Scam calls, texts and emails have increased since the beginning of the pandemic, and as fraudsters become more sophisticated, people have been urged to remain vigilant.
Experts have warned of the key details people should watch out for that can give away whether or not an email, text, or call is legitimate or not.
Scammers often try to panic consumers by insisting that the scam can deliver you a lot of money or cost you a lot if you don't do something.
READ MORE: Ireland scams: Hundreds of thousands of WhatsApp users warned of new trick
They then make you feel that you need to take immediate action, so you don't think about what's happening until after you've taken action.
Here are some common scam traits to look out for, according to Express.co.uk.
Spray and pray
This is the one we all know. You have emails arrive in your inbox promising to be from a business with a discount voucher, offering you to win a prize or an investment opportunity or similar.
They are often picked up by spam filters. The English is usually poor, or images are blurry. We are mainly confident at picking these up and ignoring them.
Targeted
From the numerous data breaches that have occurred around the world and that continue to happen, your data is bought and sold on the dark web.
Most of this data is out of date, so the scammers will have inaccurate information.
However, they may have your address, an old password, or your mobile number.
This data is used to convince you that your account has been breached.
They then try to get you to move money from one account to a new one they've set up, and suddenly it's gone. These scams can be scary as it appears they know all about you.
Personalised
This uses more accurate and more up-to-date information.
The scammers will be more likely to use texts or WhatsApp and could know details of your family, and the effort made to scam you will be high.
Consumers are conned by the insight and knowledge the scammers employ. These are dangerous as they can be very convincing.
Adverts
This is one Martin Lewis is very keen to eradicate through inclusion in the forthcoming digital harms bill.
These are served as electronic adverts on search engines and social media platforms.
They appear to be genuine offers that are often recommended or endorsed by celebrities.
Is there anything you can do to prevent being scammed?
Yes. There are several key tools you should use. Firstly, all key email providers now include a scam filter.
Using a password manager is also recommended to manage your passwords and have a couple of email addresses.
One tip is to put my first name in plus the website name when you register. So Jamessitename.
Then if you get any communications through, you know where the data has been breached from. Finally, deleting your data from as many sites as possible can help.
Tip of the week
If you have a Gmail account, remember to add the site name to the email address when you register.
Add a plus "+" after your name and before the @ sign in the email.
After the plus, add in the website name, so you know where your data was entered.
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