CLEVELAND — It started with a text message.
“I got this text message about somebody buying a phone for $900 on my account,” said Penny, an 85-year-old Cleveland woman who did not want her last name used or her face shown.
What happened next followed a script investigators say is becoming increasingly common.
As part of National Consumer Protection Week coverage on News 5 Cleveland, I’m breaking down the psychological playbook scammers are using right now and how quickly a single message can spiral.
According to the Cuyahoga County Scam Squad, imposter scams were the most reported in the county last year.
They often begin with a text or call about an unauthorized purchase, a compromised account, or a supposed government issue.
“In the beginning, I thought it was real because they said I owed,” Penny said. “I thought they had my credit card numbers and somebody had bought something.”
She called the number listed in the text.
“They had my name, my address, they knew my bank,” she said.
Investigators say scammers often use personal information obtained from data breaches and online marketplaces to make their stories sound legitimate. That information is just convincing enough to lower a victim’s guard.
“It’s scary out there,” Penny said.
The $900 phone purchase quickly became something bigger.
“So, then I’m talking to him and all of a sudden he says I owe the federal government $1,700,” she said.
Moments later, the demand climbed again.
“Then they decided they wanted $20,000.”
As the dollar amount increased, so did the pressure.
“Don’t tell anybody because if you do, we’re going to arrest you. We’re going to send the police and we’re going to come and arrest you,” Penny said.
“Urgency and secrecy, those are two big red flags for scams,” said Sheryl Harris with the Cuyahoga County Scam Squad.
Harris says scammers layer their lies intentionally, creating one frightening problem and then stacking another on top of it.
“You not only have one problem, but then you have another problem that’s even more terrifying. And then here’s another thing that you have to worry about and you’re just thinking, I’m in danger, I’m in danger, I’m in danger,” Harris said.
That sense of panic can interfere with a person’s ability to recognize what’s happening.
In Penny’s case, the caller instructed her to go to the bank, withdraw the money, and wait for someone to come pick it up.
“He said you have to go to the bank, get the money, we’ll send somebody to get it from you,” she said.
The pressure was working.
“They had me going,” Penny said. “I was so mad. I was crying because when I get mad, I cry. I was so pissed at them.”
After about 15 minutes on the phone, something shifted. Penny remembered a scam prevention card from the Cuyahoga County Scam Squad that she had kept in a drawer.
She pulled it out and read it.
That pause was enough.
She realized something was not right and hung up.
“It’s magnificent that people are having these tools and they’re using them and they’re helpful to them and they’re helpful at helping them protect their money, which is the whole goal,” Harris said.
Penny did not lose money. But she knows how close she came.
Scams like this are not just about technology or stolen data. They are about emotion.
They are designed to create fear, urgency, and isolation. They are meant to overwhelm.
As Penny’s story shows, they can escalate from a $900 text message to a $20,000 demand in a matter of minutes.
Investigators urge anyone who receives a suspicious message not to call the number listed in the text.
Instead, contact your bank or the company directly using a trusted phone number and talk to someone you trust before sending money or sharing information.
Once the panic sets in, that is exactly where scammers want you.
