🚨 SCAM ALERT: Bank impostors told people to hide cash in cereal boxes
Clay County investigators describe bank impostors using FaceTime, concealed cash and grocery-store couriers in five reported cases.
Bank impersonation
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The Hangup.
Scam warnings and practical steps to protect yourself.
🚨 SCAM ALERT: Police recovered $12,000 from a fake bail call with two minutes to spare
A Connecticut man handed over $12,000 after a caller posed as his arrested son-in-law. Police intercepted the cash two minutes before delivery.
Phone scams
Read the story ⚠️ SCAM WARNING: A caller sends you to a fake sheriff's warrant-check website
Texas deputies say impersonators are calling residents and directing them to a fake sheriff website to search for warrants. The site's phone numbers are not official.
Government impersonation
Read the story 🛑 FRAUD WARNING: A fake bank sting sends someone to collect your cash
Pueblo County officials report nearly $200,000 in losses after bank impostors claimed to be investigating dishonest tellers and sent people to collect cash.
Bank impersonation
Read the story 🚨 SCAM ALERT: The FTC says 19 fake FTC websites were taken down
Registrars took down 19 sites posing as the FTC over the past year. The agency says the sites were impostors, not genuine places to report fraud.
Government impersonation
Read the story ⚠️ SCAM WARNING: Coinbase contact data was exposed. Watch for fake support calls.
A vendor incident affected some Coinbase customer contact and transaction data, not Coinbase's own systems. Here's how to spot an impostor call.
Crypto scams
Read the story 🛑 FRAUD ALERT: A $65 million phone scam sent cash to short-term rentals
New guilty pleas expose how impostor calls sent older Americans' cash to made-up recipients at short-term rentals. Here's how to interrupt the request.
Phone scams
Read the story ⚠️ SCAM WARNING: A caller says your charity donation won a prize. The fee is the trap.
The FTC warns that charity impostors can claim a donor won a sweepstakes, then ask for money or sensitive information before releasing a supposed prize.
Prize scams
Read the story ⚠️ SCAM WARNING: A caller says a prescription was filled in your name. Don't verify with them.
California health officials report calls about supposed prescriptions, spoofed department numbers and staged police video calls. Verify the claim independently.
Phone scams
Read the story ⚠️ SCAM WARNING: A fake deputy photo points to a Bitcoin ATM. Do not pay.
A Michigan sheriff says police impostors are pairing spoofed calls with AI-generated images of fake deputies near Bitcoin ATMs. The photo is not proof.
Phone scams
Read the story 🚨 SCAM ALERT: A caller offers a police calendar ad. The police say it is not theirs.
Gulf Shores police say impostors are calling businesses to sell ads in a police calendar. The department says no such fundraising campaign is underway.
Business phone scams
Read the story 🛑 FRAUD WARNING: A caller threatens to shut off your phone number. The police callback is fake too.
The FTC's October 22 warning describes impersonators who threaten to deactivate a phone number, steer callers to fake police, and demand money.
Government impersonation
Read the story 🚨 SCAM ALERT: A bank caller says your money is at risk. Then a rideshare arrives for cash.
An October 20 Maryland police warning describes bank impostors who use spoofed caller ID, pressure residents to withdraw cash, and arrange rideshare pickups.
Bank impersonation
Read the story ⚠️ TEXT SCAM WARNING: A text says your voter registration needs fixing. Check before you tap.
An October 15 FBI advisory describes fake state registration pages, campaign impersonation, and other election-season fraud.
Text scams
Read the story 🛑 FRAUD ALERT: A calendar notice is not proof you owe money
Fresh reporting puts calendar phishing back in focus. A reminder can look routine while carrying a fake payment claim, a risky link or a scam phone number.
Calendar scams
Read the story 🚨 SCAM ALERT: A caller sounded exactly like her friend. Then a courier came for cash.
A fresh Orlando case shows how a convincing voice, a fake legal story, and an in-person cash pickup can reinforce one another. The voice method remains unverified.
Phone scams
Read the story ⚠️ SCAM WARNING: JEA says impostors are offering door-to-door arsenic water tests
An unexpected water-test offer is a reason to verify the visitor, not evidence that your tap water is contaminated.
