Arizona woman tricked into handing over $50K in cash and home address to scammer — who then had her load the funds into his car. What to know to protect yourself as fraudsters get bolder

Victim handed over an envelope full of cash

The scammer reportedly instructed the Prescott woman to withdraw the $50,000 that she "owed" from her bank account, but warned that she would need to lie to the bank to get the funds. The woman was then told to put the money into an envelope, which the scammer would then pick up.

Driving a Toyota sedan, the scammer drove to the woman’s house and instructed her to place the envelope in the trunk. It wasn’t until several hours later that the victim realized she had been scammed.

The woman called the sheriff's office to report the situation but, unfortunately, the police were unable to find the scammer’s Toyota despite deputies conducting a search of the area.

And just like many scam victims, the woman is unlikely to recover her lost money.

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Americans face a growing risk of fraud

As the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) explained to AZ Family, fraud cases have significantly increased in 2025, and scammers are becoming more bold with the ways that they con victims into giving up large sums of cash. Many of today’s common scams involve either the exchange of cryptocurrency or convincing the victim to buy gift cards or wire money.

Data from the FBI backs up what the YCSO has warned about the rising risk of fraud. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center said in its 2024 report that financial losses from fraud schemes were up 33% from 2023, exceeding $16 billion. There were nearly 860,000 fraud complaints in 2024, with people aged 60 and over making the most reports and collectively losing close to $5 billion.

Phishing and spoofing scams remain the most common type of online fraud. These scams typically include criminals pretending to be from a reputable company or entity, such as a credit card company, bank or even the U.S. government.

These scammers also con victims by pretending to be someone the target may know — such as a boss or someone in the target’s family — conning innocent victims into downloading malicious software, providing personal information or handing over large sums of money. Identity theft, romance scams and check fraud are a few of the other common fraud schemes.

How to avoid becoming a victim

With fraud schemes on the rise, Americans need to protect themselves so that they don't end up losing substantial sums of money like the unfortunate woman from Prescott.

As the YCSO explained to AZ Family, Americans need to remember that government entities and police forces will never request payment in cryptocurrency, nor will they ever visit your home to collect penalties and fees. Keeping that in mind is a good way to avoid falling for an impersonation scam, which was the same type of scheme that the Prescott woman fell for.

Here are some other tips that can help you avoid falling victim to a scam:

• Avoid answering phone calls from unfamiliar numbers.

• If the "government," a "bank" or another trusted institution calls, call the institution back on an official phone number, which can be found on the institution’s website.

• Never give money, gift cards or personal information to anyone you do not know and have not met in person.

• Don't open or respond to any text messages or emails from unfamiliar people or entities. You should also be very careful about interacting with texts and emails that appear to come from your bank or another institution that you’re affiliated with. The Federal Trade Commission has several tips on how to spot a phishing scam.

• Limit the personal information that you share online.

Hopefully, following these tips will help you avoid criminals trying to part you from your money.