The world&#x27;s scam warning library

Gambling & Betting Scams

Rigged casinos, fake sportsbooks, tipster cons and betting-recovery scams that take stakes and winnings.

Bereavement & Inheritance Scams

Fake inheritances, funeral-cost cons, obituary phishing and estate-fee scams that exploit grief and loss.

Benefits & Welfare Scams

Fake benefit applications, grant approvals, rebate texts and reactivation cons that harvest data and fees.

Faith & Religious Scams

Prosperity-gospel investments, fake tithing portals, pilgrimage cons and clergy-impersonation scams.

Ticket & Event Scams

Fake concert, festival and sports tickets, duplicate barcodes and resale cons that leave you locked out.

Adult & Creator-Platform Scams

Creator-economy and adult-platform cons: fake subscriptions, payout-verification fees and management scams.

Finance Scams

Investment, crypto, loan, pension and recovery scams designed to take your money and then take it again.

Online Shopping Scams

Fake stores, fake delivery texts, counterfeit goods and non-delivery scams that take payment and vanish.

Romance & Relationship Scams

Emotional manipulation used to extract money, often blended with crypto investment grooming.

Job & Income Scams

Fake recruiters, task scams, work-from-home traps and pay-to-get-paid schemes targeting job seekers.

Travel Scams

Fake booking sites, hotel phishing, fake visa services and rental scams aimed at travellers.

Government Impersonation Scams

Fake tax, police, immigration and court demands using fear and urgency to force payment.

Tech Scams

Fake support calls, phishing, malware popups, QR-code and remote-access scams.

AI-Era Scams

Deepfake voices, cloned websites, AI trading bots and synthetic endorsements raising the stakes.

Business Scams

Invoice redirection, CEO fraud, business email compromise and fake suppliers targeting organisations.

Health & Medical Scams

Fake pharmacies, miracle cures, bogus health insurance and medical identity theft that risk your money and health.

Housing & Rental Scams

Fake rental listings, deposit theft, foreclosure-relief fraud, moving-company scams and real-estate wire fraud.

Crypto & Web3 Scams

Rug pulls, wallet drainers, fake airdrops, seed-phrase phishing and bogus staking that exploit irreversible crypto.

Lottery & Prize Scams

Fake lottery wins, prize notifications and sweepstakes that demand an upfront fee for a prize that doesn't exist.

Charity & Disaster Scams

Fake charities, disaster-relief appeals and bogus crowdfunding that exploit generosity, especially after tragedies.

Utility & Energy Scams

Fake shut-off threats, bogus energy brokers, solar and rebate scams that impersonate your utility company.

Auto & Vehicle Scams

Fake vehicle listings, escrow and shipping fraud, VIN cloning, title washing and bogus extended warranties.

Telecom & Account Scams

SIM swapping, number porting, account takeover and hacked-friend scams that hijack your phone and logins.

Insurance Scams

Fake health, auto, life and travel insurance, ghost brokers, and bogus claims-settlement schemes.

Education & Student Scams

Student-loan-forgiveness, scholarship, diploma-mill, tuition-payment and study-abroad scams.

Gaming Scams

Free-currency generators, account takeovers, fake marketplaces and item-trading scams targeting players.

Identity Theft & Data Scams

Synthetic identity, account-opening fraud, credential theft and data-breach exploitation that hijack who you are.

Mail & Courier Fraud

Courier 'card collection' fraud, mail theft, check washing and parcel-redelivery scams that exploit post and deliveries.

Legal & Immigration Scams

Fake visa, green-card and legal services, deportation-threat extortion and bogus settlement or lawsuit claims.

Subscription & Billing Scams

Negative-option billing, free-trial traps, cramming and hard-to-cancel subscriptions that drain accounts quietly.

Pet & Animal Scams

Puppy-deposit and fake-breeder scams, escalating pet-shipping fees, and bogus adoption or lost-pet schemes.

MLM, Pyramid & Hustle Scams

Recruitment-only pyramid schemes, product-based MLM traps, gifting circles and 'passive income' hustle schemes.

Social Media & Account Takeover

Verification-badge phishing, hacked-friend impersonation, account-recovery cons and content-monetization traps.

