Scam of the Day
Scam of the day – July 23, 2026 – How to Keep Your Cryptocurrency Wallet Safe
I have been writing about cryptocurrency scams for years. There a variety of scams that attempt to steal your cryptocurrencies from you. One of the most important decisions anyone should make when deciding whether to invest in cryptocurrencies is what kind of a wallet they will hold their investment in. Many cryptocurrency scams involve people being tricked into turning over access to their cryptocurrency wallets and losing all of their funds.
Your digital wallet is where the key that allows you to access your cryptocurrency account is found. If your key falls into the hands of a hacker, you can easily lose all of your cryptocurrency account so it is of paramount importance to secure your digital wallet. Digital wallets can either be hot wallets or cold wallets. Hot wallets are connected to the Internet which makes them more susceptible to being hacked which is why a cold wallet which is not connected to the Internet, but rather is is kept in a portable hard drive is your best bet.
TIPS
When doing cryptocurrency transactions online, use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to provide encryption for your communications which will make the transactions more secure and refrain from using public WIFI for cryptocurrency transactions. Use a strong, complex password for your account and consider using a password manager or store your password on a portable hard drive that you keep in a secure spot.
Use dual factor authentication for your account for additional security, however, it is important to note that many cryptocurrency thefts have occurred when hackers were able to defeat dual factor authentication through SIM swapping whereby they contact the cell phone service provider of their victim, answer a security question and manage to get the cell phone service provider to switch the phone number of the victim to a phone controlled by the criminal thus defeating the dual factor authentication.
The best thing you can do to protect your SIM card from being swapped is to set up a PIN or password to be used for access to your mobile service provider account. This will help prevent a criminal from calling your carrier posing as you and convincing your mobile carrier to swap your SIM card to the criminal’s phone merely by providing personal identifying information or answering a security question.
Finally, I strongly urge anyone considering investing in cryptocurrencies as well as any investment to research the investment thoroughly before investing. No one should ever invest in anything they do not fully understand.
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Scam of the day – July 22, 2026 – Summer Car Rental Scams
Despite high gas prices, many people are taking to the roads this summer. The bad news is that due to so many people wanting to rent cars there is both a shortage of cars to rent and the cost of renting a car has increased in many cases dramatically. However, your friendly neighborhood scammer is more than willing to help you out. They are using AI to set up convincing phony car rental company websites and websites that appear to be those of legitimate car rental companies such as Avis or Hertz.
Often these phony websites appear high on a Google or other search engine search because the more sophisticated scammers are able to manipulate the algorithms used by search engines to position a website high in a search result. In other instances, the scammers take out ads for their phony websites that place them at the top of the first page in a Google or other search engine search. Victims of this scam are finding themselves without a car and losing the money they paid for the non-existent car rental.
TIPS
The phony websites can look quite legitimate and be hard to distinguish from the websites of real car rental companies. Always check the URL of the website you use carefully before responding to an offer for a car rental. You also may want to go the extra step and actually do a search to determine who owns the website you are on. There are a number of ways of doing this. One of the easiest is to go to ICANN and enter the domain name and click on “lookup.” This will enable you to find out who actually owns the website. So for instance, if you think you are renting from Hertz and the website you are on is owned by someone in Nigeria, you can be pretty confident it is a scam. Here is the link to ICANN https://lookup.icann.org/
One of the primary ways of knowing that you are dealing with a scammer is that often they ask for payment through gift cards. Gift cards are a favorite means of payment for scammers because once you give the scammer the gift card numbers over the phone or the Internet, the money is gone and cannot be easily traced or recovered. Some scammers tell you that you will get a special low rate on your car rental if you use a gift card. Legitimate companies never ask for payment by way of gift cards so anytime you are asked for payment through a gift card, you can be sure it is a scam.
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Scam of the day – July 21, 2026 – Look Who Died Facebook Scam
A variation on an old Facebook scam has recently resurfaced. In the new scam you receive a Facebook Message that merely says “Look Who Died?” and is followed by a link that leads you to a website where you are prompted to provide personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft. Alternatively, merely clicking on the link, in some instances, has downloaded destructive malware to your phone, computer or tablet.
This new scam is a variation of one about which I have written about previously in which you receive a Facebook Message that contains a video and the words “Is it you in the video” as a prompt to get you to click on the video which either takes you to a website where you are prompted to provide personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft or, again, merely by clicking on the link, you will download malware.
TIPS
Remember my motto, BS – Be skeptical. Whenever you get a Facebook message, email, or text message you can never be sure who is really contacting you. The “friend” you think is communicating with you may well be a criminal who has managed to hack your friend’s Facebook account, email account or phone and use these accounts to send out phishing messages that lure you into clicking on infected links. Never click on a link unless you have absolutely confirmed that it is legitimate.
