Every scam type
117 schemes, each written the same way: what it is, how it actually works stage by stage, why it works on people who are not stupid, where it runs from, documented cases, the red flags, what to do, and where the money goes.
117 schemes
Investment
Fake returns on a real-looking platform. The highest losses per victim, by a wide margin.
Pig butchering
A months-long relationship built for one purpose: to get you onto a fake trading platform and keep you paying in.
sha zhu pan · 杀猪盘 · crypto romance investment scam
Fake investment platforms
A trading dashboard that shows everything except the one thing that matters; that no trade ever happened.
crypto investment scam · fake trading platform · forex scam
Ponzi schemes and high-yield investment programmes
A rate of return that fails arithmetic, paid from the deposits of the people who joined after you.
HYIP · pyramid scheme · passive income programme
Pump and dump, and finfluencer manipulation
Real shares, bought through your own broker, from people who needed a buyer.
ramp and dump · stock manipulation · investment club scam
Celebrity endorsement and deepfake ads
The advert is not the fraud. It is the door, and it is bought with a stolen face.
fake celebrity endorsement · deepfake investment ad · celeb-bait
NFT and crypto token rug pulls
A project that looks real until the liquidity, and the people who built it, vanish in the same transaction.
rug pull · NFT rug pull · crypto exit scam
Precious metals and gold IRA scams
A retirement account rolled into gold coins marked up 130% over cost, quoted at 5%, sold at ten times that.
gold IRA scam · silver IRA scam · precious metals fraud
Real estate investing seminar scams
A free seminar fronted by a TV celebrity opens a funnel: a $1,000 workshop, then $30,000 of coaching, on earnings claims nobody could back up.
real estate coaching scam · house-flipping seminar scam · wealth creation program
Binary options fraud
A yes-or-no bet on a price, sold by a broker who is secretly the only other player at the table.
binary options scam · fixed-odds trading fraud · all-or-nothing options fraud
Affinity fraud
A promoter who shares your church, your ethnicity or your profession is using that membership as the entire sales pitch, not a coincidence.
affinity scam · community investment fraud · church Ponzi scheme
EB-5 immigrant investor fraud
A developer sells foreign investors a path to a green card through a project that is never built, then spends the money and the administrative fees.
EB-5 scam · green card investment fraud · regional center fraud
Life settlement fraud
Investors are sold a share of a stranger's life insurance death benefit as a safe, guaranteed investment, and the policies are not paid for.
viatical settlement fraud · bonded life settlement fraud · life insurance investment fraud
Oil and gas investment fraud
Investors buy a share of a drilling program that is described as safe and about to strike oil, and the money is spent by the promoters.
oil and gas drilling program fraud · oil well investment scam · working interest fraud
Carbon credit fraud
Cold callers sell carbon credits as a safe green investment that can't be resold; a second form involves a developer accused of inflating its credits.
fake carbon credit investment · carbon offset scam · VER investment fraud
Romance & relationship
A relationship built to be spent. Trust first, money second.
Romance scams
A relationship built to be spent, where the first request for money is small, urgent, and framed as a crisis.
confidence fraud · romance fraud · dating scam
Wrong number texts
A text that wants nothing, from someone who has all the time in the world.
misdirected text · hi how are you scam · smishing opener
Impersonation
Someone you are trained to obey: the tax office, the police, your bank, your child.
Grandparent and family emergency scams
A frightened voice claiming to be your grandchild, an arrest, and a courier on the way for the bail money.
grandparent scam · family in need of bail · emergency scam
Bank impersonation and the safe account
A call from your bank's real number, telling you your money is at risk and must be moved somewhere safe.
safe account scam · bank investigator scam · courier fraud
Government impersonation
A call from someone you are trained to obey, about a problem only immediate payment can fix.
IRS scam · CRA scam · HMRC scam
Deepfake voice and video scams
A familiar voice, or a face on a video call, that belongs to nobody, and the checks people were taught no longer apply.
voice cloning · AI voice scam · synthetic media fraud
"Hi Mum" and family impersonation texts
A message from your child's new number, explaining in advance why it does not sound like them.
hi mum scam · hi dad scam · friend in need scam
Digital arrest
A police officer on a video call who will not let you hang up, in a police station that was built for the camera.
digital house arrest · virtual arrest · parcel scam
Ore-ore sagi and Japan's special fraud
"It's me", a scheme named for a grandson's voice that now mostly uses a police officer's.
