re You Being Scammed? Top 10 Scams in 2026

Wayne Sutton: Have you been scammed? Or are you setting yourself up to be scammed? Today I want to talk about something that affects nearly every person listening to this podcast. Scams. And the truth is, scams are getting smarter. Years ago, scams were pretty easy to spot. You might get an email from a prince in another country asking you to wire money. Today it's different. Scammers are using technology, psychology, AI, and even hacked accounts to trick people. And people are losing thousands, even hundreds of of dollars. But here's the good news. If understand how these scams work and how criminals think, you can protect yourself. So on today's podcast, instead of interviewing someone, I'm going to walk you through 10 modern scams that are happening right now, and more importantly, practical ways to protect yourself and your family. Welcome to Prosper with Wayne. Welcome to another exciting show of transformation. Prosper with Wayne, creating wealth, health, and happiness in your life. With your host, life and business coach, author, entrepreneur, and lover of life, Wayne Sutton. Prepare to become excited, expand your beliefs, and truly prosper in all the areas of. scams themselves, have to understand something important. Scams are not primarily about technology. They're about human psychology. Scammers rely on a couple of emotional triggers, urgency, fear, authority, curiosity, greed, confusion. They want you to act before you think. That's why the most powerful defense is simple. Pause. Take a moment. If something makes you feel rushed or emotional, slow down. Scammers win when people react quickly. They lose when people stop and think. So let's walk through some of the most common scams happening today. And if this is your first time with us, or maybe it's not your first time, if you haven't subscribed, hit that subscribe button, hit that notification bell. And I look forward to bringing you more content on creating health, wealth and happiness here at Prosper Woodway. So let's jump into one scam that's becoming increasingly common. And that's fake calendar invitations. You might receive a meeting invite in your email. I've received them. And it says something like, urgent meeting, security update, account verification. And the invitation includes a link. Now, when you click the link, it takes you to a fake login page that steals your password. Sometimes the invite even comes from a hacked account, which makes it look legitimate. So how do you protect yourself? Well, number one, never click meeting links and unknown invitations. If you weren't inspecting the meeting, ignore it. If it appears to come from someone you know, contact them directly. Always verify first. And I go back to the ones that have shown up on my email. Most of them my calendar, most of them have been just trying to get me to go to a webinar or something so they can sell me. Number one, I wasn't invited. Well, I didn't invite myself. They just mass invited. There's a whole process how they do this. But number two, if they're asking you to log in. to Facebook, or asking you log in to Gmail, or asking you log in to your bank, ignore it. Now, there's also something called a Brushing Scam. This one's a little strange. People suddenly receive packages they never ordered. Inside of the package, usually they're cheap items like small electronics or random household goods. What's really happening is scammers are using your address to create fake verified purchases. Your identity is used to boost product ratings. Okay, so when they ship it, they actually ordered a product and send it to you. Now this a verified purchase. Now they can do a fake verified purchase review. Again, this is something that seems harmless, but it signals your personal data has been compromised. So monitor your online accounts, your credit reports and change passwords. Now the next one, unpaid toll. text scams. Oh my goodness, I've received this one. You get a text message saying something like, you have an unpaid toll. Pay immediately to avoid penalties. And of course the text includes a link. The link takes you to a fake payment page where it will steal your credit card information, personal information, login credentials. The message is designed to feel urgent. People panic and pay without thinking. But real toll agencies rarely demand immediate payment through random text links. If you receive one these messages, just delete it. Do not click the link. Instead, go directly to the official website of the total authority. Deepfake. I knew that you were waiting for this one because they're everywhere and it's getting more and more. AI is making fraud more dangerous. Scammers now create deepfake videos and audio that mimic real people. Imagine receiving a phone call that sounds exactly like your boss. Even a family member. The voice might say, I'm in trouble. I need money. Send immediately. In some cases, companies have lost millions because scammers impersonated executives using AI generated voices. So always verify unusual financial requests. If someone asks for money urgently, hang up. Call them back using a number you already trust. Never rely on a single message or phone call. Which also takes us to fake tech support. Another long-running scam that many people fall into is fake tech support. A pop-up on your computer saying, virus detected, call support immediately. The message looks official, sometimes even includes logos from major companies. When you call the number though, scammers ask for remote access to your computer. Once inside, they can steal data, they can insert software that's dangerous, and then demand payment to remove it. I have friends that have gone through this. Understand this, legitimate tech companies do not randomly warn you through pop-ups. If you see one of these, close the browser or restart your computer. Never call the number provided. Another common scam is the fake delivery notification. You receive a text message saying, your package could not be delivered. Click here to update your address. Usually it's from, well, it seems to be from UPS FedEx. even the postal service, the link leads to a fake website designed to collect personal data. Here's the key. Here's the thing to remember. Delivery companies will contact you through official apps or tracking numbers. Never click links in an unexpected delivery text. Instead, go straight to the company's official website, FedEx, UPS, USPS, wherever it may be. this next one's really ⁓ particularly dangerous. You receive a text or phone call saying suspicious activity on your account. Looks like it came from your bank, but it's fake. The scammer asks you to confirm account numbers, provide login credentials, verify one-time security codes. These codes allow them to access your bank account. Remember this, banks never ask for passwords or full codes over the phone. If you receive a suspicious message, call your bank using... the number on the back of your debit or credit card. Never use the number provided in the message. Peer-to-peer payment apps like Azalea, Venmo, they're incredibly convenient. But scammers, they're exploiting it. One trick involves sending you money by mistake. Then they contact you and ask you to send it back. But the original transaction was fraudulent. So when the bank reverses the original payment, you lose the money you sent back. Here's the key, never send money to strangers who claim they sent funds accidentally. If this happens, contact the payment platform directly. Let them handle the reversal. And here's one that I've seen locally, QR code scams. QR codes are everywhere, restaurants, parking meters, flyers. I've even placed them in our books that we publish so people can just scan on it and go to deeper training. But scams are placed in malicious QR codes right over legitimate ones. Literally go into parking meters, for example, and or even restaurant menus and place them into fake QR codes. And when scans it, it looks legitimate. It takes you to a website where they can collect your data or even take your money. So always double check where QR codes send you. If it looks unusual, just close it out. Now, there's another one I want to talk about in the real estate space. It's devastating for many people. Scammers copy legitimate home listings, advertise them online at attractive prices, ask for deposits before we ever see the property. By the time the victims realize the listing was fake, the money is gone. So never send deposits before verifying the property. Meet the landlord or meet the agent in person. Confirm ownership through official property records. This is so important. So let me leave you with five rules. If you follow these rules, you'll avoid most scams. Rule number one, take a pause. Scammers depend on urgency, so just slow down. Rule number two, never click unknown links. Go directly to official websites instead. Rule number three, verify with a trusted source. Call a company or person using a known phone number. Rule number four, use strong passwords. Multi-factor authentication. Yes, they can be aggravating. But makes it harder for criminals to access your accounts. And rule number five, never share sensitive information. It sounds obvious, but this is your password, security codes, bank logins. No legitimate organization will ask for these over email or text. Here's the reality. Technology will continue to evolve. Unfortunately, scams will evolve with it. But awareness is power. When people understand the tactics that scammers use, fraud loses its power. Click the share button. Somebody in your family, somebody in your family or one your friends could be subject to this. Some of mine have been. Especially your older relatives, who are usually more vulnerable to these truths. And remember, the most powerful protection against scams is not software, it's wisdom. So share this with someone, hit that subscribe button. Thanks for listening and I'll see you in the next episode. God bless.