Scam of the Day

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Scam of the day – February 16, 2023 – Critical Apple Security Updates

by | Feb 15, 2023 |

It is always important to update all of the software you use with the latest security updates and patches as soon as they are available. Numerous hacks and data breaches could have been avoided if individuals as well as companies installed security updates as soon as they became available. Hackers take advantage of the fact that many of us procrastinate installing security software to our great detriment. The major data breach at Equifax that affected 148 million people involved a security flaw in Apache software for which a patch had already been issued months earlier, but Equifax had not yet installed at the time of the data breach.

Apple has released security updates to address vulnerabilities in multiple products. An attacker could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected device.

TIPS

Here is a link to Apple’s page with all of the security updates and instructions as to how to install them.

If you use any of the affected Apple devices, it is critical that you install these updates as soon as possible. https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/current-activity/2023/02/14/apple-releases-security-updates-multiple-products

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Scam of the day – February 15, 2023 – Geek Squad Renewal Scam

by | Feb 14, 2023 |

This a scam that I have written about a number of times in the past, but after being informed by numerous Scamicide readers that they have recently encountered this scam, I am writing about it again.  Whenever you come across scams, please let me know so we can share the information to help people avoid being scammed which is the entire purpose of Scamicide.

Geek Squad is a subsidiary of big box store chain Best Buy and it offers excellent tech support for electronic devices including televisions and computers.  They are a popular company used by many people. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently warned that lately  scammers have been sending phishing emails that appear to be Geek Squad invoices. These emails look like a legitimate email from Geek Squad, although the grammar in many of these emails is not particularly good which is one of many indications that it was a scam. These types of phishing emails are intended to lure you into contacting the scammers where you will be prompted to provide  information that will lead to your becoming a victim of identity theft.

Copied below is a phony invoice that appears to come from Geek Squad and is intended to get you to respond by calling the phone number contained in the email to dispute the bill.  If you do call the number you will be prompted to provide personal information that would be used to make you a victim of identity theft.

Here is a copy of an email that is presently circulating:

“Payment Processed to GEEK~SQUAD

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your order.

Please review your payment amount below, we have attached a PDF detailing your order invoice and terms of your subscription.

Contact Support +1 802 209 0705 Reach out to us anytime. We’ll be happy to help you.

——Product Details: ——

GEEK~SQUAD® Network Security – Auto Renewal 3 Years subscription
Invoice Number: GT-261994
Invoice Date: 06/10/2022
Payment Method: Online
Amount: 339.99 USD

We have charged you 339.99 USD for the next 3 Years subscription. We tried to contact you on your registered Phone number, Deduction of amount will appear on your bank account within 48 hours.

If you have any Question or Wish to cancel the Renewal, Please connect us on +1 802 209 0705

Sincerely,
© 2022 GEEK~SQUAD – All Rights Reserved
+1 802 209 0705

You’re receiving this email because you signed up for a GEEK~SQUAD account”.

TIPS

Never click on links or download attachments in emails or text messages unless you have absolutely confirmed that they are legitimate and don’t call companies at telephone numbers that appear in the email such as this one.  Instead, if the email appears to come from a legitimate company, you can call them at a telephone number you confirm is legitimate.  In the case of Geek Squad their customer service number is actually 800-433-5778.  The phone number in the email is not that of the Geek Squad and the area code is that of Hawaii.  Never call the number that appears in these types of emails.

An indication that this is not legitimate and is a phishing email is the fact that nowhere in the email does your name appear.

If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is sign up for free using this link. https://scamicide.com/scam-of-the-day/

Scam of the day – February 14, 2023 – Wrong Number Text Message Scam

by | Feb 13, 2023 |

I recently received an email from a Scamicide subscriber who was concerned about a possible scam.  She received a text message that was obviously intended for someone else.  Wanting to be a responsible person, she responded to the text message telling the sender that it had been sent to the wrong number.  At this point, the scammer sending the original email said that he was always looking for more friends and attempted to start a conversation.  At this point, the Scamicide reader became suspicious as the scammer started asking for personal information and she did not respond further.

Often these phony text messages aren’t even coming from a real person, but are automated responses sent by a bot programmed to give specific responses.  The scams involved with these calls are many, but they all start with establishing a relationship with the targeted victim such that the victim begins to trust the scammer.  At this point, the scammer may ask for personal information that can be used to make you a victim of identity theft.  In other instances, they will lure you into clicking on a malware infected link under some pretense.  In yet another version of the scam, they will use the text message to advance a romance scam and either eventually ask for money or for you to send compromising photos that would be used for blackmail purposes.  Finally, these phony text messages have also been used to lure people into cryptocurrency scams.  The bottom line is that when you get a text message that appears to be intended for someone else, it is most often a scam.

