Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Tips on avoiding scams, recognizing red flags

JACKSON, Tenn. — Scams are still prevalent today — in fact, a record $12.5 billion was lost by Americans last year due to scams.

Text messages, emails, phone calls, social media posts, and many others are ways scammers are trying to contact you.

They will pretend like they are a family member or even a company and modify things to try and make you believe them.

One way to help find out if it is a scammer or not is to pay attention to what they say.

In many instances, they will give you a short time period on when you need to do what they ask.

If you do get caught up in a scam, there are some things you need to do.

“Immediately contact your bank,” said Blythe Figurelle. “The sooner we know, the sooner we can contact to help. If you have provided any of your password or login information to your account, it’s also important to change those passwords right away.”

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which Congress established 20 years ago.

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