August 2026 Scam Pulse: Shopping ads, investment pitches, and tax-relief scams
The three scams to watch in August 2026 are fake social-media shopping ads, investment-training and trading-coach scams, and deceptive tax-relief or IRS-impersonation pitches. In 2025 FTC reports, texts were the most frequently reported contact method, while social-media scams produced the highest aggregate reported losses: $2.1 billion.
These metrics answer different questions: one counts reported contacts; the other sums reported dollars lost. Neither estimates every scam or loss.
Pause before you use the supplied link or number.
End the call or stop replying to the message. Close the ad or social-media profile. Find the organization’s official site yourself and use its contact details to check the sender, offer, or debt.
How these three scams reach you
Swipe or scroll to compare all columns.
| Scam | Typical opening | Safest first move |
|---|---|---|
| Fake social-media shopping ads | A steep-discount ad that imitates a familiar brand | Open the brand’s official site separately. |
| Investment training and trading coaches | A post, ad, or group promising easy trading profits | Verify the person and firm before sharing anything. |
| Tax-relief pitches and IRS impersonators | A threat about tax debt or a promise to erase it | Verify the notice through IRS.gov or your state agency. |
Social-media ads
Fake social-media shopping ads
More than 40% of people who reported losing money to a social-media scam in 2025 said it started when they ordered something they saw in an ad. Source: 2025 social-media scam Data Spotlight — Federal Trade Commission
How does it begin?
A polished ad appears in your feed with a steep discount, a recognizable brand, or a limited-time offer. The link may lead to an unfamiliar store or a site that imitates a real retailer.
What are the warning signs?
- A price far below what established sellers charge
- An unfamiliar seller or website, or a site impersonating a known brand
- Copied branding, thin contact details, or vague return terms
- Pressure to buy immediately
- Payment methods that make disputes difficult
What should you do?
Leave the app and navigate to the brand or seller independently. Search the company name with “scam” or “complaint,” compare the offer on the official site, and pay by credit card when possible.
If you already paid or shared information
- Save the ad, order confirmation, messages, receipts, and the seller’s web address.
- Contact the card issuer, bank, or payment provider promptly and ask whether the fraudulent charge can be reversed.
- Report the ad to the platform and report the scam at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Social posts and private groups
Investment training and trading coaches
Investment scams that began on social media caused $1.1 billion in reported losses during 2025—more than half of all reported social-media scam losses. Source: 2025 social-media scam Data Spotlight — Federal Trade Commission
Not every investment educator or coaching service is fraudulent. The danger is an unverified pitch built on guaranteed results, hidden conflicts, pressure, or hard-to-reverse payments. Registration is a background-check starting point, not a government endorsement.
How does it begin?
A social-media personality displays luxury purchases or supposed trading profits, then offers coaching, signals, a secret system, or access to an exclusive investment group.
What are the warning signs?
- Guaranteed income, returns, or trading success
- Claims of little or no risk, effort, or experience
- Unverified credentials, testimonials, or profit screenshots
- Pressure to act quickly or keep adding money
- A free or low-cost introduction followed by costly upsells, or an offer focused on recruiting others
What should you do?
Do not send money or cryptocurrency based on the pitch. Research the company, leaders, and promoters with terms such as “review,” “scam,” “fraud,” and “complaint,” looking beyond sponsored results. If someone claims to be an investment professional, verify their registration and background through Investor.gov, and discuss the offer with someone independent.
If you already paid or shared information
- Stop sending money, even if the platform shows apparent profits or someone offers recovery for a fee.
- Contact the bank, card issuer, exchange, or payment service immediately and ask what recovery options remain.
- Preserve messages, wallet addresses, transaction records, and account screenshots. Report possible securities fraud to the SEC and deceptive coaching or business offers to the FTC.
- 2025 social-media scam Data Spotlight — Federal Trade Commission
- Social media and stock tip scams — Investor.gov
- Check an investment professional — Investor.gov
- Find your state attorney general — USA.gov
- Investment scams — FTC Consumer Advice
- When a business offer or coaching program is a scam — FTC Consumer Advice
- What to do if you were scammed — FTC Consumer Advice
Calls, texts, ads, and mail
Tax-relief pitches and IRS impersonators
The IRS says a letter or notice is the first way it contacts a taxpayer. An agent or authorized private collection agency may call only after written notice. Source: How to know whether the IRS is contacting you — Internal Revenue Service
Some taxpayers legitimately qualify for payment plans or an offer in compromise. The warning signs are impersonation, guaranteed eligibility, pressure, and a marketer claiming to control the IRS decision.