In the case of this particular Facebook Messenger scam, instead of clicking on the link or providing your user name and password, you should contact your real friend to determine if they sent the message to you. Additionally, it is always a good idea to use dual factor authentication whenever possible for all of your online accounts so that if somehow you are tricked into providing your user name and password, the criminal still wouldn’t be able to gain access to your account. Here is a link to information about setting up dual factor authentication on your Facebook account. https://www.facebook.com/help/148233965247823
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Scam of the day – July 20, 2026 – Veterans Affairs Phishing Email
Phishing emails, by which scammers and identity thieves attempt to lure you into either clicking on links contained within the email which download malware or trick you into providing personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft, are nothing new. They are a staple of identity thieves and scammers and with good reason because they work.
Reproduced below is an email that I recently received that is not particularly convincing. It starts with the fact that the email address has nothing to do with the Department of Veterans Affairs, but rather appears to be that of an unfortunate individual whose email account had been hacked and made a part of a botnet of infected computers used by scammers to send out phishing emails such as this. The next red flags are that it does not contain the logo of the Department of Veterans Affairs and it does not provide a name in the salutation, but rather refers to the recipient as “customer” which is not how the VA would refer to a veteran. I have disarmed the link where it instructs to download your VA statement.
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| Dear Customer,
Your latest statement is now available for review. We’ve updated the document layout to make the information clearer and easier to read. You can access your copy using the secure link below from a desktop or laptop device. Download your statement – VA.gov
Regards, |
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| This is an automated message from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Please do not reply. © 2026 VA.gov — All rights reserved. |
TIPS
Obviously if you are not a Veteran you can be confident that is a scam. If you receive an email like this and think it may possibly be legitimate, merely contact the VA directly where you can confirm that it is a scam.
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Scam of the day – July 19, 2026 – Phony McAfee Invoice Scam
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TIPS
There are a number of red flags that indicate that this is a scam. Your name does not appear anywhere in the invoice. Only your email address appears in the phony invoice. Also, the email was sent from an email address that has nothing to do with McAfee, but is most likely from a botnet of infected computers used to send out such scams. Additionally, the invoice indicates that your membership starts and ends on the same day which is a glaring error. Finally, the phone numbers provided are not phone numbers for McAfee whose customer service number is 1-866-622-3911.
Once, I received a large invoice from a company with which I do business for goods I did not order, but rather than click on the link provided in the email, I went directly to the company’s website to question the invoice. When the website came up, the first thing I saw was a large announcement that the invoice was a scam and that many people had received these phony invoices. If you ever receive a phony invoice such as this and you think that it may possibly be true, don’t click on links or call phone numbers provided in the email. Instead, you should contact the real company directly at a phone number or website that you know is legitimate where you can confirm that the phishing invoice was a scam.
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Scam of the day – July 18, 2026 – Devastating Income Tax Consequences of Being Scammed
It is bad enough to be scammed, but to have to pay income taxes on money you have been scammed out of certainly adds insult to injury. Prior to 2017 if a scammer convinced you to take money out of your retirement accounts and send the funds to the scammer, you could get a theft and loss deduction to ease the sting just a bit. However, with the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017, the rules were changed such that you can only take a deduction under Internal Revenue Code Section 165 for your scam losses if the transaction was entered into for a profit such as when you are a victim of an investment scam. However, for imposter scams, romance scams, tech support scams and more, you are not able to deduct your losses and if you took the money out of your retirement account to pay the scammer, the results are even worse because the full amount of your withdrawal unless it was from a tax-free Roth IRA will be fully subject to income tax and if you are under the age of 59 1/2 the IRS makes it worse by adding its standard early withdrawal penalty.
TIPS
Obviously taking the steps to avoid being scammed in the first place is your first line of defense. In every Scam of the day we provide tips to avoid the particular Scam of the day.
In regard to the punitive tax laws that penalize scam victims with income taxes on funds they have unfairly lost to scammers The Tax Relief for Victims of Crimes, Scams and Disasters Act, a bipartisan bill was introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate as House bill HR 6938 and Senate bill S 3976 in 2024. The bills were sponsored by Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin as well as Republican Representative Greg Steube of Florida and Republican Senator Peter Welch of Vermont. The bill would not only have reinstated the theft loss deduction for all scam loss victims, but would have retroactively so that scam victims would be able to amend their previous returns and get back the extra income taxes they paid due to the 2017 law changes. Unfortunately, both bills died in Committee. However, representatives Steube and Raskin have filed a new similar bill designated as HR 3469 which has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. I urge everyone to contact your representatives to urge them to pass this much needed law.