TIPS

This is an easy scam to avoid.  The best thing to do is to merely not respond at all to the text message.  The risk of getting involved in a scam is too great.  You also should block the number from your phone.  If you are mobile service provider is AT&T, Verizon Wireless or T-Mobile you should forward the message to SPAM (7726) and report it as spam.

If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and type in your email address on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”

Scam of the day – February 13, 2023 – FTC Sending Refunds to Victims of MoneyGram Scams

by | Feb 12, 2023 |

A common theme in many scams, including phony lottery scams and the infamous grandparent scam, is that the scammers will require the victim to wire money or use gift cards rather than use a credit card or a check.  Once money has been wired or gift card information provided, it is all but impossible to trace or stop payment.  In response to this problem, the Federal Trade Commission investigated both Western Union and MoneyGram and settled claims brought against them in 2017 and 2009 respectively.   According to the terms of both settlements, the companies agreed to make substantial changes in how they did business in order to reduce the amount of scammers using their services. While Western Union is apparently adhering to the terms of its settlement, the FTC determined that MoneyGram was not implementing the fraud prevention standards agreed upon and consequently, the FTC brought new charges against MoneyGram which were settled in 2018.   Among the terms of the new settlement was a payment by MoneyGram of funds to the FTC to be returned to people who were victimized by scammers through MoneyGram between 2013 and 2017.  Now four years later, the FTC is refunding 115.8 million dollars to the almost 40,000 victims of MoneyGram scams.

TIPS

First, in regard to avoiding scams like this in the first place, whenever anyone you are dealing with requests that payment be made by way of a wire transfer or gift card, you should immediately be skeptical because of the near impossibility of getting your money back if the deal is a scam or anything goes wrong.  Using a credit card for payment is much safer.

As for victims of scams where MoneyGram was used for payment between 2013 and 2017, the refund checks are  finally being sent to people who submitted claims during the open claims process period that I informed you of in 2021.  For more information about the program, you can call the MoneyGram Remission Administrator at 844-269-2630.

If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is sign up for free using this link. https://scamicide.com/scam-of-the-day/

Scam of the day – February 12, 2023 – Publishers Clearing House Scammer Indicted

by | Feb 11, 2023 |

Two days ago, Alrick Anthony Gardner was indicted on charges alleging he operated a sweepstakes scam that stole millions of dollars from unsuspecting elderly victims.  According to the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, Gardner and others working with him called their targeted victims telling them that they had won a Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes, but that in order to receive their winnings they needed to pay fees and taxes.  In an effort to make their scam look legitimate, the scammers mailed the victims fake documents including a counterfeit “winning notification” letter that appeared to come from Publishers Clearing House along with a phony letter that appeared to come from the IRS informing the victims of the need to pay taxes on their winnings to the scammers.

Recently there has been an increase in reports of scammers calling people on the telephone and telling them that they have won one of the Publishers Clearing House lotteries, but that they have to pay fees or taxes before being able to claim their prize.  In addition there are reports of targeted victims receiving phony notifications by regular mail that they have won a Publishers Clearing House lottery, but that again they must pay fees or taxes before being able to receive their prize.

It is hard to win any lottery. It is impossible to win one that you have not even entered and yet scam artists have found that it is extremely lucrative to scam people by convincing them that they have won various lotteries. With so many people entered into the Publishers Clearing House lotteries, it is easier for scammers to convince people that they have won.

Most lottery scams involve the victim being told that they need to pay taxes or administrative fees directly to the lottery sponsor; however no legitimate lottery requires you to do so.

As with many effective scams, the pitch of the scammer may seem legitimate. Income taxes are due on lottery winnings, but with legitimate lotteries they are either deducted from the lottery winnings before you receive your prize or you are responsible for paying the taxes directly to the IRS. No legitimate lottery collects taxes on behalf of the IRS from lottery winners.  Other times, the scammer tell the “winners” that in order to collect their prizes, they need to pay administrative fees. Often, the victims are told to send the fees back to the scammer by prepaid gift cards. Prepaid cards are a favorite of scammers because they are the equivalent of sending cash. They are impossible to stop or trace. Again, no legitimate lottery requires you to pay administrative fees in order to claim your prize.

TIPS

Fortunately, there is an easy way to know, when you are contacted by Publishers Clearing House by phone, email or text message informing you that you have won one of its major multi-million dollar prizes, whether you have been contacted by the real Publishers Clearing House. Publishers Clearing House only contacts major prize winners in person or by regular mail.  They do not contact winners by phone, email or text message so if you do receive a notification of your winning one of their major multi-million dollar prizes by those means of communication you know it is a scam.

