Scam of the Day
Scam of the day – October 18, 2026 – New Wave of Mavis Wanczyk Scams: How Fake Cash Grants and Social Media Impersonators Target Victims
She’s back! Actually, she has never left. I have been writing about scams related to Mavis Wanczyk for nine years but recently I have received emails from Scamicide readers telling me about various new incarnations of a variety of scams that share the same hook which is that Mavis Wanczyk is giving money away to lucky people. Many of you may not remember the name of Mavis Wanczyk, but she was the lucky winner of a 758 million dollar Powerball drawing in 2017. Not long after she claimed her prize, a scam started appearing in which many people received emails with the message line referring to the Mavis Wanczyk Cash Grant. The email indicated that you were chosen to receive a large cash grant from Mavis Wanczyk. All the lucky strangers receiving the emails had to do was provide personal information in order to qualify for the grant. In addition, phony social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were also set up in Ms. Wanczyk’s name through which people were contacted with the same phony offer of free money informing them that in order to qualify for the grant they merely needed to provide personal information.
But not all Mavis Wanczyk scams involve Mavis Wanczyk. Recently a Scamicide reader told me about receiving a message purportedly from someone who identified himself as George Linda Dokken who said he was a philanthropist who would send a “grant” of $50,000 to the lucky Scamicide reader, but required a payment of a few hundred dollars in gift cards before sending the grant money. After paying the requested amount demands for additional payments kept coming, but no grant money was ever paid.
TIPS
It is difficult to win a lottery you have entered. It is impossible to win one that you have never entered and neither lottery winners, nor anyone else is sending out messages through the Internet offering free money to anyone who responds with personal information. Never give out personal information that can make you vulnerable to identity theft unless you have absolutely verified that the party requesting the personal information is legitimate and has a legitimate need for the information or payments to receive a supposedly free gift.
Another red flag that this was a scam was the request for payment using gift cards. A request for a gift card payment is always a scam.
Finally and most importantly, remember neither Mavis Wanczyk nor any other lottery winner or philanthropist is giving away free money to strangers.
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Scam of the day – October 17, 2026 – PayPal Invoice Scam
The phony invoice scam is a common scam popular with scammers because it is quite effective. It starts when you receive an email that purports to be from a popular company with which many of us do business that indicates that you owe them a significant payment. The scammers count on people being concerned that they are being wrongfully charged for a product they did not order. You are provided a telephone number to call if you dispute the bill. If you call the number, you will be prompted to provide personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft.
This email appears to come from PayPal. As always, the purpose of a phishing email is to lure you into clicking on links contained within the email or providing personal information, in this case by phone if you call to dispute the phony bill . If you click on links in phishing emails, you end up downloading malware and if you provide the requested information, it ends up being used to make you a victim of identity theft. This particular phishing email provides a phone number to call if you wish to dispute the obviously phony invoice. If you call the number in the phishing email you will be asked for personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft.
There are a number of red flags that indicate that this is a scam. Your name does not appear anywhere in the invoice. Also, the email was sent from an email address that appears to have nothing to do with PayPal. One of the biggest red flags is the request for a W-9 tax form which you only provide to someone who is paying you money and not a part of any invoice for money you would owe.
Here is a copy of the invoice being circulated.
Hi, We are reaching out from PayPal Team regarding an order 524AX for 499 USD. If Not you Contact Undersigned. This email is to request a Form W-9 for tax reporting purposes.
Please complete and sign the attached Form W-9, then reply to this email.
If you have questions, reply all so someone from our team can help. SERVICE & BILLING INVOICE – A41Z451-XX
Transaction Date: October 7, 2026
Support Number: 📞 +1 (201) 483-0632 Thank you for choosing our protection services. Please retain this invoice for your records. The information below summarizes the three-year device protection arrangement.
SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS
Protection Service: McAfee Total Protection
Start Date: October 7, 2026
Subscription Duration: Three Years
Covered Equipment: Laptop, Mobile, Tablet, or Chromebook
Service Cost: $499.99 USD
TRANSACTION NOTICE The service cost shown above is $499.99 USD. If you believe this transaction is incorrect or was not authorized, please contact our support team. Requests concerning cancellation or refunds can also be reviewed through customer support.
