Scams in the US are at a record high. Yet most victims get no help and some end up losing even more

Image credit: Macrovector via Magnific. Article by Martha Mendoza / Frontline, Juliet Linderman, Erika Kinetz / AP, Associated Press and Frontline. AP News – September 2, 2026.

When Simon’s wife of 43 years passed away, it felt a bit like he’d died too. In his overwhelming grief, Simon sought companionship online, like so many other lonely widows and widowers. Almost immediately he met Emily. But over the next few months, Emily, who Simon realized too late was a fake, stole $800,000 from him. And that was just the beginning. Simon was stuck paying back $185,000 he had borrowed, and tens of thousands of dollars in additional taxes on money he had withdrawn and lost. […]

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