Even if the Caller ID on your phone indicates the call is from Publishers Clearing House, it is very easy for a scammer to use a technique called “spoofing” to make it appear that the call is coming from Publishers Clearing House rather than the scammer who is really making the call. Trust me, you can’t trust anyone.

In addition, no winners of the Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes are ever required to make a payment of any kind to claim their prize so if you are told that you have won, but are required to make any kind of payment before you can claim your prize, you can be sure that it is a scam.  As for other lotteries, remember, you can’t win a lottery you haven’t entered and no legitimate lottery asks you to pay them administrative fees or taxes.

Also, as I often tell you, it is always a red flag that you are involved with a scam when you are asked to pay for anything with gift cards.  Gift cards are a favorite method of payment for scammers because they are easy to convert into cash and impossible to trace.

If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is sign up for free using this link. https://scamicide.com/scam-of-the-day/

Scam of the day – February 11, 2023 – Watch Out For Earthquake Charity Scams

by | Feb 10, 2023 |

Natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires are common occurrences.  Recently parts of Syria and Turkey have been suffered devastating earthquakes causing incredible damage and tremendous loss of life.   Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes and earthquakes bring out the best in people who want to donate to charities to help the victims. Unfortunately natural disasters also bring out the worst in scammers who are quick to take advantage of the generosity of people by contacting them posing as charities, but instead of collecting funds to help the victims of these natural disasters, these scam artists steal the money for themselves under false pretenses.

Charities are not subject to the federal Do Not Call List so even if you are signed up for the federal Do Not Call List, legitimate charities are able to contact you by phone. The problem is that whenever you are get a phone call, you can never be sure as to who is really calling you so you may be contacted either by a fake charity or a scammer posing as a legitimate charity. Using a technique called spoofing, the scammers can manipulate your Caller ID to make it appear that the call is coming from a legitimate charity when it is not. Similarly, when you are solicited for a charitable contribution by email or text message you cannot be sure as to whether the person contacting you is legitimate or not.

TIPS

Never provide credit card information over the phone to anyone whom you have not called or in response to an email or text message. Before you give to any charity, you may wish to check out the charity with http://www.charitynavigator.org where you can learn whether or not the charity itself is a scam. You can also see how much of the money that the legitimate charity collects actually goes toward its charitable purposes and how much it uses for fund raising and administrative costs.  Charitynavigator.org has a list of specific highly-rated charities that they recommend if you wish to assist people harmed by the Syrian and Turkish earthquake.  These charities include Direct Relief and Operation Blessing International.  Here is a link to their recommendations.  https://www.charitynavigator.org/discover-charities/where-to-give/earthquakes-turkey-syria/

If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and type in your email where it states “Sign up for this blog.”

Scam of the day – February 10, 2023 – Australian Loses $22,000 to Sophisticated Bank Text Message Scam

by | Feb 9, 2023 |

Recently, a man in Australia was scammed out of $22,000 through a sophisticated text message scam.  It started with a text message that appeared to be an alert from his bank informing him that someone had just tried to setup a payment from his account to a new payee.  The text message went on to indicate that if the new account payment was not legitimate to contact the bank at a phone number provided in the email.  One reason that scams like this are often successful is that people do sign to receive text message alerts from their banks and the phone number shown as sending the text message appeared to be that of the Australian’s bank.

In a panic that someone was trying to access his bank account, the Australian called the number and taken through a long discussion with someone who sounded very much like a legitimate bank employee.  At the end of the discussion, the phony bank employee told the targeted victim that it was necessary for the victim to transfer a randomly generated amount of money to an account manager at the bank.  Why this would be something that should be done if someone’s account had really been hacked makes no sense at all, but by that time, the scammers, who often have a knowledge of psychology that Freud would have envied, had gained the confidence of their victim convinced the victim to transfer $22,000 to an account designated by the bank.  He was told that following the transfer, he would receive a confirmation text and his account would be safe.

Of course, he didn’t receive a confirmation text. The entire process was a scam and the Australian has lost his $22,000.

TIPS

At the crux of this scam is “spoofing” by which a scammer can make a phone call or text message appear to come from whatever number the scammer wishes use.  In this case, although the text message did not come from the victim’s bank, the victim’s Caller ID showed the phone number of the bank as the sender.  Trust me, you can’t trust anyone.

Legitimate bank text messages will never ask you to provide sensitive personal information or ask you to make a payment in the event of a possible security breach to your account.  If you need to speak with someone in response to such a text message, don’t use the phone number contained in the text message, but rather call the bank at a telephone number you know is legitimate.

