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Stay Safe · Vermont
If a call, text, or video has you worried, you’re in the right place. This page lists the official places to get help in Vermont, what to do first, and simple ways to protect your family.
Scams look different now. AI can copy a voice, make a convincing video, and write a message with your details in it. The help is still the same: stop, check, and report.
Public data
These numbers come from public government reports. They count what people reported, so the real numbers are likely higher. The reports don’t separate AI scams by state, so read them as the bigger picture AI scams are part of.
Source: Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024, State page, p. 68; State Rankings, pp. 20–21.
Source: 2025 Internet Crime Report, States by Complaint Count, p. 28; States by Complaint Loss, p. 29; Overall State Statistics for 60+, p. 49; Overall State Statistics for 60+, p. 50; Cryptocurrency Complaints by State, p. 56; Cryptocurrency Losses by State, p. 57.
Nationally: In 2025, the FBI received 22,364 complaints that mentioned AI, with $893,346,472 in reported losses. It was the first year the FBI tracked AI as its own category. Source: 2025 Internet Crime Report, "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Used in Cybercrime," p. 39.
AI scams to watch for
Attackers used to make mistakes. That’s how you knew.
Typos and strange phrasing used to give scams away. AI doesn’t make those mistakes. These are the patterns to know. The details will keep changing. The way to check stays the same.
You get a call from a grandchild, a parent, or a friend. They’re scared. There’s been an accident, an arrest, or a hospital bill. They need money now and ask you not to tell anyone. The voice sounds right because AI can copy a voice from a short clip online.
How to check: Hang up and call them back on the number you already have. Ask your family safe word.
Report it: FTC, Department of Justice’s National Elder Fraud Hotline
A video call or clip shows someone you know or trust: a relative, a boss, a celebrity, a news anchor. They ask for money, push an investment, or tell you to act fast. AI can make a face and voice say things the real person never said.
How to check: Contact the person another way. Be wary of any investment you first heard about from a video or an ad.
A message uses your name, your bank, a recent order, or a package you’re expecting. It asks you to tap a link, confirm a code, or “verify” your account. AI writes these quickly, without typos, for thousands of people at once.
How to check: Don’t tap the link. Go to the company’s website or app yourself, or call the number on your card or bill.
A caller says they’re from the IRS, Social Security, Medicare, the sheriff’s office, or your bank’s fraud team. They say there’s a warrant, a frozen account, or a problem only payment will fix. Real agencies don’t demand gift cards, crypto, or wire transfers, and they don’t threaten arrest over the phone.
How to check: Hang up and call the agency at the number on its official website.
Report it: Social Security OIG, FTC
Someone you met online is kind, attentive, and always available. Over weeks, the talk turns to money, a crypto opportunity, or an emergency. AI can keep many of these conversations going at once.
How to check: Never send money to someone you haven’t met in person. Talk it over with someone you trust.
A pop-up, call, or message says your computer is infected or your account was hacked. They ask for remote access or tell you to move money to “keep it safe.”
How to check: Close the window or hang up. No real company asks you to move your money to protect it.
If it happened to you
You did nothing wrong by being targeted. These steps work in any order, but the first two are the most urgent.
Stop contact. Hang up, stop replying, and don’t send more money. Don’t click links or install anything they ask you to.
Call your bank or card company. Use the number on the back of your card. Tell them it was fraud and ask them to stop or reverse the payment. If you paid with a gift card, call the company that issued it. If you sent crypto, contact the exchange you used.
Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Your report helps law enforcement spot patterns.
If someone used your personal information, go to IdentityTheft.gov. The FTC will give you a personal plan with the next steps for your situation.
If it happened online, by text, or by phone and you lost money, file a complaint with the FBI at ic3.gov.
Contact the Vermont Attorney General. Call 1-800-649-2424 or file a complaint online. Your state’s consumer protection office tracks scams aimed at Vermont residents.
File a report with your local police or sheriff. Ask for a copy. Banks and creditors may ask for it.
Freeze your credit at all three bureaus. It’s free, and it stops new credit from being opened in your name until you lift it.Equifax: equifax.com
Experian: experian.com
TransUnion: transunion.com
If you’re 60 or older, or helping someone who is, the Department of Justice’s National Elder Fraud Hotline can walk you through these steps: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This matters in Vermont: people 60 and older here reported $8,548,782 in internet crime losses in 2025 (49th in the nation).
