8 Different Types of Internet Scams & How to Protect Yourself

Internet scams don’t announce themselves anymore. What used to be easier to spot can now show up as a familiar-looking email or a website you’d barely think twice about. On the latest episode of Coming In Hot, Caroline Stanbury and her partner John Bilton break down the modern versions, and the throughline is uncomfortable: these can hit anyone. Your kids, your parents, your grandparents, and yes, you, no matter how plugged in you think you are.

The gut-punch stat they open with says it all. Roughly 200,000 seniors lost an average of $38,000 each in a recent year, and plenty of them assumed they’d never fall for it. That’s the trap. Scams have gotten faster, more personal, and better at blending into the ordinary stuff you scroll past all day, from a Venmo alert to a package on your doorstep.

This is the practical conversation to send to your group chat. It’s not about paranoia, it’s about pattern recognition. Once you know the warning signs, you get that half-second of hesitation that changes everything: the pause before you click, respond, send money, or hand over personal information.

You can watch the full episode below, but we’re hitting the highlights in the mean time:

The information in this post is for general educational purposes and is not legal, financial, or security advice. Always verify reporting steps and instructions through official sources before acting.

8 Different Types of Internet Scams & How to Protect Yourself

Here’s the thing Caroline and John keep circling back to: scammers tailor the tactic to the target. Kids get baited with free in-game currency. Grandparents get panicked phone calls that sound official. Lonely adults get a love interest who’s always one excuse away from meeting in person. Different bait, same machine.

They’re also, as John puts it, some of the best marketers out there. They move fast because they want the money fast, and AI has handed them tools that were science fiction a few years ago. 

The good news is that scammers leave fingerprints. Urgency, a slightly-off web address, a request for gift cards or crypto, a story that’s a little too good to be true. Learn the patterns and you can spot most of these before you ever click, respond, share personal information, or send a dime.

What Is an Internet Scam?

An internet scam, also known as a phishing scam, is any scheme that uses online communication to steal money, gain access to accounts, or trick you into sharing personal information. The tools vary, the goal doesn’t.

Scammers create fake online accounts and fake identities (a cloned social media account, a fake CEO, a “verified” celebrity DM), spin up deceptive websites and spoofed websites that mimic a real brand, and blast out text messages, emails, and phone calls designed to look legitimate. John describes watching someone spin up a fake Facebook account of Caroline, uploading her real videos daily to impersonate her. (AKA, the kind of thing that’s maddeningly hard to get taken down.)

The common types range from kid-targeted game scams to romance scams to tech support fraud, and the fastest-growing ones lean on AI: cloned voices pulled from a single TikTok clip, deepfake video, even fake job interviews on Zoom.

How Do Internet Scams Work?

Most scams run the same playbook, which is exactly why they’re easy to name once you’ve seen it.

• First, manufactured urgency. Your account was accessed, there’s a warrant, your kid is in trouble, act now. As John notes, urgency is what throws you off your game. 
• Second, borrowed trust. The scammer pretends to be your bank, PayPal, Venmo, Apple support, the government, or someone you love. 
• Third, the redirect: A link, a QR code, or a phone number that sends you to a fake website or gets someone remote access to your device. 
• Then comes the ask. Send money, buy gift cards, wire crypto, or share personal information like your Social Security or credit card number.

John’s rule of thumb is clean: if it’s about your money and it’s rushing you, slow down and verify it yourself.

What Are the Different Types of Internet Scams?

The episode is basically a field guide. Here are the common types of internet scams that Caroline and John walk through, and how to recognize each one.

Kids Targeted Through Gaming and Apps

The one that scares Caroline most: free Robux or in-game currency dangled in front of kids who’ll obviously take it. All it takes is a click on a link that can open access to a device, then the home network, then any saved passwords or credit card. They cite that around 35% of children are targeted for scams through gaming platforms, and the contact often starts on Roblox, Discord, or Fortnite before moving somewhere private.

Sextortion and Grooming

Worse than a stolen password is a stolen sense of safety. Scammers and predators build trust with a child, sometimes impersonating another kid, then pressure them to share a photo they can use as blackmail. Caroline shares that a friend’s son was targeted this way and ended up terrified, with police involved. She and John also caught concerning messages to their own son, where a “friend” with no friends was angling to move the chat off-platform.

The “We Hacked Your Phone” Extortion Email

Caroline’s son Sawyer once got an email claiming his phone was hacked and his private activity recorded, with a demand to stay quiet. The tell? John had received the exact same email. It’s a mass-blast scam engineered around embarrassment, betting you’ll be too mortified to ask anyone for help. Their whole point: talk to your kids openly so they bring it straight to you.

Impersonation, Fake Accounts, and Account Hacks

This one hits creators and everyday users alike: someone spins up a fake profile to run scams under your name, often demanding Bitcoin. Caroline lost her own Instagram to a Russian hack that wiped a ton of Meta accounts and swapped profile pictures to Disney characters. She never got it back. The lesson: turn on two-factor authentication and treat any “log back in now” message as a red flag.

Celebrity and Romance Scams

The “I can’t believe you reached out” DM from someone who looks too good to be true? Give it a second look. Caroline had to break into her own mother’s phone to change the password because of how many men were trying to scam her, and one had gotten all the way into a real conversation. They prey on loneliness, and they always avoid the camera. If someone won’t hop on a video call or meet in a public place after months, that’s your answer.

Senior Phone Call and Government Impersonation Scams

Calls claiming to be the IRS, Social Security, your bank, or a “fraud department,” often warning of a warrant or unpaid taxes to trigger panic. The government won’t call demanding immediate payment, and gift cards are never a legitimate way to pay anyone. When a spoofed credit card fraud line called John, even she got a few minutes in before catching it.

