Scam of the Day
Scam of the day – June 17, 2025 – Is Voice Authentication of Bank Accounts Safe?
As we all know, passwords as a method of authentication for your accounts are not particularly secure. Passwords may be stolen or compromised in a data breach. Biometrics such as a finger print are a good tool for verification to open your phone, but what about accessing your bank account? Many banks, such as Bank of America, Capital One, HSBC and Barclays offer voice verification whereby your voice on the phone acts as your password allowing you access to your account. Banks using this technology say that it is a safe and secure option. Banks saying this are wrong. British reporter Shari Vahl of the BBC used a clone of her voice to access accounts at Santander and Halifax with both banks accepting the AI generated voice to grant her access to the accounts.
Due to now widely available AI voice cloning technology, it can be a simple matter for an identity thief to clone your voice from social media or anywhere else your voice appears and use it to access your bank account if you are using voice verification at your bank. The susceptibility of voice verification technology to AI voice cloning has been proven by tech researchers in numerous instances.
TIPS
It must be noted that there have not been reports of widespread hacking of bank accounts through voice cloning, but with the vulnerability of present voice verification systems at banks and elsewhere to readily available AI voice cloning technology, there will be. However, as I always urge you to do, you should use dual factor authentication whenever possible including if you are using voice verification for your bank account so that even if someone were to try to access your bank account using AI voice cloning technology, they would not be able to do so. Just as we all should be protective of personal information we post on social media that can be leveraged against us for scams and identity theft purposes, we should consider whether we wish to take the risk of posting audio.
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 – June 16, 2025 – Apple Text Message Scam
Recently a Scamicide reader reported receiving a text message that read “Your Apple#ID has been locked, tap here to_unlOcked” By the way, the last two words are not typographical errors by me in writing today’s Scam of the day although they certainly are a good indication that the scammer sending the text message doesn’t do a very good job of proof reading.
Your Apple ID is the account you use to access a wide variety of Apple services such as the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, iMessage, Facetime, Apple Pay, Apple TV+ and many more. Anyone who clicked on the link would be sent to a fake, but legitimate appearing Apple website where, if you provided your Apple ID you would be turning it over to a scammer who could take control of your account as well as lock you out of it.
TIPS
A good place to start to avoid this scam is to remember that Apple doesn’t send text messages to people informing them that their account has been locked. Another easy way to determine if your account has been locked is to simply login to your Apple account. If you are able to do so, your account has obviously not been locked.
Trust me, you can’t trust anyone. A good way to protect your account even if someone steals your account number is to use dual factor authentication. Here is a link that shows you exactly what you need to do to set up dual factor authentication for your Apple account https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/use-two-factor-authentication-iphd709a3c46/ios#:~:text=On%20your%20iPhone%20go%20to,to%20your%20trusted%20phone%20number.
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 – June 15, 2025 – Social Media “Hot Bed” For Scams
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) more scams in the United States are started on social media than on any other platform at a cost of 1.9 billion dollars in 2024 and that figure is probably low because many victims, often out of embarrassment, do not report being victimized. A study done by the Fin Tech company Revolut found that 60% of all scams in the UK originated on the Meta platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp with investment scams being the most common form of scam. Revolut referred to social media as a “hotbed” for scams.
Social media based scams take many forms, but are often based on our trusting the people we encounter as friends on social media. Remember my motto, “trust me, you can’t trust anyone.” Scammers harvest information about you that you post on social media to learn about your identity and interests and use that information to target you with a wide variety of scams including investment scams, romance scams and sales of phony products.
TIPS
Don’t accept friend requests from everyone who asks to be your friend on social media and don’t trust communications on social media merely because they appear to come from your friends. Often social media accounts are hacked or cloned and the scammers, posing as your friends, leverage the trust that you have in your friends to lure you into phony investments, phony sales and romances. Further, even if a communication comes from a real friend, often people will forward scams that they have been fooled into thinking are legitimate.
Use your privacy settings to limit who can see the information you post on social media.
Remember it is good rule to never click on links that may appear on social media, text messages or emails unless you have absolutely confirmed that they are legitimate because the risk of downloading malware is too great.