オレオレ詐欺 · it's me fraud · tokushu sagi
Medicare and health insurance scams
A call that asks for nothing but a number, which is then billed for years.
Medicare impersonation · health insurance scam · durable medical equipment fraud
Student loan forgiveness scams
It sells you a free government programme, while claiming to be the government.
student debt relief scam · loan consolidation scam · Biden loan forgiveness scam
Utility shut-off scams
A regulated process, compressed into thirty minutes that do not exist.
utility imposter · disconnection scam · power shut-off call
Immigration and visa scams
The fee is the smallest thing that gets taken.
notario fraud · notario público · immigration consultant fraud
Bitcoin ATM and crypto kiosk scams
Cash into a machine in a petrol station, gone before you have driven home.
Bitcoin ATM scam · crypto kiosk · CVC kiosk
Phantom debt collection
Nothing is offered, so there is nothing to be sceptical about.
phantom debt · fake debt collector · bogus debt
Mortgage relief and foreclosure rescue scams
The fee is paid out of the very thing it was supposed to protect.
foreclosure rescue · loan modification scam · forensic loan audit
ACA marketplace switching and enrollment fraud
A name, a birthdate and a state are enough for a stranger to switch your health coverage, and collect the commission for doing it.
Obamacare switching scam · ACA marketplace fraud · unauthorized health plan switching
Business & payments
Payment redirection aimed at the person who signs the cheques.
Business email compromise
Someone reads a real payment conversation from inside a real mailbox, then joins it with different bank details.
BEC · CEO fraud · payment redirection
Invoice and vendor fraud
A real invoice, for real work, from a real supplier, with eleven digits changed.
mandate fraud · false billing · supplier fraud
Fraudulent tax preparers
A paid preparer can inflate your refund, skim part of it, and hand you a return that isn't the one the IRS actually received.
tax preparer fraud · ghost preparer scam · fraudulent tax return preparer
Trademark solicitation scams
The government never invoices you for a trademark, but a letter with an official-sounding name and a deadline will.
fake USPTO invoice · trademark renewal scam · patent and trademark bureau scam
Business directory listing scams
A bill arrives for a directory listing nobody ordered, and a phone call that sounded like a routine 'confirmation' is the only thing behind it.
fake yellow pages invoice · unordered directory listing scam · directory listing scam
Employee Retention Credit (ERC) mill scams
A 'specialist' files a payroll tax credit claim for your business, keeps a cut of the refund, and leaves you to repay it when the IRS comes back.
ERC mill · ERC fraud · employee retention tax credit scam
Sober living home and patient brokering fraud
A sober home offers free rent to someone in recovery, then trades their Medicaid ID to a clinic for a kickback, billed for treatment that's thin or fictional.
sober home scam · patient brokering · body brokering
Merchant cash advance fraud
Cash sold as a share of tomorrow's sales, collected like a fixed-rate loan no small business actually agreed to.
MCA fraud · predatory business lending · revenue-based financing scam
Tax debt relief scams
A 'free consultation' about your IRS debt ends with an upfront fee and a promise to settle for pennies on the dollar, decided before anyone reviews your file.
tax relief scam · tax resolution scam · IRS debt relief fraud
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan fraud
A pandemic loan built to move in days trusted the applicant's own numbers, and the audit, when it came, came years later.
PPP fraud · PPP loan fraud · PPP loan mill
Staged accident insurance fraud
A crash choreographed in advance, and a courtroom that was always the real destination.
crash for cash · staged car accident scam · swoop and squat
Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) fraud
A landlord who never owned the property, collecting rent the government paid straight to them.
ERAP fraud · emergency rental assistance fraud · rental assistance fraud
Hospice fraud
A hospice signs up a patient who isn't dying, or never tells them they signed up at all, and bills Medicare's daily hospice rate either way.
fake hospice scam · sham hospice fraud · hospice Medicare fraud
SNAP benefits trafficking
A small store's SNAP terminal moves more cash than its shelves could ever sell in food, and the government pays full price either way.
food stamp fraud · SNAP trafficking · EBT trafficking
Pill mill fraud
A clinic that exists to write the prescription, not to treat the pain, priced by the drug and paid in cash either way.
pill mill · pain clinic pill mill · shots-for-pills scheme
Genetic testing fraud
Someone offers a free cheek swab or DNA test, takes your Medicare number, and a lab bills Medicare thousands of dollars for a test no doctor of yours ordered.
