Spam and scam calls tend to cluster around moments when people already expect to hear from a bank, a government agency, a delivery company or a campaign. Scammers borrow the calendar because a call about your tax refund in spring or your Medicare plan in the fall sounds plausible before you have had time to think. If you know which scripts come with which season, you can recognize them early and hang up sooner.
Why scam scripts follow the calendar
A scam call only has to sound believable for a minute or two. The easiest way to get there is to talk about something already on your mind: a tax deadline, an insurance decision, a package you are waiting for, a storm that just hit your area. The pitch shifts with the news cycle while the tactics underneath stay the same: urgency, a threat or a reward, and a request for money or personal information.
It also helps to know that caller ID can be faked. The FTC warns that a call can show the name or number of a real agency and still be a scam, so a familiar name on the screen during a busy season proves nothing on its own.
Tax season: fake tax agency and refund calls
From the start of the year through the filing deadline, expect calls and messages about taxes. The FTC describes the classic version: a caller claims to be from the IRS, says you owe money, demands immediate payment, often by gift card or prepaid card, and threatens arrest if you do not pay. The FTC has also warned about callers using official-sounding but made-up agency names who offer to reduce a supposed tax debt, and about texts or emails claiming your refund has been approved and asking you to click a link and enter your Social Security or bank account numbers.
The calm contrast is simple: according to the FTC, the real IRS and state tax offices do not reach out by text, email or social media to get your information, and no real agency demands payment by gift card. Our guide to recognizing an IRS or tax scam call covers the tells in detail and how to check a real tax matter through official channels. The FTC's page on IRS impersonators is a good reference to keep.
Fall: open enrollment and insurance pitches
Each fall, when people with Medicare review their coverage, the FTC publishes warnings about impersonators. The script usually claims you need a new or updated Medicare card, or that a better plan is waiting, and then asks for your Medicare, Social Security or bank account number. The FTC notes that Medicare will not call you unexpectedly to ask for those numbers, and that if a call might be real, you can hang up and call 1-800-MEDICARE yourself to check. See the FTC's Medicare open enrollment scam alert for its current advice.
Holidays and shipping peaks: delivery and gift scams
Late in the year, many households have several packages in transit at once, which makes a delivery problem easy to believe. The FTC has warned about fake shipping notifications during the holiday season: a message says a package could not be delivered, the link leads to a look-alike site, and you are asked for personal details or a small redelivery fee. Much of this arrives by text rather than a live call, so it is worth reading our overview of spam text messages and how to report them.
The safe move does not depend on the season: if you are expecting a package, check tracking in the account or store you ordered from, not through a link someone sent you.
Election season and after disasters
In election years, many people notice more calls and texts about candidates and causes. Not all of them are illegal. The FCC explains that political robocalls to landlines are allowed without prior consent within limits, while robocalls and autodialed texts to mobile phones generally require consent, and prerecorded calls must identify who is calling. Its guide to political campaign robocalls and robotexts spells out the rules. Scammers can take advantage of the noise, for example by asking for a donation or personal details under a campaign's name, so give money only through a channel you looked up yourself.
After hurricanes, floods, wildfires and other disasters, fake relief appeals and repair offers follow. The FCC warns in After Storms, Watch Out for Scams that callers may spoof a real charity's number or collect money for one that does not exist, and advises checking the number on the charity's official website before you give. For cleanup and repair offers, the FTC's page on post-disaster scams suggests asking for ID and licenses, getting promises in writing and not paying up front.
What to do next
A few habits cover almost every seasonal script:
- Expect the theme before it arrives. Tax calls in spring, insurance calls in the fall, delivery texts in December, donation appeals after big news. If a call matches the season a little too neatly, slow down.
- Do not engage with recorded messages. The FTC advises against pressing any number, even to be removed from a list, because it can lead to more calls. Our explainer on robocalls and prerecorded spam explains why.
- Verify on your own terms. Hang up and contact the agency, insurer, shipper or charity using a number from its official website, your statement or your card.
- Never pay with gift cards, wire transfers or crypto because a caller told you to.
Before the next busy season, turn on the spam filtering your phone and carrier already offer, and consider silencing unknown callers during periods when you are getting a lot of calls. When a seasonal scam call does get through, hang up, block the number, and report it. The FTC accepts reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and illegal sales robocalls can be reported at DoNotCall.gov. Reports help regulators and phone companies spot new scripts, even though they do not resolve individual calls. If you already shared money or personal details, contact your bank or card issuer first, then report.