Fraud Alert Center

This one is growing in popularity and preys on people's fears about having their power or water shut off. The scammer poses as a representative from your power or water company and threatens to turn off your services unless you send payment right away or provide some important personal information. 

Here, a scammer will send realistic texts requesting you to send money using Zelle® as payment due to a “fraud alert." The warning is meant to seem legitimate, and people who respond to these texts are receiving messages from fake representatives. 

Phishing is becoming more sophisticated as criminals create messages that appear and sound as if they're legitimate. 

A lot of these scams contain elements of social engineering, which is used to make the scam appear to be a legitimate request for information. People fall victim to them every day, but knowing the warning signs can help you avoid them.