Home Services & Contractor Scams

Door-to-door and contractor cons — driveway paving, storm-chaser roofing, fake locksmiths, and disappearing-deposit handymen.

Extortion & Blackmail Scams

Sextortion-spam emails, intimate-image blackmail, ransom-DDoS and doxxing threats that demand payment for silence.

Imposter & Emergency Scams

Grandparent and family-emergency cons, fake-boss gift-card requests, and 'your relative is in trouble' calls that manufacture panic.

Street & In-Person Scams

Classic confidence tricks and street cons run face to face — three-card monte, the pigeon drop, change-raising, distraction theft, and tourist-targeted scams.

Scam Alerts37 Glossary868 Scams by Platform25 Scams by Payment23 Scams by Target12 Scam Message Library Flagged Firms (regulator warnings)11,164 Open Data & API4 Brand Impersonation73 Focused Guides4,021 Scam Statistics52 Threat Snapshot4 Community Reports Data Breaches1,045 Comparisons148 Questions & Answers1,609

Payment Card & ATM Fraud

Physical and digital theft of card data — ATM and gas-pump skimmers, chip shimmers, card cloning, and web-skimming (Magecart) checkout attacks.

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Investment Scams

Fake or manipulated investment opportunities that promise high, guaranteed returns and pressure you to deposit quickly.

Crypto Scams

Fraud built around cryptocurrency — fake exchanges, wallet-draining links, giveaway scams and bogus trading platforms.

Forex Scams

Fake foreign-exchange trading schemes and 'account managers' that promise steady FX profits and block withdrawals.

Fake Trading Platforms

Slick websites and apps that simulate trading and show fake profits to keep you depositing.

Pig-Butchering Scams

Long-con investment fraud that blends romance or friendship with a fake crypto trading platform.

Loan Scams

Fake lenders that demand upfront 'fees', insurance or deposits before releasing a loan that never arrives.

Scams in the news

Kim Hyang Gi And Ahn Dong Gu Hold On To Love And Dreams Despite Life’s Harsh Realities In “While You’re Here”
Kim Hyang Gi And Ahn Dong Gu Hold On To Love And Dreams Despite Life’s Harsh Realities In “While You’re Here” The upcoming film “While You’re Here” has unveiled new character stills! “While You’re Here” is a youthful survival romance about Hwa Ran (Kim Hyang Gi) and Yi Wan (Ahn Dong Gu), a couple in their 20s who have nothing but their love for each other and their dreams. Hwa Ran, an aspiring webtoon artist, and Yi Wan, an aspiring rapper, hope to build a future together, but after losing thei…
soompi.com · Oct 16, 2026
Former California private equity CEO sentenced in Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of $63 million
The 57-year-old former CEO of a private equity firm in Laguna Niguel was sentenced Thursday, Oct. 15, to nearly three years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to defrauding hundreds of clients of more than $63 million. Marco Giovanni Santarelli, who founded and served as CEO of Norada Capital Management, also was ordered to pay more than $63 million in restitution after he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in October 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Santarelli r…
ocregister.com · Oct 16, 2026
Exclusive-US holds more secret talks with Myanmar’s military-backed rulers in Tokyo, sources say
By Simon Lewis, Poppy McPherson and John Geddie WASHINGTON/TOKYO, Oct 16 (Reuters) – The US and Myanmar’s military-backed government held talks in Tokyo last week, people familiar with the matter said, their second meeting in a month as Washington steps up re-engagement with the generals it shunned after their 2021 coup. Earlier talks in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw in mid-September focused on securing the release of an American businessman and shutting down scam centers that target Americans, b…
wkzo.com · Oct 16, 2026
Real-time Chatbot Romance Scam Detection in Stage Classification
Computer Science > Computation and Language [Submitted on 30 Sep 2026] Title:Real-time Chatbot Romance Scam Detection in Stage ClassificationView PDF Abstract:Romance scam has become a serious problem via social media, and the improvement of artificial intelligence enable to fake identify easily. In the study, a chatbot has developed to detect romance scam in real-time through Line Messaging API. Using the seven stage theories in the social science field, the stages of romance scam can be detec…
arxiv.org · Oct 16, 2026
SF retiree loses $500,000 in pig butcher scam, then falls for the same scam again - AOL
SF retiree loses $500,000 in pig butcher scam, then falls for the same scam again 7 On Your Side previously reported about a San Francisco retiree who lost his life savings to a cruel scam known as "pig butchering." The man, a retired city gardener, thought he was starting a new life with a new love. Instead, he lost $500,000. Now we've learned he immediately fell for the same scam again. This time, 7 On Your Side stepped in to stop it. No sooner had he lost everything in the first scam, this r…
aol.com · Oct 16, 2026
777 exec Wander, who led Everton bid, guilty of fraud; to repay $500M
NEW YORK -- An American businessman whose firm invested in several European soccer clubs that struggled under its ownership pleaded guilty to fraud charges Thursday in New York and agreed to pay back $500 million in losses caused by the scheme. Josh Wander, 45, a co-founder of Miami-based 777 Partners, an investment firm, entered the plea in Manhattan federal court to wire fraud and securities fraud charges. During the plea, Wander admitted to borrowing money in 2021 and 2022 based on numbers t…
espn.in · Oct 16, 2026

