Scam Alerts

Lots of people feel the urge to cuddle and care for a puppy – especially one that doesn’t have a home and needs all the TLC an animal lover can give. But if you see an online ad for a dog, or any pet, be warned: that pooch’s pic may just be a trick to steal your money. Scam artists have bilked animal lovers by posting ads with pictures of puppies and other pets. The ads often include a compelling story about why the puppy is available, and...

Veterans Day is intended to honor and thank all who served in the United States Armed Forces. Despite the nation’s gratitude to these heroes, there are some who would lie to make a buck off them. Con artists target veterans and servicemembers for scams and rip-offs. Some scammers stretch the truth to get at veterans’ pensions or prey on the desire to support veterans’ organizations by lying to get charitable donations. Veterans looking to use...

It’s Pizza Hut’s 55 th anniversary, the email says, and you can join in the celebration by getting a free pizza at any of its restaurants. Just click on the “Get Free Pizza Coupon” button. Don’t do it. There’s no free pizza. Clicking on the coupon will just install malware on your computer. Scammers can create emails that look like they’re from real companies, and even use company logos. But in the case of the Pizza Hut email, there are clues the...

Nothing like a hot cup of coffee and the morning paper to start the day, right? Well, for many subscribers and newspaper publishers across the country, bogus renewal notices are leaving a bitter taste. Here’s what’s happening: You get a renewal notice in the mail for your newspaper. The notice tells you that your subscription is about to expire, but you can renew it by paying immediately. The problem is, the companies behind the invoices have no...

If you’re looking to run your own business, you might be tempted by ads that claim you can buy into a ready-made business opportunity and make a lot of money. But some companies touting big earnings are promising more than they can deliver, and the FTC is taking action to stop them. As a result of a recent FTC case, a court ordered The Zaken Group, operators of a bogus business opportunity, to pay back more than $25 million to customers and...

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the unprecedented Ebola epidemic in West Africa has taken the lives of more than 4,000 people. Many people are asking how they can help. If you’re looking for a way to give, the Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, urges you to do some research to ensure that your donation will go to a reputable organization that will use the money as promised. Urgent...

I confess… I once was a mystery shopper. Decades ago, I shopped at stores to see what they were charging for certain products and visited restaurant chains to evaluate the food and service. I wrote up a report, sent it in, and received a check for my work. Nothing I could make a living from, but it helped fill the gas tank. Back then, it didn’t occur to me that responding to a mystery or secret shopper ad could set me up for a scam. Now I know –...

Ready to start booking your next vacation? Maybe you’re thinking about renting a house or condo. These days it’s easy to connect directly with property owners who advertise their vacation homes online, and you’ve probably heard wonderful stories from people who rent vacation properties. We have, too. But we’ve also heard from people who’ve fallen for vacation rental scams. Just this year, the FTC received thousands of complaints related to rental...

One thing we’ve learned at the Federal Trade Commission is that scams often follow the news – especially when there’s a health scare in the headlines. Banking on fear, scam artists are making unsubstantiated claims that products containing everything from silver to herbal oils and snake venom can cure or prevent Ebola. Not so, says the FTC and the Food and Drug Administration. In fact, the FTC and FDA recently sent a warning letter to Natural...

How low can scammers go? As low as stealing from older consumers to line their own pockets. The FTC says some scammers claimed to be calling on behalf of the government to verify information for a new Medicare card or Medicare-related package. In fact, it was a ruse to get people’s bank account information to make unauthorized withdrawals from their accounts. The callers said they needed to verify people’s identities using information that...