Fraud & Scams
Financial fraud, phishing, identity theft, scam alerts, data breaches, and how to protect yourself and your accounts.
Latest in Fraud & Scams
The FTC is mailing $3 million in refunds to homeowners tricked by a fake COVID mortgage-relief program
The Federal Trade Commission is sending 1,821 refund checks to homeowners who paid money to a fake mortgage-relief operation that falsely claimed ties to government...
An 85-year-old woman lost $154,000 after scammers said her Amazon account had been hacked
An 85-year-old woman in South Huntingdon Township, Pennsylvania, lost more than $154,000 after scammers told her that her Amazon account had been hacked. The payments...
Many banks now reimburse Zelle victims of “me-to-me” scams that spoof the bank’s own number
Bank customers tricked into sending Zelle payments to themselves after receiving spoofed calls from what appeared to be their own bank’s phone number are now...
A North Carolina man lost $753,000 in a crypto romance scam and may recover $630,000
A Wake County, North Carolina, man lost $753,000 after scammers built a fake romantic relationship with him and steered him onto fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platforms....
A nurse lost $9,260 at a Bitcoin ATM after a caller claimed she had missed jury duty
A nurse lost $9,260 at a Bitcoin ATM after a caller claimed she had missed jury duty and faced imminent arrest. The scam followed a...
Cash App’s owner will pay $45 million to 46 states as fraud-settlement checks land automatically
Millions of Cash App users who lost money to fraud or unauthorized transactions will receive automatic reimbursement checks after Block Inc. agreed to pay $45...
The FTC is mailing $2.7 million in automatic refunds to nearly 63,000 Angi workers
Nearly 63,000 people who cleaned homes, assembled furniture, or performed other gig work through Handy Technologies are set to receive automatic refund checks from the...
Grandparent scams now clone a relative’s voice, and one mother wired $15,000
A mother in distress wired $15,000 after hearing what sounded exactly like her child’s voice on the phone, pleading for emergency help. The call was...
A California man, 70, lost $84,000 to a fake McAfee agent before police arrested the courier
A 70-year-old Camarillo, California, resident handed over $84,000 in cash to a stranger after a phone caller posed as a McAfee Security agent and convinced...
A retired Alabama man lost $222,000 to a romance-crypto scammer who called herself “Bella”
A retired man in Florence, Alabama, lost $222,000 after a person using the name “Bella” built a relationship with him online and then directed him...
Three men were arrested in a $1 million scam that targeted an elderly Virginia couple
Three men face federal charges after allegedly defrauding an elderly Virginia couple of $1 million by posing as government agents and directing the victims to...
Scammers are stealing victims’ phone numbers to intercept bank codes in a fast-spreading port-out fraud
Federal prosecutors have now charged phone company insiders and outside accomplices in schemes that hijacked customer phone numbers to intercept bank verification codes sent by...
A text with a QR code claiming you owe a traffic fine is a fast-spreading scam, the FTC warns
Millions of Americans are receiving text messages that look like official traffic-violation notices, complete with court seals, case numbers, and hearing dates, all directing them...
Lands’ End breach victims can claim $60 without proof, or up to $5,000 with losses, by October 22
Consumers affected by a data breach tied to Lands’ End, Inc. face an October 22 deadline to file claims worth up to $60 without documentation...
New York is suing Zelle for $1 billion, saying it let scammers drain users’ accounts
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed suit against Early Warning Services (EWS), the company that operates the Zelle digital payment network, alleging the platform...
A FEMA overhaul could make federal disaster aid harder to get, shifting costs to survivors
Families recovering from hurricanes, wildfires, and floods could soon face steeper out-of-pocket costs if proposals to restructure the Federal Emergency Management Agency move forward. A...
Government-impersonation scam reports jumped 40% last year as fake toll and traffic texts spread
Drivers across the country are receiving text messages that claim they owe unpaid tolls, and the scam is spreading fast. Reports of government-impersonation fraud jumped...
Equifax breach victims can still claim free credit monitoring or cash
Millions of people whose personal data was exposed in Equifax’s 2017 breach still have access to free credit monitoring and identity restoration services for years...
Bank of America customers hit by the Infosys data breach can claim up to $6,000 from a $17.5 million settlement
More than six million people whose personal data was exposed in a late-2023 breach at Infosys McCamish Systems now face a deadline-driven decision: whether to...
The FBI warns “wrong number” crypto texts have cost Americans billions
Americans lost billions of dollars to cryptocurrency investment fraud that often begins with a single, seemingly innocent text message sent to the wrong number. The...