FBI: Don’t Let Scammers Ruin Your Holiday Season

 The FBI released the information below:

As scammers increasingly use pressure tactics and artificial intelligence to defraud Americans out of their hard-earned money, the FBI is reminding everyone to protect themselves and their families from fraud this holiday season.

"If you feel pressured to act fast, pay money, or turn over personal information—take a beat. Stop and assess if what you're being told is real. Talk to your families. Protect each other from scams," said FBI Director Kash Patel. "Scammers are banking on the fact that you'll feel too embarrassed to come forward and report the crime to the FBI. Don't let them win."

The FBI specifically encourages Americans to talk to their loved ones about not sharing sensitive information with people they have met only online or over the phone. They also should not send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or other assets.

Cyber-enabled fraud dominates the scam landscape, accelerated by artificial intelligence (AI). In the first seven months of 2025, AI accounted for more than 9,000 complaints to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), and those AI complaints spanned all types of scams. Fraudsters use technology to create fake social media profiles, voice clones, identification documents, and videos with believable depictions of public figures or even loved ones. Fraudulent or suspicious activity can be reported to the FBI at ic3.gov. Tipsters should include information such as:

•  identifying information about the person or company which contacted them
• methods of communication used, to include websites, emails, and phone numbers
• financial transaction information, such as the date, type of payment, amount, account numbers involved, the name and address of the receiving financial institution, and receiving cryptocurrency addresses
• description of the interaction with the fraudster

The IC3 received 535,314 complaints reporting $13.7 billion in losses last year, an average loss of $25,700 per victim. Between 2020 and 2024, a total of $50.5 billion in losses were reported to IC3. People over 60 suffered the most losses and submitted the most complaints. Victims over 60 who need assistance filing an IC3 complaint can contact the DOJ Elder Justice Hotline, 1-833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311). Learn more about scam prevention at fbi.gov/takeabeat. 

My Crime Fiction: A Christmas Crime Story

As the Christmas season is once again upon us, I’d like to once again share my short story, A Christmas Crime Story.

The short story originally appeared in The Orchard Press Online Mystery Magazine in 2003. 

A Christmas Crime Story 

 By Paul Davis

To get in the true spirit of the Christmas holiday, some people go to church, some people go to the homes of family and friends, and some people go out and shop.

Me? I go to cop bars.

Cops are great storytellers. Perhaps it’s because they observe a segment of life that’s dramatic, tragic and funny. Perhaps it’s also because they spend so much time cruising on patrol that they’ve had the time to develop and hone their story-telling skills.

As a writer, I’ve talked to cops in station houses, in patrol cars, on the street and in bars. I’ve listened to their concerns, prideful boasts and sorrowful confessions. I’ve accompanied cops on patrol and witnessed them handle insane, intoxicated and incongruous citizens. I’ve observed how they console crime victims and their families. I’ve seen how they cope with the aftermath of criminal violence and man’s inhumanity to man. And I’ve come to appreciate their black humor, which like military humor, is a necessary safety valve to get them through the bad times.

I especially like to frequent cop bars during the holiday season and listen to cops at their very best. Some cops gather at bars after work to relax, drink and tell their stories. At this time of year, they are in very good spirits, a bit happier, a bit giddier and a bit more talkative.

Cops are generally in good spirits despite the fact that the holiday season is a busy one for them. It’s a sad commentary, but the holiday season is a peak time for crime.

Criminals certainly love the holiday season, but not for spiritual or sentimental reasons. It’s simply a time of grand opportunity. And criminals certainly don’t take a Christmas vacation. As joyous and hopeful people go out to worship, shop, dine and visit family and friends, criminal predators go out and pickpocket, shoplift, mug, steal and burglarize.

My recent columns in the local newspaper covered the annual Christmas crime spree and over the years I’ve reported on and chronicled a good number of crime stories during the holidays. I recall covering the story of a do-gooder delivering toys to needy families who was viciously assaulted and robbed. Another story concerned two kids playing with their Christmas gift, a paint ball gun, when an irate neighbor came out and shot them with a real gun.

One year while out on patrol with the cops, I came upon a young couple who had started out drinking and getting high for the holidays and ended up with one murdering the other. I once covered a story about a man with a car full of gifts who ran into a store for a pack of cigarettes. He came out to no car, no gifts and no Merry Christmas for him that year.

I’ve covered an assortment of other stories about armed robberies, thefts, purse snatchings and other crimes during the holidays as well.