Headlines from their original publishers via the Currents news API — each link opens the source article.

Scam risk signals

Is this a scam? Check the signals

Crypto or gift-card payment, urgency, secrecy, "safe account" transfers, deposits before withdrawal, and remote-access requests are all major warning signs.

A real bank, police officer, court, tax agency, or government department should not pressure you to move money into a “safe account.” Treat this as a critical warning sign and contact your bank using the official number on your card or banking app.

Country reporting guides

Southeast Asia

Thailand

Common scams affecting tourists and residents in Thailand, plus how and where to report them.

Europe

United Kingdom

The most common scams in the UK and how to report them via Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud), your bank, and 159.

North America

United States

Top scams in the United States and how to report to the FTC, FBI IC3, and your bank.

Oceania

Australia

Common scams in Australia and how to report them to Scamwatch, ReportCyber, and your bank.

Protect your parents, children, and business

Conversation scripts, checklists, and warning signs to help families intervene early — without shaming the victim.

Family Safety Hub

Scam scripts people are receiving

SMS / text

Fake DHL / Delivery Text Message Scam Examples

This scam text impersonates a courier like DHL, claiming a parcel is stuck because of an unpaid customs charge, redelivery fee, or incomplete address, and includes a link to "resolve" it. The scammer isn't trying to deliver anything — they're after your card number, expiry, CVV, and billing address on a lookalike payment page, plus enough personal detail to commit further fraud. The lever is the small, plausible amount: a tiny fee feels easier to pay than to question. The single most important step is not tapping the link — check tracking directly through the courier's real app or website instead.

Email / chat

Fake Booking / Hotel Message Scam Examples

This message impersonates a hotel or booking platform, warning that a card payment failed or needs "re-verification," sometimes quoting a real reservation date or reference number to look convincing. The scammer wants your full card number, expiry, and CVV, plus any one-time banking code sent to confirm the "update," which lets them make unauthorized charges or drain funds. It works by mixing genuine-looking booking details with manufactured urgency about losing your reservation. The most important step is to never enter payment details through a link in the message — log into the booking platform directly through its official app or site instead.

Phone call

Fake Police Call Scam Script

In this script, a caller claims to be a police officer, telling you that your identity, bank accounts, or a family member's safety is at risk, and that you must move your savings to a "safe" government-held account or hand cash to a courier for "evidence protection." Real police never ask you to transfer money or hand over cash to verify your identity. The scammer relies on the authority of a badge and manufactured urgency to short-circuit your caution, often keeping you on the phone so you can't call anyone to check. The most important step is to hang up and call your local police department directly using a number you look up yourself.

Fake Crypto Investment WhatsApp Script

This script starts with a friendly stranger or "mentor" on WhatsApp who shares screenshots of trading profits and offers to teach you their strategy, gradually building trust before introducing a trading platform they control. The scammer's real goal is to get you depositing real money into a fake dashboard that shows invented gains, then to demand escalating "tax," "fee," or "unlocking" payments before you're ever allowed to withdraw. The lever is manufactured trust and greed built slowly over days or weeks, so the eventual money requests feel like a natural next step. The most important step is to never deposit funds into a platform introduced by someone you only know online.

Recovery playbooks