Yes, for government to confiscate private property without due process is a bummer, an outrageous violation of our Constitutional rights. No doubt about that. In particular, that the police believe that someone is acting suspiciously is nothing like justification for such confiscation.

Yes, there have long been news articles on this civil forfeiture scam. No doubt it happens. But have to suspect that it doesn't happen very often to innocent people. Why so suspect? Because there would be more screaming, political debates, SCOTUS cases, etc.

In a sense, that there can be such a scam is not too surprising: That is, as we know well, generally, "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance". So, we can expect attacks on our Constitutional rights, and, to get our rights back or just maintain them, we have to fight, continually. That is, there are plenty of people who will take our rights unless we do fight back. So, right along, there needs to be fighting back.

Where is the ACLU in all of this? What about other groups interested in keeping government under control?

We can fight back by bringing law suits and by voting.

But, in particular, and in practical terms, in a local community, likely it can be enough to be known and respected in the community, active in politics, well known to the local politicians, and to have a little chat with them. A respected local citizen will likely not get pushed around by the police. It's a little like high school -- it helps to fit in at least a little.

Broadly an immediate, expedient, practical solution is: In public, don't carry a lot of cash. If have a lot of cash in your house, then, in case your house gets searched, have that cash well hidden. If you have a business that gets paid in cash, say, some tens of thousands a month, maybe make a daily deposit to your business account. Then, get well known at your bank as a successful, local business person who does get revenue in cash -- hopefully then your bank won't file papers saying that you are suspicious. E.g., generally in business, a banker wants good business customers, and business person wants good respect from their banker.

Commonly in a small community, the police know a lot of the people. That can help, say, if at 3 AM drive to the post office to deposit a letter -- the local police will just remember who you are and relax.

It might help to make a donation to some local police charity drive and, there, shake hands with the local chief of police. Maybe can get a window sticker for your car indicating that you are such a supporter.

Likely if there are enough legal cases where citizens bring suit against civil forfeiture, the practice will reach the SCOTUS and get struck down. Of course, legal cases are very expensive, but there are a lot of law school graduates without much to do; with enough forfeiture cases, some of those lawyers would take such cases and change the situation.

For long distance travel, there is an old saying, "A stranger in a strange land". So, it has long been recognized that being such a stranger is not the usual but has some dangers. E.g., don't carry much cash or anything very valuable. E.g., if want to carry $15,000 to buy a used car, just go to a bank and get a certified check for that amount and hide it somewhere, maybe in a book, fold it up and put it between two credit cards in your wallet, or just mail it to yourself at your destination. Some of the police might say that anyone who didn't use such a technique is suspicious.