Despite the crime and tragedies I’ve seen, I still love the Christmas season. I love the lights and decorations, the hustle and bustle and all of the trimmings. I love Christmas music and often sing along, although admittedly off-key.

This particular year, even more than others in the past, I was in very good spirits, having recently recovered from severe spine and nerve damage that crippled me and caused God-awful pain. I spent several months in the hospital and convalescing at home. I’ve suffered with a bad back for many years, dating back to my years as an amateur boxer and playing other sports, and as a young sailor working on a U.S. Navy tugboat and an aircraft carrier. The build-up of damage to my poor back finally took its toll and crippled me.

The doctors at the hospital ruled that I was not a surgical candidate, determining that any operation would be too risky. As I was deathly afraid of surgery, this diagnosis suited me fine. So they loaded me up with wonder drugs and placed me in physical therapy. The physical therapists, trained by Saddam Hussein’s secret police, I suspect, got me to my feet and ran me through a series of painful but ultimately beneficial exercises.

When I initially collapsed during the summer in my bedroom, I thought the searing pain in my groin and back was akin to being shot with a high-powered rifle. My wife called 911 and the Philadelphia Fire Department’s Rescue Paramedics rushed me to the hospital. Despite being in great pain, I managed to joke with the attending doctors and nurses that first night in the hospital.

This is the most painful day of my life, I told them - and I’ve been to Vietnam.

And I’m married.

And I have a teenage daughter.

I got a few laughs, which helped to lighten my pain, as I am a ham to the end. In addition to the fine medical professionals who cared for me, it was my wonderful wife and family - who were often the brunt of my jokes and asides – who helped me get through the worst time of my adult life.

Within the period of five months, I went from being bed-ridden in great pain, to twirling around the hospital halls in a wheelchair, to walking a few painful steps with a walker, to finally walking into a cop’s bar aided by a cane this fine Christmas season.

I’d recovered sufficiently enough to go out and stop by Johnny Drum’s Bar & Grill, a great little cop’s bar in South Philly. I had a lot to be thankful for this year and I visited Johnny’s place expecting to run into some lively characters that felt likewise.

I was somewhat disappointed to first encounter Sgt. John Snyder at the bar. Snyder was known as one mean cop. He was of average height, a bit stocky and had a large, pan-shaped head topped with thinning dark hair. He was an unhappy, gruff and miserable man. A cop once made the comment that Snyder "barked" rather than spoke.

I recall previous Christmas seasons when Snyder would be at the end of the bar by himself, miserly nursing his drink. In addition to being foul-tempered, Snyder was a notorious cheapskate.

"Merry Christmas, Ebenezer," I’d greet him in jest during those holiday visits. "Bah, humbug," he’d respond, playing along begrudgingly with my take on Charles Dickens’ classic holiday story, A Christmas Carol. I joked around, but in truth he was truly as mean-spirited as Dickens’s Ebenezer Scrooge.

Sgt. Snyder was widely known as "The Cop Who Busted Santa Claus." As the often-told story goes, Snyder pulled over a man dressed as Santa on Christmas Eve a few years back. Observing that the red-suited, false-bearded man was slightly inebriated, Snyder promptly placed him under arrest.

He slapped the handcuffs on the man and then had had his car towed. The tow truck took the car, despite the jolly old soul’s somewhat slurred pleas that his car – a modern-day sleigh - was full of toys destined for children at an orphanage. A crowd had gathered on the street and booed the police officer’s actions. He cursed them and threatened to lock them all up.

"And a Merry, Merry Christmas to you as well," one bystander sarcastically remarked.

More holiday-spirited police officials quickly released the man dressed as Santa. The man, outraged by his treatment, promptly called a TV station and told his story. The mayor, the police commissioner and other police brass were not happy with the lead news story run on Christmas Day. The national press picked up the story and this did not help Philadelphia’s image. "The Cop Who Busted Santa Claus" complemented an earlier story of Philadelphia sport fans pelting Santa with snowballs at a ball field.

A cop once told me that Snyder had him out walking on South Street on a very cold and windy Christmas Eve night. Snyder sternly ordered the beat cop not to hang out in a store, sucking up heat, coffee and merriment. Of course, the cop quickly escaped the bitter wind and cold and stepped into a shoe store for hot chocolate and conversation with the store owner and customers.

When the cop looked out through the store window and saw Snyder’s car roll down South Street, he stepped out and stood in front of the store, shivering. "Have you been hiding in a store?" Sgt. Snyder barked. "No, of course not" the cop told him. "Although it is really cold out here, Sarge."

