Scams

You didn’t get hacked. You didn’t have your card stolen. You sent the money yourself, because someone convinced you to. Now the bank says the charge was authorized, so there’s nothing they can do. Unfortunately, this is one of the hardest types of fraud to reverse, but “hard” doesn’t mean “impossible”.

Sadly, there are lots of people out there looking to take advantage of a crisis. So we broke down the worst COVID-19 scams to watch out for .

You apply for a remote job and you’re hired almost immediately. It feels like a win—until they ask for your banking information to “set up payroll”. That’s when the excitement shifts into suspicion. Is this normal onboarding, or are you about to hand your financial information to a scammer?

You finally find a place that looks perfect, the landlord responds quickly, but then the pressure starts: “Other applicants are interested. If you want it, you need to pay a deposit to hold the unit.” This is exactly how rental scams work. The good news is you can protect yourself without losing every decent listing, as long as you know what to look for and how to slow the situation down.

Scammers aren’t using shady emails, fake Nigerian princes, or broken English anymore. In 2026, their messages are sleek, personalized, and powered by AI that sounds frighteningly human. Losses have already climbed into the billions—and with new tricks emerging every month, the next wave of scams is more advanced, more believable, and harder to spot than ever.

Jeff Turner was a skilled graphic designer and printer who produced fake US money sophisticated enough to fool members of the Secret Service.