How does it begin?
An unexpected call, text, ad, or official-looking pitch says you owe taxes, face enforcement, or already qualify for a private relief program. It may use an invented government-sounding department or direct you to a private company.
What are the warning signs?
- A caller claiming to make the IRS’s first contact about back taxes
- Claims that you already qualify for a special program
- Promises to settle for a specific fraction of what you owe
- Guaranteed results or artificial enforcement deadlines
- Demands for sensitive information or the entire fee upfront
What should you do?
Do not use the phone number, link, or account supplied in the pitch. Verify federal tax debt through your IRS Online Account or IRS.gov and state debt through the revenue agency’s official site. The IRS—not a relief marketer—decides whether you qualify for an offer in compromise.
If you already paid or shared information
- Stop communicating with the caller or advertiser and do not send additional documents or payments.
- If you shared financial information or paid, contact the relevant financial institution immediately.
- Report a fake IRS or Treasury message through the IRS instructions. If you shared a Social Security number, use IdentityTheft.gov for a personal recovery plan.
- How to know whether the IRS is contacting you — Internal Revenue Service
- Beware of offer-in-compromise mills — Internal Revenue Service
- Verify and get help with federal tax debt — Internal Revenue Service
- Report a fake IRS or Treasury message — Internal Revenue Service
- Get help from the Taxpayer Advocate Service
- Trouble paying your taxes? — FTC Consumer Advice
- Unexpected back-tax calls are scams — FTC Consumer Advice
- What to do if you were scammed — FTC Consumer Advice
What should you do if you already responded?
You received a suspicious text
Do not reply or open a link. Use your phone’s report-junk option or forward the message to 7726 (SPAM), then delete it.
How are scammers trying to reach you? — FTC Consumer AdviceYou sent money
Contact the company used to send the money immediately and ask whether the payment can be reversed. Then preserve the records and report what happened.
What to do if you were scammed — FTC Consumer AdviceYou shared personal information
Change an exposed password anywhere it was reused and turn on multi-factor authentication. If you shared a Social Security number or other identity information, use the FTC’s guided recovery plan. If your phone number was taken over, contact your carrier and then review financial accounts.
Build an identity-theft recovery planYou clicked, downloaded, or gave remote access
Update security software, run a scan, remove anything it identifies, and uninstall remote-access software you did not intend to keep. Then secure affected accounts from a trusted device.
What to do if you were scammed — FTC Consumer AdviceThe message claimed to be from the IRS
Record the number and hang up on a suspicious call. Follow the IRS channel-specific instructions for texts, calls, emails, social accounts, and letters.
Report a fake IRS or Treasury message — Internal Revenue ServiceSources and methodology
This issue selects three scams from recent FTC, IRS, and SEC reporting and consumer guidance based on recency, potential harm, and the availability of a clear protective action. It is not a ranking of the three most common scams. Statistics describe reports submitted to the FTC and should not be read as complete estimates of fraud. The FTC notes that most scams are never reported to government and that it did not collect reports during the 2025 government shutdown.
- How are scammers trying to reach you? — FTC Consumer Advice
- 2025 social-media scam Data Spotlight — Federal Trade Commission
- Reported losses to social-media scams — Federal Trade Commission
- Super-low social-media prices could be a scam — FTC Consumer Advice
- How to report a scam that starts on social media — FTC Consumer Advice
- Online shopping guidance — FTC Consumer Advice
- Investment scams — FTC Consumer Advice
- When a business offer or coaching program is a scam — FTC Consumer Advice
- Social media and stock tip scams — Investor.gov
- Check an investment professional — Investor.gov
- Report possible securities fraud — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- Find your state attorney general — USA.gov
- How to know whether the IRS is contacting you — Internal Revenue Service
- Beware of offer-in-compromise mills — Internal Revenue Service
- Verify and get help with federal tax debt — Internal Revenue Service
- Report a fake IRS or Treasury message — Internal Revenue Service
- Get help from the Taxpayer Advocate Service
- Trouble paying your taxes? — FTC Consumer Advice
- Unexpected back-tax calls are scams — FTC Consumer Advice
- What to do if you were scammed — FTC Consumer Advice
- Report fraud to the FTC
- Build an identity-theft recovery plan
Consumer education only. IdentityPro is not a government agency, law firm, tax adviser, or investment adviser. Read our Scam Pulse editorial policy.
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