Meeting someone through social media, a dating app or online chatroom is extremely common these days – and many people hit it off! Just be aware that scammers take advantage of people looking for love by posing as someone else, often using a stolen photo.

What to watch out for:

Getting a call, text, email or letter saying you’ve won a prize is exciting – really, who wouldn't want a huge pile of cash, smartphone or car? But before you claim that “prize,” keep in mind that sweepstakes, lottery and prize scams are a common way for fraudsters to snag your personal and financial information.

Posing as your child, grandchild or other loved one is an all-time low even for scammers, but they do it – because they know people act spontaneously in crisis or panic mode. Especially when it involves helping a family member.

Fraudsters are getting trickier by the day, and it can be tough to tell if that email, text or online ad is fake or legit. Especially when they pose as a trusted business, like your financial institution.

Headlines have been swirling around about federal student loans, the Supreme Court’s decision and repayments starting back up in October. Scammers tend to take advantage of big news like this, so keep these tips in mind if you see offers for repayment “help”:

It’s a big world of tech out there. What would we do without our phones, laptops and tablets? Unfortunately, scammers love what we have on there as much as we do – and try to steal it through malware (short for malicious software).