How to spot a scam and where to report it

Nobody gets scammed because they are not smart enough. People get scammed because the call comes when they are tired, worried, or alone, and because the story sounds reasonable for the first thirty seconds.

The thing worth learning is not the individual stories, because those change constantly. It is the shape they all share. The Federal Trade Commission boils it down to four signs, and almost every scam shows all four.

The four signs#

One, they pretend to be an organisation you know. The FTC writes that scammers "often pretend to be contacting you on behalf of the government", or on behalf of a business you deal with, a utility company, even a charity. The familiar name is there so you do not stop to question it.

Two, they say there is a problem or a prize. Either you are in trouble with the government, or you owe money, or you have won something. Opposite stories, identical purpose: get your attention and get you reacting.

Three, they pressure you to act immediately. The FTC puts it in one sentence: "Scammers want you to act before you have time to think." They threaten to arrest you, sue you, take away your driver's or business license, or deport you. That last one is worth pausing on, because a deportation threat is aimed squarely at people who are new here.

Four, they tell you to pay in a specific way. This is the most reliable sign of the four, and it gets its own section below.

What a government agency will never do#

This is the part worth memorising, because it turns a complicated story into a simple question.

The FTC writes that government agencies "will never call, email, text, or message you on social media to ask for money or personal information. Only a scammer will do that."

About itself, the FTC's own reporting site says it "will never threaten you, say you must transfer your money to 'protect it,' or tell you to withdraw cash or buy gold and give it to someone."

Some consequences of that, also from the FTC's pages:

• Caller ID can be faked. Seeing the IRS or your police department on the screen proves nothing at all.
• Badge numbers can be invented, and scammers often use the name of a real employee.
• Letters can be faked, including ones with official-looking seals. Some scammers invent agency names that sound real but do not exist.
• Knowing your name and address does not make them real. That information is easy to look up.

So the response is the same no matter what the story is: hang up, delete the message, then call the agency yourself on a number you looked up. Do not press numbers on a robocall, and do not click links in an unexpected message.

How they ask you to pay is the clearest sign#

If you remember one line from this guide, make it this one.

The FTC writes that scammers "often insist that you can only pay by using cryptocurrency, wiring money through a company like MoneyGram or Western Union, using a payment app, or putting money on a gift card", and its advice is to never pay anyone who insists on those methods.

The reason is practical: those four are the hardest to reverse. That is precisely why scammers want them.

No government agency collects taxes, fines or fees in gift cards. That does not happen. This one detail is enough to end the conversation, without hearing the rest of the story.

A "notario" in the United States is not a lawyer#

This is the most expensive trap of all, and the one that does the most damage to an immigration case.

The FTC explains: "In Latin American countries, the word notario or notary public means that the individual is an attorney or has legal training, but that's not true in the United States." In the US, a notary public is someone allowed to witness signatures. They are not a lawyer.

On who may actually advise you, the FTC is explicit: "Only an immigration attorney or someone authorized by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) can give you immigration advice."

Notario is the word used in Spanish-speaking communities. In Vietnamese communities the identical trap wears a different sign: the paperwork service, the document office, the well-connected person who fills in forms. What the FTC is warning about is not the sign over the door, it is the question of whether this person is authorised. That question does not change with the language on the sign.

Two more points from the same FTC page, short but worth real money:

• Immigration forms are free. The FTC writes: "Don't pay for immigration forms. The official forms from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are free." Paying someone to help you complete them is a separate matter, but paying to obtain the form is never right.
• Do not sign blank forms, or forms containing false information about you. Once you sign, the signature is yours and so are the consequences.

To find real help, look for an immigration attorney and verify them with your state bar association, or find an organisation recognised by the Department of Justice. If your question is about citizenship, see becoming a US citizen.

If you already paid#

It may not all be gone. What matters most is calling immediately, and calling the right place for the way you paid. This is the FTC's guidance:

• Gift card: contact the gift card issuer using the number on the back of the card. Say a scammer tricked you into giving them the card number and PIN, and ask for a refund.
• Wire transfer (Western Union, MoneyGram): report it to the wire transfer company right away, say you were tricked into sending money, and ask them to refund it.
• Credit or debit card: report it to the card issuer or your bank immediately. Federal law gives you protections against charges you did not authorise.
• Payment app (Venmo, Cash App, PayPal): report it in the app and ask them to reverse the payment.
• Cryptocurrency: contact the exchange or the crypto ATM operator. The FTC says plainly that crypto payments do not have the same legal protections as credit and debit cards, so getting money back is hard.
• Cash sent by mail: call the U.S. Postal Inspection Service on 1-877-876-2455 immediately. For a fee, they may be able to intercept the package.

Where to report it#

Reports go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov, the FTC's site. It is available in Vietnamese: "Tiếng Việt" appears in the language list at the top of the page.

One thing should be said accurately, because it decides what to expect. The FTC states on that page: "We can't resolve your individual report, but we use reports to investigate and bring cases against fraud, scams, and bad business practices." Your report is shared with over 2,000 law enforcers.

So: reporting is not how you get your money back. Getting money back is the phone calls in the section above, made early. Reporting is what you do for the people who come next, and what lets investigators build a case big enough to bring. Both are worth doing, but do not confuse which one produces which result.

The FTC also maintains a page of Vietnamese-language resources, with articles and printable handouts, if you want something to pass to a parent or pin up at the salon.

What to do, in order#

1. Hang up or delete the message. You owe no politeness to an unexpected call demanding money, and you do not need to hear the rest.
2. Tell someone you trust, before doing anything else. This is the FTC's advice, and it is the step people skip most.
3. Call the agency yourself on a number you looked up, if you are still uneasy. Never the number they gave you.
4. If you already paid, call the matching place from the list above today.
5. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, choosing Tiếng Việt if you would rather read in Vietnamese.
6. Tell your family and the people at work. The same scam usually works through a whole list of numbers.

If the scam involved your Social Security number, or somebody called to say your number has been "suspended", see Social Security numbers and ITINs. A Social Security number does not get suspended over an unpaid fee.