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Scam of the day – July 17, 2026 – Netflix Phishing Scam
The popularity of Netflix makes it a preferred subject for phishing emails sent to people appearing to come from Netflix in which you are told you need to update your credit card information or asking for other personal information. Reproduced below is a copy of an email I recently received. The email may look legitimate, but it is important to note that nowhere does your name or account number appear and it is sent from an email address that has nothing to do with Netflix. The Netflix logo appears on the email, but it is easy to counterfeit the Netflix logo and make the email appear to be legitimate when it is not. Making the scam even more laughable is that the subject line in the email read “Subcription.” Apparently the scammer is either a very bad speller or bad editor.
Two things can happen if you click on the links in the email. Either you will be directed to a phony but legitimate looking website where you will be prompted to input your credit card information and thereby turn it over to an identity thief or, even worse, merely by clicking on the link, you will download keystroke logging malware that can steal all of the information from your computer and use it to make you a victim of identity theft. I have removed the links in the email below.
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TIPS
As I always say, “trust me, you can’t trust anyone.” You can never be truly sure when you receive an email seeking personal information such as your credit card number whether or not the email is a scam. The risk of clicking on a link or providing the requested information is just too high. Instead, if you think that the email might be legitimate, you should contact the company at a telephone number or email address that you know is legitimate and find out whether or not the email was a scam. In the case of Netflix you can go to their help center using this link https://help.netflix.com/en/
Another indication that this is a scam phishing email is that the email address from which it was sent has nothing to do with Netflix. Also, if you hover your mouse over the “UPDATE ACCOUNT NOW” you will see that it would take you to a site that has nothing to do with Netflix
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Scam of the day – July 16, 2026 – Apple Phishing Emails Getting Worse
Phishing emails, by which scammers and identity thieves attempt to lure you into either clicking on links contained within the email which download malware or trick you into providing personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft, are nothing new. They are a staple of identity thieves and scammers and with good reason because they work.
Recently there has been a flood of Apple phishing emails where the subject line reads “Your Apple Account Information Has Been Updated” which is certainly an attention grabber for an Apple customer who has not done so. The email looks like a legitimate email from Apple and it informs you that your account has been used to purchase a new iPhone and provides a customer service phone number for you to call to cancel the purchase. If you call the number provided in the email a scammer posing as an Apple customer service representative will answer immediately who will ask you to confirm your account number and provide other personal information under the guise of needing to confirm your identity. The truth is that scammers want your Apple ID because it can give them access to your iCloud account, Apple Pay and stored credit cards and other services of Apple.
TIPS
Obviously if you do not have an account with Apple you know that this is a phishing scam, but even if you do have an account with Apple, as I indicated above there are many indications that this is not a legitimate email from Apple, but instead is a phishing email. In the past, these types of phishing emails would not use your name in the email, but as a result of harvesting information from data breaches and using AI, many of these phishing emails will be directed to you by name. They will not, however, provide your account number in the email. Legitimate emails from Apple will refer not only to your name, but refer to the AppleID email address not an account number.
If you receive an email like this and think it may possibly be legitimate, merely contact Apple customer service where you can confirm that it is a scam. Here is a link to Apple customer service. https://getsupport.apple.com/topics
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Free Webinar on Avoiding Scams with Steve Weisman
As many of you may know, I frequently give seminars and webinars regarding scams and how to avoid becoming a victim. Fairway SAFE is sponsoring a one hour webinar I will be giving on July 29th and I urge everyone to consider attending. Attendees will receive valuable information about the latest scams and how to avoid them. The webinar is free and open to everyone. Here is a link to more information about the webinar and how to register to attend.
Scam of the day – July 15, 2026 – Task Job Scams Increasing
Task scams are scams in which you are solicited to do simple tasks such as liking videos or rating product images online and get paid for your efforts. Too bad it is a scam. The scammers promise that you will earn a commission on each click. The scam starts with a text message offering online work by “product boosting” or doing “optimization tasks” in an app or online platform the scammer provides. As you complete each task, the app will appear to show that you have accumulated commission earnings, but it is all a lie. After a while the scammer then asks you to deposit your own money, generally by way of cryptocurrency to complete your next set of tasks and to get your commission earnings out of the app. However, there are no earnings and once you make the payment, it is gone forever.
TIPS
A good place to start to avoiding this scam is to recognize that generic texts or WhatsApp messages offering jobs of any kind are scams. Real employers don’t seek workers that way. In addition, no one is offering to pay ordinary people to rate or like things online. The FTC requires transparency when people are paid to promote products, leave reviews, or engage in other forms of online endorsement. If you are being paid (or receiving free products) to rate or “like” something, you must disclose this connection. This is typically done with statements like “Sponsored” or “Ad” in the post or review. Most online platforms (like Amazon, Yelp, and Google) have strict rules against “paid reviews” that are not disclosed as sponsored content.
If a company asks you to leave fake reviews (pretending to be an ordinary customer) or manipulate public perception without disclosing your role, this could be considered fraud or “astroturfing.” Some states such as New York have taken action against companies and individuals engaged in this practice.
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