Category: Scams & Your Rights
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Lucent Health breach victims can claim a flat $80 by September 5
Some settlement money asks you to prove a loss, add up receipts, and wait. This one does not. If you received a data-breach notice from Lucent Health Solutions, you can claim a flat $80 without documenting a single dollar of harm, as long as you file by September 5, 2026. It is a small payout,…
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A Georgia financial adviser got the maximum 20 years for a $380 million Ponzi scheme
A guaranteed 10 percent return every three months is the kind of promise that sounds like a gift and works like a trap. On August 14, 2026, the man who built one of the largest investment frauds in Georgia history was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in federal prison, after taking roughly $380 million…
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Getting scam texts about unpaid tolls or packages? Forward them to 7726 and delete
If your phone keeps buzzing with texts about an unpaid highway toll, a package stuck in delivery, or an account you need to “verify,” you are not alone, and you should not tap the link. These messages are among the fastest-growing scams around, and they are designed to steal your money or your login. There…
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Nearly 49,000 tabletop fire pits are recalled for burn dangers, with full refunds offered
A popular tabletop fire pit sold under the Brookstone name is being pulled from homes across the country after reports that it can erupt in flames, and the company is offering full refunds. Federal safety regulators announced the recall of nearly 49,000 of the small decorative fire pits, warning they can shoot flames or spread…
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A man is accused of draining more than $1 million from a 90-year-old
Federal prosecutors say a Pennsylvania man talked his way into an elderly woman’s life savings and walked off with more than $1 million, using it to buy property and equipment for himself. The case, announced this month, is a textbook example of the kind of elder fraud that targets older people through someone they were…
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A seafood supplier’s data breach lets customers claim $50 with no proof, or up to $2,000, by September 8
If you ever got a data breach notice from a seafood supplier called True World, there is money on the table, and the window to claim it closes soon. A settlement over a 2024 cyberattack lets affected people claim a flat $50 with no proof at all, or up to $2,000 if they can document…
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Freezing your credit at all three bureaus is free and blocks crooks from opening accounts in your name
One of the strongest tools for stopping identity theft costs nothing and takes about 15 minutes to set up. A credit freeze locks down your credit reports so that no one, including a thief holding your Social Security number, can open new credit in your name. Federal law makes it free to place and to…
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Scammers are calling grandparents with fake family emergencies, and a simple code word can stop them cold
The phone rings, and a panicked voice says it is your grandchild: there has been an accident, or an arrest, and they need money right now, and please do not tell anyone. It is one of the cruelest scams around, because it weaponizes love and fear. But it has a simple, powerful defense that any…
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No $2,000 tariff “dividend” check is going out this year, and any text saying yours is ready is a scam
If a message lands on your phone announcing that your $2,000 tariff “dividend” is approved and waiting, delete it. As of August 2026, no such payment has been authorized, funded, or scheduled, and no agency is sending checks. The idea has been talked about, but talk is not a payment. Any text or email claiming…
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Circle K customers hit by a data breach can claim up to $2,000, but only through September 3
If you shopped at a Circle K run by Gas Express and later got a notice that your personal information was exposed in a data breach, there is money on the table, but not for long. A class action settlement lets affected customers claim a flat cash payment or reimbursement of up to $2,000 for…
