In the bizarre carnival that is the 2026 World Economic Forum, opportunistic grifters have found a fresh mark: billionaires seeking for a moment with President Donald Trump. Scammers are hawking fake VIP tickets to USA House and other Trump-linked venues, duping ultra-wealthy attendees with bogus promises of exclusive access.
According to The Daily Beast, organizers of USA House, a privately run American pavilion just outside the Davos security perimeter, issued a blunt warning on their website this week: “Caveat Billionaires, it has been brought to our attention that again this year external parties are selling ‘VIP access to USA House’ and other Stromback Global venues in Davos.”
The statement makes clear that no legitimate tickets are being sold through third-party vendors and that anyone who paid for such access will be denied entry.
USA House described the bogus passes as possibly “the fastest selling fiction about Davos since Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain,” a jab that doubles as proof that even the global elite aren’t immune to swindles when it comes to rubbing elbows with power.
Local reporting and attendee accounts suggest the scam has been unusually widespread this year, with inquiries flooding the venue’s message boards and social feeds. “Our sympathies to those who fell victim to these scams,” the official warning said, a rare public sympathy for would-be Davos ticket buyers who shelled out for nothing.
The hustle itself speaks to the extraordinary demand — and perceived value — attached to Trump’s appearance. The president is slated to deliver a major address at the forum and is linked to a slate of high-profile events hosted at USA House featuring CEOs, Treasury officials, and other prominent figures. That lure, however, has also created a ripe market for fraudsters.
This isn’t the first time Davos attendees have been duped by fake VIP packages for high-profile political attractions, but the scale this year — and the prominence of Trump as the hook — has made the scams especially notable. Online discussions among attendees and panel participants range from amusement at the audacity of the frauds to frustration over lost cash and dashed hopes of access.
USA House’s warning comes as part of a broader push to protect the integrity of the World Economic Forum experience. Organizers made it clear that they do not honor external ticket sales, and that access is tightly controlled and typically limited to invited guests or sponsors.
For now, the scammers’ success underscores a simple truth: in the spectacle economy that surrounds Trump’s global appearances — even one rooted in elite policy forums like Davos — there’s always someone happy to sell a mirage to the highest bidder.
