Scam of the Day
Scam of the day – September 6, 2026 – Veterans Savings Program Scam
A recent study by the VA found that scammers contacted 39% of all veterans and more than 25% were scammed out of more than $500. Each year veterans and military families are scammed out of hundreds of millions of dollars. According to the FTC veterans and military families lost $685 million in 2025. With so many scams online, it is unusual that the newest scam targeted veterans is done through an old school postcard. The post card informs the targeted scam victim that he or she may qualify for additional monthly veterans benefits through the “Veterans Savings Program.” The postcard provides a phone number to call where the scammers lure the unsuspecting veteran to provide personal information such as their Social Security number or bank account information that will lead to identity theft.
TIPS
The truth is that there is no such program as the “Veterans Savings Program.” The real VA will never ask for sensitive personal information over the phone.
Fortunately, the VA has set up a very helpful website VSAFE.gov which contains much helpful information for veterans applying for benefits. In addition, the VA has a special hotline 1-833-38V-SAFE which veterans can call if they have any questions about possible scams. If you have questions about benefits for which you might be eligible, you can call the real VA Benefits Hotline at 1-800-827-1000
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Scam of the day – September 5, 2026 – LA County Warns About Jury Duty Scams
I have been warning you about the jury duty scam for thirteen years, but it continues to snare many unwary victims. Recently Los Angeles County court officials issued a warning about scammers posing as court officials calling their targeted victims threatening arrest for failing to appear for jury duty.
Often in these scams you are told that you can pay the fine through gift cards And now more frequently you are told to pay the “fine” through a cryptocurrency ATM. Other times they ask for your Social Security number to confirm your identity. Of course, the phone call is a scam. Even if you have missed jury duty, you will never be called by legitimate court officers and shaken down for a payment.
Often, as in this case, the scammers will use a technique called “spoofing” to make the call appear on your Caller ID as if it is coming from a legitimate law enforcement agency or court. In some instances of the scam you are asked to confirm your identity by providing your Social Security number which will then be used to make you a victim of identity theft. Recently the scam has evolved to where people are also being contacted by text messages or emails from scammers posing as a representative of the local court system.
TIPS
Initial contacts from courts regarding jury duty are always in writing through the mail although some systems will permit you to receive future notices through email. Under no circumstances will you receive telephone calls or text messages indicating that you have failed to report for jury duty. No court will demand payment over the phone for failing to appear for jury duty and no court ever requires a payment be made via gift cards or cryptocurrencies. If you do receive such a call and you think that there is even the possibility that you might have forgotten to report for jury duty, merely call the local clerk of courts in order to get accurate information. Of course anyone calling you and telling you that you can pay your fine to them over the phone using a gift card is a scammer.
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Scam of the day – September 4, 2026 – Timeshare Resale Scams: How Mexican Cartels Target Owners
Timeshares are a legitimate vacation option for many people with about 9.6 million Americans owning timeshares. However, resales have often been difficult for timeshare owners and scammers have been preying upon timeshare owners trying to sell their interests with promises of buyers that never materialize after charging the timeshare owners upfront fees of sometimes thousands of dollars. Part of the problem is that the timeshare resale firms are largely unregulated although the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has brought a number of lawsuits against timeshare resale companies for false and misleading marketing. Many older timeshare owners are specifically targeted by scammers through the mail, telemarketing and seminars in which they promise easy sales and big profits. Most of these companies charge upfront fees of between $2,500 and $10,000. Many of them provide a money back guarantee, but the guarantee of a scammer is worthless.
But now, as I often say, “things aren’t as bad as you think, they are far worse” because the Mexican drug cartels Jalisco New Generation and the Sinaloa Cartel have gotten in the timeshare resale scam business. According to federal officials, they have scammed Americans and Canadians owning timeshares in Mexico whom they call by phone offering to sell their timeshare out of hundreds of millions of dollars over the last ten years. Most often they target elderly timeshare owners. Making the matter even worse, after the cartel scammers have scammed their victims out of money for sales that never occur, the scammers contact their victims posing as government agents who have become aware of the scams and offer to help get their money back. Of course, before doing so they require a payment which just adds to the losses of the scam victims.
TIP
Anyone considering selling their timeshare unit should check out the legitimacy of any company proposing to help you sell your timeshare. You can check with your state’s attorney general and your local consumer protection agencies. You also can do a search engine search typing in the word “scam” along with the name of the company you are considering. Make sure you have a lawyer review any contract before you sign it and you should never pay in advance for the services of someone purporting to assist you in reselling your timeshare unit. Probably the best way to sell a timeshare unit is to deal with the resort management company or timeshare developer on your own.
Also, no government agency requires a payment to help you after you have been scammed.
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Scam of the day – September 3, 2026 – FCC Issues Warning About Imposter Scam
Recently the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a warning about an imposter scam that starts with a phone call or text message from scammers posing as FCC commissioners or employees in which they tell the targeted victim that their phone number is under investigation for criminal activity and demand an immediate payment, often by cryptocurrency or gift cards to resolve the problem. Imposter scams in which the scammers pose as government agents or law enforcement officers demanding a payment or asking for personal information purportedly to verify your identity to resolve a problem is a common and effective scam strategy.
