Fraud & Scams
Financial fraud, phishing, identity theft, scam alerts, data breaches, and how to protect yourself and your accounts.
Latest in Fraud & Scams
Circle K will pay $50 to customers whose data was exposed, with claims open until September 3
Massachusetts residents whose Social Security numbers and driver’s license data were exposed in a 2025 breach at Gas Express LLC now face a narrow window...
Urban One’s data-breach settlement pays up to $10,000 for documented losses, or a flat cash payment without receipts
People affected by Urban One, Inc.’s confirmed data breach now face a choice: gather receipts to claim up to $10,000 in documented losses, or accept...
A Wisconsin woman lost more than $400,000 in retirement savings after scammers posing as her investment company told her to buy gold
A Wisconsin woman watched more than $400,000 in retirement savings vanish after scammers impersonating her investment company convinced her to liquidate her accounts and convert...
A 77-year-old lost $390,000 in retirement savings to a gold-bar scam and is now warning other seniors
A 77-year-old woman drained nearly her entire retirement account after scammers convinced her that converting her savings into physical gold bars was the only way...
Scam texts promising a $2,000 “tariff rebate” are spreading, and officials say never pay a fee to claim one
Talk in Washington about sending Americans a $2,000 “tariff dividend” has given fraudsters a fresh script. Scam texts and emails promising a “tariff rebate” are...
Six digits and no cost: an IRS Identity Protection PIN blocks thieves from filing a tax return in your name
Tax-related identity theft works by beating the real taxpayer to the punch. A criminal who obtains a Social Security number files a fraudulent federal return...
An 80-year-old Florida veteran lost $1.4 million to a gold-bar scam, police say
An 80-year-old military veteran in Bradenton, Florida, lost roughly $1.4 million after criminals convinced him that his financial accounts had been compromised and that the...
The “phantom hacker” scam has stolen more than $1 billion by posing as tech support, then a bank, then the government
Federal authorities are warning older Americans about a fraud that has already stripped more than $1 billion from victims by impersonating not one trusted institution...
Medicare warns of a fake “new card” text from code 42474 as open-enrollment scams pick up
Every fall, as Medicare’s annual enrollment period approaches, the volume of scams aimed at older Americans climbs sharply. Fraudsters know the calendar as well as...
AI-powered scams cost older Americans more than $352 million last year, the FBI says
Older Americans lost more than $352 million to scams powered by artificial intelligence last year, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. Across all...
Capital One is automatically mailing checks from its $425 million settlement around July 27
Capital One customers who were overcharged on savings-account interest rates are set to receive automatic restitution checks starting around July 27, part of a revised...
Banks and government agencies never ask you to move money to keep it safe
Scammers posing as bank officials and federal agents are draining savings accounts by telling people to move their money into a “safe” account or convert...
A woman lost $500,000 in cash and gift cards to a call center that staged a fake fraud alert
A woman in her seventies sent more than $500,000 in cash, wire transfers, and gift cards to a fraudulent call center operating out of India...
Americans over 60 lost $7.7 billion to scams last year, about $38,500 per victim
Older Americans are losing retirement savings, home equity, and financial independence to internet-enabled fraud at a record pace. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported...
A California widow lost $700,000 to a man she met on the messaging app WeChat
A California widow lost $700,000 after sending repeated wire transfers to a man she connected with on the messaging app WeChat, a case that fits...
Aspire Health Alliance data-breach victims can claim up to $2,500 for their losses
Thousands of people who received mental health and substance-use services through a Massachusetts-based provider now face the fallout of a hacking incident that exposed their...
Police arrested a Maryland man in a gold-bar scam that told seniors to move savings to the “Federal Reserve”
Loudoun County sheriff’s deputies arrested Junjie Wu, 29, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, on charges tied to a gold-bar fraud scheme that targeted seniors by telling them...
Crypto-ATM scam losses hit $388 million last year, and courts never demand Bitcoin
Scammers posing as federal marshals and court officers directed victims to cryptocurrency kiosks and stole more than $388 million in 2025, according to the FBI’s...
Truist will pay $4.1 million over robocalls placed to people who were not its customers
Truist Financial will pay $4.1 million to settle federal allegations that it placed robocalls to people who had no banking relationship with the company. The...
Georgia now lets banks freeze a transfer up to 15 days to stop scams draining older customers
Georgia banks can now freeze a suspicious transfer for up to 15 business days when they suspect someone is draining money from an older or...