Watch for “recovery” scams. Be careful of anyone who contacts you offering to get your money back for a fee. That is a common second scam. Government agencies don’t charge to help you.
Official help
Official Vermont offices first, then the federal services that work in every state. Numbers and links were checked on each agency’s own website.
Vermont Attorney General
Takes consumer complaints, including scams, through its Consumer Assistance Program.
Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living - Division of Licensing and Protection, Adult Protective Services
Report suspected abuse, neglect or financial exploitation of an older or vulnerable adult.
U.S. Department of Justice
Case managers help people 60 and older, and their families, report fraud and find next steps. Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Report any scam, fraud, or bad business practice. Reports go into a database used by law enforcement across the country.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
If someone used your personal information, report it here and get a personalized recovery plan with pre-filled letters.
FBI
Report online and cyber-enabled fraud to the FBI, including investment, cryptocurrency, romance, and fake-text scams.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
If a bank, card company, or money-transfer service will not help with a problem, file a complaint. The CFPB sends it to the company and tracks the response.
Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General
Report calls, texts, emails, or letters from people pretending to be Social Security. To check on your benefits, call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Report suspected Medicare fraud, like charges for services you did not get, or someone asking for your Medicare number.
Contact each bureau separately. A freeze is free, doesn’t affect your credit score, and can be lifted when you need to apply for credit.
Equifax
Place or lift a free credit freeze.
Experian
Place or lift a free credit freeze.
TransUnion
Place or lift a free credit freeze.
Before anything happens
The best protection is a few habits your family agrees on before anything happens.
Choose a word or question only your family knows. Anyone who calls in an “emergency” has to know it. Don’t post it or text it.
If a call, text, or video asks for money or information, hang up and reach the person or company yourself.
Pressure to act right now, keep it secret, or pay in an unusual way is the clearest sign of a scam.
Set social accounts to private. Think twice before posting travel plans, birthdays, your kids’ schools, or videos with your voice. Scams that sound personal are built from personal details.
for email, banking, and phone accounts. Never share the codes with anyone who calls you.
Parents, grandparents, and teenagers. A five-minute conversation is worth more than any warning.
You don’t have to wait for a problem. It’s free and you can lift it anytime.
Free posters
For your family, a senior center, library, community center, place of worship, clinic, school, or apartment building. Each is one U.S. Letter page, free to copy and share. The first poster is made for Vermont: it lists your attorney general’s number.
Who to call in your state after a scam, with the attorney general’s hotline.
Calls that sound like a family member in trouble: the warning signs and what to do.
A simple habit for the whole family: a safe word that proves an emergency call is real.
Fake texts about unpaid tolls, missed deliveries and bank alerts: the warning signs and what to do.
Callers who claim to be from Social Security or the police and demand payment.
Fake virus warnings and “technicians” who want remote access: the warning signs and what to do.
Fake bank fraud calls that ask you to send money with Zelle or another app.
Online friendships that turn into requests for money or crypto “investments”: the warning signs and what to do.
Fake Amazon calls, texts and emails: the warning signs and what to do.
Questions
Yes. State reports don’t separate AI scams yet, but the FBI received 22,364 complaints mentioning AI nationwide in 2025, with $893,346,472 in reported losses. In Vermont, people filed 1,580 internet crime complaints with the FBI that year, 50th in the nation.
You often can’t tell by the voice alone anymore. AI can copy how someone sounds from a short recording, sometimes called voice cloning. Hang up and call them back on the number you know, or ask your family safe word.
Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, to the FBI at ic3.gov if it happened online or by phone, and to the Vermont Attorney General at 1-800-649-2424. If your identity was used, go to IdentityTheft.gov. File a local police report too.
Sometimes. Your best chance is to call your bank, card company, gift card company, or crypto exchange right away. Be careful of anyone who contacts you offering to get your money back for a fee. That is a common second scam.
From public government reports: Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024 and 2025 Internet Crime Report. Contact details come from each agency’s own website. We update this page when new reports come out. Sources are listed below.
Anything AI can do for you, it can do to you.
Scams that sound personal start with personal details. Our free scan checks more than 200 US data-broker and people-search sites, so you can see how much about you is already out there.
Page last reviewed October 1, 2026. If a number or link has changed, email support@aiprotection.org.
Education only, not legal advice. AI Protection is not a government agency and is not affiliated with the FTC, the FBI, or the Vermont Attorney General.