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 in the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – June 14, 2025 – The Danger of Facebook Farming
We have all seen Facebook postings urging us to click that we “like” them. Sometimes it is an emotional appeal to show support for a sick child. Sometimes it is to show support for a political message. Often it is a post related to a missing child. Curiously enough, many times the description of the lost child is the same, namely the child is wearing black Converse with red and purpose shoestrings and a zip-up hoodie. Sometimes these appeals are legitimate, but unfortunately sometimes they are not. Often they are done to take advantage of Facebook’s algorithms that value the popularity measured by likes and shares which then appear on the Facebook pages of more people. Although the original content liked or shared may appear sincere or entertaining, the scammers who use this technique, which is called “farming,” then are able to change the content to something entirely different from what was originally shared or liked. This can be done for purposes of sending advertising or gathering marketing information, but, at its worst, it can be used to send malware infected content that can steal personal information from your computer and use it to make you a victim of identity theft.
TIPS
So what should you do? Posts that promise some sort of prize for sharing or liking are most likely scams. As for the other scams, you may wish to be a bit skeptical before automatically sharing or liking a post. You may wish to even do a little research yourself to find out if the posting is legitimate. A 2007 photo of a seven year old Pennsylvania girl with Stage IV cancer posing in her cheerleading uniform has been used numerous times for Facebook farming. Today that girl is a cancer free teenager whose family is understandably outraged that their daughter’s photograph has been abused by scammers through Facebook farming.
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 – June 13, 2025 – Father’s Day Scams
Sunday is Father’s Day which for many people is an opportunity to show our fathers how much we love and appreciate them. For scam artists, it is yet another opportunity to scam people. One of the most common Father’s Day scams involves e-cards which are great, particularly for those of us who forget to send a Father’s Day card until the last minute.
Identity thieves send emails purporting to contain a link to an electronic Father’s Day card, but instead of an electronic greeting card, what they actually are sending is malware that becomes downloaded when the victim clicks on the link. A common type of malware sent by criminals is keystroke logging malware enables an identity thief to steal personal information from the victim’s computer that can be used for purposes of identity theft. In other instances, the malware is ransomware which will encrypt all of your data which the hacker threatens to destroy unless you pay a cryptocurrency ransom.
Another common Father’s Day scam involves an email or text message that you get offering Father’s Day gifts at tremendously discounted prices. All you need to do is to click on a link to order online. The problem is that many of these offers are indeed scams. If you click on the link, one of two things can happen and both are bad. Sometimes the link will take you to an order form where you provide your credit card information, but never get anything in return. Instead, your credit card information is used to make you a victim of identity theft. Even worse is the other possibility which is by clicking on the link, you will unwittingly download a keystroke logging malware program that will steal all of the personal information stored on your computer and use that information to make you a victim of identity theft.
Be careful when making online purchases. Merely because a website offering great prices may be highly listed on Google or other search engines does not mean that it is legitimate. All it means is that the scammers know how to manipulate the positioning of their website in a Google search. Other times the scammers will merely pay for an advertisement for their website to appear at the top of a search engine search.
TIPS
Never click on a link to open an electronic greeting card unless the e card specifically indicates who sent the card. Phony e cards will not indicate the name of the sender. Even if the sender is someone you recognize, you should independently confirm with that person that they indeed sent you an e card before clicking on the link. Don’t depend upon your security software to protect your phone, computer or tablet because even the most up to date security software will always be behind the latest zero day defect malware.
It is always dangerous to buy anything online from any store or company with which you are not familiar. Check out the company with your state’s Attorney General, the Federal Trade Commission or just do a Google search to see if the company is legitimate. Even then, you are better off going directly to the company’s website rather than dealing with a company through an email that may just be a forgery of an email from a legitimate company. As always, if the offer you receive sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
You also can use the Google Safe Browsing Tool to see if a particular website you are considering for a Father’s Day purchase is legitimate. https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search
Never click on a link in an email or text message until you have independently confirmed that it is legitimate. The risk of downloading malware is too great. Even if your computer or other electronic device is protected with anti-virus and anti-malware security software, the best security software is always at least thirty days behind the latest malware. Trust me, you can’t trust anyone when it comes to clicking on links. Even if the link is contained in a communication that appears to come from a person or company you trust, you should always verify that it is legitimate before clicking on the link. In the case of companies offering free gifts or great deals, you should go to the company’s legitimate website where you can find any real promotion or gift being offered.
