Scam of the Day
Scam of the day – February 13, 2026 – AI‑Powered Fake Retail Websites: How Scammers Trick Online Shoppers Into Surrendering Their Credit Cards
Creative scammers have come up with a new way to scam you when you shop online. For years, I have warned you about phony retail websites that either appear to be that of legitimate retailers such as Wallmart or are just websites that come up high in a search engine search when you are looking to buy a particular item that offer great prices. Unfortunately, this problem has gotten worse with scammers now able to use AI to create phony retail websites that look entirely legitimate. Also, merely because a website comes up high in a search engine search does not mean that it is legitimate. Scammers either pay for a high position or are sufficiently savvy to create a site that the search engines’ algorithms will pick for a high position in a search.
In the past, the scammers would lure you into providing your credit card or debit card (which you should never use for purchases because the law does not protect you as much from fraudulent use) and then use your card to make purchases or if you provided your debit card, they will then access your bank account. Now, however, the scammer are getting greedy. When you attempt to use your credit card on their phony website you will be told that your card has been declined and so you need to use a second card. Once you do, you have now turned over two credit cards to the scammer to use for fraudulent purchases in your name.
So how do you determine if you are on a legitimate website?
TIPS
Scam of the day – February 12, 2026 – Why You Must Freeze Your Credit at All Four Bureaus — Including the Little‑Known NCTUE
A credit freeze is, as the name implies, a freezing of your credit report at your request whereby no one can have access to your credit report even if they have your Social Security number and other personal information about you. You control access to the credit report through a special PIN that you choose. Thus, even if someone was able to steal your Social Security number, they could not parlay that into access to your credit report to be able to purchase things or set up accounts using your name. If you need to thaw out your credit report at such times as you want to apply for credit in the future, it is an easy procedure to do so using your PIN; then, after your new credit has been established, you can freeze your credit report again. Freezing and unfreezing your credit report has been free since 2018.
While many people are aware of the desirability of freezing your credit at Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, most people are not aware of the National Consumer Telecommunications and Utilities Exchange (NCTUE) which is the credit reporting agency used by the major phone service companies. More and more scammers are opening cell phone accounts in the names of their unwary victims who may have actually frozen their credit with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, but not with NCTUE.
TIPS
Freezing your credit is actually something everyone should do. It is free and easy to do. It protects you from someone using your identity to obtain loans or make large purchases even if they have your Social Security number. If you have not already done so, put a credit freeze on your credit reports at all of the major credit reporting agencies. Here are links to each of them with instructions about how to get a credit freeze:
https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
Scam of the day – February 11, 2026 – Valentine’s Day Scams to Avoid: Fake Florists, Online Dating Fraud, e‑Card Malware & Delivery Cons
Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching. This is a very important day to many people including scammers and identity thieves who always manage to find an opportunity in whatever is current or popular to scam you out of your money. There are many Valentine’s day scams, but the most prevalent are phony florists, online dating scams, phony Valentine’s day electronic greeting cards and delivery scams.
Scammers set up phony florist websites or send you an email purporting to be from a local florist with a great deal you merely have to click on in order to save a great deal of money on flowers.
Online dating scams are plentiful with most revolving around scammers quickly professing true love for you and then asking for money.
Electronic greeting cards are a great way to send a Valentine’s day card at the last minute when you forget to get one ahead of time, but phony electronic greeting cards can be filled with malware and if you click on the link to open the card, you will infect your computer or other electronic device with malware that will steal your personal information and use it to make you a victim of identity theft.
A common delivery scam operating on Valentine’s day involves a delivery of a gift basket of wine and flowers to you, however the person delivering the gift basket requests a small payment, generally five dollars or less, as a delivery fee because alcohol is being delivered. The person delivering the basket will only accept a credit card as payment. When you turn over your credit card, the scammer then takes down the information and runs up charges on your credit card.
TIPS
Never trust an online florist or other retailer until you have checked them out to make sure that they are legitimate. Otherwise, you might be turning over your credit card information to a scammer. Scammers also set up counterfeit sites of legitimate florists and gift retailers so it is important to check the URL carefully of any online florist or gift retailer. Scammers often demand payment by gift cards or cryptocurrency which is always an indication of a scam. Never pay for commercial transactions with Zelle or Venmo.
