While the cost of living crisis has not been kind to anyone in Toronto (unless you're Galen Weston et al), an uptick in scams has hit some people the hardest, defrauding them of sometimes tens of thousands of dollars when they are already at their financial worst.

Residents of the city have been sharing increasingly abundant scam horror stories on social media in recent weeks in the hopes that they can prevent others from falling for the same fraudsters that have gotten extremely creative and believable.

Some ruses have gotten so prevalent that the authorities have had to issue PSAs, like one from last week that detailed a particularly nefarious scam targeting the elderly by pulling on their heartstrings, which is just one of the most concerning cons taking place around the city right now:

Door-to-door handyman scam

There has been a flurry of complaints on hyperlocal social media site Nextdoor about various individuals and groups who go around offering home repair services — anything from redoing a driveway and fixing stone steps to plumbing, tiling and more — falsely claiming that they have done or are doing other work in the neighbourhood.

After knocking on your door and discussing what work they believe your home needs, they solicit a cash deposit for said work and never return. Some have provided phony names such as Tip Top Masonry and Tip Top Roofing.

Grandparent scam

According to the Toronto Police Service, culprits in this scheme call up seniors, pretending to be their grandchild or another member of their family who says they are in legal trouble, and in dire need of help.

"The phone call is passed to a person posing as a police officer or lawyer demanding a money payment for the release of their grandchild/loved one [and] the victim is instructed to hand over the cash to a 'courier' that will be dispatched to their residence," TPS wrote in a release on Friday, stating that police will never call family members to request bail money, nor show up at your door to collect cash.

In this case, residents are advised to never withdraw money, confirm any personal information or take similar action based on a "frantic phone call," and to instead "call another family member for clarification or contact police."

Package or subscription phishing scam

Victims of this shakedown will receive an email, or more often a text appearing to be from Canada Post, UPS or a similar company. The message requests an online payment for duties or other fees for a package, or to have a package re-sent after it is apparently returned to the postal facility.

Netflix and the Geek Squad are other popular masks for these perpetrators, who either garner personal information after pretending a big purchase was made using a given account, or send emails asking account holders to re-enter billing information.

Government or banking phishing scam

Many online say they have received texts from scammers pretending to be the CRA, Service Canada, or their bank, directing individuals to a fraudulent website to release sensitive personal information, such as their credit card or social insurance number.

Job scam

Criminals are really exploiting the desperation and competition in the job market right now, offering up work opportunities and stealing people's bank account information under the guise of needing it to set up direct deposit for their wages.

One person on Nextdoor fell for one from a company masquerading as the U.K.-based travel company Quintesentially.

Taxi or pizza scam

If someone approaches you asking to give you cash to pay for their taxi ride or pizza order — which they claim they are unable to pay with using cash — kindly decline, as they are more than likely part of a prevalent fraud that steals bank card information using a fake POS machine in a vehicle posing as a taxi or delivery driver.

This multi-person scheme is known to even use children to approach potential victims and gain their trust.

Since may, these rings have robbed people in the city of an estimated $200,000.