Scam of the Day
Scam of the day – October 13, 2026 – The Danger of E-Skimmers
Regular readers of Scamicide are certainly familiar with skimmers which are devices installed on ATMs as well as credit and debit card processors that steal information from credit and debit cards thereby enabling criminals to use that information to make charges on those cards. The increased use in recent years of cards with chip technology has dramatically decreased the amount of fraudulent purchases made through stolen credit and debit card information because the chip card creates a new authorization number each time the card is used thereby negating the value of skimming a credit card with a computer chip. Scanning your card rather than inserting it into a card reader has also made such purchases safer.
Chip card technology, however, offers no protection when credit and debit cards are used for online purchases. The FBI has warned about what it calls E-Skimming which occurs when criminals infect the websites of businesses and government agencies with malware that allows the criminal to steal credit card and debit card information and then use it to make charges using the victim’s credit card or debit card.
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There are many steps that businesses and government agencies should take to protect their sites from this type of crime. They should update their security software with the most recent security updates; change default login credentials on their systems; segment their network systems to limit access by criminals and educate their employees to the dangers of phishing and spear phishing emails because it is through these phishing and spear phishing emails that most malware is delivered. A good rule for us all to follow is to never click on links in emails unless you have absolutely confirmed that the email is legitimate.
What, can we as consumers do, however, to protect ourselves from becoming a victim of E-Skimming?
First and foremost, while it may be more convenient to leave your credit card on file with an online retailer you regularly use, this is not a good thing to do because it leaves you more vulnerable to having your credit card data stolen in the event of a data breach and as we all know, data breaches are and will continue to be very common.
Consumers should refrain from using their debit cards for anything other than as an ATM card. Use a credit card for all of your card purchases to achieve greater consumer protection. The holder of a credit card used for fraudulent purposes cannot be assessed more than $50 for such use and most credit card companies charge nothing. However, the potential liability of a person whose debit card has been compromised can reach his or her entire bank account tied to the card if the card owner does not report the crime promptly and even if the card owner does report the theft promptly, the debit card owner’s access to his or her own bank account is frozen while the bank investigates the crime.
Finally, you should monitor your credit card statement regularly to determine if your credit card has been compromised.
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Scam of the day – October 12, 2026 – Lost Pet Scams Worse with AI
In the Scam of the day for August 29, 2023 I told you about, scammers posing as local humane societies or animal control officers calling pet owners who have lost pets telling them that they have found the pet and asking for an immediate payment over the phone in order to retrieve their lost pet. Often pet owners who have lost their pets will post posters with photos and information about the lost pet which the scammers use to harvest information they can use to make their call appear legitimate. Through a technique called “spoofing” it is a simple matter for the scammer to manipulate your Caller ID so that the call appears to have come from your local humane society or animal control officer.
Today people are even more likely to post on social media about missing pets and scammers are using AI to perpetrate missing pet scams more convincingly. Earlier this year ipet scamsn Deltona, Florida, Bill Cosens posted photos of his dog Archer who had been missing for a day on social media. They soon got a call that appeared to come from a local animal control shelter veterinary service telling Cosens that Archer had been hit by a car and needed emergency surgery and that the cost was $2,746 which should be paid by gift cards.. When Bill Cosens and his wife asked to come see Archer they were told there was no time for that, but the phony vet service would send a photo of Archer being prepared for surgery which they promptly received. Fortunately, the Cosens were skeptical, particularly about the vet demanding payment by gift cards which is something only scammers do and they did not fall for the scam although the AI created photo was very convincing.
The story has a happy ending, however, as Archer turned up a few days later. Investigators determined that the call from the vet that appeared to come from Deltona actually came from India. This scam has been reported in other states as well as scammers are able to get photos of missing dogs from social media and use AI to make convincing demands for payments.
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Neither humane societies nor animal control officers demand payment for returning lost pets. If you do get such a call and think that it may be legitimate, you should merely hang up and call the real local humane society or local animal control officer at a phone number that you have confirmed is the correct one and not from what the scammer may appear to use.
