Even if they don’t crash our credit cards or infiltrate our identities, scammers have undermined our trust. No longer can we afford to take people at their word or assume that a message is from where it seems to be from.
My wife showed me a piece of mail she got recently: A check for $26.08 from a government settlement against Amazon.com Inc.
Aspects of the check and the accompanying three-paragraph message looked suspicious to us:
- Although we’re familiar with a $2.5 billion Amazon settlement on Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges of deceptive practices, we don’t understand how my wife qualified for a payment. We had no prior notice she might be eligible.
- Each paragraph goes out of its way to credit “President Trump’s FTC,” which seems unusual for such a document.
- The check is from a bank in Ohio, and the return address is California, whereas Amazon is based in Seattle and the FTC is in Washington, D.C.
- The check is signed by Gerry Mullins, who – as best as I can tell – was a guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers when they won four Super Bowls in the 1970s.
I agreed with my wife that the check was a hoax. Perhaps whoever sent it wanted to see who would bother to cash it in order to set up possible prey for a bigger scheme.
But the more I looked into it, the more confused I got.
Trying to verify the source
Finally – using an address I found in an FTC notice about the Amazon settlement – I emailed the settlement administrator. I simply asked whether the check we received was legitimate.
Learn more
Heads Up: Protecting yourself from scams, by Jason Scuglik
Amazon Refunds, from the Federal Trade Commission
Refund Programs: Frequently Asked Questions, from the Federal Trade Commission
It’s getting harder to tell the difference between real communications and fake, says Jason Scuglik. As information systems administrator at Landaas, he frequently schools the firm’s advisors and associates on the latest scams and how to avoid them.
“Being scammed does not make someone foolish or gullible,” Jason wrote in a previous Heads-Up alert. “The days of easily identifiable scams, characterized by poor grammar or foreign accents, are behind us. Modern scammers often leverage advanced tools, such as artificial intelligence (AI), to create convincing narratives.”
Checking the source of a solicitation – as I’m trying to do with my wife’s check – is one way to help discern its legitimacy.
“If you get a call from somebody out of the blue, regardless of what it is, I would be suspicious,” Dave Sandstrom shared on a recent Money Talk Podcast.
Just as I independently reached out for verification of the settlement payments, Dave advises turning away from unsolicited emails, texts and phone calls and getting in touch directly with the agency supposedly involved.
“If it’s your bank or your accountant or your financial person, call them back,” Dave said. “You’re never going to offend me, one of my clients, if you think I’m an AI bot, and you want to call back and get to the front desk and just verify that I’m the one that actually just called you. Because I always want my clients to be very suspicious of things that they did not instigate.”
Taking the time to scrutinize
Also, by checking the source, you disengage from the communication, which thwarts a common tactic by scammers: To urge you to act hastily.
“One of the things we see is often that these bad actors are really forcing some sense of urgency,” Kyle Tetting said in the same Money Talk Podcast.
The prevalence of scams has added precautions to how Landaas advisors and associates assist clients, Tom Pappenfus explained.
“We may go through extra steps to confirm everything that you’re telling us so that we can do it correctly, do it properly,” Tom said.
There’s the rub. Even if a request or offer is on the up and up, the potential that it’s part of a scam requires everyone to painstakingly scrutinize.
Within two days of my inquiry, the FTC’s claims administrator confirmed that the check sent to my wife was for real.
“Yes. This is an official, court-ordered settlement,” the email read in part. At the same time, it encouraged vigilance. “Be cautious of any communications asking for personal information beyond what’s necessary for the claims process. Always verify through official channels.”
Joel Dresang is vice president-communications at Landaas & Company, LLC.
(Heads Up is an occasional feature by Landaas & Company investment to alert consumers to ways in which crooks are trying to separate them from their money.)
(initially posted Dec. 30, 2025; updated Dec. 31, 2025)