In-Person Scam Watch — September 7, 2026
Full sweep conducted across all 5 mandatory sources. No new qualifying findings this period — see the Continued Vigilance Spotlight below for the most active airport scam pattern in circulation right now.
Sweep result: No new qualifying findings — September 3–7, 2026 coverage window. A full sweep was conducted across all 5 mandatory sources (TSA, AAA Travel, U.S. State Department, IATA, BBB Scam Tracker). No new airport or in-person scam pattern published within this coverage window met all inclusion criteria: airport/physical-presence category, genuinely new, and corroborated by at least one mandatory source.
Vigilance Spotlight · September 7, 2026
Fake TSA PreCheck, Global Entry & NEXUS Enrollment Sites Are Stealing Money and Passport Data from Travelers
The scam: Scammers build websites that look nearly identical to the official TSA PreCheck and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Global Entry enrollment portals. These sites appear in search engine results — sometimes above the official government sites — when travelers search for how to enroll in or renew their trusted traveler program. Victims end up on a fake third-party site, pay the legitimate application fee plus an additional "service fee," and fill out detailed personal information including their full name, date of birth, passport number, and home address. In many cases, the company never submits the application through the correct government channels — meaning the victim loses their money, receives no program enrollment, and has handed their passport-level personal information to criminals.
How the Attack Works
1. Traveler decides to enroll in or renew TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, or NEXUS — often triggered by seeing a PreCheck lane at the airport or planning upcoming holiday travel.
2. Traveler searches online for "TSA PreCheck enrollment," "Global Entry renewal," or similar terms. The fake site appears prominently in search results, sometimes using paid advertising to rank above official sites.
3. The fake site is designed to look like an official government portal — official-looking seals, government color schemes, and language that mimics the real program descriptions.
4. Traveler pays the program fee plus an extra "service fee" and submits detailed personal information including passport number. The information goes to the scammer, not the government. The application is never filed or is filed incorrectly.
2. Traveler searches online for "TSA PreCheck enrollment," "Global Entry renewal," or similar terms. The fake site appears prominently in search results, sometimes using paid advertising to rank above official sites.
3. The fake site is designed to look like an official government portal — official-looking seals, government color schemes, and language that mimics the real program descriptions.
4. Traveler pays the program fee plus an extra "service fee" and submits detailed personal information including passport number. The information goes to the scammer, not the government. The application is never filed or is filed incorrectly.
Why this matters right now — Labor Day weekend: Labor Day is one of the busiest air travel weekends of the year. Millions of Americans are at airports today and through the long weekend, and many will encounter TSA PreCheck signage and decide to enroll. That impulse to search "how do I sign up" is exactly when this scam strikes. The timing couldn't be more operationally relevant. The official enrollment and renewal sites are the ONLY safe places to apply: tsa.gov for TSA PreCheck and cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs for Global Entry and NEXUS. Never pay for enrollment through a site found via a search engine ad.
Protect Yourself
Go directly to the official sites: TSA PreCheck → tsa.gov | Global Entry & NEXUS → cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs | These programs do NOT have authorized third-party enrollment services that charge extra fees. If a site is charging more than the standard program fee ($78 for PreCheck, $120 for Global Entry), you are on a fake site. Report fake sites to the BBB at bbb.org/scamtracker.
Sources: BBB Scam Alert (Mandatory Source) · TSA PreCheck Official Advisory
BBB Scam Alert →
// Source Sweep Log — All 5 Mandatory Sources
- ✓TSA Press Releases / Travel Alerts — No new scam advisory in September 3–7 coverage window. Most recent press releases cover summer travel readiness and TSA Cutest Canine Contest. No new security or scam alert published this period.
- ✓AAA Travel Advice — No new in-person airport scam advisory in coverage window. Prior fake airline phone number scam (remote-delivered) remains a monitoring candidate for Monday Remote report.
- ✓U.S. State Department Travel Advisories — No new airport or in-person scam warning published September 3–7. Worldwide Caution advisory reviewed — no new specific scam pattern.
- ✓IATA — No new passenger safety or scam-relevant publication in the coverage window identified.
- ✓BBB Scam Tracker — No new rising pattern reaching qualifying threshold as a fresh finding this coverage window. BBB's documented TSA PreCheck/Global Entry fake enrollment site scam (standing documented pattern) selected for the Continued Vigilance Spotlight given Labor Day weekend peak travel context and direct airport relevance.