The latest example is the "Elon Musk Golden Badges" scam—a sophisticated operation designed to deceive users out of their hard-earned money through false high-return promises and fake endorsements.

As this PIN is only known to you, your accountant (if not self-filing), and the IRS, it prevents scammers from filing a tax return using your Social Security Number and personal information.

“Badge engineering” is proving to be an effective sales strategy for carmakers, and it is likely to remain popular in the new year. What is it, and why is it working so well for manufacturers such as ...