As for the version of this scam targeting the Cosens, it can be hard to tell if a AI deepfake photo is legitimate, but demanding payment by gift cards is always an indication of a scam.
As a rule you should never give personal information or make a payment over the phone to anyone you have not called. You can never be sure as to who is really calling.
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Scam of the day – October 11, 2026 – Is the American Community Survey a Scam?
Many people are receiving letters, phone calls and even visits from people representing that they are with the United States Census Bureau taking a survey known as the American Community Survey. While it is true that the official United States Census is only done once every ten years, the Census Bureau does a limited survey of 3.5 million randomly selected people in all of the states as well as Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico monthly throughout the year.
So how can you tell if you are being contacted and solicited for information by a legitimate census worker or by a scammer merely using the American Community Survey as a ruse to gather personal information from you in order to make you a victim of identity theft? First of all, the real American Community Survey does not ask for your Social Security number or credit card information. If you are asked for that information, it is a scam.
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It is important to note that the Census Bureau will always initially contact you through a snail mail letter informing you that you have been selected to participate in the survey. The letter will also provide you with instructions as to how to complete the survey online. If you fail to complete the survey online a paper survey will be sent to you after three weeks. Once the survey has been completed either online or on paper, you may be called on the phone if the Census Bureau needs to clarify any information. You will not be asked for your Social Security number or any bank or credit card information.
A Census Bureau representative may come to your home to follow up on the survey. He or she will always have a photo ID with the U.S. Department of Commerce seal and an expiration date. If you are concerned that the person may be a scammer you can always contact your Census Bureau regional office to confirm that the visit is legitimate.
If you are contacted about participating in the American Community Survey, it is prudent to confirm that you have been selected to participate in the survey. You can do this by calling your Census Bureau regional office. Here is a link with the phone numbers for each region. https://www.census.gov/about/regions.html
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Scam of the day – October 10, 2026 – Copy of Your Deed Scam
Today’s Scam of the day is one that I have been warning you about since 2012, but lately there has been a resurgence of this scam as indicated by the number of Scamicide readers who have inquired about this scam after receiving a confusing notice. The scam begins with a call, email or snail mail letter informing you of the importance of having a copy of the deed to your home. Often these scammers will charge you $90 or more to obtain a copy of your deed for you.
Having an actual copy of your deed is not very important once it has been recorded in the local Registry of Deeds, however it is still a good record to keep. However, obtaining a copy of your deed on your own from your local Registry of Deeds is both simple and rarely costs more than a few dollars at the most. The problem with this particular scam is that technically, it may be legal in the sense that they are offering to obtain a copy of your deed for you for a fee and there is nothing illegal about that. However, the emails and letters you receive offering this service are usually confusing and misleading which is why I consider them to be a scam.
In 2018, Ohio actually passed a law requiring specific disclosures to consumers be made when a fee is requested to obtain a copy of a deed on your behalf. The disclosure must include the actual cost charged by the Registry of Deeds for a deed copy as well as prohibiting charging a fee more than four times the cost charged by the Registry of Deeds.
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This is an easy scam to avoid. If you get such a call, email or letter, merely ignore it. If you want a copy of your deed, merely contact your local Registry of Deeds where you can get one for a nominal cost.
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Scam of the day – October 9, 2026 – FTC Sending Additional Refunds to Victims of Debt Relief Scam
Being in debt is a difficult situation faced by many people. Unfortunately, it can be made much worse when debtors are targeted by unscrupulous scammers posing as debt relief specialists who steal from the people in debt. In the Scam of the day for July 18, 2020 I told you that the FTC and the Florida Attorney General had settled their lawsuit against an organization called the Helping America Group that got people to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars a month by falsely promising to pay, settle, or obtain dismissal of their debts and improve their credit scores. Over time, victims found their debts unpaid, their accounts in default, and their credit scores severely damaged. Some were sued by their creditors, and others were forced into bankruptcy. In the July 18, 2020 Scam of the day I informed you that the FTC was sending more than 16 million dollars to victims of the scam. In 2022 i told you that the FTC was sending a second round of checks to people who lost money to this scam because the FTC was able to recover an additional 6.5 million dollars from the Helping America Group to reimburse victims of the scam. Now because the FTC recovered additional funds from the Helping America Group, the FTC is sending additional checks to victims of the scam.
