The Daily Money: How to avoid wildfire scammers

Good morning! It’s Daniel de Visé with your Daily Money.

Deadly wildfires have devastated Los Angeles neighborhoods, destroying homes and forcing thousands to evacuate.

As the fires continue to threaten the region, Felecia Wellington Radel reports, Americans looking for ways to help those affected could be prey for cyber criminals trying to take advantage of the crisis.

But there are ways to stay safe online.

Meta cancels DEI programs ahead of inauguration

Facebook and Instagram owner Meta has canceled its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the latest in a series of political maneuvers from CEO Mark Zuckerberg to align his social media company with President-elect Donald Trump's administration and the MAGA anti-"woke" movement.

Meta said the sweeping policy shift was the result of the changing legal landscape for DEI.

Could Trump dump the CFPB?

In 2017, then-President Donald Trump appointed White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. As a Republican member of Congress, Mulvaney had previously called the CFPB “a joke… in a sick, sad kind of way.”

So it was a bit like déjà vu when Elon Musk, Trump’s new presidential adviser, tweeted in early November, “Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies." The CFPB is also named in the Heritage Foundation’s policy document Project 2025, which calls it “a highly politicized, damaging, and utterly unaccountable federal agency.”

Is the consumer protection agency in peril?

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About The Daily Money

Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer and financial news from USA TODAY, breaking down complex events, providing the TLDR version, and explaining how everything from Fed rate changes to bankruptcies impacts you.

Daniel de Visé covers personal finance for USA Today.