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Families enrolled in the federal savings program will begin receiving activation emails this week

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• Treasury has launched the Trump Accounts mobile app ahead of the programs official July 4 rollout.

• Families that already enrolled children through IRS Form 4547 will begin receiving phased activation emails starting this week.

• The Treasury Department warned parents to watch for , saying legitimate activation emails will come only from a Treasury.gov address.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced the launch of the Trump Accounts mobile app, marking the next phase in a federal savings and investment initiative aimed at helping families build long-term financial security for children.

Treasury officials said the app, now available through major mobile app stores, will serve as the primary platform for families participating in the Trump Accounts program, which is scheduled for full rollout on July 4.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the initiative as a major expansion of financial access for American households.

The Trump Accounts app delivers a simple, secure way for households to begin engaging with a program designed to build long-term financial strength from day one, Bessent said in a statement.

Look for emails

Families that already signed up children for the program by submitting IRS Form 4547 will begin receiving activation emails in phases between now and July 4, according to the Treasury. Officials said the emails will contain instructions for completing account setup through the app or through the program website, TrumpAccounts.gov.

Under the program, eligible children will receive a $1,000 pilot-program contribution from the Treasury Department beginning July 4. The accounts will also be able to accept contributions from parents, relatives, employers and other approved contributors, subject to annual limits.

Treasury officials emphasized that the accounts are intended to provide tax-advantaged investment opportunities designed to support long-term savings and financial planning for children.

Watch out for

The department also issued warnings about potential fraud as the activation process begins. Treasury said legitimate communications regarding account activation will come only from the email address no-reply@TrumpAccounts.Treasury.gov and said it will not contact families by phone calls or text messages about activation.

Parents who have not yet enrolled children in the program can still open accounts at no cost by filing IRS Form 4547 before a child turns 18, Treasury said.

Policymakers see rising food insecurity among vulnerable consumers

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• New York Fed researchers say food insecurity has risen sharply among lower-income and less-educated households, as well as families with young children.

• The study links growing financial strain to worsening consumer sentiment, even as the broader U.S. economy continues to expand.

• Researchers found that households experiencing food insecurity are significantly more pessimistic about their future financial prospects and the economy overall.

Consumers have watched in recent months as rising food prices have helped fuel inflation. But the problem may be a lot worse for low-income groups.

Rising food insecurity among financially vulnerable Americans is contributing to growing consumer pessimism, according to new research published this week by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The analysis, published in the New York Feds Liberty Street Economics blog, found that lower-income households, people without college degrees, and families with young children have experienced a remarkable increase in food insecurity in recent years. Researchers used newly collected data from the Survey of Consumer Expectations to update earlier pandemic-era findings on financial hardship.

K-shaped economy

The report comes as policymakers and economists continue to debate the emergence of a K-shaped economy, in which higher-income households continue to benefit from strong employment, wage gains and asset growth while financially vulnerable Americans struggle with higher living costs and economic uncertainty.

While overall economic activity has remained resilient, the researchers said many households are facing elevated financial strain. Those pressures appear to be weighing heavily on public attitudes about the economy.

According to the study, households experiencing food insecurity reported substantially weaker expectations for their future finances and broader economic conditions than households that were food secure. The findings suggest that deteriorating household financial conditions may be helping drive persistently weak consumer sentiment readings.

The researchers also noted that food insecurity increasingly overlaps with other forms of financial distress, including difficulty paying bills and concerns about covering essential expenses.

The report was authored by New York Fed economists Gizem Kosar, Ishva Mehta and Wilbert van der Klaauw. The authors emphasized that the views expressed are their own and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System.

An elderly California woman who thought she was sending money to the actor is dead

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• California investigators say an elderly couple found dead in their Bermuda Dunes home had been caught in a devastating celebrity impersonation scam involving someone pretending to be actor Tom Selleck.

• Friends say 79-year-old Karen Whitaker sent thousands of dollars to the scammer over many months despite repeated warnings from family and authorities.

• The Riverside County Sheriffs Office is investigating the deaths as a suspected murder-suicide and says there is no evidence the scammer was directly involved.

In most cases, are limited to financial loss. In this case, it may have led to two deaths.

What began as a Facebook message tied to grief and nostalgia ended in tragedy for a longtime California couple whose final months were consumed by deception, financial stress and emotional collapse.

Donald Whitaker, 80, and his wife Karen Whitaker, 79, were discovered dead earlier this month inside their home in the gated Bermuda Dunes community near Palm Springs after authorities responded to a welfare check request from a concerned neighbor.

Investigators said both suffered traumatic injuries, and preliminary evidence points to a murder-suicide, though the case remains under active investigation and the circumstances remain murky.

It began with a Facebook post

According to family friend Joy Miedecke, the unraveling began roughly a year earlier when Karen Whitaker posted on Facebook about the death of a former classmate. Soon afterward, someone contacted her claiming to be television actor Tom Selleck and said he had known the woman Karen had memorialized online.

Miedecke told various media outlets that the scammer slowly built trust through text conversations and emotional manipulation before asking for small amounts of money. The requests escalated over time, eventually totaling tens of thousands of dollars sent through difficult-to-trace methods, including gift cards.

Friends and relatives repeatedly tried to convince Karen that the messages were fraudulent. At one point, according to Miedecke, someone with connections to people who worked around the real Tom Selleck personally warned her that the actor was not communicating with her. It did not change her mind.

The family later restricted Karens access to bank accounts and credit cards after learning how much money had been lost. But friends say she continued trying to send funds to the impersonator. Miedecke also said she believed Karen may have been showing signs of early cognitive decline, making her especially vulnerable to manipulation.

Authorities confirmed there had been prior reports involving possible elder financial abuse, and Adult Protective Services reportedly visited the couples home before the deaths.

No direct evidence

While investigators have stressed there is no direct evidence linking the scammer to the couples deaths, the case has become a chilling example of how online fraud schemes targeting seniors can inflict damage far beyond financial loss.

Experts say celebrity impersonation have grown increasingly sophisticated, fueled by social media access, emotional targeting and advances in artificial intelligence that allow fraudsters to appear more convincing.

Federal officials have repeatedly warned that older Americans are disproportionately targeted because scammers exploit loneliness, grief, confusion and trust. In many cases, victims resist intervention because they become emotionally invested in the fabricated relationship.

The Whitakers had lived for years in what neighbors described as a quiet retirement community. Friends now say the emotional fallout from the scam transformed the couples lives long before investigators arrived at their front door.

No arrests have been announced in connection with either the deaths or the impersonation scheme. Authorities continue to investigate.