If you were a victim of this scam and need information about getting your payment from the FTC go to the FTC Refund tab in the middle of the first page of Scamicide.com
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There are many debt relief companies that may be able to help people with debt problems, however, credit counseling services may be a better and more economical choice for many people. While there are legitimate debt relief companies, there also are many scammers who will take your money and provide little, if anything, for your payment. Again, it is important to remember that it is illegal for a debt relief company to charge you a fee prior to settling your debts. If you are considering using a debt relief company, you should check with your state’s Attorney General and your state’s consumer protection agency to see if there are any consumer complaints against them. Finally, for detailed information about alternatives to consider if you are having debt problems, go to the FTC’s website at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0153-choosing-credit-counselor
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Scam of the day – October 8, 2026 – Gift Card Draining Continues to Snare Victims
Gift card draining scams have become a huge problem with some estimates as to the amount of money lost to this type of scam anywhere from $200 million to a billion dollars in the last two years. Longtime readers of Scamicide may remember that I have been warning you about these scams since 2012. Organized crime groups including Chinese cybergangs operate wide scale gift card draining in the United States. The Department of Homeland Security is investigating these Chinese gangs through Operation Red Hook. Gift card draining occurs when scammers tamper with gift cards so that when an unwitting customer buys a gift card, the value of the gift card becomes under the control of the scammer.
Recently the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center led a multi-agency investigation that resulted in the break up of a gift card draining ring operating in Texas and Arkansas arresting four people accused of running the scam.
The most common way gift card draining occurs involves scammers going to racks of gift cards in stores and using handheld scanners that are easy to obtain, read the code on the strip of the card and the number on the front. They then put the card back in the display and periodically check with the retailer by calling its 800 number to find out whether the card has been activated and what the balance is on the card. Once they have this information they either create a counterfeit card using the information they have stolen or order material online without having the actual card in hand.
Another common way gift card draining occurs is when scammers place a sticker with the barcode of a a gift card that the scammers possess over the actual barcode of the gift card in the rack. Thus when the card is taken by the gift card purchaser to the checkout counter to have the card activated, the funds used to purchase the gift card are credited to the card of the scammer. It is not until the gift card purchaser tries to use his or her card that it is discovered that there are no funds credited to the card.
Some retailers, in an effort to reduce gift card fraud put a PIN on the gift card so that if the card is used online, the user must have access to the PIN which is generally covered and must have the covering material scratched off in order to be visible. Unfortunately, many purchasers of gift cards are not aware of this so they don’t even notice that the PIN on the card that they are purchasing has already had the covering material scratched off by the scammer who has recorded the PIN. Target has redesigned its gift cards to have a blank space where access codes used to be printed. Instead the code is applied to the gift card by the cashier at checkout. Other gift card retailers are adding tamper-proof packaging or disc=plays that prevent cards from being put back once removed.
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When buying a gift card, only purchase cards from behind the customer service desk and if the card is preloaded, always ask for the card to be scanned to show that it is still fully valued. This avoids all of the problems of tampering with the card before it is sold.
Always inspect the card carefully to make sure that the barcode has not been tampered with in any fashion and that the PIN is still covered.