It is also important to remember that you can never be confident when you receive an email, particularly one with a link in it or an attachment to download, if the person sending you the email is who they claim to be. Clicking on links sent by scammers can download keystroke logging malware on to your computer or other electronic device that will, in turn, enable the identity thief to steal personal information from your computer and use it to make you a victim of identity theft. Always confirm the legitimacy of an email or text message before clicking on links contained in the message.
As for online dating scams, of course you should be wary of anyone who immediately indicates he or she is in love with you and then asks for money. Some other telltale signs of an online romance scam include wanting to communicate with you right away on an email account outside of the dating site, claiming to be working abroad, asking for your address and poor grammar which is often a sign of a foreign romance scammer although with the advent of AI, scammers are able to cure their former bad grammar and spelling.
Be skeptical of any online greeting card, particularly if it does not indicate from whom it is being sent. Be very wary of a card sent by “an admirer.” Even if you recognize the name of the sender, confirm that it was really sent from that person before you click on the link and open the card. It could be filled with malware.
In regard to the delivery scam, there is no special delivery charge for alcohol so if someone requires a payment for such a delivery and on top of that won’t accept cash, merely decline the gift.
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Scam of the day – February 10, 2026 – Task Scams: How Fake Online ‘Product Boosting’ Jobs Trick You Into Losing Money
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 (like New York) have taken action against companies and individuals engaged in this practice.
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Scam of the day – February 9, 2026 – Banks Are Wrong: Voice Authentication Is Vulnerable to AI Voice Cloning
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. 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 – February 8, 2026 – Beware of New IRS Phone Scams: Fake “Tax Resolution” Departments Target Taxpayers
We are still in the early days of tax season, but scammers are already busy calling people to scam them. The IRS recently issued a warning about scammers telling their targeted victims that they are from the “Tax Resolution Oversight Department” or the “Tax Mediation and Resolution Agency” and that the targeted victim owes taxes and offers to connect the targeted victim with a “tax resolution offer” who can help the targeted victim apply for the “IRS Liability Reduction Program. The truth is that the IRS does not have a “Tax Resolution and Oversight Department,” a “Tax Mediation and Resolution Agency,” nor an “IRS Liability Reduction program.” The IRS imposters will pressure the targeted victim to pay the non-existent debt through a credit card, debit card, cryptocurrency or gift card.
I have been warning you for years about phony IRS telephone calls by which a scammer, posing as an IRS agent calls you and tells you that unless you send a payment immediately by wired funds, credit card, gift card, cryptocurrency or some other form of immediate payment that you will be sued or arrested. Sometimes, they also ask for your Social Security number over the phone which no legitimate IRS agent will do. Unfortunately although there have been many warnings about this type of scam including warnings from the IRS, they continue to be an effective scam by which scammers manage to trick people into sending them money.
TIPS
This scam is easy to spot. The IRS will never initiate communications with a taxpayer by phone so if someone calls you purporting to be from the IRS in an initial effort to collect overdue taxes, you should hang up because it is a scam. The real IRS will always make a first contact by mail. Even if your Caller ID appears to show that the call is from the IRS, this does not mean that the call actually is from the IRS. Through a technique called “spoofing” a scammer can make the call appear to be legitimate, but it is not. The IRS will never demand payment by credit card, debit card, cash card, cryptocurrency or wired funds through an initial telephone call and they won’t threaten to sue you or arrest you. If you think that you may owe taxes, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 to speak to a real IRS employee.
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Scam of the day – February 7, 2026 – Amazon Tester Scam Alert: Don’t Fall for Fake Paid Review Offers
For many people, working from home at a simple job that pays well is pretty attractive, which may explain why people are vulnerable to a scam offering to pay you to be a product tester for Amazon. Ads for Amazon product tester are found on social media such as Facebook and TikTok offering to pay you to test products that will be sent to you for free and then write a review. Some of these ads promise payments of $1,500 per month. The only problem is that these paid Amazon product testing jobs are a scam. What makes the scam a bit more believable is that Amazon does have a product testing program, Amazon Vine, which invites specifically selected reviewers to have products sent to them for free to review, but the program is invitation only and it does not pay anything. Here is a link with more information about Amazon Vine. https://www.amazon.com/vine/about
The scammers use social media and fake websites with easily counterfeited Amazon logos to trick people into applying for these phony jobs. The scammers also will post their phony job offerings on legitimate job sites such as LinkedIn and Monster. Anyone interested in the job fills out an application that provides sensitive personal information including their Social Security number which is then used by the scammers for purposes of identity theft.
