Category: Fraud & Scams
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Cencora’s breach settlement administrator says it does not contact claimants by text message
A text message that says it is from the Cencora data-breach settlement is not coming from the people running it. The settlement’s official website states plainly: “The Settlement Administrator does not communicate via text message.” The statement sits on a page updated October 16, just as the long-delayed payments are expected to begin. Timing is…
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The FTC warns paid search ads can steer Medicare shoppers to fake plans
Anyone shopping for a Medicare plan this fall may find the wrong website sitting at the top of the search results. The Federal Trade Commission warns that scammers and dishonest businesses pay for top placement, and that a click on one of those ads can lead to a plan that is “not health insurance” or…
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The FBI says scammers are selling stakes in campaigns that pay out if a candidate wins, and a donation is never an investment
An offer to put money into a candidate’s campaign and collect a payout if the candidate wins is not a real investment, the FBI says. The bureau is warning that scammers are selling exactly that pitch to political donors this election season. The warning is in an Oct. 15, 2026 alert, number I-101526-3-PSA, from the…
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The FBI says fake voter-registration texts are harvesting personal data
A text arrives saying the recipient is not registered to vote and must fix it right away. The FBI says that message is a trap, and with the 2026 midterm election approaching, the bureau says it is being used now. The warning comes from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, known as IC3. Its public…
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The FBI says political merchandise sold online is often never shipped
Campaign hats, yard signs, flags and T-shirts sell in an election season, and the FBI says criminals have noticed. Some online sellers of political merchandise take the payment and never send the order. The warning is one of four in an Oct. 15, 2026 public service announcement from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3),…
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Social Security must give an identity-theft victim one contact who tracks the case to completion and coordinates every other office
People whose Social Security numbers have been misused have long described being bounced between field offices, phone lines and departments, repeating the story each time. A new section of the Social Security Act is written to end that: the agency must give each victim one point of contact for the whole case. The section, numbered…
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Trump signed a law giving Social Security 180 days to stand up a single contact for identity-theft victims, and a card lost in the mail qualifies
President Trump has signed a law that gives Social Security 180 days to set up one point of contact for people whose Social Security number has been misused. A card lost in the mail is covered too. The White House notice describes the contact as one for people whose number has been misused or whose…
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Fraud against older Americans may have cost as much as $119.5 billion last year, far above the roughly $3 billion victims reported to the FTC
The Federal Trade Commission says fraud against older Americans may have cost as much as $119.5 billion in 2025. Victims aged 60 and over told the agency they lost roughly $3 billion, which means the reported figure may capture only a small slice of the harm. The numbers come from the FTC’s annual report to…
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The FTC warns that scammers sometimes pay to sit at the top of search results during open enrollment, and says to type the address and look for the .gov ending
The Federal Trade Commission is warning that scammers sometimes pay to land at the top of search results during Medicare and Marketplace open enrollment. Its advice is short: type the website name in directly, scroll past the paid ads and look for the .gov ending. The warning matters most for people shopping for a 2027…
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A federal court ordered two Fundsz board members to pay more than $31 million and the founder’s estate to surrender a residence
A federal court in Florida has ordered two board members of a scheme called Fundsz to pay more than $31 million, and has ordered the estate of its founder to give up a house bought with investor money. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced the order on September 30, 2026. The agency’s release says the…