--- title: How to spot and avoid scams source_url: https://moov-staging.money/help/security-privacy/how-to-spot-and-avoid-scams/ last_updated: 2026-09-06 --- # How to spot and avoid scams > [!TIP] > - Almost every scam uses the same three levers: urgency, authority, and isolation. > - The strongest habit you can build is a pause. Scams stop working the moment you slow down and check with someone else. > - Moov or your bank will never ask for your one-time code, and never send you a request for payment. > - You can shut off most unwanted contact in settings: set **Payment requests** to **Contacts only**, and block anyone who won't stop. People reported losing about **$16 billion** to fraud in 2025, the highest total the Federal Trade Commission has ever recorded and roughly a quarter more than the year before. Imposter scams alone accounted for $3.5 billion of it. Those numbers exist because scams are well made, not because the people who fall for them are careless. A convincing message from your bank gets a response because responding to your bank is the sensible thing to do. The trick is that the message isn't from your bank. So the useful question isn't "am I the kind of person who gets scammed." It's "what does a scam actually look like from the inside." Once you can name the moves, you start seeing them early. ## The three levers behind almost every scam Whatever the story is, a scam has to do three things to your thinking. Spotting any one of them is usually enough. ### Urgency You're told there's no time. Your account will be closed, the deal expires tonight, the charge goes through in ten minutes unless you act. Urgency exists to stop you from thinking, because thinking is what kills the scam. **Nothing legitimate about your money requires you to act in the next five minutes.** Not your bank, not Moov, not a landlord, not the IRS. A real problem will still be there after you hang up and call back on a number you looked up yourself. ### Authority The message borrows someone's credibility: your bank, Moov support, a government agency, a delivery company, your boss, your kid. Caller ID gets spoofed. Logos get copied. Texts land in the same thread as real ones from the same short code. **Authority you didn't seek out is not authority.** If a message says it's from your bank, close it and open your banking app yourself. If it says it's from Moov, come to this help center. The real version is always reachable by a path you chose. ### Isolation You're told to keep it quiet. Don't tell the teller why you're withdrawing. Don't mention it to your spouse or partner, they'll worry. This is confidential. Stay on the line while you drive to the store. **Secrecy is the single clearest sign of a scam.** No legitimate institution has ever needed you to hide a transaction from the people who love you. When someone asks for silence, that's the moment to tell somebody. --- ## Warning signs, concretely - Someone you don't know sends you money, then asks you to **send some or all of it back**. - A **request for payment** arrives out of the blue, or for something you don't remember agreeing to. - Someone asks for the **one-time code** we texted you, for any reason at all. - You're asked to pay a **fee** to "unlock," "verify," "release," or "insure" money that's supposedly yours. - You're asked to pay **before** you've received the goods, the keys, the tickets, or the pet. - The name on the account **doesn't match** the name you saved for that person. Moov Money tells you when it doesn't. - The person moves you **off the platform** you met on, into text or a messaging app, early and insistently. - The link doesn't start with `https://moov.money/`. See [How to tell a real Moov Money link](/help/security-privacy/how-to-tell-a-real-moov-money-link/) - The offer is **too good to be true**, which is a cliche because it keeps working. --- ## Five habits that do most of the work 1. **Pause before you pay.** Give any unexpected money request a full sixty seconds and one sentence out loud: "who is asking me for this, and how do I know." Most scams don't survive that sentence. 1. **Verify on a channel you picked.** Hang up and call back. Close the text and open the app. Look up the number yourself rather than using the one you were given. 1. **Never share a one-time code.** There is no legitimate reason for anyone to ask. Not support, not your bank, not a friend, not a buyer. 1. **Treat every payment like cash.** Once a payment is claimed or a request is paid, it can't be reversed through Moov Money. Only move money with people you actually know. 1. **Tell someone.** Say the situation out loud to a friend or family member before you send. Scams that survive scrutiny are rare, and this is the cheapest scrutiny there is. --- ## Frequently asked questions Is it safe to receive money from someone I don't know? : Receiving money is safe in itself. What isn't safe is what usually comes next, which is a message asking you to send some of it back. That's a scam pattern, not a coincidence. Keep the money where it is and don't return any of it. Someone claiming to be from Moov called me. Is that possible? : We do not call people out of the blue to ask for codes, card numbers, or payments. If you want to reach us, start from [How to contact Moov](/help/get-help/how-to-contact-moov/)rather than from a number someone gave you. I already sent money. Can I get it back? : If the payment hasn't been claimed yet, you may be able to cancel it. If it has, it can't be reversed, but there are still steps worth taking today. See [What to do if you think you've been scammed](/help/security-privacy/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-ve-been-scammed/). Does blocking someone tell them they've been blocked? : No. They see a generic message if they try to request money from you, and they get no notification.