The second scam

If someone contacts you promising to recover money you already lost — and then asks for a fee, a “processing charge,” or your bank details to “deposit the refund” — you can stop the second loss with one move: hang up.

Federal investigators say this exact playbook is spreading fast right now, and it is aimed squarely at people who were cheated once already. Here is how it works, and the single line that ends every version of it.

Scam Watch

A second scam targets people who already lost money

The Federal Trade Commission this month called them “the worst of the absolute worst”: refund and recovery scams that go after people who have already been defrauded. The scammers buy lists of past victims, then reach out promising to get the lost money back — for a price.

The pitch arrives by phone, email, or a social media message, and increasingly through polished AI-generated videos that impersonate FBI or government officials. They may claim to be from a government agency, a law firm, or a fraud-recovery company, and they will ask for a “retainer fee,” an “administrative charge,” or your account number so they can supposedly send your money. Older adults are the hardest hit — the FTC reports losses to government and business impersonators filed by people 60 and over are climbing sharply.

One common version starts the moment you realize you have been cheated. You tell the first scammer you are going to report them to the FBI, and soon after, someone posing as an “FBI agent” contacts you on a messaging app with a link to “update your complaint.” The link exists only to harvest more of your financial details. In another version, a fake but convincing video of a senior official points you to a look-alike complaint website that captures whatever you type in.

The one tell

The one tell: no legitimate agency or company ever charges you a fee, or asks for gift cards, cryptocurrency, or your account password, to return money you are owed. The FBI’s complaint center, IC3, keeps no social media presence at all, never contacts people through Facebook or Telegram, and never asks for payment to recover funds. Any account or video claiming otherwise is a fake.

How to check a caller

Before you trust anyone who reaches out about “your money,” slow down and verify on your own terms:

• Look them up yourself: search the person or company’s name with the words “scam” or “complaint,” and find any agency’s real phone number independently — never use the number they give you.
• Go direct, not through a link: type an address like ic3.gov into your browser yourself rather than clicking a link in a message or a “sponsored” search result.
• Never pay to get paid: stop the moment anyone asks for an upfront fee, gift cards, crypto, or remote access to your computer or accounts.
• Distrust “video proof”: a real-looking clip of an official is not verification. Watch for unnatural movement, odd hands or lighting, and audio that lags the lips — and never act on urgency you did not create.

If a friend or family member was scammed recently, warn them that this second wave is coming; recovery scammers count on the embarrassment that keeps people from talking about the first loss. If you have already sent money or shared information, report it to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and to the FBI at ic3.gov, and start recovery steps at identitytheft.gov if you handed over personal details. Anyone 60 or older who needs help filing can call the Justice Department’s Elder Justice Hotline at 833-372-8311.

Social Security

Next year’s raise is tracking to a four-year high

After the latest inflation reading, analysts now put the 2027 Social Security cost-of-living increase at roughly 3.5 percent, with the Senior Citizens League’s own tracker near 3.6 percent. If it holds, that would be the largest raise in four years — up from the 2.8 percent adjustment Social Security applied for 2026.

For a retiree collecting around $2,000 a month, a 3.5 percent bump works out to roughly $70 more per month before anything is deducted. It is a real gain after two smaller years — but it is still a projection, not a promise.

Why it isn’t final yet

The official figure is set by the inflation numbers for July, August, and September, and Social Security announces it in October. The August reading nudged estimates up; September’s has not landed. So a plan built on the exact 2027 number is premature, and any message telling you to “lock in your new benefit now” is not how the program works.

The part that gets trimmed

Watch what comes out before the raise reaches your bank account. The standard Medicare Part B premium — deducted straight from most Social Security checks — rose to $202.90 a month for 2026, and the Medicare Trustees project it climbing again in 2027, to somewhere around $210. A higher premium quietly eats part of any raise, which is why the headline percentage and the money you actually keep are rarely the same. On that same $2,000 check, a roughly $70 raise offset by a several-dollar premium increase still leaves you ahead — just by less than the 3.5 percent number suggests. Note the projection, plan around it, and wait for the official numbers this fall before making any move.

Money You’re Owed

A Comcast breach settlement closes September 14

If you were a Comcast or Xfinity customer notified of a data breach in late 2023, there is verified money on the table — but the window is closing. A federal court has approved a $117.5 million settlement over the October 2023 breach, and the deadline to file a claim is September 14, 2026.

You are covered if you received a breach notice around December 18, 2023 telling you your personal information may have been exposed. Eligible customers can claim a flat cash payment without receipts, or file for reimbursement of documented out-of-pocket losses and time spent, and everyone in the class can enroll in the included identity-protection services once the settlement is final.

The claims are handled by a court-appointed administrator, Kroll, and the site includes a look-up tool if you are not sure whether your notice qualifies. That detail matters this week for a reason the top of this issue makes plain: a real settlement of this size draws impersonators, so reach the claim form only by typing the official address yourself, never through a link in an email or a search ad.

While you’re at it

Take ten minutes to check whether any other money is sitting unclaimed in your name. Old utility deposits, uncashed refunds, and forgotten accounts get turned over to the states, and you can search for free at missingmoney.com, the site endorsed by the national association of state unclaimed-property offices.

File the Comcast claim only through the court-authorized site above, and remember the rule from the top of this issue: a real settlement never asks you to pay a fee to collect what you are owed.

Retirement Roundup

Medicare’s one yearly window to change plans, Open Enrollment, runs October 15 through December 7, with any changes taking effect January 1. If you have a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan, your Annual Notice of Change should arrive by September 30 — read the premium, drug list, and network sections closely, because that letter is where next year’s higher costs are disclosed while you can still switch.

A free credit freeze remains the strongest step after any breach or scam contact. You can freeze and unfreeze your credit at each of the three bureaus at no cost, and it blocks new accounts from being opened in your name without unlocking anything you already use.

Quick Check

If Social Security holds back part of your check because you are still working before your full retirement age, is that money gone for good?

Answer

No. Under the 2026 earnings test, Social Security withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn above $24,480 (or every $3 above $65,160 in the year you reach full retirement age). But those dollars are not lost: once you reach full retirement age, Social Security recalculates your benefit and raises your monthly payment to credit back what was withheld, for the rest of your life.

Written by Ellen Marsh

Retirement Shield is educational information only — not financial, tax, or legal advice. We will never ask you for an account number, Social Security number, password, or payment.