Fraud & Scams
Financial fraud, phishing, identity theft, scam alerts, data breaches, and how to protect yourself and your accounts.
Latest in Fraud & Scams
The FBI personally warned 8,935 crypto-fraud victims they were being scammed — and 77% had no idea it was happening
Nearly nine thousand Americans were losing money to cryptocurrency fraud without knowing it, and it took a direct phone call or email from the FBI...
A new class action claims Best Buy secretly sold customers’ personal data to advertisers
A proposed class action lawsuit accuses Best Buy of quietly funneling customers’ personal purchase data to advertisers through its in-house media unit, Best Buy Ads,...
Fandango charged “convenience fees” on online movie tickets — now a $9.4 million settlement is paying California customers back
California customers who bought movie tickets through Fandango are now receiving payments from a $9.4 million settlement that resolved claims over convenience fees tacked onto...
Scam victims can check ftc.gov/refunds to see whether the FTC owes them money
Scam victims who get a surprise message saying they are owed money now have one simple way to check if it is real: look for...
A Washington retiree lost more than $300,000 to a gold-coin scam — then got a $53,000 tax bill because cashing out her investments for the scammers counted as income
A Washington state retiree handed over more than $300,000 to a precious-metals dealer that federal and state regulators later confirmed was a fraud operation targeting...
Krispy Kreme’s data-breach settlement pays up to $3,500, with claims due June 22
Krispy Kreme customers affected by a late-2024 data breach can file claims for up to $3,500 through a class-action settlement, but the window closes on...
Scammers are sending photos of fake FTC badges to fraud victims — offering to “recover” the money they already lost
People who have already lost money to fraud are now receiving text messages from strangers claiming to work for the Federal Trade Commission, complete with...
AT&T’s $177 million breach payouts, up to $7,500 each, are waiting on a judge’s final sign-off
Millions of AT&T customers whose Social Security numbers were exposed in a 2024 data breach could receive individual payouts of up to $7,500, but the...
Trader Joe’s shoppers have until Tuesday, June 9 to claim an estimated $102 each from the chain’s $7.4 million receipt-privacy settlement
Trader Joe’s shoppers who paid with credit or debit cards during a specific period can file claims for an estimated $102 each from a $7.4...
A new class action claims Bitcoin Depot’s ATMs let a scammer drain $76,000 from one victim
A proposed class action lawsuit accuses Bitcoin Depot of allowing a scammer to drain $76,000 from a single victim through its cryptocurrency ATMs, adding to...
A courier who drove more than $1 million in gold bars from elderly scam victims to his bosses was sentenced to more than 15 years
Syed M. Makki, a 38-year-old Indian citizen living in Illinois, was sentenced to 15 and a half years in federal prison for driving more than...
Older Americans handed $333 million to scammers through Bitcoin ATMs last year — Indiana became the first state to ban the machines outright on March 9
The scam almost always follows the same script. A phone rings. The caller claims to be from the IRS, a bank’s fraud department, or a...
AT&T’s $177 million data breach settlement is finally distributing this spring — anyone who filed before December 18 gets up to $7,500, no extra paperwork required
Roughly 18 months after AT&T admitted that hackers had stolen call and text records belonging to nearly all of its cellular customers, the company’s $177...
Pennsylvania State Education Association members can claim up to $5,000 from a $2.5 million data breach settlement — but every form must be in by July 6
If you are a current or former member of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, your Social Security number, bank details, and other sensitive records may...
A 2024 data breach at American International College pays affected students for documented losses — eligible class members have until July 22 to file a claim
Students and staff at American International College who had personal information exposed in a 2024 data breach are now eligible to file claims for financial...
Imposter calls posing as your utility company spiked 30% this spring — a real utility never demands a prepaid card, gift card, or crypto over the phone
The call comes on a Tuesday afternoon. Your caller ID shows the name of your electric company. A recorded voice warns that your power will...
Patients of Southern Illinois Healthcare can claim $17.50 cash plus credit monitoring from a tracking-pixel breach settlement — but the claim window closes June 15
Southern Illinois Healthcare embedded invisible tracking code on its patient-facing websites, and that code may have quietly funneled browsing activity to third-party advertising platforms. That...
Marriott is paying $52 million for the breach that exposed 131 million guest records — and not a cent goes to the consumers, only to state attorneys general
For roughly four years, hackers had free rein inside the Starwood guest reservation system, quietly siphoning passport numbers, payment card details, birth dates, and contact...
Retiree Ron Williams got one wrong-number text from a stranger — eight months later, an AI-coached fake investment app had drained $1.6 million from his savings
Ron Williams was not looking for an investment opportunity. He was a retiree, settled into the kind of quiet routine that follows decades of work,...
Avis is paying up to $5,000 to anyone whose driver’s license or credit card data was stolen in its 2024 breach — but claims must be filed by June 21
If you rented a car from Avis last summer, your driver’s license number and credit card information may have been stolen by hackers. Now, affected...