Phone scam guides
Scammers reuse a small number of scripts. Once you know how one works, you can hear it coming. Each guide below covers one of them: how the call opens, what the caller asks for, the warning signs, and what to do if it has already happened.
All 8 scam guides
- Medicare Scams — Medicare fraud costs an estimated $60 billion a year.
- IRS Scams — IRS impersonation is the #1 phone scam in America.
- Romance Scams — A romance scam is not one bad phone call.
- Social Security Scams — Social Security impersonation scams are the #1 government impostor fraud.
- Jury Duty Scams — The call says you missed jury duty, a warrant has been issued, and you can pay a fine right now to avoid being arrested.
- Sweepstakes and Lottery Scams — The call says you have won a sweepstakes, a lottery, or a new car, and all that is left is a small payment for taxes, customs, or processing.
- Grandparent Scams — Scammers call pretending to be a grandchild in trouble, begging for money.
- AI Voice Cloning Scams — Scammers now use AI to clone a loved one's voice from just seconds of audio, then call begging for emergency money.
Stop the calls before you have to judge them
Knowing the scripts helps. Not having to take the call at all helps more. Gini answers numbers you do not know, asks who is calling and why, and only rings you through when the call is real. See how to stop spam calls, how call screening works, or the Do Not Call Registry.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common phone scam right now?
Impostor scams — someone pretending to be a government agency, a bank, or a company you already deal with. The FTC has reported impostor scams as its largest fraud category, and among older adults who lost $10,000 or more to a business or government impostor, a phone call was most often the first contact.
How can you tell a scam call from a real one?
Two things give it away almost every time: urgency and the method of payment. A real agency will not demand that you act in the next few minutes, and it will never ask for a gift card, a wire transfer, or cryptocurrency. If either appears, hang up and call the organisation back on a number you looked up yourself.
What should you do if you already gave a scammer information?
Act the same day. Call your bank or card issuer and tell them what was shared. If it was your Social Security number, report it at identitytheft.gov. Report the call itself at reportfraud.ftc.gov. Then tell one person you trust — the silence is what lets the same criminals keep working.
Does the Do Not Call Registry stop scam calls?
Not really. The registry works on legitimate telemarketers who follow the law. Scammers already break the law by spoofing numbers, so registering does little to stop them. It is still worth doing, and it is free at donotcall.gov.
How does Gini Help fit in?
Gini answers calls from numbers you do not know before your phone rings, asks who is calling and why, and decides whether it looks like a scam. People saved in your contacts ring through as normal. On a call you do have answered, it keeps listening for pressure and money-request patterns and warns you while the caller is still on the line.