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 – June 12, 2025 – Bitcoin ATM Scams Surging
A report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) indicates a 1,000 % increase in money lost to scammers through Bitcoin ATMs in the last three years with consumers reporting losses of more than 111 million dollars last year. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency ATMs look just like traditional ATMs, but instead of distributing cash, they take cash in exchange for cryptocurrency and enable the transfer of the deposited cash turned into Bitcoin into crypto wallets. Due to the anonymity and immediacy of the Bitcoin transfers done through a Bitcoin ATM, it is a favorite method of payment for scammers.
Most of the scams using Bitcoin ATMs involve imposter scams where the scammer poses as either a law enforcement officer, government official or someone providing tech support for a non-existent problem. What all of these imposter scams have in common is that they scare the targeted victim with a story about an emergency that requires them to take cash from their bank account and use a QR code provided by the scammer to deposit the money into the account of the scammer at a Bitcoin ATM under the guise of protecting the funds. According to the FTC, people over 60 years old were more than three times more likely to report losing money to a Bitcoin ATM scam with an average loss of $10,000.
TIPS
Protecting yourself from these imposter scams starts with recognizing that you can never be sure who is actually contacting you when you are contacted by phone, email or text message so you should never click on a link, download an attachment or provide personal information in response to any of those communications unless you have absolutely confirmed that the communication was legitimate. Further there is no circumstance where you will be asked by anyone legitimate to withdraw funds from your bank, deposit them into a Bitcoin ATM and transfer the funds to them. Only scammers make those requests.
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 in the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – June 11, 2025 – The Credit Freeze Most People Miss
A credit freeze is, as the name implies, a freezing of your credit report at your request whereby no one can have access to your credit report even if they have your Social Security number and other personal information about you. You control access to the credit report through a special PIN that you choose. Thus, even if someone was able to steal your Social Security number, they could not parlay that into access to your credit report to be able to purchase things or set up accounts using your name. If you need to thaw out your credit report at such times as you want to apply for credit in the future, it is an easy procedure to do so using your PIN; then, after your new credit has been established, you can freeze your credit report again. Freezing and unfreezing your credit report has been free since 2018.
While many people are aware of the desirability of freezing your credit at Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, most people are not aware of the National Consumer Telecommunications and Utilities Exchange (NCTUE) which is the credit reporting agency used by the major phone service companies. More and more scammers are opening cell phone accounts in the names of their unwary victims who may have actually frozen their credit with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, but not with NCTUE.
TIPS
Freezing your credit is actually something everyone should do. It is free and easy to do. It protects you from someone using your identity to obtain loans or make large purchases even if they have your Social Security number. If you have not already done so, put a credit freeze on your credit reports at all of the major credit reporting agencies. Here are links to each of them with instructions about how to get a credit freeze:
https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
Scam of the Day – June 10, 2025 – Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Data Breach Class Action Settled
In the Scam of the day for June 14, 2023 I told you that health insurance company Harvard Pilgrim disclosed that it had suffered a major data breach and ransomware attack affecting more than 2.5 million people. This particular data breach is quite serious because among the records compromised were Social Security numbers and medical histories. Now a class action on behalf of the victims of the data breach has been settled and people affected by the data breach can claim up to $2,500 for out of pocket costs related to the data breach or, instead of instead of filing a claim for out of pocket losses, may file a claim for a cash payment of $150. All class members can also receive three years of free credit monitoring including dark web scanning. A hearing to obtain court approval of the settlement is scheduled for July 28, 2025 and the deadline for filng a claim is August 25, 2025. Here is a link to the class action website where you can file a claim if you were a victim of the data breach. https://www.harvardpilgrimdataincidentsettlement.com/
As I have reminded you many times, we are only as safe and secure as the security of the companies, government agencies and websites that have our personal information. Even if you are extremely diligent in protecting your personal information, you can be in danger of identity theft and scams if your personal information falls into the hands of hackers.
