A new scam presently circulating starts wiwth an email with a subject line of “Formal Interview Invitation” with the email being a request for an interview from a writer  purportedly doing a story about a mentor of the person receiving the email.  The email indicated that the mentor had suggested the person getting the email as a good source for the article. The email contained many questions that were to be included in the proposed interview for which the person receiving the email would get a $1,200 “honorarium” for participating in the interview either by phone or Zoom.

The name of the writer used in the email was indeed a professional journalist and the magazine mentioned was also legitimate.  However, the person receiving the email was skeptical enough to contact the named writer through LinkedIn rather than through the contact information contained in the email only to find that her skepticism was warranted as the writer did not send the email.  It was sent by a scammer whose next step would have been to ask for the bank account number and routing number of the person receiving the email, purportedly to wire money into her account, but actually to use that information along with her name to create counterfeit checks and acces her bank account.

TIPS

As always, if it sounds too good to be true, it generally is.  Magazines do not generally pay anything to people they interview for stories.  This was a sophisticated scam and one that relies on initially gathering personal information about the targeted victim and her job, all of which is relatively easy to do through AI.  This scam is turning up in emails to young professionals, academics and people working in the media, but it can be expected to expand.  The lesson here is to always confirm any such offer and never provide personal information, particularly banking information unless you have absolutely confirmed the legitimacy of the offer.

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