AI Voice Clones and Deepfakes

The scariest evolution. AI can clone your voice from a single video and call a loved one pretending you’re in a crisis, or generate a convincing deepfake video of you asking for money. Their fix is refreshingly low-tech: a family code word only your people know.

Tech Support, QR Code, Text, Mail, and Crypto Scams

The catch-all bucket that pertains to everyone? Tech support pop-ups screaming your computer is infected (they cite $1.4 billion lost to tech support fraud in 2024). QR codes on mailers, packages you didn’t order, or stickers slapped over a real code. Random “Hey, is this John? I lost your number” texts that just want to confirm your line is active. And crypto “hot investment” pitches, since investment scams were the number-one fraud in 2024.

In other words: if it sounds sketchy, it probably is. If you love a good con story before you fortify your own defenses, cue up some podcasts like Scamanda, then come back and run the checklist below.

How to Protect Yourself From Internet Scams

Caroline and John turn the fear into a plan. Here’s the practical checklist for dealing with internet scams:

Slow Down and Kill the Urgency

Nothing legitimate is so urgent it can’t wait five minutes. Take a breath, pause, and do a little research before you act. Urgency is the scammer’s favorite lever, so refusing to rush is half the battle.

Verify Independently and Never Use Their Number

Don’t answer calls or respond to texts from numbers you don’t know. Initiate contact yourself: pull the number off the back of your credit card, or find the official phone number on the company’s legitimate website. If someone calls, hang up and call back on a number you sourced.

Never Click Unknown Links or Scan Random QR Codes

Don’t click links or open attachments when you don’t know the source, and skip QR codes on gas pumps, mailers, and packages. A QR code is just a link you can’t fully see. When in doubt, John suggests checking where a link actually points to before tapping it.

Use a Family Code Word

Set a code word with your parents and your kids. If a panicked “family member” calls and sounds urgent, asks for money, or says they’re in danger, ask them for the code word to immediately out that AI voice clone.

Lock Down Devices and Accounts

Turn on two-factor authentication, keep antivirus software and operating systems updated, and don’t store credit card info in your browser. For kids, an app like Bark can monitor activity, and giving older teens their own card with a spending limit plus purchase alerts keeps things visible.

Freeze and Monitor Credit

You can run a free credit check annually through the three reporting agencies and place a freeze so new accounts can’t be opened without a call. For aging parents, alerts and shared visibility can stop identity theft before it snowballs.

Talk About It Openly (and Make It a Game)

The most powerful tool isn’t software, it’s conversation. Tell your kids scammers will target them, and reward them for flagging a real one. Caroline’s take: a five-dollar bounty for spotting a legit scam beats any lecture.

Trust Your Gut on “Too Good to Be True”

The oldest rule still wins. A rental listing priced too low, a Zara-sized brand deal out of nowhere, a stranger promising love and asking for cash. Ask your friends if you’re on the fence yourself, because they’re usually not the ones being blinded.

What to Do If You Are Scammed on the Internet

If you think you’ve interacted with a scam, move quickly and calmly. Not every loss can be recovered, but fast action gives you the best shot at limiting the damage.

Stop All Contact and Don’t Send Anything Else

Cut off the conversation. Don’t send another payment, don’t “fix” anything they’re telling you to fix, and don’t grant remote access to your device.

Contact Your Bank and Financial Institutions

Call your bank, card issuer, or payment app directly, using a number you source yourself, to flag fraud, freeze cards, or reverse what you can. Having a real point of contact at your bank matters here, since apps like Venmo offer limited human support.

Secure Your Accounts and Devices

Change passwords, turn on two-factor authentication, and run security software. If a device is compromised, you may need to wipe it, as John did with their son’s hacked computer.

Protect Against Identity Theft

If you shared personal information, place a fraud alert or freeze on your credit and watch your statements. The Federal Trade Commission collects reports about identity theft under the FTC Act and other laws it enforces.

Report It

File a report so investigators can track patterns, even if you can’t recover funds.

Where to Report an Internet Scam

The right channel depends on the type of scam, the platform involved, and your location, so always verify current reporting instructions on the official website of the relevant organization or agency before you submit anything.

For consumer fraud in the U.S., the FTC is the main hub. The Federal Trade Commission runs ReportFraud.ftc.gov, where consumers can easily report fraud and other consumer issues directly to the FTC. Your report is shared with over 2,000 law enforcers, and while the FTC can’t resolve individual reports, it uses them to investigate and bring cases.

For internet crime specifically, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center takes complaints at ic3.gov. The IC3 is an FBI division that serves as the national hub for reporting cybercrime, receiving reports on frauds, scams, intrusions, extortion, identity theft, and investment scams.

One important note, since it fits this exact episode: scammers are impersonating the IC3. The FBI urges typing www.ic3.gov directly into your browser, avoiding sponsored search results, and never sharing sensitive data on unverified sites.

Beyond the feds, report the scam to the platform where it happened (the social network, game, marketplace, or payment app), and loop in local law enforcement when kids are targeted or the losses are significant. 

Know How to Stop Scams Before They Start

Caroline and John’s closing message is the one worth pinning: knowledge is power. Keep your guard up, and no one, no matter how convincing, should ever DM, text, or email you asking for your personal or bank information.

Interested in learning even more helpful advice like this? Head to Dear Media, home to over 100 top-rated pop culture, entertainment, and lifestyle podcasts hosted by today’s most talked-about celebrities and creators. Watch the full conversation on YouTube, catch more of Coming In Hot with Caroline, then send this one to the group chat that needs it.