So what can you do to protect yourself from these data breaches that will be occurring?
TIPS
One important lesson is to limit the amount of personal information that you provide to companies and websites whenever possible. For example, your doctor doesn’t need your Social Security number for his or her records.
You should make sure that you have a unique password for each of your online accounts so that if one of your passwords is compromised in a data breach, all of your accounts will not be in danger. If your information is compromised in a data breach, you should immediately change the password for that account.
If you have not already done so, set up dual factor authentication for each of you accounts where it is available. This will protect you from having those accounts stolen by someone who may have access to your password.
https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
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 – June 9, 2025 – FTC Warns About Robocalls Offering Bogus Discount Services
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning people about scammers making robocalls offering discounts of 40 to 50% on phone, television or Internet services, often posing as AT&T, Spectrum or Comcast Xfinity. In order to get the discount, you are told that you need to get gift cards and provide the numbers to the scammers to pay for the greatly discounted services. Often the scammers may also ask for your present account information for the companies on whose behalf they say they are offering the discount in order to apply the discount, but the truth is that, in that situation, they will take that information to hack into your account.
TIPS
An easy way to determine that this is a scam is to remember that no legitimate company asks for payment through gift cards. Only scammers do this because it make it easier for them to launder the money they are scamming from you.
As for robocalls, there are a number of things you can do to protect yourself from robocalls. I describe them in detail in this Scam of the day https://scamicide.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=44907&action=edit
Finally, if ou think a particular discount promotion might be legitimate, merely to the website of the real company and you will be able to confirm whether or not such discounts are being offered. Don’t use the phone number of URL provided by the caller.
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 – June 8, 2025 – Virtual Kidnapping Getting Worse With AI
I have been warning you about phony kidnapping scams, also known as virtual kidnapping, for thirteen years and according to the FBI, the scam is increasing in frequency. Generally, the scam starts with a telephone call informing the person answering the phone that a child or other relative has been kidnapped and if the person receiving the call does not respond by wiring money right away, the relative will be killed. As with so many scams, we are often our own worst enemy and this scam is no exception. In many instances, the scammers gather personal information about the intended scam victims from information that the intended victims or members of their families post on social media. Armed with personal information gathered from social media, a scammer can describe the supposed kidnapped victim or provide personal information that would make it appear that indeed they actually do have the person in their custody.
Recently Jes Averhart of North Carolina received a phone call that appeared to come from her mother’s phone with a scammer on the other end of the call telling Jes that her mother had been kidnapped and would be killed unless a ransom was paid. Fortunately, Ms. Averhart didn’t fall for the scam and was able to confirm that her mother was safe, but she was extremely upset by the entire experience.
This scam has evolved to be even more convincing through the use of AI voice cloning technology to clone the voice of the person the scammers say they have kidnapped. They get the audio through social media posts to make the call from the kidnapper appear to be more believable. With voice cloning becoming so easy to do, even technologically unsophisticated scammers are able to utilize it to make their scam seem legitimate.
TIPS
Always be skeptical if you receive such a call. Never wire money to anyone for anything unless you are totally convinced that what you are doing is legitimate because unlike paying for something with a credit card, once your wired funds have been sent, they are impossible to get back. Talk to the alleged kidnapper as long as possible, thereby giving someone else with you the time to call or text the alleged kidnap victim on his or her phone. If the purported kidnapping victim is a young child, call the school to confirm that he or she is safe. You also could ask the kidnapper to describe your relative as well as provide information, such as his or her birth date, which could be found on a driver’s license, however, it is important to remember that much of this kind of information may be available through social media or elsewhere on the Internet.
Parents should also check the privacy settings of the social media of their children and consider limiting the availability of their children posts.
Remember, even if the call appears to come from your family member’s phone, it is a simple matter for a scammer to “spoof” the number to manipulate your Caller ID to make it appear as if the call was coming from the phone of your family member.
Finally, even paranoids have enemies. A good protective measure to take to protect yourself from virtual kidnappings is to have a secret password to use in the event of an emergency that can be used to determine if a family member truly is in trouble.
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/