Donald Trump has given his vice-president, JD Vance, a new side gig: “fraud czar”.
The president this week announced a fresh crackdown on “fraud” in Democratic states and tapped Vance to lead the charge. Officials swiftly announced a string of arrests in California.
In a Truth Social post on Friday, the US president announced that his vice-president was now “in charge of ‘fraud’ in the United States”, claiming the problem is “massive and pervasive”. Without citing evidence, Trump said that Vance would focus on “everywhere but primarily in those blue states where crooked Democrat politicians … have had a ‘free for all’ in the unprecedented theft of taxpayer money”.
Trump pointed to California, Illinois, Minnesota, Maine and New York, and alleged fraud was “so large that, if successful, we would literally be able to balance our American budget”, without providing evidence.
Trump announces…
This remains the most prevalent form of financial crime globally. It targets the direct access points to your money: your cards and your bank accounts.
- Skimming: Criminals use small devices called “skimmers” placed over ATM or point-of-sale card slots to capture the data from your card’s magnetic strip.
- Card-Not-Present (CNP) Fraud: This occurs during online shopping where a physical card isn’t required. Thieves use stolen card numbers, expiry dates, and CVV codes to make unauthorized purchases.
- Account Takeover (ATO): A hacker gains access to your online banking credentials (often through malware or phishing) and changes the contact details or passwords, locking you out while they drain your funds.