The feeling is the clue
Urgency
"Your account will be closed today." "Your parcel will be returned in two hours." "Your son is in hospital." Deadlines are there to stop you thinking and checking. Genuine organisations rarely need you to act in minutes, and the ones that might, such as a bank fraud team, will be happy for you to hang up and call back on the number on your card.
Secrecy and isolation
"Don't tell anyone, it'll spoil the surprise." "Don't speak to your bank, they're involved." "Your family mustn't know." Any request to keep something from the people who would normally help you check is a strong warning sign. It is also a common feature of romance and investment scams, where the scammer builds trust over weeks before asking for money.
Unusual ways to pay or verify
Gift cards, cryptocurrency, payment apps to a new contact, bank transfers to a "safe account", or reading out a one-time code you just received. These methods are fast and hard to reverse, which is why scammers want them. No genuine bank, government department or tech company will ask you to move money to a safe account or tell them a security code.
The habit: stop, then check another way
When you notice pressure, stop. Don't reply, don't click, don't call the number given. Then check through a route you already trust: the official app, the website you type in yourself, the number on your card or a number already saved in your phone. If it was real, nothing is lost by a short delay. If it wasn't, you have just stopped a scam.
What would you need to hear to send money within ten minutes? Scammers are trying to find out.