Support: 📞 +1 (201) 483-0632
Respectfully,
Billing Services Department
TIPS
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. Rather 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.
Never click on links or download attachments in emails or text messages unless you have absolutely confirmed that they are legitimate and don’t call companies at telephone numbers that appear in the email such as this one. Instead, if the email appears to come from a legitimate company, you can call them at a telephone number you confirm is legitimate . Don’t call the number that appears in the email. In the case of PayPal, the real telephone number to call for customer service is 888-221-1161. You can also contact PayPal customer service through this link https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/contact-us
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Scam of the day – October 16, 2026 – Is Voice Recognition For Bank Accounts Safe?
As we all know, passwords as a method of authentication for your accounts are not particularly secure. Passwords may be stolen or compromised in a data breach. Biometrics such as a finger print are a good tool for verification to open your phone, but what about accessing your bank account? Many banks offer voice verification whereby your voice on the phone acts as your password allowing you access to your account. Banks using this technology say that it is a safe and secure option. Banks saying this are wrong.
Due to now widely available AI voice cloning technology, it can be a simple matter for an identity thief to clone your voice from social media or anywhere else your voice appears and use it to access your bank account if you are using voice verification at your bank. The susceptibility of voice verification technology to AI voice cloning has been proven by tech researchers in numerous instances.
TIPS
My advice is to not use voice verification for your bank account. However, as I always urge you to do, you should use dual factor authentication whenever possible including if you are using voice verification for your bank account so that even if someone were to try to access your bank account using AI voice cloning technology, they would not be able to do so. You can also use a passkey or enroll a trusted device for security. Just as we all should be protective of personal information we post on social media that can be leveraged against us for scams and identity theft purposes, we should consider whether we also wish to take the risk of posting audio.
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Scam of the day – October 15, 2026 – State Farm Dividend Check Scam
Jake from State Farm seems like a nice guy in the commercials for State Farm Insurance and if he is sending you money, he must be a great guy. Customers of State Farm have recently been receiving emails telling them that they are eligible to receive a dividend. You are told that all you need to do is click on a link in the email to get your payment by Zelle, Venmo or PayPal.
But is it legitimate?
The answer is yes and no. State Farm is not a corporation owned by stockholders. Instead it is a mutual insurer which means that it is owned by its policyholders and when the company has a very profitable year, it returns profits to its insureds as a dividend. In this case State Farm is sending out $5 billion to policyholders. Unfortunately, scammers are taking advantage of this and sending emails and text messages posing as State Farm and luring people into clicking on malware infected links or requiring the payment of a fee in order to claim your dividend.
TIPS
So how can you tell if the communication you received is legitimate. First of all, if you received a text message, it wasn’t from State Farm even if your phone indicates the sender was State Farm. State Farm does not use text messages for dividend payouts. The legitimate email address doesn’t even have the name State Farm in it. The legitimate email address being used by State Farm is donotreply@e.sfdividend.com. However, if you like me, follow my advice of “trust me, you can’t trust anyone” your best bet is to not even click on the link in an email that may appear legitimate, but rather go directly to the official portal for claiming your dividend by typing in the address SFDividend.com directly into your browser just to be safe.
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Scam of the day – October 14, 2026 – Spotify Phishing Email
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TIPS
Initially, this may appear legitimate with a legitimate appearing Spotify email address indicated as the sender, however, email addresses can be spoofed so you can’t depend on the email address truly indicating if it is legitimate although often less sophisticate scammers send imposter emails using email addresses that are obviously phony. The email does carry the logo of Spotify, but this is easy to counterfeit. There are a number of red flags that indicate that this is a scam. I received three versions of this email with none of them indicating my email address or name anywhere in the email. Finally, and most tellingly, Spotify does not have a phone number for customer support so this is obviously a scam.
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 – 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.
TIPS
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.
TIPS
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.
TIPS
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.
TIP
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
TIPS
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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