Scams

You didn’t get hacked. You didn’t have your card stolen. You sent the money yourself, because someone convinced you to. Now the bank says the charge was authorized, so there’s nothing they can do. Unfortunately, this is one of the hardest types of fraud to reverse, but “hard” doesn’t mean “impossible”.

You finally find a place that looks perfect, the landlord responds quickly, but then the pressure starts: “Other applicants are interested. If you want it, you need to pay a deposit to hold the unit.” This is exactly how rental scams work. The good news is you can protect yourself without losing every decent listing, as long as you know what to look for and how to slow the situation down.

Sadly, there are lots of people out there looking to take advantage of a crisis. So we broke down the worst COVID-19 scams to watch out for .

You tap “send,” expect the money to go through instantly, and instead get hit with a fraud warning or transfer block. The frustrating reality is that banks and payment apps now monitor transfers constantly for potential scams and suspicious activity. The good news is that a blocked payment usually doesn’t mean you’re in trouble.

You got a password reset email that looked completely legit, so you clicked the link, followed the steps…and now you’re locked out of multiple accounts. This is one of the most common ways people get hacked, and it’s designed to feel convincing in the moment. The good news is that even if you’ve already clicked the link, there’s still a lot you can do to stop things from getting worse and regain control.

Finding out your business email was hacked is a nightmare scenario, but you’re not powerless here. The faster and more strategically you respond, the better your chances of limiting the fallout and protecting your business.