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All stories in Safety · Scam Alert — newest first.
- Safety · Scam Alert
Fake Facebook profile: can you find out who is behind it?
A Facebook link can help preserve a trail, but it does not establish who controls an account. If you have sent money, contact the payment provider right away rather than waiting to identify someone.
- Safety · Scam Alert
Promised a No-Down-Payment Home Loan? Check Before You Pay an Upfront Fee
On October 1, 2026, California’s Department of Real Estate warned consumers about real-estate loan offers that demand money upfront. If someone guarantees approval or promises a refund, verify the person and the fee before sending money.
- Safety · Scam Alert
A caller sounds human—but could be AI. How should you verify the call?
The FCC treats AI-generated voices as artificial voices under its calling rules, but that is not a ban on every use of the technology. When an unexpected caller demands money or personal information, the agency advises hanging up and calling an official number yourself.
- Safety · Scam Alert
Amazon text promises up to $600 a day: Watch for a fake-job trap
On October 3, 2026, a reader sent Bolsa Bridge a text offering $100–$600 a day to update Amazon sellers’ products. A BBB report describes a nearly identical pitch, and the FTC warns that offers like this can lead to task scams.
- Safety · Scam Alert
Shopping for Health Coverage? A Search Ad Could Send You to a Fake Site
On September 28, 2026, the FTC warned that impostors may buy ads to place fake health-insurance pages near the top of search results during enrollment season. Before entering Medicare or health information, go directly to the official website or call an agency-listed number.
- Safety · Scam Alert
Debt relief, credit repair, "guaranteed" loans: one question exposes all three — do they want your money before or after the work?
In August 2026, a federal court temporarily shut down a credit repair network that the FTC says took nearly $200 million in illegal upfront fees. In April, a student-loan "forgiveness" operation was frozen by the federal court in Santa Ana. Federal and California law agree on one plain rule: charging you before the work is done is against the law.
- Safety · Scam Alert
A text says your Amazon or Costco order was "recalled": tap that refund link and your password goes to a scammer
AARP has warned about "recall scams" — fake texts posing as Amazon, Costco or Walmart, claiming a product you bought is unsafe and pushing a sign-in link "for your refund." The link leads to a look-alike page built to steal your password, and the scam runs on a good instinct: keeping your family safe.
- Safety · Scam Alert
Asked to Zelle a deposit before you've seen the room? Three California laws that expose a fake listing in under a minute
In summer 2026, Placentia police reported a spike in fake rental listings on social media, and a Fullerton renter lost a $2,500 deposit on a house they never set foot in. The scam is running nationwide, and Little Saigon's busy room-rental market gives it every reason to stop by.
- Safety · Scam Alert
Is your phone eavesdropping to serve you ads? The firms that sold "Active Listening" made it up, the FTC says
The FTC has finalized orders requiring Cox Media Group and two marketing firms to pay a combined $930,000 over "Active Listening" — a service they claimed used AI to capture conversations from phones and smart speakers and turn them into targeted ads. The case lands on a fear every family knows: why does an ad show up for the exact thing you just talked about?
- Safety · Scam Alert
Selling your stuff, renting out a room, tutoring on the side: six signs the person contacting you is a scammer
Most people assume only buyers and renters get burned by classified ads — but scammers target the people who post them, too. Learn these six warning signs and you can block most of today's common marketplace cons.
- Safety · Scam Alert
Scammed out of your money once? You could be scammed again
Scammers buy lists of people who have already been scammed, then pose as the FBI, the FTC, or law firms — some armed with AI-generated videos — promising to "recover" your lost money so they can scam you again. The two federal warnings landed just two weeks apart — and in a community with fresh memories of bogus investments and hụi collapses, this scheme aims straight at us.