-a-mole,” says Better Business Bureau spokesman Josh Planos.

Scammers have become much more adept at impersonating legitimate institutions, including creating websites and messages that are “carbon copies” of legitimate health care providers, businesses and banks, with fewer grammatical mistakes and other red flags for scams, according to Planos.

And criminals are not only taking advantage of technological innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), they’re also growing ever more adept at psychological manipulations — their “game of persuasion,” says Aaron Foss, former chief executive and founder of Nomorobo, a firm whose technology aims to thwart robocalls. Foss explains that today's scammers in overseas call centers, for example, are often trained to minimize their accents and coached on ways to connect emotionally with their targets.

Here are six of the scams that experts say you should be watching out for this year.

1. Check cooking scam

Last year, the big thing was check washing, where thieves stole paper checks from postal boxes, mailboxes or even carriers and then washed the checks with chemicals, keeping the signature but erasing the amount and the payee so they could fill in a new name and amount. But now, they’ve discovered a less messy way to steal. In check cooking, thieves take a digital picture of a stolen check and then use commercially available software to alter it.

“It looks very real, even with the watermarks and all,” explains Michael Bruemmer, vice president of data breach resolution and consumer protection at Experian, a global credit verification and financial services firm. Criminals can print a new phony check or else just deposit the altered image using a bank’s mobile app, he notes.

How to stay safe: Consider using a safer payment method, such as a credit card. But if you choose to write paper checks, scammers still need to steal a physical copy. Make it harder for them. Instead of putting the check in a mailbox, drop it off directly at the nearest post office. And continually monitor your checking account and watch for any suspicious transactions.

2. Voiceprint Scams

Thanks to technological advances, it’s possible for thieves to capture a recording of your voice and then use a software program to generate an imitation “deepfake” version that can be used to impersonate you. “That voiceprint can be used to access your insurance or your financial institution or apply for a driver’s license,” Bruemmer says. The New York Times reported on a recent case in which a representative at a major bank received a call from a deepfake copy of a Florida investor’s voice, requesting that the bank move the man’s money elsewhere. Fortunately, the fraud attempt was spotted by the bank before the real investor lost his savings.

How to stay safe: To prevent your voice from being duplicated, “don’t answer the phone,” Bruemmer advises. “If someone needs to get hold of you, they can text you.” Bruemmer even is cautious about answering calls that appear to be from people on his contact list, since the call could be coming from a phone that’s been stolen or had its SIM card cloned, he says.