Medicare cheek swab scam · free genetic test scam · cancer genetic screening fraud
Medicare brace and medical equipment fraud
A call offers a free back or knee brace, a doctor who never met you signs the order, and the supplier bills Medicare for equipment you did not need.
free back brace scam · Medicare brace scam · durable medical equipment fraud
Skin substitute and wound graft fraud
Sales reps find elderly patients with wounds, a distributor pays kickbacks for orders, and costly grafts are applied and billed to Medicare.
amniotic graft fraud · wound care fraud · skin substitute Medicare fraud
FEMA disaster assistance fraud
A sworn statement nobody checks before the payment goes out, to an address the applicant may never have lived at.
FEMA fraud · disaster assistance fraud · FEMA individual assistance fraud
Social Security disability fraud mill
A disability lawyer paid a federal judge, in cash, to approve claims a psychologist had signed off on without ever examining the patient.
SSDI fraud mill · disability judge bribery scheme · Social Security ALJ bribery scheme
Home health aide fraud
A recruiter signs up a Medicare or Medicaid patient, a doctor certifies them 'homebound' without an exam, and an aide's visit notes get written either way.
home health care fraud · home health aide fraud · homebound certification fraud
Workers' comp kickback fraud
The doctor who sends an injured worker for a scan or a spinal fusion got paid to send them there, and the workers' comp insurer pays the bill either way.
workers' compensation fraud · spinal surgery kickback scheme · Operation Spinal Cap
Nursing diploma mill fraud
A diploma and a transcript for sale, backdated to show training that never happened, with the licensing exam still standing in the way.
fake nursing diploma scheme · nursing diploma mill · Operation Nightingale
COVID-19 test billing fraud
A 'free' COVID-19 test asks for a Medicare or insurance number, then a lab bills thousands for other tests nobody ordered and sometimes never ran.
free COVID test scam · COVID-19 Medicare testing fraud · respiratory panel bundling fraud
Medicaid transportation fraud
A transport company bills Medicaid for rides to medical appointments that never happened, or were not the rides Medicaid pays for.
NEMT fraud · non-emergency medical transportation fraud · Medicaid ride fraud
Identity theft
Your details reused to open, empty, or take over an account.
SIM swap
Someone convinces your mobile carrier to move your number to their SIM, and every code you rely on starts arriving on their phone.
SIM swapping · SIM hijacking · port-out fraud
Phishing and smishing
A small, cheap problem and a link that fixes it, on a screen where you cannot see where the link goes.
smishing · vishing · text scam
QR code scams
A QR code is a link you cannot read, which is why a sticker over a real one works so well.
quishing · QR phishing · malicious QR code
Toll and delivery texts
A tiny amount you probably do owe someone, and a link that takes your card details instead.
toll scam text · unpaid toll scam · parcel scam
Card skimming
No call, no text, no click, a hidden device copies your card the moment you use it normally.
ATM skimming · gas pump skimming · card cloning
Home title fraud
A forged signature at a county recorder's office, and the homeowner is often the last person to find out.
deed fraud · home title theft · quitclaim deed fraud
Unemployment insurance fraud
A stranger claims benefits in your name, and the first sign you get is a tax form for money you were never paid.
UI fraud · unemployment identity theft · pandemic unemployment fraud
Synthetic identity fraud
A stolen Social Security number, given a name and a birthday that were never real, aged for years until a bank finally believes it.
Frankenstein fraud · synthetic ID fraud · credit privacy number scam
Check washing
A signed check taken from a mailbox, its ink chemically erased, and cashed under a new payee and a new amount before the original bill is ever paid.
mail theft check fraud · check alteration fraud · arrow key mail theft
Stolen identity refund fraud
Someone files a tax return in your name, with your stolen Social Security number, before you do, and collects the refund the IRS sends out.
SIRF · identity theft tax refund fraud · stolen identity tax refund fraud
Ghost student financial aid fraud
Fraudsters enroll fake or stolen identities in online college classes, collect the federal aid refunds, and leave the real people with the loans.
ghost students · straw student fraud · student aid fraud ring
Tech support & remote access
A fake problem with your computer, fixed by giving away control of it.
Fake tech support
A fake problem with your computer, solved by giving a stranger control of it, and then of your bank.
tech support scam · pop-up scam · Microsoft scam
Refund and remote access scams
A refund you never asked for, paid in too generously, and a screen you no longer control while you send the difference back.
refund scam · overpayment refund · rebate scam
Purchase & marketplace
Goods, tickets, rentals, or pets that were never there.