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Scam of the day -October 7, 2026 – IRS Watchdog Report Details Extensive Delays for Victims of Income Tax Identity Theft
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration recently issued a report showing that the IRS continues to experience extensive delays in sending income tax refunds to victims of income tax identity theft with an average processing time now of 655 days. As the report indicated, “These lengthy delays can frustrate and burden taxpayers while they wait to receive their refunds.” According to the report the “increased prevalence and sophistication” of income tax identity theft is making the situation worse. Income tax identity theft, by which identity thieves file phony income tax returns with counterfeit W-2s using the Social Security number and name of their victim remains a major problem for the IRS and taxpayers costing us all billions of dollars each year. However, when someone has stolen your Social Security number and filed an income tax return using your name, the problem becomes particularly personal.
So what can you do to protect yourself from income tax identity theft? First and foremost you should file your return as soon as possible because if you file your income tax return before the identity thief does you should be able to get your refund in a timely manner. However, income tax identity thieves are pretty prompt in filing their phony returns so you should also get a PIN from the IRS to use when filing your tax return.
In 2022 the IRS announced an expansion of its Identity Protection PIN Op-In Program that provides individual taxpayers with a six-digit code that is required to be included on the individual’s income tax return. This will protect someone whose Social Security number had been compromised from becoming a victim of identity theft because the identity thief will not know the six-digit code. Here is a link to the section of the IRS’ website where you can apply for a PIN. https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/get-an-identity-protection-pin The PIN is only valid for a single year but will automatically be renewed each year. The easiest way to get a PIN is through your online IRS account. Here is a link to information about getting an online IRS Account. https://www.irs.gov/payments/online-account-for-individuals
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In addition to protecting the privacy of your Social Security number, the best thing you can do to protect yourself from becoming a victim of income tax identity theft is to file your income tax return as early as possible. A criminal can successfully make you a victim of income tax identity theft only if he or she files an income tax return using your Social Security number before you file your legitimate income tax return. Therefore the earlier you file your income tax return, the more likely you are to avoid becoming a victim of this crime.
The IRS started the Identity Theft Protection PIN program almost ten years ago, but it was only available to people who were already victims of identity theft and to people living in a few specific states chosen by the IRS to test the program. Now anyone can and should obtain an Identity Theft Protection PIN.
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Scam of the day – October 6, 2026 – FTC Sending Additional Refunds to Victims of University of Phoenix Scam Settlement
For profit universities have been a target of state and federal investigations for years. I have written about this topic since 2012. It should be noted that not all for profit colleges are scams, but there are a large number of for profit colleges, sometimes referred to as “diploma mills” that at times offer credit for your “life experience” and lure students in with promises of a helpful degree, but the students end up with a worthless degree and an empty wallet. Sometimes the names of these scamming colleges and universities are confusingly similar to legitimate colleges. For instance, Columbia State University is a diploma mill while Columbia University is an eminent Ivy League school.
In 2019, the University of Phoenix settled charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that it used deceptive advertising to attract students. These ads falsely implied that the University of Phoenix worked with companies such as AT&T, Yahoo and Microsoft to create job opportunities for students and to shape its programs for the jobs. Pursuant to the settlement, the University of Phoenix paid 50 million dollars to the FTC and the FTC began sending refunds to 147,500 former University of Phoenix students in March of 2021 as I told you at that time. Additional rounds of payments were made by the FTC in 2023 and 2025 and now the FTC is sending Zelle payments to people who didn’t cash their check or accept a PayPal payment from the FTC.
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If you attended the University of Phoenix and want to find out if you qualify for the refunds, check out the “FTC Scam Refunds” tab in the middle of the first page of http://www.scamicide.com.
These refund checks are only being sent to student whose debts had not been already cancelled by the University of Phoenix. In addition, in order to qualify for a payment, you must have initially enrolled at the University of Phoenix between October 15, 2012 and December 31, 2016 and must have paid more than $5,000 to the University of Phoenix although this figure can include funds derived from student loans or military benefits.
In addition, recently the Department of Education approved federal student loan forgiveness for people who attended the University of Phoenix and were deceived by the school’s jog placement claims and submitted a valid application for borrower defense. The Department of Education is notifying people whose borrower defense applications were approved. Even if you received a payment from the University of Phoenix settlement fund, you can still appy for loan forgiveness through the borrower defense program.
