ConsumerFraudReporting.org

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Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes

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Consumer Fraud Reporting is an free online service to warn consumers about specific types of financial and other scams via the internet and provide a means to report scams and fraud.

In addition to thousands of actual examples of scam letters, emails, faxes and transcripts of phone conversations to help you identify a scam, we have many pages of concise lists of contact information, links, phone numbers and guidance to help you report the scam to the proper authorities, and to try to recover your loss.

To keep up to date on the types of scams in global circulation we stay in regular contact with overseas consumer agencies. If you are interested in a breakdown on the most recent FBI reports of Internet Fraud, Scam and Crime Statistics, see this page.

Consumer Fraud Reporting is fully independent and objective; it is not a government agency or affiliated with any government; we act as an information exchange to help raise public awareness about scams and to help to bring them to the attention of the proper enforcement authorities. Unfortunately, we do not have enforcement powers over local or overseas scams; but we aim to help you to find the proper enforcement agency! We also try to present the facts in a simple, clear, and hopefully, interesting manner!

Resources

What Sort of Scams Do We Report On?

See the alphabetized list at left, and click on the topic that interests you.  Or click on the links below in the list of most popular topics.

Latest scams, cons or just plain rip-offs

 

Court, Legal and Criminal Activity:

Lotteries, Promotions and Prizes

Arrest Warrant Scams

  • Arrest Warrant Scam - Scammers create a fake Caller ID, which allows them to call you and appear to be calling from a local police, sheriff or other law enforcement agency. They say there is a warrant out for your arrest, but that you can pay a fine in order to avoid criminal charges. Of course, these scammers don't take credit cards; only a Western Union MoneyGram, other wire transfer or pre-paid debit card will do

Astrology, Psychic, Faith and Religion Scams

  • Astrology and psychic schemes sent from an overseas based psychic, clairvoyant or astrologer offering fortune telling books, reports or a talisman for a fee.

Banking Scams

Buying, Selling, Shopping and Auctions Online and Off

Checks / Cheques - Fake and Counterfeit

Computer viruses, Worms and Other Malware

Comic Relief - The Funny Side of Scams

Con Men / Con Games

  • Confidence scams - Not all scams and scammers appear in email, a letter or a phone call.  Some approach you where and when you least expect them: in church, at school, in a grocery store or gym. Fond what to watch out for here.

Counterfeit Products

Credit Reporting

Debt collection scams

Domain registry scams

  • Domain name registration scams - If you have a website and domain name, you receive what looks like a bill, telling you your domain is about to expire. DON'T pay it - see this page first!

Dubious Claims and Commercials

  • You just saw a commercial on TV, heard it on the radio or saw a website, and are wondering, is that for real or a scam?  Is that product or service. See this page of commercials and claims we are currently investigating.
    SocialSecurity211.com

Education Scams

  • Quick degree scams - "Get your degree in 30 days!" "No studying required", "Turn your experience into a degree". Sure, they're accredited and the degree is legal and meaningful. And we have some swampland to sell you, too. Click here for details.

Email Scams and Spam

Extortion Scams

Scams written in languages other than English

Fake Organization Scams

False or deceptive advertising and defective products

  • See current cases of false advertising, defective product investigations, exaggerated product claims, product scams and the court or FTC settlements.
  • Click here to search the FTC database to see if a particular company or product has been investigated for false advertising, defective products or other trade issues? Just search the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) database.

Fax Scams

  • Are junk faxes and fax scams with names like "vacation memos" and "stock tips" piled up on your company fax machine? Does you fax machine spew out junk advertising? Read about these scams here.

Grants - Fake

"Green Card Lottery"

Health Insurance and Healthcare Scams and Spams

Hoaxes, Myths and Email Chain Letters

  • Hoaxes and nuisance scams - Your water bottle won't give you cancer and Bill Gates doesn't want to send anyone to Disney World, least of all, just because you send an email to 20 friends...
  • Fake business deals: "I need a business partner in the U.S."... and more.

House, Home and Apartment Scams

  • Home repair scams - Just because they advertise in the yellow pages, drive a business van, or look like a technician, doesn't mean they aren't out to scam you!
  • Mortgage scams

Identity Theft and Credit Reports

  • Some of the most common identity theft and credit report scams are listed below. You can protect yourself from identity theft, but do your homework. Many companies have resources available online to help you know your best options.
  • Identity Theft - we have loads of free facts sheets, guides, resources, contact lists, who to report the crimes to and how to repair the damage here.
  • Check your credit report, for free! Yes, you really can.  The US Government mandated it.  But watch out for the scams.  Find out how, here. And does FreeCreditReports.com give you a free no obligation credit report ?  No, they don't! Read about that here!
  • Freeze your credit! Did you also know that in many states you can freeze to credit information  Even if your state is one of the few that doesn't allow a freeze, you can still freeze your files at the three major credit bureaus.  See this page for more information about both freezes.
  • Credit card account information thefts - if you have a credit card from a bank or department store, you may want to periodically check this page, to see if your account information has been stolen!
  • Phishing - fake emails and fake websites pretending to be your bank, credit card company or other agency, and asking for your private account information. Often they claim to be from PayPal, Barclay's Bank, Citibank, Chase Manhattan bank, or other well-known names.
  • Pharming - the latest scam, is that website the one you think it is... or a fake?

Insurance scams

Investing, Currency, Precious metals, Retirement, Loans, Debt Collection and Other Financial Scams

Job, Employment and Recruiting Scams

Loan and Mortgage scams

Lottery and prize scams

Mail / Postal Scams

Malware

Medical Scams

  • Medical frauds and hoaxes - Don't be fooled by quacks, fake medicines, magnetic shoe inserts, and electronic abdominal exercisers.  Find out the truth here!

Miscellaneous Scams: Food, Travel, Etc

  • Food frauds - Believe it or not, there are actually fake foods - usually worthless supplements and pills and foods making false health claims.
  • Travel scams - Have you "won" a "free vacation"?  But it turns out to be a sales pitch for time sharing condominiums!

 

Money Making, Income, Get-Rich and "Passive Residual Income" Scams