Overpayment and fake cheque scams
You are paid too much, asked to return the difference, and then the original payment reverses.
fake check scam · overpayment scam · cheque overpayment
Ticket and marketplace scams
Goods that were never there, and a seller whose only real skill is getting you off a payment rail that protects you.
purchase scam · online shopping scam · ticket scam
Rental and real estate scams
A deposit for a home nobody owns, or a completion payment redirected from inside the conveyancer's own email thread.
rental scam · conveyancing fraud · completion fraud
Puppy and pet scams
A dog that does not exist, and a sequence of fees that only ends when you do.
pet scam · puppy fraud · fake breeder
Subscription traps and free trials
Signing up takes one click. Everything after that is designed to take more.
negative option · free trial scam · continuity plan
Timeshare exit and resale scams
A buyer who does not exist, or an escape that was never blocked, and fees before either.
timeshare resale scam · timeshare cancellation · re-rent scam
Contractor and storm chaser scams
A knock at the door days after the storm, and every useful defence already out of reach.
storm chaser · roofing scam · disaster repair fraud
Moving company scams and hostage loads
It feels like a negotiation. It is a regulatory violation.
hostage load · rogue mover · moving broker scam
Auto warranty robocalls
The most recognisable sentence in telephone fraud, and eight billion calls anyway.
extended warranty scam · vehicle service contract · car warranty robocall
Gift card draining
Nobody is contacted, nobody is persuaded, and the loss lands on a gift.
card tampering · gift card fraud · Project Red Hook
Online vehicle purchase scams
Your caution is not overcome. It is answered, with a fake version of the protection you asked for.
car buying scam · fake escrow · vehicle shipping scam
Fake online pharmacies
The product is not undelivered and it is not worthless. It arrives, and it can contain fentanyl.
illegal online pharmacy · no-prescription pharmacy · counterfeit medicine
Home solar sales fraud
A 'free' or 'savings-guaranteed' solar offer that turns out to be a large loan, sold with false claims about incentives, savings and who is calling.
solar panel scam · predatory solar loans · free solar scam
Vacation rental scams
A deposit for a house that was never the seller's to rent, or was rented to someone else, discovered only when the trip begins.
fake vacation rental listing · holiday rental fraud · vacation home scam
Prepaid funeral scams
Money paid years before a death, for a service that, by the time it is finally needed, was never kept safe at all.
preneed funeral scam · prepaid funeral fraud · funeral home scam
Contract-for-deed scams
A seller who finances the sale, keeps the deed, and gets to sell the same house again the moment you miss a single payment.
contract for deed fraud · land contract scam · rent-to-own home scam
Counterfeit goods scams
The product photo is real and the brand is real. What ships in the box, sometimes dangerously, is neither.
counterfeit goods fraud · fake brand website scam · knockoff scam
Job & task
Work that costs money instead of paying it.
Job and task scams
Work that costs money instead of paying it, and sometimes makes you a money mule without telling you.
task scam · app rating scam · commission scam
E-commerce automation and business opportunity schemes
A real service, a plausible business, and a promise the platform itself will not allow.
Amazon automation · passive income storefront · AI e-commerce
Money mule recruitment
The job pays you first, with money stolen from someone else, and your name on the account when it gets traced.
money mule scam · reshipping scam · parcel mule
MLM pyramid schemes
A real product for sale, and a compensation plan that pays for recruiting people rather than for anyone buying it.
pyramid scheme · illegal MLM · multi-level marketing scam
Extortion
Payment demanded under threat of exposure, arrest, or harm.
Sextortion
A threat to publish intimate images unless you pay, very often when no images exist at all.
financially motivated sextortion · webcam blackmail · image-based blackmail
Virtual kidnapping scams
A call insisting a loved one has been kidnapped, kept open so you never get the chance to check, while nobody has actually been taken.
fake kidnapping scam · virtual kidnapping for ransom · phone kidnapping scam
Charity & disaster
A disaster used as a collection tin.
Other
Everything that does not fit the boxes above.
Prize, lottery and sweepstakes scams
You have won something you never entered, and there is one fee left before it can be released.
lottery scam · sweepstakes scam · prize scam
Advance fee and 419 scams
A large sum that is nearly yours, held up by one more payment that is always the last one.