Snyder placed his bare hand on the cop’s badge and found the metal to be nearly as warm as the hot chocolate in the beat cop’s stomach.

The chastened police officer told every cop, everybody, the story. "Do you believe it? The SOB chewed me out on Christmas Eve!"

There were also tales of Snyder locking up kids whose only crime was being merry. Sgt. Snyder was a one-man crime-fighting machine during the holiday season, targeting not thieves and crooks, but rather the people whose only crime was to be too joyous.

To his credit, he still talked to me despite the two negative stories I wrote about him in the past. One of my columns covered "The Cop Who Busted Santa Claus" and I wrote another that dealt with Snyder’s arrest of a honeymooning couple who were visiting the Italian Market. Their crime? The happy couple, who were married on Christmas Eve, asked the good sergeant to pose with them for a photo. He didn’t like their attitude and placed them under arrest for disorderly conduct.


But this year, as I approached him at the bar, I saw that Snyder was clearly a changed man. Over a few drinks, he told me why.

A day earlier the gruff sergeant responded to the call of a residential burglary. The victim told the responding officers that among the stolen valuables were his military awards and other mementos of the Iraq War. He told Snyder that he had just returned from Iraq as a medically discharged soldier due to combat wounds.

"Who’d steal this stuff?" he asked Snyder. "Who would steal children’s toys at Christmas?"

The burglars stole the gift-wrapped presents from under the Christmas tree. The young former soldier was saddened by the loss of his gifts to his wife and children. He said he was not insured, and he could not afford to buy new gifts. Snyder, the well-known mean, jaded and cynical cop, was truly touched by this young veteran who had just returned from war.

Snyder felt empathy for someone for the first time in many years. He thought back to his own return from Vietnam so many years before. He recalled how he then yearned to become a cop. He also yearned to marry his high school sweetheart and to have kids with her. He accomplished all that he set out to do, and now, in the midst of a crime scene, he wondered why it had all soured for him.

He marriage suffered from his penny-pinching, his chronic petty complaints, and his foul temper. His wife finally drew up the courage to throw him out of the house one night after he came home drunk, mean and violent. He would never hit her or the kids, he assured me, but he often gave the inanimate objects in the house a real good beating.

The kids, grown now and on their own, rarely spoke to him. He thought of them as he watched the veteran’s children. The sight of these kids, sitting close together on the couch, perhaps wondering if the crooks would come back, if Santa were coming now, or whether Jesus still loved them, broke Snyder’s heart.

Snyder made the rounds of the local veteran’s organizations the next day and told the story of the veteran who had been victimized. He collected a good bit of money from the veterans, from his fellow police officers and he personally donated a large sum himself. Having secured the list of stolen items from South Detectives, he ventured to the stores and purchased nearly all of the stolen items.

He also called his wife, sweet-talked her, told her he was a changed man and asked her to accompany him when, like Santa Claus, he would deliver the replacement gifts to the veteran and his family.

He was truly beaming as he told me this Christmas crime story. I had never seen him smile before.

He told me how the veteran’s kids were so happy they cried. The veteran was embarrassed, but thankful. Snyder explained that his fellow veterans and the local cops wanted to help him and his family.

By helping the veteran, Snyder recalled the true meaning of Christmas. He felt the joy of giving and of goodness and loving - even in a cruel and sometimes evil world.

"I have to run," he said, finishing up his story and beer, "I’m celebrating Christmas with my wife, my kids and all of my grandkids."

Before he left, Snyder, to everyone’s astonishment but mine, bought a round for the house.

"Merry Christmas to one and all," he barked.

© 2003 By Paul Davis 

Manning The Rails: Never Forget The December 7th Sneak Attack On Pearl Harbor

In November of 1970 I was one of many young sailors who “manned the rails” on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk as we passed the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. (See the above photo). 

We manned the rails in dress white uniforms on the edge of the ship as a salute to honor the sunken battleship USS Arizona and the sailors and Marines who died during the Imperial Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, “A date,” noted then-President Franklin Roosevelt, “which will live in infamy.” 

The Kitty Hawk made a port of call at Pearl Harbor just prior to our heading to Subic Bay in the Philippines and then onto “Yankee Station” in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam during the final years of the Vietnam War. 

Like many old surviving sailors today, I again salute the servicemen who died on December 7, 1941, and I’d like to remind younger readers to never forget the Pearl Harbor attack which drew America into World War II. 