If you are considering attending a for profit school, first check it out with the United States Department of Education’s website at https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home to make sure it is an accredited institution.
You also should investigate whether a local college, university or community college would be more cost effective for you. For profit colleges and universities are often more expensive than these other alternatives without offering any distinct advantages. Also, check out the graduation rates of any for profit college you are considering and finally, investigate the job prospects in your field of study. Don’t just take the word of the college.
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Scam of the day – October 5, 2026 – Why Scammers Love WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) more scams in the United States are started on social media than on any other platform at a cost of 2 billion dollars in 2025 and that figure is undoubtedly low because many victims, often out of embarrassment, do not report being victimized. A study done by the Fin Tech company Revolut found that 60% of all scams in the UK originated on the Meta platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp with investment scams being the most common form of scam. Revolut referred to social media as a “hotbed” for scams.
Social media based scams take many forms, but are often based on our trusting the people we encounter as friends on social media. Remember my motto, “trust me, you can’t trust anyone.” Scammers harvest information about you that you post on social media to learn more about you and your interests and use that information to target you with a wide variety of scams including investment scams, romance scams and sales of phony products.
One way to recognize a scam is when you start communication with someone on social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram or even through email and they want to move your discussions to WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal which are all legitimate encrypted messaging platforms, but are favorites of scammers because they are encrypted and not monitored as well as other social media where the platforms may be using AI for scam detection.
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Don’t accept friend requests from everyone who asks to be your friend on social media and don’t trust communications on social media merely because they appear to come from your friends. Often social media accounts are hacked or cloned and the scammers, posing as your friends, leverage the trust that you have in your friends to lure you into phony investments, phony sales and romances. Further, even if a communication comes from a real friend, often people will forward scams that they have been fooled into thinking are legitimate.
Use your privacy settings to limit who can see the information you post on social media.
Remember it is good rule to never click on links that may appear on social media, text messages or emails unless you have absolutely confirmed that they are legitimate because the risk of downloading malware is too great.
As for WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal, no legitimate employer offering a job or financial advisor will switch platforms after they have made initial contact with you.
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Scam of the day – October 4, 2026 – Medicare Open Enrollment Scams
The annual open enrollment period for Medicare begins on October 15th and will end on December 7th. This is the only time during the year that people enrolled in Medicare can change their Medicare health plans, Medigap plans and prescription drug plans. By now, people already enrolled in Medicare should have received an Annual Notice of Change from their health insurance providers describing any changes to their plans such as the dropping of particular drugs from their prescription drug plan. If you are satisfied with your plans, you do not need to do anything.
Scammers and identity thieves view the open enrollment period as senior citizen hunting season as myriads of Medicare scams are common during this time. Seniors may be contacted by someone purporting to be from their insurance company asking them to verify information. This is a common tactic of identity thieves trying to trick their victims into providing information. They also may be contacted by people claiming to have supplemental insurance programs that will save them thousands of dollars. Here too, you cannot be sure that they are legitimate when they contact you by phone, text message, email or even regular mail. In addition, scammers send phishing emails that appear to come from your employer asking you to review and approve your health care benefit and then lure you into clicking on malware infected links or providing personal information that can lead to your becoming a victim of identity theft.
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Never give personal information to anyone who calls you on the phone because you can never be sure who is actually on the other end of the line. Through a technique called “spoofing,” a scammer can manipulate your Caller ID and make it appear that the call is from the government or some legitimate company when in fact, it is from an identity thief who is eager to steal your money. If you want to get information you can trust about what Medicare insurance plans are available to you and at what cost, merely go to the “Plan Finder” section of Medicare’s website http://www.medicare.gov. If you want to speak with someone on the phone, call Medicare at its 24 hour hotline 1-800-MEDICARE. Your Medicare options can be quite confusing. Fortunately, the State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIP) which is a national network of federally funded programs provides free Medicare counseling. Here is a link to SHIP’s website https://www.shiptacenter.org/
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