419 scam · Nigerian prince · inheritance scam
Recovery scams
The second scam, aimed at the people the first one already took, and it arrives knowing exactly what you lost.
crypto recovery scam · asset recovery fraud · second-wave scam
Mass-mailing and psychic letter fraud
Nobody moderates an envelope, which is why one of these ran for twenty years.
mail fraud · psychic mailing · prize notice fraud
Credit repair scams
A federal law already made the fee illegal before the service even started, the shortest test there is for whether the promise is real.
credit repair fraud · credit repair pyramid scheme · credit sweep scam
Debt settlement scams
A federal rule already bans charging you before a single debt is settled, most of these operators charge you anyway.
debt relief scam · debt relief fraud · debt settlement fraud
Power of attorney and caregiver financial abuse
A signature that makes someone else the only person your bank will still listen to, and no stranger, no phone call, no urgency required.
power of attorney abuse · elder financial exploitation · caregiver theft
Government grant scams
You already qualify for free government money, a small fee is all that stands between you and it.
free government grant scam · grant scam · free money scam
VA claims shark scams
Federal law bars charging any fee at all for a first VA disability claim; these companies charge five to six times the benefit increase anyway.
VA claim sharks · veteran benefits claim shark · unaccredited VA claims consulting
Advance-fee loan scams
A 'guaranteed' loan that only requires one fee first, which is the one thing a real lender never asks for.
guaranteed loan scam · advance fee loan fraud · loan broker scam
Pension advance scams
A 'purchase' of your future pension checks, engineered to dodge interest-rate caps on payments federal law already forbids anyone from buying.
pension advance · veteran pension buyout · pension poaching
Tribal lending scams
A payday loan wrapped in a tribe's sovereign immunity, while the tribe keeps a sliver of the profit and someone else keeps the rest.
rent-a-tribe scam · tribal payday loan scam · sovereign lending scam
Reverse mortgage scams
A federally insured loan built for retirement security becomes the thing a contractor, loan officer or trusted fiduciary cashes out instead.
reverse mortgage fraud · HECM fraud · home equity conversion mortgage scam
Sovereign citizen debt elimination fraud
A fake bond or a borrowed legal theory claims a debt is already paid, or that the IRS owes you a refund, printed to look exactly official enough to almost work.
redemption scheme · strawman theory · 1099-OID fraud
Psychic and fortune-teller fraud
A psychic diagnoses a curse on you, a loved one, or your own money, then charges an escalating series of fees, sometimes for years, to lift it.
psychic scam · fortune teller fraud · curse removal scam
Unclaimed property scam
A free government website already has your name and your money; the fee, or the forged signature, is the only thing standing between you and it.
unclaimed funds scam · unclaimed property fraud · heir finder scam
Sweepstakes casino scams
A legal exemption built for free product giveaways, stretched to cover a slot machine whose results were decided before the reels even spun.
internet sweepstakes cafe · sweeps cash casino · social casino gambling
Crowdfunding and fake fundraiser scams
A card payment that reaches a stranger's bank account in days, with no charity, no escrow and no product-delivery guarantee ever standing in between.
GoFundMe fraud · fake fundraiser scam · crowdfunding scam
Structured settlement purchase fraud
A judge is supposed to protect you before anyone buys your settlement; this scheme fakes that approval, forges it outright, or steals the money instead.
structured settlement scam · settlement factoring fraud · annuity purchase scam
Credit card interest rate reduction scams
A robocall claims it works with Visa or Mastercard and charges hundreds of dollars upfront for a rate cut your own card issuer gives for free.
Rachel from Cardholder Services · Card Member Services scam · card services scam
Representative payee fraud
Someone appointed to manage a vulnerable person's Social Security benefits spends the money on themselves, and the beneficiary rarely knows.
Social Security representative payee theft · rep payee fraud · stealing a beneficiary's Social Security
College admissions bribery scams
A sham charity let parents write off a bribe to fix a test score or buy a fake athletic recruiting spot as a tax-deductible donation.
Operation Varsity Blues · the college admissions scandal · the side door
Professional guardianship and conservatorship fraud
The court order meant to protect someone who can no longer manage their own affairs is the same order that hands a stranger legal control of their money.
guardianship fraud · conservatorship fraud · professional guardian embezzlement
Child nutrition program fraud
A sponsor and its sites claim to serve thousands of children free meals that were never served, and collect the federal reimbursement.
fake meal sites · Feeding Our Future fraud · CACFP fraud
No scheme matches those filters.