Rockford BBB: The Top Scams Of The First 4 Months Of 2026

Scams aren’t something we talk about just to fill airtime.

They’re something we keep coming back to because real people across Northern Illinois and Chicago are losing real money, real time, and real peace of mind. And in 2026, the problem isn’t slowing down, it’s evolving.

A new first-quarter report from the Rockford Regional Office of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) shows that the two biggest threats locally right now are Online Purchase scams and Identity Theft. If you’ve clicked “buy now” recently or gotten a weird text out of the blue, you’re already in the crosshairs.

Online shopping scams continue to dominate, leading reported cases in both January and March, and staying near the top in February. Fake websites, too-good-to-be-true deals, and social media ads are all part of the playbook. Meanwhile, Identity Theft saw a sharp spike that's been driven in part by something called “brushing.”

Brushing Scams Are Exceptionally Sneaky Scams

Packages show up at your door that you didn’t order, and sometimes there's a lot of them.

It might seem harmless, even like a freebie, but scammers are using your name and address to post fake “verified buyer” reviews online. In some cases, it can signal that your personal information is already compromised.

Layered on top of all that is a surge in simple, harmless-looking text messages that say things like “How are you?” “Free for dinner?” or “Did you see that photo?” These are designed to get just one thing from you, and that's a reply. Once you respond, scammers know your number is active and can target you further. Don't respond. Delete instead.

Dennis Horton, Senior Director of the Rockford BBB:

Having information on the latest local scams and con artist techniques will help businesses and consumers avoid these schemes. Scams have a major impact on all of us. They can be very costly.

That’s really the bottom line. The reason we keep talking about scams is because awareness is your best defense. The more you recognize the patterns, the less likely you are to fall for them, and the harder it becomes for scammers to succeed in the first place.