Do You Know How to Spot a Business Imposter?

Do you know how to spot a business imposter?

Business imposter scams are widespread and affect people of all ages, including older adults. In 2025, the FTC received more than 485,000 reports about business imposters, with reported losses of $993 million. And because not everyone who experiences a scam reports it, this likely represents only a fraction of the actual amount lost to business imposter scams.

These scammers pretend to be someone they’re not to trick you into giving them money, access to your financial accounts, or your personal information. For example, they might claim to be calling from your bank and say there’s a problem with your account. Or pretend to be tech support and say there’s a virus on your computer. They may say they’re from an online shopping site and that there’s an issue with your order. Or they might tell a different lie. Sometimes, they’ll transfer you to someone from the “government” to supposedly help resolve the issue. But that’s really another scammer who will try to get you to move money out of your account so they can steal it.

Whatever the story is, they’ll say it’s urgent and that you need to act right away — before you have time to think or check their story out.

Learn how to spot imposters so you can avoid them. Know that:

• Never ever will TCSB contact you out of the blue to ask for money or personal information. But a scammer will.
• Never ever will TCSB insist that you pay with a payment app, cryptocurrency, a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram, or a gift card. But a scammer will.
• Never ever will TCSB  tell you to keep your phone conversation a secret. But a scammer will.

Help fight fraud in your community. Share these tips with your friends, family, colleagues, and others you know. Visit ejcc.acl.gov/imposters for more on imposter scams. And if you spot an imposter scam — or any other type of scam — report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.