A Date Which Will Live In Infamy: Remember And Honor Pearl Harbor

 

DEA Launches Fentanyl Free America Initiative To Combat The Synthetic Drug Crisis

The DEA released the information below:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is intensifying its fight against the deadly threat of synthetic opioids with the launch of Fentanyl Free America, a comprehensive enforcement initiative and public awareness campaign aimed at reducing both the supply and demand for fentanyl. This effort underscores DEA's unwavering commitment to protecting American lives and communities from the devastating impacts of fentanyl, which claimed nearly 50,000 lives last year according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Through intensified enforcement operations and heightened intelligence, DEA is applying unprecedented pressure on the global fentanyl supply chain, forcing narco-terrorists, like the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG Cartel, to change their business practices. This has led to encouraging signs of progress. DEA laboratory testing indicates 29% of fentanyl pills analyzed during fiscal year (FY) 2025 contained a potentially lethal dose, a significant drop from 76% of pills tested just two years prior in FY 2023. Additionally, fentanyl powder purity decreased to 10.3%, down from 19.5% during the same time period. These reductions in potency and purity correlate with a decline in synthetic opioid deaths to levels not seen since April 2020.

Aside from producing less potent fentanyl, the cartels have increasingly diversified their operations in an attempt to minimize their risks and maximize profits, an evolution driven by opportunity and greed.

As of December 1, 2025, DEA has seized more than 45 million fentanyl pills, and more than 9,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, removing an estimated 347 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl from our communities. DEA intelligence indicates a shift in cartel operations, with increased trafficking of fentanyl powder and domestic production of fentanyl pills. The seizure of more than two dozen pill press machines in October further highlights this trend.

"Fentanyl Free America represents DEA’s unwavering commitment to save American lives and end the fentanyl crisis, we are making significant progress in this fight, and we must continue to intensify efforts to disrupt the fentanyl supply and reduce demand,” said DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. “DEA is striking harder and evolving faster to dismantle the foreign terrorists fueling this crisis, while empowering all our partners to join the fight to prevent fentanyl-related tragedies. Together, we can achieve a fentanyl free America and create a safer future for generations to come.”

DEA remains at the forefront of the fight to disrupt trafficking networks and strengthen the government’s response to this epidemic. Fentanyl Free America represents DEA’s heightened focus on enforcement, education, public awareness, and strategic partnerships. The goal of the campaign is clear: eliminate the fentanyl supply fueling the nation’s deadliest drug crisis. Since 2021, synthetic opioids have claimed nearly 325,000 American lives.

The Fentanyl Free America campaign also emphasizes the importance of public engagement. DEA encourages everyone from community leaders, clergy, educators, parents, physicians, pharmacists, and law enforcement to take an active role in raising awareness by protecting others through education; preventing fentanyl poisonings by understanding the dangers; and supporting those impacted. Free resources including posters, radio advertising, billboards, and social media resources are available at dea.gov/fentanylfree.

DEA’s efforts are part of a larger whole-of-government strategy to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and protect U.S. communities from fentanyl. 

Chamber Orchestra Of Europe To Perform At The Marion Anderson Hall

Philly Daily, where my Crime Beat column appears each week, reports that the Chamber Orchestra of Europe will perform at the Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center on Wednesday, December 10^th at 7:30 PM. 

“The Chamber Orchestra of Europe, one of the world’s most acclaimed chamber ensembles, join forces with Philadelphia Orchestra Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin for an unforgettable performance,” the event planners noted. “Experience this dynamic partnership live in Philadelphia for the first time as they present an all-Brahms program full of passion and virtuosity.” 

You can read the rest of the piece via the link below:

Chamber Orchestra of Europe to Perform at the Marion Anderson Hall - Philly Daily 

Think Before You Click: My Philly Daily Crime Beat Column On Fake U.S. Postal Service Emails During The Holiday Season

Philly Daily ran my Crime Beat column today on fake Postal Service emails. 

You can read the column via the link below or the text below:

Davis: Beware of fake U.S. Postal Service emails during the holiday season - Philly Daily  

Like a good many people I purchase a lot of items online and the items are then delivered to my home by either commercial shipping companies or the U.S. Postal Service. 

Online purchases being mailed greatly increase during the Holiday season, so many people are receiving emails stating that they are from the U.S. Postal Service. 

The Postal Service warns that these emails are fake.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) note that they are well aware of the circulation of fake emails/email scams claiming to be from the Postal Service officials, including the Postmaster General. 

“Please know USPS officials would never reach out directly to consumers and ask for money or Personal Identifying Information (PII),” the USPS explained.