Utility scams
Read the story ⚠️ SCAM WARNING: That parking-meter QR code may lead to a fake payment page
Manhattan prosecutors describe a parking-payment page disguised with ParkNYC branding. The new development is an indictment, not a newly invented scam.
QR code scams
Read the story 🛑 FRAUD WARNING: An FBI-looking video call can be staged
FBI Newark says impostors have spoofed real field-office numbers, used actual agent names and, in one case, staged an FBI-looking virtual-meeting background.
Government impersonation
Read the story 🚨 FRAUD ALERT: A bank caller offers to collect your card. Keep it in your hands.
A September 28 report describes a bank-impersonation warning in Ohio involving calls, texts and home visits. The request to surrender a card is the detail to stop on.
Bank impersonation
Read the story The top health-insurance search result can be an ad. During Open Enrollment, check where it really goes.
⚠️ SCAM WARNING: The FTC says health-insurance scammers can use paid search ads, lookalike web addresses, and official-looking logos during Open Enrollment.
Health insurance scams
Read the story A recruiter offers easy remote work. The real job may be stealing your money.
⚠️ JOB SCAM WARNING: Blue Whale Apps says impostors are using messaging apps, fake websites, easy online tasks, and payment demands to target job seekers.
Job scams
Read the story That “nationwide alert” text may be bait, not an emergency.
🚨 TEXT SCAM ALERT: A Florida sheriff’s official received an “automated nationwide alert” text that used emergency-style language to push a link.
Text scams
Read the story 🚨 SCAM ALERT: Your iPhone screened the call. That does not mean the caller is safe.
Apple Call Screening asks unknown callers why they are calling. Scam and spam callers can still answer the prompt with vague or prerecorded audio.
Phone scams
Read the story A bank caller tells you to dial *72. That can send your calls to a scammer.
⚠️ PHONE SCAM WARNING: A fresh Maryland alert says bank impostors are using call forwarding to redirect incoming calls and account-verification traffic.
Phone scams
Read the story 🚨 SCAM ALERT: A real law firm number can appear when the caller is fake
Virginia’s State Bar says scammers are spoofing actual law firm numbers, then using debt claims and legal threats to pressure people into paying.
Phone scams
Read the story A fake school app can lead to a fake virus warning and a fake support call.
🚨 SCAM ALERT: A fresh New Jersey warning shows how a familiar-looking student app can funnel someone from a fake virus pop-up into a scam support call.
Tech support scams
Read the story A stranger sent you money. Don’t ‘send it back’ as a new payment.
A fresh Texas warning highlights a payment-app trap that starts with real money appearing in your balance, followed by pressure to send a separate payment back.
Payment scams
Read the story The house is real. The rental ad may be fake.
A fresh Louisiana warning shows how scammers can turn real homes for sale into fake rentals, then collect money from people who never get the keys.
Rental scams
Read the story It sounded exactly like his daughter. The investment request was not hers.
A fresh Wisconsin alert shows why a familiar voice is no longer enough to authenticate a request involving your money or investments.
AI scams
Read the story The utility call looks suspicious. The number you search may be fake too.
A fresh utility warning highlights a second trap: the number you search for after a suspicious call may lead straight back to an impersonator.
Phone scams
Read the story Your permit application is real. The city invoice may not be.
Fresh city warnings show how public planning records can make a fake fee request look legitimate. The safest check starts outside the message.
Phishing scams
Read the story That government caller may be fake. FBI says reported losses topped $1.6 billion.
Scammers can spoof real agency numbers, use real names, and even appear on video. A new FBI warning says the safest move is to hang up and verify independently.
Phone scams
Read the story The iMessage ‘blue email’ trick: your number is not the only way in
Someone may not need your phone number to message you. An email address enabled for iMessage can be enough. Here is how to check the setting and close that route.
Privacy check
Read the story The booking was real. The bail call was a scam.
Knowing about a real arrest does not make a caller legitimate. A new Wisconsin warning shows why families should verify bail requests independently.
Phone scams
Read the story A fake Apple Pay alert. A real $60,000 loss.
The text says your money is at risk. The trap is the number it tells you to call. Here’s how to check an alert safely.
Text scams
Read the story Their phone went silent. Then came a $4,800 cash advance.
A phone number can be taken over, not just imitated. A Florida case shows why an unexplained service outage deserves a closer look.
Number hijacking
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