Through the simple technique of “spoofing” a scammer can manipulate your Caller ID to make the scammer’s call or text message appear to be that of a legitimate government agency or law enforcement. Trust me, you can’t trust anyone.
TIPS
The FCC nor any other federal agency will eve call you to say your phone number is under investigation or demand, ask for financial information, threaten legal action or demand a payment. In particular, no government agency or law enforcement accepts cryptocurrency payments or gift cards. It is a sad commentary that the IRS actually indicates on its website that it does not ask for or accept cryptocurrency payments. Anytime you are asked to pay by way of a gift card or cryptocurrency, you can be confident it is a scam.
If you do receive a call or text message purportedly from a federal agency or law enforcement, you can never be sure who is actually contacting you so if you think it may be legitimate, merely call the federal agency or law enforcement branch at a number that you have confirmed is accurate and you will learn that the original call or text message was a scam.
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Scam of the day – September 2, 2026 – Real Estate Closing Scam
I have been reporting to you about this particular scam preying upon home buyers for ten years, however this scam has gotten worse in recent years. Seven years ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a warning about the scam and its dramatic increase. The scam targets people involved in the purchase and sales of residential real estate. The scam begins with the hacking into the email accounts of any of the various people involved in the sale. This can be either the buyer, seller, lawyers, title company, real estate agent or mortgage banker. Unfortunately, hacking into email accounts is a relatively easy thing for a skilled identity thief to do. The hackers then monitor the communications regarding the progress of the sale of a particular piece of real estate and when the time is right, generally posing as one of the lawyers, title company or bank mortgage officer, the scammer will email the buyer, telling him or her that funds necessary to complete the sale need to be wired to the phony lawyer’s, title company’s or banker’s account provided in the email. Everything appears normal so unsuspecting buyers too often are wiring the money to the cyberthieves who then launder the money by moving the funds from account to account to make it difficult to trace the funds.
In one instance in Colorado Phil Tamchina thought he was responding to his real estate agent who requested ten days before the scheduled closing that he wire the $730,000 for the purchase of his new home to the real estate agent. He did so, but the email didn’t come from his real estate agent, but came from a scammer. Fortunately, the bank where the funds were sent had put a hold on the account after red flags were raised and the funds were able to be sent back to Mr. Tamchina. Many other victims of this scam, however, haven’t been as lucky.
TIPS
Whenever you are asked through an email or text message to wire funds as a part of a real estate or other business transaction, don’t do so until you have confirmed that the request and the account to which you are being asked to wire the funds are legitimate. Appearances can be deceiving so always confirm. It may seem a bit paranoid, but remember, even paranoids have enemies.
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Scam of the day – September 1, 2026 – Dolly Parton Charity Scams
The recent death of country music icon Dolly Parton has brought an outpouring of emotions and grief from her legions of fans who admired not only her music and acting, but also her extensive charitable endeavors including the Dollywood Foundation and Imagination Library. Unfortunately, scammers, as they always do, are taking advantage of anything that holds the interest of the public and are targeting Dolly Parton’s fans and admirers with a variety of scams including appeals for charitable organizations that appear to be affiliated with her. Dolly’s family asked that any donations be made to her Imagination Library which can be reached through her Dollywood Foundation. Using AI, scammers are able to send emails, text messages and social media posts that appear to come from the Dollywood Foundation and may contain links that take you to sites that also appear to be legitimate, but are merely AI created copies of her real charity website.
TIPS
Scam of the day – August 31, 2026 – Back to School Shopping Scams
The new school year is just around the corner and school shopping is in high gear for many parents and students. Much of back to school shopping, like other shopping, is done online and people are constantly looking for bargains from trusted companies such as Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Scammers are constantly setting up phony retail websites. Some of these phony websites are for totally made up companies that you have never heard of, but which are offering tremendous discounts on popular goods while other phony websites are counterfeit websites of legitimate online retailers. Unfortunately, it is very easy for scammers using AI to construct phony websites with legitimate appearing logos of companies you trust. In 2024 the cybersecurity software company Trend Micro announced that it had found more than 205,000 phony websites touting back to school sales and AI has made the problem worse this year.
So how do you determine if you are on a legitimate website?
TIPS
Scam of the day – August 30, 2026 – Charges Brought in Unusual Romance-Investment Scam
Daejon Love and Taylor Jamie Chan were recently arrested and charged with operating an unusual version of a romance-investment scam in which they are alleged to have stolen $1.3 million from 26 women in California, Idaho, Washington and Oregon and the FBI believes that the true number of people scammed by them is much higher. Romance scams used to follow the pattern of scammers meeting people online and pretending to quickly fall deeply in love with them and then convince their victims to send the scammers money for various fake emergencies. The scam has evolved, however to where now the scammers still feign love, but instead of asking for a gift of money, they tell their victims that they have a great investment that is making the scammer massive amounts of money and they want to offer that investment to their targeted victim. Of course, there is no investment and the victims lose everything they “invested” with their new found love.
