The Safe Signal, Los Angeles, CA (2026)

08/12/2026

“PAST DUE” doesn’t prove you owe it.

The FTC warns that businesses are getting fake invoices for products or services they never ordered.

Some look legitimate. Some even arrive marked “PAST DUE.”

That wording can make the invoice feel like an obligation that already needs attention.

But an invoice proves someone is asking for payment. It doesn’t prove your business actually placed the order.

Before anyone pays an unfamiliar bill:

Check what was supposedly ordered.

Confirm the purchase through your own records and approval process.

Make sure the vendor is one your business actually works with.

If the company is unfamiliar, investigate it independently before paying.

The FTC recommends clear procedures for approving both purchases and invoices — especially for the people handling company finances.

The safest question may come before “How do we pay this?”

“Did we order this at all?”

Save this for whoever handles invoices in your business.

Source: Federal Trade Commission, May 14, 2026
U.S. consumer education

08/12/2026

No link to click doesn’t make that job text safe.

The FTC says fake recruiters are sending unexpected job offers that may look professional and claim to represent legitimate companies.

Some mention a remote position and attractive daily or weekly pay — while saying very little about the actual job.

And there may be no suspicious link at all.

Instead, the message simply asks you to reply “YES” or “INTERESTED.”

That small reply is the opening.

The FTC says the goal is to get you engaged. Once they have your attention, the story can shift: you may be sent a fake check and asked to send money back, or offered simple online tasks before being told to deposit your own money.

The safe move:

Ignore generic, unexpected job texts.

Never pay money to get paid or to get a job.

And don’t assume a professional-looking message proves the recruiter is real.

No link doesn’t mean no scam.

Send this to someone currently looking for remote work.

Source: Federal Trade Commission, April 30, 2026
U.S. consumer education

08/12/2026

A CAPTCHA should test you — not ask you to change your computer.

The FTC says scammers are using fake “verify you’re human” screens that look like familiar CAPTCHA checks.

A real CAPTCHA might ask you to identify images or type what you see.

The fake version crosses an important line: it tells you to run commands on your device.

That isn’t verification.

The FTC warns those instructions can cause hidden malware to run — potentially putting account logins, banking credentials, and other information at risk.

The signal is simple:

If a CAPTCHA asks you to run commands on your device, stop.

Don’t follow the instructions. Leave the page.

If something downloaded or ran after a CAPTCHA, disconnect the device from the internet, run a security scan, and change your passwords from a different device. Enable two-factor authentication, too.

A familiar-looking security check isn’t proof that the instruction is safe.

Save this rule for the next time “verify you’re human” asks for more than a normal CAPTCHA should.

Source: Federal Trade Commission, June 8, 2026
U.S. consumer education

08/12/2026

The letter looks official. That’s not the same as being verified.

The FTC says people are again reporting letters that appear to come from law firms about millions of dollars in “unclaimed” life-insurance money.

The story may sound unusually specific: someone with your last name supposedly died, no heir was found, and now you’re being offered a share of the policy.

But the letter is part of the claim. It doesn’t independently prove the lawyer, inheritance, or policy is real.

The FTC says these letters are scams. If you respond, the sender may try to get your money, Social Security number, bank-account information, or other personal and financial information.

The safe move is simple:

Don’t respond.
Don’t send money or personal information.
Report the letter to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

A professional-looking letter can make a story feel official. Verify the story independently before you trust it.

Send this to someone who still gets important documents by mail.

Source: Federal Trade Commission, July 9, 2026
U.S. consumer education

08/11/2026

The damage isn't instant.

Someone still has to use what they got — and the first hour is yours to shut that window.

So if you clicked a bad link or typed your details into the wrong page, don't freeze. Freezing is what usually does the harm. Work through this in order:

Change that password first — then anywhere you reused it.
Turn on two-factor authentication on that account.
Call your bank or card issuer using the number on your card. Tell them what happened; ask them to watch for unauthorised activity.
Then report it, and keep an eye on your statements for the next few weeks.

One note: if you read out a one-time code or approved a login prompt, move faster on steps 1 and 3 — that's the case where minutes matter most.

You clicked because scams are built to rush anyone. The calm order above is how you take the time back.

Save this — it's easier to follow when it's already in front of you.

08/11/2026

A real bank freezes the fraud itself. It never asks you to move your money.

