A free public service

Attribution: Federal Trade Comission FTC.gov

May 27, 2026

SCAMS BULLETIN Host Jay White is an inactive attorney in San Mateo County, California, USA.

Have you seen ads promising that a training or coaching program will help you build a thriving business or make significant money investing in markets like crypto, forex, or precious metals? Offers like these might sound exciting, but could be coaching scams in disguise. Do you know how to spot them?

Scammers promote training programs that claim to teach you how to succeed by investing in ecommerce businesses, financial markets, or real estate. They make it sound easy to make money and say, for a fee, they can show you how. But if they promise guaranteed income, large returns for little work, or say they have a “proven system to make money,” it’s likely a scam.

If you or someone you know is trying to start their own business and considering a coaching program, here are some things to keep in mind.

• Be wary of promises that you’ll make quick money. No one can guarantee you’ll make lots of money with little to no risk. Anyone who does is a scammer.
• Take your time and talk to someone you trust. Scammers will pressure you to get involved now or “risk losing out.” Ask questions and get a second opinion about the business offer or coaching program from someone who has your best interests in mind.
• Do some research. Check with your state attorney general for complaints. If you don’t find any complaints it doesn’t guarantee that a company is honest, but complaints might tip you off to possible problems.
• Read success stories and testimonials with skepticism. Glowing stories of success could be fake or misleading, and positive online reviews may have come from made-up profiles.

Have you spotted a business you think is a coaching scam? Tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.Have you seen ads promising that a training or coaching program will help you build a thriving business or make significant money investing in markets like crypto, forex, or precious metals? Offers like these might sound exciting, but could be coaching scams in disguise. Do you know how to spot them?

Scammers promote training programs that claim to teach you how to succeed by investing in ecommerce businesses, financial markets, or real estate. They make it sound easy to make money and say, for a fee, they can show you how. But if they promise guaranteed income, large returns for little work, or say they have a “proven system to make money,” it’s likely a scam.

If you or someone you know is trying to start their own business and considering a coaching program, here are some things to keep in mind.

Have you spotted a business you think is a coaching scam? Tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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May 16, 2026

Attribution: FTC.gov

A free public service

SCAMS BULLETIN Host Jay White is an inactive attorney in San Mateo, California. USA.

• Scammers contact you unexpectedly about a fraudulent charge. The call or text appears to come from your bank or a company you know. They say they’ve detected charges from Iran on your account (a lie). They transfer you to someone who says they work for a government agency like the FTC (that’s another scammer) who convinces you to share your bank account information. But the truth is government agencies will never ask you to share financial information. Learn more at ftc.gov/imposters.
• Scammers pretending to be a friend or love interest in the military ask for money. Perhaps you’ve been chatting for a while with someone you met online. Now they tell you they’re deployed to Iran. Suddenly you get an urgent request to send them money — maybe because they can’t access their bank account or they have a medical emergency. But that’s when you know you’re likely dealing with a romance scam.
• Scammers create fake charities that sound and look official. They might claim to help people displaced or affected by the conflict in Iran and pressure you to donate in cash, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfers. Before you donate, go to ftc.gov/charity to learn how to research, what questions to ask, and how to spot a charity scam.

Act right away if you think you’ve sent money or given your information to a scammer, and report them at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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A Free Public Service

Attribution: US FTC.gov

May 10, 2026

SCAMS BULLETIN Host Jay White is an inactive attorney in San Mateo County, California, USA.

There’s a new text scam the FTC is hearing about. It involves fake recruiters offering fake jobs, stealing real money. Here’s how these scams work — and how to avoid them. 

The (fake) recruiters claim to be with legit companies you might know and say they’re hiring for jobs you can do from home like “online assessor” or just simply a “remote position.” They’ll often mention pay (sometimes daily or weekly rates) without any details on the actual job.

And in a new twist, instead of asking you to click a link, they’ll ask you to reply with “YES” or “INTERESTED.” Don’t do this, no matter how “professional” the graphics or message looks and sounds. They want you to engage so they can scam you.

Once they have your attention, they’ll come up with reasons you’ll need to send money. They might say they have a check you need to deposit — and then ask you to send them money back. (Don’t do this — it’s a fake check scam.) Or they might send you online tasks (like giving positive ratings or reviews) to earn money, but eventually they’ll ask you to deposit your own money. (Don’t do this either — it’s a task scam.)

To avoid job scams and fake recruiter scams:

• Ignore generic and unexpected texts, WhatsApp, or Telegram messages about jobs. Real employers will never contact you that way.
• Never pay to get paid or get a job. That’s a sure sign of a scam.
• Don’t trust anyone who says they’ll pay you to give a positive rating or like things online. No honest company will do that.

Learn more about spotting and avoiding scams at ftc.gov/scams. And report scams you see to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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