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Scam of the day – February 9, 2023 – Watch Out For Valentine’s Day Scams

by | Feb 8, 2023 |

Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching.   This is a very important day to many people including scammers and identity thieves who always manage to find an opportunity in whatever is current or popular  to scam you out of your money.  There are many Valentine’s day scams, but the most prevalent are phony florists, online dating scams, phony Valentine’s day electronic greeting cards and delivery scams.

Scammers set up phony florist websites or send you an email purporting to be from a local florist with a great deal you merely have to click on in order to save a great deal of money on flowers.

Online dating scams are plentiful with most revolving around scammers quickly professing true love for you and then asking for money.

Electronic greeting cards are a great way to send a Valentine’s day card at the last minute when you forget to get one ahead of time, but phony electronic greeting cards can be filled with malware and if you click on the link to open the card, you will infect your computer or other electronic device with malware that will steal your personal information and use it to make you a victim of identity theft.

A common delivery scam operating on Valentine’s day involves a delivery of a gift basket of wine and flowers to you, however the person delivering the gift basket requests a small payment, generally five dollars or less, as a delivery fee because alcohol is being delivered.  The person delivering the basket will only accept a credit card as payment.  When you turn over your credit card, the scammer then takes down the information and runs up charges on your credit card.

TIPS

Never trust an online florist or other retailer until you have checked them out to make sure that they are legitimate.  Otherwise, you might be turning over your credit card information to a scammer.  It is also important to remember, as I constantly warn you, that you can never be confident when you receive an email, particularly one with a link in it or an attachment to download, if the person sending you the email is who they claim to be.  Clicking on links sent by scammers can download keystroke logging malware on to your computer or other electronic device that will, in turn, enable the identity thief to steal personal information from your computer and use it to make you a victim of identity theft.  Always confirm the legitimacy of an email or text message before clicking on links contained in the message.

As for online dating scams, of course you should be wary of anyone who immediately indicates he or she is in love with you and then asks for money.  Some other telltale signs of an online romance scam include wanting to communicate with you right away on an email account outside of the dating site, claiming to be working abroad, asking for your address and poor grammar which is often a sign of a foreign romance scammer.  Many romance scams originate in Eastern Europe.

Be skeptical of any online greeting card, particularly if it does not indicate from whom it is being sent.  Be very wary of a card sent by “an admirer.”  Even if you recognize the name of the sender, confirm that it was really sent from that person before you click on the link and open the card. It could be filled with malware.

In regard to the delivery scam, there is no special delivery charge for alcohol so if someone requires a payment for such a delivery and on top of that won’t accept cash, merely decline the gift.

If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is sign up for free using this link. https://scamicide.com/scam-of-the-day/

Scam of the day – February 8, 2023 – Investment Advice Company Paying 1.7 Million Dollars as Penalty for Deceiving Customers

by | Feb 7, 2023 |

The Federal Trade Commission recently settled its lawsuit against investment advice company WealthPress  and its owners, Roger Scott and Conor Lynch for using deceptive and misleading claims to induce consumers to purchase their bogus investment advising services.  WealthPress represented that their recommendations were based on a proprietary system that guaranteed success when, in fact, most of their customers lost money after paying as much as thousands of dollars to sign up for WealthPress’ recommendations.

WealthPress used deceptive and misleading videos to lure people into buying their system.  In one video, WealthPress said, “I’ll show you how you can potentially make $28,840 dollars – or more-every single week.  With quick simple… trades that require zero market knowledge or trading experience.”

Under the terms of the settlement, WealthPress, Scott and Lynch are paying 1.2 million dollars to the FTC to be used to pay refunds to the victims of their scam.  WealthPress, Scott and Lynch will also be paying a $500,000 civil penalty.  I will keep you informed as terms of the repayment become known.

TIPS

The sale of business opportunities is regulated by the FTC’s Business Opportunity Rule which requires the sellers of business opportunities to provide a one-page disclosure document outlining important facts about the offering including informing you about any legal actions in which the sellers have been involved. The disclosure also has to provide you with details as to any refund policy and provide a list of references. Additionally, as is always the case with these types of scams, if they make claims about how much money you can earn through their scheme, they must provide you with an Earnings Claim Statement that indicates in detail the specifics of those claims and the opportunity to see written proof of the claims.

Before considering any kind of business opportunity, you should have a lawyer review these required disclosures and if the person offering you the business opportunity does not provide these documents, you should consider that a red flag that this is a scam. You also should investigate the people behind the offering as well as the particular type of business opportunity.

Finally, as always if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.  WealthPress’ promises of high returns at no risk are obviously too good to be true.

If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and type in your email address on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”

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