That's the line that gives it away.

The call sounds like it's protecting you. Your account's been hacked, they say. Move your money to a "safe account" before it's gone.

But moving it is the theft. Once it lands in their account, it's gone — and the "help" was the trap.

Caller ID showing your bank's name isn't proof. A number can be faked in seconds.

So when a call rushes you to move money, do one thing:

Hang up. Call the number on the back of your card yourself.

Your real bank can see your account either way. It will never need you to transfer anything to keep it safe.

Save this for the day a call says your money's in danger.

08/10/2026

A real arrest warrant never arrives by text. If it did, it's fake.

Here's the scam going around.

A caller says you missed jury duty. They may already know your name and address.

Then comes the threat: pay a fine right now, or there's a warrant for your arrest.

Sometimes a text or email even follows — an official-looking "warrant" with an amount owed.

It can feel real, especially if you actually got a jury summons months ago. That small kernel of truth is the hook.

But here's what actually happens.

Courts don't call to collect fines. No government agency does.

Real officers won't text or email you a warrant — and won't threaten to arrest you if you hang up.

If you ever miss jury duty, the court sends a notice by mail. Not a phone call. Not a demand for payment.

So don't pay. Don't press a number. Don't reply to the "warrant."

Just hang up.

If you want to be sure, look up your local Clerk of Court yourself — on a .gov site — and call them directly to check.

Then report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and IC3.gov.

Know someone who'd panic at a call like this? This is worth passing along before it reaches them.

08/10/2026

Whether you can get the money back depends less on luck and more on how you paid — and how fast you move.

If you just realized you paid a scammer, the next hour matters.

Scams are built to rush you, so this isn't about blame. It's about what to do next.

No matter how you paid, the first step is the same.

Call the company you used to send the money. Tell them it was fraud. Ask them to reverse it.

That means your bank or card issuer, the gift card company, the wire service, or the payment app.

The sooner you call, the better the odds.

Card or bank transfer? Ask them to dispute or reverse the charge.

Gift card? Contact the company that issued it, and keep the card and the receipt.

Wire or cryptocurrency are the hardest to recover — but it's still worth calling right away to ask.

Then close the other doors.

If you shared your Social Security number, go to IdentityTheft.gov for your next steps.

If you shared a password, change it — and change it anywhere else you used the same one.

Then report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Your report helps investigators spot the pattern.

An honest note: sometimes the money is already gone. But asking fast is how some of it gets stopped.

Save this. It's easier to act when the steps are already in front of you.

08/10/2026

The $12 is the bait. Your card number is the target.

A text says you owe a small unpaid toll — pay now, or a late fee hits.

The amount is small for a reason. It's low enough that you might just pay instead of stopping to check.

But paying was never the goal.

The link is.

It opens a lookalike page built to capture your card number — and sometimes even your Social Security number.

Here's the tell.

Real toll agencies don't text you a link to pay. Toll notices come by mail.

So don't tap the link. Don't reply.

If you're not sure whether you owe a toll, look up your toll agency yourself — using a number or website you already know is real, never the one in the text.

Then report it.

Forward the text to 7726 (SPAM), report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and delete it.

One unexpected text, one small number, one link — that's the whole trick.

Have you gotten one of these? Did it name a state you've never even driven in?

08/10/2026

A late-night call. Your grandchild's voice, panicked.

"I'm in trouble — please don't tell Mom or Dad."

That last part is the tell.

A real emergency doesn't need to be kept a secret. The secrecy is there to stop you from checking.

Here's why this call is so hard to catch.

The two things you trust first — the voice and the number — are now the two a scammer can fake.

A voice can be cloned from a short clip of audio taken from something posted online.

Caller ID can be spoofed to show a number you already know.

Often a "lawyer" or an "officer" takes the phone next, adding a deadline and pressure to pay.

The ask is always the same: a wire transfer, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or a payment app — right now.

So don't verify the voice. Verify the story.

Hang up.

Call your family member back on a number you already have — not the one that just called.

Can't reach them? Check with another relative before you do anything.

Then do one thing today, before any call comes.

Agree on a family safe word. One word only your real family knows.

A cloned voice can't say what it was never taught.

Send this to someone whose parents or grandparents should hear it first.

The Safe Signal

08/12/2026

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