The Postal Service offers information and tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of fake emails and other kinds of consumer fraud. 

“If you ever receive an email about a package delivery or unpaid online postage charges, be careful,” the Postal Service advised. “Some postal customers are receiving bogus emails featuring the subject line, “Delivery Failure Notification.” These emails appear to be from the U.S. Postal Service and include language regarding an unsuccessful attempt to deliver a package. 

“The email will prompt you to confirm your personal delivery information by clicking a button or downloading an attachment, that, when opened, can activate a virus and steal information—such as your usernames, passwords, and financial account information. The Postal Inspection Service is working hard to stop these emails and protect your information.”

(Below is a sample of a fake Postal Service email):

If you receive an email about a package delivery failure, the Postal Service suggests you forward the email to spam@uspis.gov, and then delete the email. One should also report non-USPS spam emails to the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov.

The Postal Service also warns of identity fraud “phishing.” 

Did you receive a luring email from the Postal Service about a package delivery? Does it contain a link to click? Don't take the bait! It's a phishing attempt to steal your personal information.

Did you receive an urgent email that requires action? Think before you click! Don't put your personal information at risk. It's probably a phishing attempt. Did you receive an email from the Postal Service about an attempted or intercepted package delivery? Don’t click on the link! Bogus emails about delivery failures trick customers into clicking links that contain viruses. 

The Postal Service also warns that one should not give out personal information via email. The Postal Service states that they do not notify customers of package delivery attempts or request personal information via email.

Poor grammar indicates a fraudulent email, the Postal Service notes. Poor grammar and spelling errors are a good indication that the email is fake. Also be aware that if the email requests “immediate action,” it may be a scam. 

The Postal Service also warns of phone calls or voicemail messages from an unfamiliar number claiming to need to verify sensitive personal information. If you receive a call or voicemail, don’t respond. Delete the voicemail. This type of scam is called “vishing.”

“Vishing, short for voice phishing, is an identity fraud scam utilizing a phone call or voicemail,” the Postal Service explained. “Scammers will call or leave a voicemail and impersonate someone they are not, and attempt to elicit sensitive information, like login credentials, personal identifying information, credit card numbers or other banking details. These impostors may pretend to be Postal Inspectors, or other persons in USPS and USPIS positions of authority. They may attempt to coerce you with threats of arrest or some other punishment.”

If you ever receive a phone call or voicemail from an individual claiming to be a Postal Inspector or other law enforcement official- alleging there is an active warrant out for your arrest, the Postal Service warns you to be careful.

“These individuals impersonate law enforcement, or other positions of authority, and will manufacture a threatening situation and sense of urgency in an attempt to coerce you into sending them money and/or providing your personal information to steal your identity. They may claim you are the suspect of a criminal

investigation or currently have an outstanding warrant for your arrest. The impostor’s phone number may be blocked or spoofed/fake, displaying a number other than the actual number used by the impostor. “The imposter may even spoof/fake a legitimate number of the person or entity he/she is impersonating. Postal Inspectors will never demand money from you or threaten you with arrest for failing to provide personal information over the phone, text, or email. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is working hard to stop these impostors.”

The Postal Service and the Postal Inspection Service know that the recent occurrences of mail customers receiving calls from individuals impersonating Postal Service and Postal Inspections Service personnel, 

“Please know that Postal Service and Postal Inspection Service inspectors would never reach out directly to consumers and demand money or personal information.”

The Postal Service offers the information below to protect you from this imposter scam.

“If you receive a communication from someone impersonating a Postal Inspector, please send an email to the USPIS Cyber Crime Unit at ISCCU@usps.gov. Please include your name and contact information, the name and any contact information used by the imposter, and a summary of the phone call or copy of the actual communication with the imposter.”

For most of us the holiday season is a time for religious reflection, joy, the exchange of gifts, fellowship, and love of family and friends. The holiday season is also prime time for crooks, scammers, and con artists. So be on guard when receiving emails that look fake. 

Delete the emails. Never open the emails and never respond to the emails. Don’t respond by threatening to expose them to law enforcement or scold them for being awful human beings. If you do open the email, don’t call any phone numbers the email asks you to.  

Even Santa relies on the Postal Service (his sleigh can only hold so much), so as you receive your online purchases and gifts through the mail, be aware that there are Grinch crooks trying to scam via email. 

You can read my other Philly Daily Crime Beat columns via the link below:

Paul Davis On Crime: My Philly Daily Crime Beat Columns