The financial news that actually matters
The square black-and-white code has become part of everyday life — scan it to see a menu, pay a meter, or track a package. That convenience is exactly what scammers are exploiting. A fraudulent QR code slapped over a real one, or printed on a fake notice, can send a phone straight to a counterfeit…
The pitch usually arrives sounding like protection, not a sales call. A voice on the phone or a host on late-night television warns that the economy is about to collapse, that inflation will gut a nest egg, and that the only safe move is to shift retirement savings into gold and silver. What often follows…
A check dropped in a blue collection box to pay the electric bill can end up rewritten and cashed for thousands of dollars by a stranger. Criminals steal mail to get at the paper checks inside, then chemically erase the name and amount written on them and fill in their own. The person who mailed…
A garnishment order arriving at the bank is one of the more frightening things a retiree can face, because it threatens the money that covers rent, groceries, and medicine. For most older Americans whose income is Social Security, though, federal rules build in a powerful protection: when a bank receives a garnishment order, it must…
A data breach at a Chicago nonprofit that serves people with disabilities has produced a class-action settlement, and the people whose information was exposed have a narrow window to recover their losses. Anixter Center breach victims can claim up to $5,000 for documented out-of-pocket costs traceable to the incident, but the money is only available…
The paperwork arrived like clockwork. Every week or two, investors received a “Statement Report” listing their portfolio’s value and the stock trades supposedly made on their behalf. The numbers looked healthy, and the promise attached to them was reassuring: the principal was protected from loss no matter what the market did. Federal prosecutors say every…
A tax preparer sits in a position of unusual trust. Clients hand over their income, their Social Security numbers, and their bank details, then sign whatever return is put in front of them, often without reading the fine print. Federal prosecutors say a Las Vegas preparer abused that trust to seek more than $5 million…
When a Medicare Advantage plan is discontinued, the coverage does not vanish the moment the notice arrives — and that gap between the announcement and the actual switch is where costly mistakes happen. A member who assumes the plan is already gone, and seeks care outside its network before enrolling in something new, can be…
The victims in this case were, on average, 82 years old, and they were told they had won a prize that never existed. Over nearly seven years, at least 50 elderly Americans wired money, mailed checks, and shipped cash to men who claimed a Publishers Clearing House windfall was waiting, if only the taxes and…
A convenience-store data breach that leaked names and Social Security numbers has turned into a class-action settlement that pays out cash, and the window to claim is closing fast. People whose information was exposed in a 2024 breach tied to a Circle K franchisee can collect a flat $50 with no paperwork at all, and…