Category: Scams
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How One Inheritance Scam Triggered a Fatal Spiral
In September 2023, 51-year-old North Dakota resident Steven Riley went to an airport believing he was about to change his life. For months, someone claiming to be a lawyer overseas had been emailing him about an enormous inheritance — more than $30 million — from a distant relative. All he needed to do was meet…
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How Fake Trading Wins Are Being Used to Scam a New Generation of Investors
Every few days, a post goes viral on Reddit claiming something like: “I turned my savings into seven figures trading options.” The story follows a familiar script — a humble backstory, a comeback arc, and a screenshot of a brokerage account that supposedly proves it. Thousands of readers comment, most saying the same thing: Teach…
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How Fake Ads for Real Brands Are Flooding Facebook and Instagram
Let’s play a game. Open up Facebook or Instagram right now and scroll for five minutes. Odds are, you’ll see an ad offering an insane deal on a big-name brand—Herman Miller chairs for $129, or Cotopaxi backpacks at 80% off. Maybe the ad looks perfect: real product photos, official logos, even a “store closing” story…
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Why Every “Bank” Call Should Make You Suspicious
Let’s say the phone rings, and on the screen you see the name of your bank. Maybe it even matches the exact number printed on the back of your debit card. The person on the other end sounds professional. They know your name, maybe even the last few digits of your account. They say there’s…
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Deepfake Celebrity Scams Are Here—and They’re More Convincing Than Ever
It began, as these things often do, with a game. A woman in a quiet coastal town matched with a stranger on Yahtzee with Friends. The stranger, she was told, was Owen Wilson—yes, that Owen Wilson: the famously easygoing star of “Wedding Crashers,” “Loki,” and a hundred internet memes. At first, the relationship was digital…
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How Scammers Use AI to Terrify and Trap Teens
It begins, almost invariably, with a ping: a new friend request, a message on Instagram, a DM from someone who looks like a classmate or a crush. For most American teenagers, this is the digital fabric of everyday life—unremarkable, even routine. Yet, increasingly, these unassuming notifications mark the opening moves in a criminal scheme whose…
