Fraud Prevention

A Third of Americans Have Been Scammed Shopping Online: Here’s How to Avoid It New data from the Pew Research Center, published in late 2025, found that roughly one in three U.S. adults say they have experienced an online shopping scam. That figure is not just a headline: it reflects a problem that touches millions of households, and one that continues to evolve as scammers adapt to new platforms and payment methods. ...

Rising Costs Are Fueling More Scams: What to Watch For What happened A recent survey reported by Fox 59 suggests that rising living costs are increasing consumers’ vulnerability to financial scams. While the precise methodology of the survey isn’t fully clear from the reporting, the pattern it highlights is one that security researchers and consumer protection agencies have observed for years: when household budgets tighten, scam risk tends to rise. ...

1 in 3 Americans Has Fallen for an Online Shopping Scam: How to Protect Yourself According to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey, about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That’s 34 percent of U.S. adults who have lost money or personal information through a fraudulent transaction online. If you shop on the internet — and most of us do — the odds are good that you’ve come close to a scam, even if you didn’t fall for it. ...

Rising Costs Are Fueling Scams: How to Protect Yourself Now If you’ve been feeling the pinch of higher prices on everything from groceries to rent, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, scammers are aware of that stress, and a new survey suggests they are exploiting it in increasingly targeted ways. A survey released on June 15, 2026, by an unnamed research organization (reported by Fox 59) found a clear link between rising living costs and an uptick in scam attempts. While the exact methodology and sample size of the survey haven’t been fully disclosed, the pattern it describes aligns with what consumer protection agencies have been warning about for months: when money is tight, people are more likely to let their guard down. ...

Online Shopping Scams Hit 1 in 3 Americans: How to Shop Safely This Season If you’ve ever clicked a “too good to be true” deal and ended up with nothing but an empty bank account, you’re not alone. A new survey from Pew Research Center, fielded in November 2025, found that about one-third of U.S. adults say they have personally experienced an online shopping scam. The numbers are a reminder that, even for careful shoppers, fraudulent sites and offers are increasingly common. ...

How to Spot and Avoid Online Shopping Scams: Tips for Safer Buying Online shopping is convenient, but it also attracts scammers. Fake websites, phishing emails, and deceptive ads are becoming more common, especially during peak shopping seasons. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently published an alert reminding consumers to stay cautious when shopping online. Below are practical steps to help you identify scams and protect your money. ...

Online Shopping Scams Hit 1 in 3 Americans: How to Protect Yourself If you shop online, you’ve probably run into a deal that seemed too good to be true. Often, it was. A new report from the Pew Research Center finds that roughly one in three Americans (33%) say they’ve personally experienced an online shopping scam. That figure comes from a survey conducted in early 2025, and it underscores just how common fraud has become in the everyday world of clicks and carts. ...

How to Spot Online Shopping Scams and Protect Yourself Online shopping has made it easier than ever to buy almost anything from a phone or laptop. But the same convenience that lets you order a gift in seconds also gives scammers a direct line to your wallet. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), Americans lost more than $10 billion to internet crime in 2022, and shopping scams remain one of the most frequently reported categories. ...

1 in 3 Americans have been scammed while shopping online. Here’s how to spot the traps. According to recent data from the Pew Research Center, about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That figure comes from a survey conducted in late 2025, and it underscores a problem that has only grown worse as more of our daily purchases move to screens. The good news is that most of these scams follow predictable patterns. Once you know what to look for, you can spot them before you lose money. ...

How to Spot Online Shopping Scams: Tips from the VA Online shopping has become a routine part of life, but scammers are getting better at mimicking legitimate stores, payment portals, and customer service. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs regularly issues alerts about these threats, especially for veterans and military families who may be targeted with fake VA-related offers. But the advice applies to anyone buying online. ...