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Over the years, lots of rip-offs have been built around exotic “investment” strategies that were pitched as simple. Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued warnings about investment scams using “binary options” as a hook. Not familiar with binary options? Then you’re probably better off keeping your money in your pocket. In fact, you can stop reading now, unless you’re fascinated by...

On June 8 , @MilConsumer and @StopFraudCo (the Stop Fraud campaign of the Colorado Attorney General’s Office) will host a chat to discuss how to avoid travel and vacation scams. The chat starts at 3:00 pm ET/1:00 pm MT. Join in at #Milchat.

When shopping for a big-ticket item, you probably do some research. Whether talking to friends, perusing a store, or checking online reviews, you want to get the most for your money. You might even look for reviews or certifications from independent review organizations to help make your decision. What if you found out that some of those “independent” review organizations were actually owned by the company whose products they were promoting? That...

Amazon will make up to $70 million in refunds available to customers who were charged for unauthorized in-app purchases made by a child. You may be eligible for a refund from Amazon if you were billed for unauthorized charges made by a child, and the charges were for in-app purchases made between November 2011 and May 2016. If you’re eligible for a refund, you should have received an email from Amazon on May 26, 2017 with instructions on how to...

The FTC will mail more than $1.9 million in refund checks to people who bought Pure Health and Genesis Today green coffee bean extract supplements from stores including Walmart. More than 38,500 people will get back 100% of the money they paid for the products. The checks are going to people who filed a claim with the FTC in 2016. The claims process is closed. In 2015, the FTC charged Pure Health LLC, Genesis Today, Inc., and their principal...

Whether stationed stateside or deployed to another part of the world, our military personnel make sacrifices during their service. Some have made the ultimate sacrifice. In fact, since the country’s founding, more than one million servicemembers have lost their lives during a conflict. As we approach Memorial Day, we honor those fallen troops who died in service of the nation.

If you’ve been affected by a data breach, or otherwise had your information hacked or stolen, you’ve probably asked yourself, “What happens when my stolen information is made public?” At the FTC’s Identity Theft workshop this morning, our Office of Technology staff reported on research they did to find out. First, they created a database of information about 100 fake consumers. To make the information realistic, they used popular names based on...

Summer is around the corner, and I’m dreaming about my next vacation! There are so many places to visit, and a lot of travel deals to consider. My budget and time are limited, so I have to choose carefully. I simply can’t afford losing out to a travel scam. I want a good trip at a fair price, so I only deal with travel businesses I trust – whether it’s a travel agency or a travel website. I also do research and ask myself some key questions: Are...

When you tell us about a scam, it helps us investigate scammers. But it also helps us warn other people about the scam – so they can avoid it. Our partners at US Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS) told us about a new twist on a common phone scam: scammers are calling immigrants in the US – but this time, the scammers are pretending to be from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). In standard scammer procedure, they fake...

Think you got an email from a business you know? Scammers sometimes use emails that look legit to trick you into sending money to them. The email might say it’s from a real estate professional you’re working with, telling you there’s a last-minute change and you should now wire your closing costs to a different account. Or it could seem to be an email – with an invoice – from your utility company, telling you to wire payment. Whatever the story...