TIPS
This is an easy scam to avoid by merely understanding that Amazon does not pay anyone to test their products and their non-paid testing and review products program Amazon Vine is by invitation only. Anyone else promoting an Amazon testing and review program is a scammer.
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Scam of the day – February 6, 2026 – Social Security Scam Alert: How Criminals Steal Benefits and How to Protect Yourself
I have been warning you about scams related to Social Security benefits for many years. In one Social Security related scam, the scammers call their targeted victim on the phone posing as employees of the Social Security Administration and tell their intended victims that their Social Security numbers have been suspended due to the number being used by criminals for fraudulent purposes. They then ask you to confirm personal information including your Social Security number in order to correct the problem and to enable lifting of the suspension of the victims’ Social Security numbers as well as to avoid arrest. This is a scam intended to lure people into providing personal information including their Social Security number which will then be used for purposes of identity theft.
First and foremost, it is important to know that Social Security numbers are never suspended so right away you can be sure that a call informing you that your Social Security number has been suspended is a scam. The calls, however, can be very convincing and by using a technique called “spoofing” the call can manipulate your Caller ID into making it appear as if the call is coming from the Social Security Administration. Additionally, the Social Security Administration will not call you by phone if there is a problem with your Social Security. they will initiate contact by old fashioned snail mail.
TIPS
As I often have cautioned you, you can never be sure who is calling you when you receive a phone call and therefore should never give out personal information when you are asked in a phone call. If you believe the call is legitimate, you should hang up and call back the company or agency at a number that you know is accurate in order to ascertain whether or not (usually not) the call was legitimate.
In addition, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has a tremendously helpful online service called My Social Security Account which allows you to set up a personal online account with the SSA that enables you to view your earnings history and estimates of benefits as well as manage your benefits online including changing your address or starting or changing direct electronic deposits of your check into a bank account you may designate. This is a tremendously convenient service, but it also provides a great opportunity for scammers who have been setting up My Social Security Accounts on behalf of seniors who have not already set up such accounts for themselves. The scammers then make changes to the victim’s account by directing their benefits checks to be sent to bank accounts controlled by the scammers. Even though the Social Security Administration requires verification of personal information by asking questions that only the Social Security recipient should know as part of the process for opening a My Social Security Account, too often this information is available to a determined identity thief who is thereby able to fraudulently open an account in the name of their intended victim.
In order to improve the security of the accounts, the SSA is now requiring people to use dual factor authentication to access their accounts once they have been set up. At the user’s option, the dual factor authentication is done by the SSA sending a one time code either to the user’s email or cell phone. Using an email address for dual factor authentication may prove to be problematic because it is not particularly difficult for a sophisticated hacker to gain access to someone’s email account.
Just as the best defense against income tax identity theft is to file your income tax return before an identity thief attempts does so in your name, so the best defense against the fraudulent setting up of a My Social Security Account in your name is for you to set one up first and protect its safety with a strong username and password. For information about signing up for a My Social Security Account go to https://ssa.gov/myaccount/
You can also require that any changes to the bank account into which your check is electronically deposited only be done at a Social Security branch office and not on your online account.
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Scam of the day – February 5, 2026 – Publishers Clearing House Scam Alert: How to Spot Fake Prize Calls and Letters
In the last few years there has been an increase in reports of scammers calling people on the telephone and telling them that they have won one of the Publishers Clearing House lotteries, but that they have to pay fees or taxes before being able to claim their prize. In addition there are reports of targeted victims receiving phony notifications by regular mail that they have won a Publishers Clearing House lottery, but that again they must pay fees or taxes before being able to receive their prize.
It is hard to win any lottery. It is impossible to win one that you have not even entered and yet scam artists have found that it is extremely lucrative to scam people by convincing them that they have won various lotteries. With so many people entered into the Publishers Clearing House lotteries, it is easier for scammers to convince people that they have won. Recently, Donald Johnson Jr. was arrested and charged with scamming a 72 year old Michigan woman out of more than $200,000 after she was called on the phone by scammers posing as Publishers Clearing House who told her that she had won a substantial prize, but had to pay taxes to Publishers Clearing House in order to claim her prize. She was told to mail the $200.000 to multiple addresses including a payment of more than $90,000 to Johnson.
