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Scammers have been taking advantage of how much people love animals. They’ll steal and manipulate pet images, videos, and even use AI-generated deepfakes to help them trick you into giving them your money or personal information. Fortunately, there are ways to help you detect and avoid these kinds of scams.

As summer approaches, your kids might be looking for downtime (and screen time). To keep them safe while they’re spending time online, start with a conversation about your family’s rules and expectations — then consider setting parental controls to help.

Today is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD). WEAAD gives all of us a chance to raise awareness about elder financial abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

Did you get a call claiming you missed jury duty and need to pay? Followed by a text or email with official-looking documents saying there’s a warrant out for your arrest? As alarming as these things sound, they’re a scam designed to steal your money.

When you search online, do you click the first result you see? You’re not alone. But that habit could cost you — especially if you’re searching for health insurance or government healthcare programs like Medicare.

The FTC is getting reports about a new phishing scam that looks a lot like the CAPTCHA requests you might be used to seeing. Real CAPTCHAs give you image- or text-based tasks to prove you’re not a robot — something like typing letters and numbers exactly as they appear, or matching pictures of things like fire hydrants or traffic lights. Here’s how the fake CAPTCHA requests happen…and how you could wind up installing malware on your own device.

If you’re a childcare provider, you know parents might sometimes need to arrange for childcare in a pinch. But if you get an urgent message from someone who says they need childcare and will send you a check in advance, that’s likely a scammer trying to trick you into sending them money.

Scammers lie and pretend to be an FTC employee to trick you into giving them money, access to your financial accounts, or your personal information. In a new twist, they falsely claim they’re an FTC “agent” that can help you recover money you lost in a scam. Here’s how this new FTC impersonator scam works: You get an unexpected message from a contact you don’t know They say they’re an FTC employee or “agent” (they’re not) and they can help you...

Hurricane season starts today. Are you prepared? Wherever you live, scammers follow whatever weather emergencies may strike. So as this hurricane season gets started, check over your family’s emergency plan and restock your supply kit. And then check out the FTC’s Dealing with Weather Emergencies article so you’re prepared to avoid scams in case a hurricane (and scammers) cross your path. Here are four things to do to prepare for hurricane season...

Medicare losses due to fraud, errors, and abuse cost taxpayers about $60 billion every year. Providers might double bill Medicare for a single treatment, charge for things like a back brace you didn’t get (or need); a company might offer you a fake Medicare drug plan; or a scammer might ask you to confirm your Medicare number ­— which they then use to commit hospice fraud.