A financial scam is a fraudulent scheme that aims to trick people or businesses into losing money, assets, or valuable information. These scams can take many forms, from phishing emails to emotional scams, but their common goal is to use false pretenses to deceive victims into parting with money or personal data.
Unlike other types of theft or fraud, which happen without the victim’s participation, financial scams depend in part on tricking the victim into taking a specific action. Here, we’ll show you how to recognize scams, how to react safely to help you avoid becoming a victim and how to report a scam if you need to.
Common types of scams
- Emotional scams: Play on a victim’s emotions, such as romance or charity scams to manipulate victims into sending money.
- Vendor invoice scams: Deceive an employee into paying phony invoices or making payments to the scammer’s account.
- Tech support scams: Posing as tech support from a legitimate company, scammers request payment or gain access to the victim’s computer.
- Recovery assistance scams: For a fee, these scammers offer to help victims of other scams recover stolen money or data, with no intention of providing any service. Once the upfront payment is received, they disappear or string the victim along with false promises and phony status updates.
How scams are committed
Scammers carry out their scams through deceptive communications that seem legitimate on the surface.
- Emails or Phishing: In phishing scams, scammers send potential victims emails that appear to come from a valid source and typically contain links used to gather personal information, infect the victim’s device with malicious software (malware) or direct the victim to make payments to the scammer’s account.
- Texts or Smishing: With smishing scams, scammers send potential victims text messages that appear authentic but contain harmful links the scammer can use to collect data or money.
- Phone calls or Vishing: Scammers make deceptive phone calls in vishing scams that manipulate the recipients into calling a fake phone number or taking another action that the criminal will benefit from.
How to spot scams so you can avoid being victimized
- Be skeptical.
No matter how legitimate they may appear, be skeptical of unsolicited calls, emails, and text messages that ask you to send money or share information, especially when they seem urgent. - Do not immediately respond.
Do not trust or respond to any contact information or links provided in suspicious phone calls, texts or emails. If you are concerned and want to confirm the situation, leave the call, text or email and contact the company directly through a known channel, such as the phone number on the back of your debit or credit card.
Remember, KeyBank will never unexpectedly contact you and ask for your:
- Full Social Security number
- Username or password to online banking
- Other personal identifying information
How to report a scam
Here’s what to do if you think you’ve become a target or victim of a scam that impacts your KeyBank account.
Contact KeyBank right away.
General fraud and scams: Call the KeyBank Fraud Client Service Center at 1-800-433-0124 or dial 711 for TTY/TRS.
Email and text scams: Forward the email or text message without changing the subject line or other information to reportphish@keybank.com.
Contact other agencies as appropriate.
Depending on the type of scam, filing reports with other agencies may be helpful.
- Local law enforcement: Contact your local police department and file a report.
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC): The FTC uses reports filed on their site to investigate fraud and scams and bring cases against the accused.
- Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3): The FBI created this site for the public to report cyber-related crimes.
- Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): If the scam involved securities or investments, you can submit tips, complaints, and referrals through this website.
What to expect after you file a report
While financial losses from scams are often not recoverable, KeyBank does everything it can to investigate reports and help resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
Thorough investigation
Our investigations can take up to 90 days to complete and during this time, we may need to contact you for additional information. KeyBank will never require a fee for investigating claims.
Status Updates
Contact us to check your claim status or, for disputed charges on a KeyBank account, you may be able to check the status in KeyBank online banking under Security Center, then Fraud and Disputes.
Resolution and Communication
Once we’ve completed our investigation, we’ll notify you of the findings and outcome using the mailing address we have for you on file.
Emotional and educational support
Becoming a victim of a scam can be upsetting, isolating and embarrassing, but there are steps you can take to help you recover.
- Report it as soon as possible. Being scammed can feel embarrassing and that’s part of what scammers count on. When embarrassment delays or prevents victims from coming forward, scammers are less likely to be caught, and the money is less likely to be recovered.
- Don’t blame yourself. Scammers are devising increasingly sophisticated scams, even using artificial intelligence and deepfake technology to trick people. Anyone can become a victim, and you are not alone — countless people from all walks of life have been victimized by scams.
- Spread the word. Talk to trusted friends and family members about the incident for your own emotional well-being and to spread the word and help others avoid falling victim to similar scams.
- Get support. There are many free support groups for scam victims to meet and talk through their situation.
When it comes to avoiding scams, knowledge is your first line of defense.
KeyBank is committed to providing educational resources, including the latest information on emerging scams and preventative strategies. You can find our most up to date information at key.com/fraud and key.com/businessfraud.
Content provided for informational and educational purposes only and is in no way to be construed as financial, investment, or legal advice. We cannot and do not guarantee their applicability or accuracy in regards to your individual circumstances. All examples are hypothetical and are for illustrative purposes. We encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding all personal financial issues.