Most lottery scams involve the victim being told that they need to pay taxes or administrative fees directly to the lottery sponsor; however no legitimate lottery requires you to do so. As with many effective scams, the pitch of the scammer may seem legitimate. Income taxes are due on lottery winnings, but with legitimate lotteries they are either deducted from the lottery winnings before you receive your prize or you are responsible for paying the taxes directly to the IRS. No legitimate lottery collects taxes on behalf of the IRS from lottery winners. Other times, the scammer tell the “winners” that in order to collect their prizes, they need to pay administrative fees. Often, the victims are told to send the fees back to the scammer by gift cards. Gift cards are a favorite of scammers because they are the equivalent of sending cash.
After years of declining revenues Publishers Clearing House filed for bankruptcy in April and its assets were sold to ARB Interactive who are now operating the company as PCH Digital LLC. Publishers Clearing House is still doing sweepstakes, but now almost exclusively online rather than through the formerly familiar mailings.
TIPS
Fortunately, there is an easy way to know, when you are contacted by Publishers Clearing House by phone, email or text message informing you that you have won one of its major multi-million dollar prizes, whether you have been contacted by the real Publishers Clearing House. Publishers Clearing House only contacts major prize winners in person or by mail. They do not contact winners by phone, email or text message so if you do receive a notification of your winning one of their major multi-million dollar prizes by those means of communication you know it is a scam.
Even if the Caller ID on your phone indicates the call is from Publishers Clearing House, it is very easy for a scammer to use a technique called “spoofing” to make it appear that the call is coming from Publishers Clearing House rather than the scammer who is really making the call. Trust me, you can’t trust anyone.
In addition, no winners of the Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes are ever required to make a payment of any kind to claim their prize so if you are told that you have won, but are required to make any kind of payment before you can claim your prize, you can be sure that it is a scam. As for other lotteries, remember, you can’t win a lottery you haven’t entered and no legitimate lottery asks you to pay them administrative fees or taxes.
Also, as I often tell you, it is always a red flag that you are involved with a scam when you are asked to pay for anything with gift cards. Gift cards are a favorite method of payment for scammers because they are easy to convert into cash and impossible to trace.
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Scam of the day – February 4, 2026 – Grandparent Scam Warning: New AI Tactics and Job Scams Turning Victims Into “Money Mules”
I am sure by now all of you are familiar with the grandparent scam where a grandparent receives a telephone call from someone purporting to be their grandchild who has gotten into some trouble, most commonly a traffic accident, legal trouble or medical problems in a far away place. The caller pleads for the grandparent to send money immediately to help resolve the problem. However the caller also begs the grandparent not to tell mom and dad. One would think that no one would be gullible enough to fall for this scam, but don’t be so hard on the victims of this scam. Scam artists have a knowledge of psychology of which Freud would have been envious and are able to use that knowledge to persuade their victims to send money right away. While this scam has been going on for approximately sixteen years, it continues to victimize people and has gotten worse and more convincing through the use of AI and voice cloning by scammers to make calls sound exactly like the grandchild’s voice.
Recently two elderly women in Vancouver Canada became victims of the grandparent scam after receiving calls from a man claiming to be the grandchild’s attorney informing the scam victims that the grandchild was in jail and needed $7,200 to cover court costs. Things got interesting after that because the scammed grandparents were told that a courier would come to their homes and pick up the money. The courier who picked up the money in both instances was not a knowing participant in the scam, but had accepted an unsolicited job offer he had not applied for to pick up funds on behalf of his employer. After doing so twice from the elderly scam victims he became suspicious and went to police out of a concern that what he was involved with was illegal. Fortunately, he still had the money from the final pickup and turned it over to police who are not filing charges against him.
TIPS
In regard to the grandparent scam, scammers often use the nicknames of the grandchildren when speaking to their intended victims. Sometimes they get this information from social media while in other instances they get this information from reading obituaries which may contain the names of grandchildren so merely because the correct name is used in the call is no reason to believe the call. Don’t respond immediately to such a call without calling the real grandchild on his or her cell phone or call the parents and confirm the whereabouts of the grandchild. If a medical problem is the ruse used, you can call the real hospital. If legal problems are the hook you can call the real police. You can also test the caller with a question that could be answered only by the real grandchild, but make sure that it really is a question that only the real grandchild could answer and not just anyone who might read the real grandchild’ s social media postings. Prudent families can also come up with a code word to use in an emergency which a scammer will never know.
As for the job scam that turned an innocent person into a “money mule,” you should always be skeptical when you are contacted about a job for which you did not apply and a job for an unidentified employer picking up cash from people, particularly elderly people is always a scam.
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