Fraud & Scams
Financial fraud, phishing, identity theft, scam alerts, data breaches, and how to protect yourself and your accounts.
Latest in Fraud & Scams
Federal agents caught the accused ringleader of a $250 million gold-and-cash scam that drained older Americans as he tried to flee through JFK airport
A criminal network accused of stripping more than $250 million from older Americans lost its accused top money-mover this week. Authorities caught the man investigators...
A verbal password on a bank account blocks a caller who spoofs the bank
A phone rings with the bank’s own customer-service number on the display, and the caller already knows the account holder’s name and the last four...
Fake security-alert scams are draining older Americans’ life savings, with reports of $100,000-plus losses up nearly sevenfold since 2020
Reports of business and government impersonation scams costing older Americans more than $100,000 apiece climbed nearly sevenfold between 2020 and 2024, according to a federal...
State officials are warning that “tariff rebate” texts promising a $2,000 check are a scam, because no such payment has been approved
State officials in Idaho are warning residents that text messages promising a $2,000 “tariff rebate” check are fraudulent, timed to exploit real political chatter about...
Comcast is paying Xfinity customers up to $10,000 over a data breach, or a flat $50 with no receipts, if they claim by September 14
Comcast will pay eligible Xfinity customers as much as $10,000 apiece, or a no-paperwork $50 flat rate, after a federal judge approved a $117.5 million...
A my Social Security account guards against a scammer diverting your benefits
A free my Social Security account closes off a specific fraud pattern the Social Security Administration has warned about for years: an identity thief who...
A fraud alert placed with one credit bureau automatically covers all three
Placing a fraud alert with any one of the three national credit bureaus sets off a legal notification requirement that automatically covers the other two,...
Freezing your credit is free at all three bureaus and blocks a thief from opening accounts in your name
A federal law that took effect in September 2018 made it free, nationwide, to freeze a credit report at each of the three major credit...
A federal sweep charged 25 people in a $65 million scam ring that drained thousands of seniors, seizing luxury cars and $4.2 million
Federal prosecutors in San Diego are moving from guilty pleas to prison time in a $65 million fraud and money-laundering ring that spent years draining...
A SIM-swap scam hijacks a phone number to break into a bank or brokerage account
A phone that suddenly loses all service, no calls, no texts, no data, can be the first sign that a scammer has just taken over...
A verbal password on a bank account can block a scammer who spoofs the bank’s number
Caller ID showing a bank’s real name and number no longer proves a call is genuine, because scammers can fake, or “spoof,” that same information...
A fake-overpayment scam pressures seniors to wire back money they never received
A buyer for an item listed online sends a check or money order for more than the agreed price, then asks the seller to wire...
Banks that run Zelle now reimburse some victims of bank-imposter scams that spoof a bank’s number
Banks that operate the Zelle payment network must reimburse some customers hit by bank-imposter scams, a benefit that predates the current political fight over who...
A federal grand jury charged a man with draining more than $1 million from an elderly investor’s savings
A federal grand jury in Harrisburg indicted William D. Brenner, 62, on Aug. 5 on charges that he drained more than $1 million from an...
Federal prosecutors charged Jay Goswami with running a $7.5 million cash-and-gold scheme that drained nine older victims
Federal prosecutors in Buffalo have charged Jay Sunilbharthi Goswami, 21, with running a cash-and-gold fraud scheme that authorities say drained more than $7.5 million from...
A Flo Health privacy settlement of $59.5 million is open to app users through October 15
Flo Health, Google and Flurry have agreed to a combined $59.5 million settlement over claims that the popular period and ovulation tracking app shared users’...
Lands’ End shoppers can claim up to $60 in a settlement before the October 22 deadline
Lands’ End has agreed to settle claims over a December 2024 data breach that exposed a wider set of identity documents than most retail hacks...
Generic drugmakers will pay states $96 million over price-fixing; buyers can register now
Forty-eight states and territories have settled with generic drugmaker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals for $29.6 million over allegations it conspired with competitors to inflate generic drug prices,...
A True World breach settlement pays a no-proof $50 by September 8
True World Holdings is not a household name — it is a wholesale food distributor most people have never bought anything from directly — which...
A settlement is paying Farmers Insurance customers up to $160 over unwanted calls, with a September 14 deadline
Farmers Insurance customers who fielded repeated marketing calls or texts from the company’s agents can file for a payment of up to $160 under a...