The Federal Trade Commission has issued a public warning about fake TSA PreCheck renewal emails. They mimic the real ones closely. Here's how to tell them apart, the real sender addresses to recognize, and what to do if you've clicked one.
Never start your renewal from a link in an email — even one that looks official. Always type tsa.gov/precheck into your browser directly, and start the renewal from there. If you never click the link, the scam can't reach you.
Real renewal notices do exist, and they come from three specific domains: @universalenroll.dhs.gov, @clearme.com, and @tsaenrollmentbyidemia.tsa.dhs.gov. Any email about your PreCheck renewal from any other address is a scam.
The visual design is almost identical. The details are not.
Phishing emails often pass two or three of these tests but fail one. Even one red flag is enough to stop and verify.
Clicking the link itself rarely causes immediate harm. The danger is what you do on the page that opens. Here's how to respond at each level.
Close the tab. Run a security scan if you want to be safe, but most phishing pages need you to enter data before they can harm you.
Place a fraud alert with the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion). Monitor your credit reports for unauthorized activity for the next 90 days.
Call your card issuer immediately, freeze or replace the card, and dispute any charges. Most banks reverse fraudulent transactions within a few business days.
File a report at reportfraud.ftc.gov. Forward the scam email to tsacontact@tsa.dhs.gov. Reporting helps shut down the scam infrastructure faster.
TSA PreCheck scams work because people are uncertain about when their renewal is due. When a scam email arrives during a vaguely "renewal-feels-right" window, urgency does the rest. The defense isn't to look more carefully at every email — it's to remove the uncertainty.
A reminder you set against your real expiration date means you already know when to renew. When a renewal email arrives — real or fake — you don't need to react. You go directly to tsa.gov on your own schedule. The scam emails become noise you can ignore.
Read the full TSA PreCheck renewal reminder guide or see how to renew safely through the official site.
Set your own reminder — stop depending on email notices you can't always trust.
Done in seconds. No sign-up required.
Check the sender domain. Legitimate renewal notices come from @universalenroll.dhs.gov, @clearme.com, or @tsaenrollmentbyidemia.tsa.dhs.gov. Any other domain — including @tsa-precheck.com or @precheck-renew.us — is a scam. Even if the email looks legitimate, never click links; go directly to tsa.gov/precheck.
The three official sender domains in 2026 are @universalenroll.dhs.gov (the DHS Universal Enrollment Services portal), @clearme.com (CLEAR), and @tsaenrollmentbyidemia.tsa.dhs.gov (IDEMIA). Any email about your TSA PreCheck renewal from any other address is a phishing scam.
If you entered no information, you're probably fine — close the tab and don't return. If you entered personal info or payment details, call your card issuer to block the card and dispute any charges, then change passwords on any account that reused the credentials. Report the scam to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and to TSA at tsacontact@tsa.dhs.gov.
Scam emails arrive when members are mentally prepared to renew — close to a flight, around the time they vaguely remember PreCheck expires. The urgency makes people skip checks they'd normally do. The FTC issued a formal alert about this scam pattern because of how many people fall for it.
TSA's enrollment providers may send SMS reminders if you opted in during enrollment, but they will never ask you to click a payment link in a text. Any text asking for fees, card details, or social security numbers is a scam. Real text reminders simply tell you to renew at tsa.gov/precheck.
Stop relying on emails to tell you when to renew. Set your own reminder against your known expiration date. When the renewal time comes, go directly to tsa.gov/precheck — never from a link, never from an email. If you never click email links, scams can't reach you.
Set a reminder against your actual expiration date. When renewal time arrives, you'll already know, and you can ignore every TSA renewal email in your inbox.
Set My TSA PreCheck ReminderLast modified: