You type "Medicare" into Google. The first result that pops up looks like the real thing. It has the right colors, the right typeface, and a banner that says something like "Official Medicare Enrollment Center." You click it, enter your Medicare number and your date of birth to "verify your eligibility," and you're booked into a free consultation with a "specialist."

You didn't reach Medicare. You reached a private lead-generation site that sold your information to a half-dozen insurance brokers within five minutes. Some of those brokers are legit. Some of them aren't. Either way, your Medicare number is now in a database it was never supposed to be in.

The Federal Trade Commission put out an alert about exactly this. They highlighted a recent settlement with MediaAlpha, a company that paid millions of dollars to place ads at the top of Google search results that looked like official Medicare or ACA marketplace pages. People searching for "Medicare" or "aca insurance" tapped the first result, thinking they'd reached the real government site.

The trick is that the top one or two results on any search are typically paid ads. There's a tiny "Sponsored" label most people don't notice. The actual government site (medicare.gov, healthcare.gov, ssa.gov) sits below the ads, in the organic results. If you click without reading carefully, you land on the impersonator.

This is the same pattern as the fake FIFA sites the FBI flagged in May, except aimed at older adults shopping for insurance instead of soccer fans shopping for tickets. The lure is different. The trick is identical: pay to be the top result, then capture the personal information of anyone in a hurry.

The rule: When you search for any government program, scroll past the ads. Real government sites end in .gov. Type medicare.gov or healthcare.gov directly into your browser, or bookmark them once and never search again.

Source: FTC: Searching for health insurance? Keep scrolling to avoid government impersonators

A few hours after a "U.S. Marshal" calls you about a missed jury duty, your phone buzzes. The text says: "Here is the warrant for your arrest. Please review and contact our office immediately to resolve before deputies are dispatched." Attached is a PDF or a JPG of an official-looking warrant with a county seal, a case number, your name, and a fine amount.

The FTC issued a new alert about this last week. Jury duty scams have been around for years, but this is the tactical evolution: the caller now follows up with a document that looks like a real court warrant.

Three signals tell you the warrant is fake every single time.

First, the document arrives by text or email. Real arrest warrants are signed by a judge and served in person by a deputy at your door, or mailed via certified mail. A court does not text you a warrant. Ever.

Second, the document demands payment. Real warrants are about appearing in court, not paying a fine. The fine, if any, gets decided AFTER you appear before a judge. Anyone asking for payment to "resolve" a warrant before you've been to court is running the scam.

Third, the payment method is untraceable. Cryptocurrency, gift cards, peer-to-peer apps like Zelle and Cash App, wire transfers via Western Union or MoneyGram. No real court accepts any of these. Real fines go through clerks of court who take check, credit card, or cash, in person.

The rule: A warrant text plus a payment demand plus a payment app equals a scam. Every time. If you're worried something might be real, hang up and call your county court using a number from the official .gov website yourself.

Source: FTC: Ignore calls, texts, and emails threatening to arrest you for missing jury duty

You're scrolling Instagram. An ad shows up for a beautiful set of patio chairs at 80 percent off. Or a name-brand cordless vacuum for $19.99. Or personalized garden flags with your last name on them. The site looks legitimate. The checkout works. Your card gets charged.

The product never arrives. Or it arrives, and it's a cheap knockoff that looks nothing like the photos. You try to email the company and the address bounces. You search the brand name and find a wave of complaints on the Better Business Bureau's Scam Tracker.

This is now the single most reported scam category on social media, per the BBB. The pattern is consistent: a paid ad on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or Pinterest links to a slick-looking storefront that's been live for two weeks. The store ships from a warehouse in another country, sends a fake tracking number that updates twice and then stops, and disappears before anyone can chargeback in volume.

The new wrinkle this June: fake "Father's Day gift" sites have been spiking ahead of June 21. The same template as the patio-chair sites, retargeted to anyone who searched for engraved tools, leather wallets, golf accessories, or whiskey gifts in the last two weeks.

A few tells before you tap "Buy." The brand name returns almost no organic results when you Google it (real companies have years of customer chatter online). The "About Us" or "Contact" page has only a form, no phone number, no street address. The price is dramatically lower than anywhere else selling the same item (real brands don't sell their own product at 80 percent off through a random Instagram ad).

The rule: Before you check out from any ad, Google the brand name plus "complaints" or "scam" in a separate tab. If you find no real history of the company, or you find a wall of complaints, close the page.

Sources: BBB Scam Alert: Think twice before buying from these social media ads and BBB Online Shopping Fraud Study

It comes from a number you don't recognize, often with a friendly first-name introduction:

"Hi, this is Sarah from Acme Recruiting. We came across your resume and have a remote opportunity that pays $1,200 weekly for part-time work as a product reviewer. No experience needed, just an internet connection. Reply YES or INTERESTED to learn more."

You didn't apply anywhere recently. The number is a regular mobile number, not a business line. The pay sounds too good. But you're curious, and the message asks only for one word, so you reply.

That's the scam clicking shut.

The FTC put out a specific warning about this last spring and the pattern has only grown. After you reply, "Sarah" walks you through a brief onboarding. She asks for your driver's license to "verify identity for the I-9." She asks for your bank account number so they can "set up direct deposit." Then she mails you a check for $3,000 to "buy your starter equipment" and asks you to deposit it and send most of it back to the equipment vendor via Zelle.

You already know how this ends. The check bounces a week later. Your bank claws back the entire deposit. You're out the money you wired AND the bank charges you fees for the bounced check.

What's new in 2026 is the engagement trick. Old fake-job scams pushed you to click a link. New ones ask for a one-word reply. That single "YES" tells the scammer your number is active and a real person is reading, which moves you to the top of their target list, even if you never engage further.

Real recruiters never reach out cold via text from a personal number. They use a corporate email, mention specific things from your actual resume, and never ask for bank account information before you've signed an offer letter.

The rule: Don't reply at all to unsolicited job texts. Not "YES," not "stop," not anything. Block the number, delete the message, and forward it to 7726 (SPAM) to flag it to your carrier.

Sources: FTC: That job offer text is probably a scam and AARP: How Fake Employment Scams Target Your Online Job Search