What is unusual in this case is that Daejon Love is alleged to have claimed that he was a wealthy professional football player for the San Francisco 49ers and even provided videos and photos that appeared to support his claim. In fact, some Google searches and AI even supported this false claim. False information provided by AI and in search engine searches is called “hallucinations” and the reason that this occurs is that both AI and more common search engines harvest their information from the Internet and if a scammer is able to place enough false information in enough places, it can be reported as accurate.
TIPS
No one should ever invest in anything that they don’t understand and with someone whom they have not researched. Rather than trusting social media posts and search engine searches, if the victims of Love had checked the roster for the San Francisco 49ers they would have learned he was scamming them. Further, Chan was presented by Love as his successful financial advisor, but if anyone had researched Chan, they would have learned that he had utterly no licenses. financial credentials or affiliations that a financial advisor must have.
As for the investments provided by Love and Chan, according to the FBI there were no investments. Love just kept the money “invested” with him. The only evidence of investments were phony investment records provided by Love and Chan. If the victims had done proper research into the investments they would have found that the investments were not registered anywhere and there was no independent documentation for the investments.
It is easy for someone to be emotionally manipulated by a romance scammer so it is very important if a romantic partner offers investment advice to be particularly skeptical. Trust me, you can’t trust anyone.
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Scam of the day – August 29, 2026 – Vacation Photos Lead to Identity Theft
Phony text messaging, called smishing, which purport to be from your credit card company is a scam about which I have been warning you for years, but is a scam that has dramatically increased recently due to AI. Scammers are harvesting vacation photos from social media and using AI to analyze the photos even if there was no attached metadata to identify where the photo was taken or directly indicated in your social media. They then send text messages to their targeted victims posing as the victims’ credit card company informing them that unusual activity was detected while they were traveling to wherever they actually were. Having the name of the city or country where the targeted victim was traveling included in the text message makes it much more believable. They then provide either a phone number or a link that will take you to an AI created counterfeit website of the credit card company where you will be prompted to provide credit card information that will lead to identity theft.
The best course of action when you receive such a text message, if you have a concern that it may be legitimate, is to merely independently contact your credit card company to determine whether or not the text message was a scam, but be careful that you do not misdial the telephone number of your credit card company as some scammers purchase phone numbers similar to those of legitimate credit card companies hoping that they will receive calls from unwary consumers who may have merely misdialed the telephone number of their bank or credit card company.
TIPS
Regardless of how official such a text message may appear, you should never provide personal information to anyone in response to a telephone call, email or text message because in none of those situations can you be sure that the person contacting you is legitimate. If you do receive a communication from a bank, government agency or any other person or entity that you think might have a legitimate need for personal information from you, you should call the real entity at a telephone number that you know is legitimate in order to ascertain the truth.
It is a good idea to wait until you have returned from vacation to post your photos and when you do post them on social media you should use your privacy settings to limit their viewing to just your actual friends.
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Scam of the day – August 28, 2026 – FTC Settles Investment Training Scam Lawsuit Against IM Mastery Academy
In 2025, the FTC and the state of Nevada filed a civil lawsuit against IM Mastery Academy and its principals in which they accused them of operating a deceptive investment training and multi-level marketing scheme that scammed consumers of more than $1.2 billion. IM Mastery Academy lured its victims through misleading marketing on social media including Instagram, YouTube and TikTok that featured false and deceptive income claims and the depiction of luxury lifestyles. At the heart of the scam were subscriptions to foreign currency trading tools and educational content, however, the real profits came from recruiting new members into the scam rather than successful foreign currency trading. The overwhelming majority of participants lost money or earned little through their participation in the program.
In 2025 preliminary injunctions were ordered against the company and its senior officials freezing their assets. This was followed by a civil settlement judgment of $795.8 million followed by a series of settlements and forfeitures of millions more against the principals and the company itself which concluded in July.
TIPS
Never rush into any investment or other opportunity being sold through a seminar or on social media until you have carefully investigated the people selling their investment or system as well as the investment or system itself. Always be a bit skeptical as to testimonials which should also be carefully investigated before being relied upon. Before investing with anyone, you should investigate the person offering to sell you the investment with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Central Registration Depository. This will tell you if the broker is licensed and if there have been disciplinary procedures against him or her. You can also check with your own state’s securities regulation office for similar information. Many investment advisers will not be required to register with the SEC, but are required to register with your individual state’s securities regulators. You can find your state’s agency by going to the website of the North American Securities Administrators Association. https://www.nasaa.org/investor-education/how-to-check-your-broker-or-investment-adviser/ Many investment advisers will not be required to register with the SEC, but are required to register with your individual state securities regulators. You should also check with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for information about the particular investment adviser. https://www.finra.org/investors/protect-your-money/ask-and-check
It is also important to remember that you should never invest in something that you do not completely understand. This was a mistake that many of Bernie Madoff’s victims made. You also may want to check out the SEC’s investor education website at www.investor.gov. Scammers can be very convincing and it may sound like there is a great opportunity for someone to make some money, but you must be careful that the person making money is not the scam artist taking yours.
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