Tag: scam

Are you having trouble paying your car loan and thinking about doing business with a company that promises to get you a loan with lower monthly payments? Not all refinancing companies play by the rules. Learn how to recognize, avoid, and report auto loan refinancing scams.

You’ve found it: A listing for the perfect off-campus apartment. The rental agent told you to send a security deposit by wiring money. Sound fishy? That’s because it is. But can you spot other rental listing scams — before you pay?

Scammers are lurking on LinkedIn and other job sites, posing as “recruiters” for well-known companies. But instead of looking to hire you, they’re really looking to take your money and personal information.

Only scammers will tell you to buy a gift card, like a Google Play or Apple Card, and give them the numbers off the back of the card. No matter what they say, that’s a scam. No real business or government agency will ever tell you to buy a gift card to pay them. Always keep a copy of your gift card and store receipt. Use them to report gift card scams to the gift card company and ask for your money back.

You may have heard about food delivery services like DoorDash or Uber Eats: you order through a restaurant’s website or a delivery service’s mobile app and drivers deliver your food. We’re hearing about a new scam targeting food delivery drivers and restaurants.

Scammers want to gain your trust. That’s why they keep pretending to work for government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission. They might use the names of real FTC employees, but the stories they tell are a bunch of lies.

If you have federal student loans, you’ve probably heard about the Supreme Court decision and know that repayments are restarting in October. But you might also be hearing from scammers who take advantage of confusion around big news like this. So how will you know what’s real and what’s a scam?

During the pandemic, states had to keep people enrolled in Medicaid so they didn’t lose their insurance. Now that the health emergency declaration is over, that requirement has been phased out — which means people eligible for Medicaid have to re-enroll in their state’s program or find new insurance, if they’re not eligible. So, where do the scams come in?

Scammers are taking outdated ads from real employers, changing them, and posting them on employment websites and career-oriented platforms like Indeed or LinkedIn. The modified ads seem to be real job offers with legitimate companies. They’re not. In fact, their goal is to trick you into sharing personal information. So how do you know if you’re dealing with a scammer?

You got the job! Work from home and earn top dollar. They already sent you a big check to buy supplies. (“Send us whatever is left, probably around $1,000,” they said.) If your alarm bells are clanging — great. This dream job has earmarks of a job scam.