Scams are no joke.

The beginning of 2019 has seen the world suddenly become a much safer place, with scammers fearing for their privacy and consumer safety reaching an all-time high.

April Fools’!

The first of April is a regular day at the Better Business Bureau. In fact, our friends at the BBB took the day to tell us how we can avoid getting fooled by scammers. Many of the trends that started in 2018 are continuing to bother Americans today, but there have also been new developments in the world of scams. It would appear that scammers are growing both smarter and more bizarre.

One recent report to the BBB comes out of Treasure Valley. It would appear that several people are leaving official-looking notices across the city notifying residents of curb painting services which are coming up. The notices encourage residents to leave their addresses on the curb, claiming that the curb-painting will help emergency services find your home. The fliers made no mention of any fees, so at least one resident was surprised to find a hand-written bill for $20. The scammers were able to pull this off by using the clout of a more “official” appearance.

The biggest red flags are when scammers don’t include any fees in services which they are offering, but instead let you know of the fees later. Another red flag to watch out for is if the scammer insists on only a strangely small selection of payment options that don’t include the ubiquitous cash or credit card options.

The BBB offers these tips for avoiding scams: