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Scam of the day – November 12, 2019 – New Netflix Phishing Scam
The popularity of Netflix makes it a preferred subject for phishing emails which appear to come from Netflix. In these phishing emails you are told you need to update your credit card information or asked for other personal information. I have written about a number...
read moreScam of the day – November 11, 2019 – Secret Sister Scam Returns
What is old, is new again. According to numerous reports around the country, the Secret Sister scam is back. I first reported to you about this scam in 2015. It seems harmless enough when you see it come up in your email or on social media, such as Facebook and...
read moreScam of the day – November 10, 2019 – Veterans Scams
Tomorrow we will celebrate Veterans' Day, a day we set aside to honor those who have served our country and to whom all Americans owe a debt of gratitude. However, for scam artists, Veterans' Day is just another opportunity to take advantage of the best intentions of...
read moreScam of the day – November 9, 2019 – FTC Sues Alleging Illegal Pyramid Scheme
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued multi-level marketer Neora LLC, formerly known as Nerium International, LLC alleging that the company operated an illegal pyramid scheme. Additionally, the FTC is alleging that Nerium deceptively and falsely promoted "EHT"...
read moreScam of the day – November 8, 2019 – New American Express Phishing Email
Today's Scam of the day is about a phishing email that purports to be from American Express. It was brought to my attention by a Scamicide reader who received it and frankly it is one of the most convincing phishing emails that I have seen in a long time. The...
read moreScam of the day – November 7, 2019 – Another Real Estate Seminar Scam
It was just about three weeks ago that I told you about he Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Utah Division of Consumer Protection suing Zurixx, LLC, a company that puts on real estate seminars in which attendees were supposedly told how to make large amounts of...
read moreScam of the day – November 6, 2019 – Real Estate Email Scam
I have been reporting to you about this particular scam preying upon home buyers for three years. Earlier this summer, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a warning about the scam and its dramatic increase. This week there were reports about the...
read moreScam of the day – November 5, 2019 – Mavis Wanczyk Twitter Scam
Many people may not remember the name of Mavis L. Wanczyk, but she was the lucky winner of a 758 million dollar Powerball drawing in 2017. Not long after she claimed her prize, a scam started appearing in which many people received an email with the message line...
read moreScam of the day – November 4, 2019 – California Wildfire Charity Scams
Natural disasters, such as the dozens of wildfires that have forced hundreds of thousands of people in California to flee their homes bring out the best in people who want to donate to charities to help the victims. Unfortunately natural disasters also bring out the...
read moreScam of the day – November 3, 2019 – FBI Warns About E-Skimming
Regular readers of Scamicide are certainly familiar with skimmers which are devices installed on ATMs and credit and debit card processors that steal information from credit and debit cards thereby enabling criminals to use that information to make charges on those...
read moreScam of the day – November 2, 2019 – CFPB Brings Legal Action Against Student Loan Dept Relief Companies
More than forty-two million Americans have student loans with an outstanding balance of more than 1.4 trillion dollars so it is no surprise that scammers are focusing their attention on these students and former students through scams that falsely promise to provide...
read moreScam of the day – November 1, 2019 – FTC Releases Consumer Fraud Survey
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has just released the results of a comprehensive survey conducted two years ago regarding consumer fraud. According to the survey approximately 40 million people were fraud victims in 2017 with the most common types of fraud being...
read moreScam of the day – October 31, 2019 – Publishers Clearing House Scam
Publishers Clearing House, the sponsor of some of the most popular legitimate lotteries in the country no longer limits its contests to one or two a year, but has numerous lotteries each month. Recently there has been an increase in reports of scammers calling people...
read moreScam of the day – October 30, 2019 – FTC Sues Publisher Targeting Seniors with Scams
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued Agora Financial, LLC alleging it scammed seniors into buying books, newsletters and other publications that falsely claimed a cure for type 2 diabetes. They also are accused of perpetrating a scam related to a non-existent...
read moreScam of the day – October 29, 2019 – The Internet’s Most Dangerous Celebrities
Each year, computer security company, McAfee releases a list of the most dangerous celebrities on the Internet. These are people whose popularity is exploited by identity thieves and hackers who lure unsuspecting people through links in emails, social media and text...
read moreScam of the day – October 28, 2019 – Phony Kidnapping Scam
The Palm Springs California Police Department warned the public this week about a phony kidnapping scam that has been occurring throughout the country. I have been warning you about phony kidnapping scams, also known as virtual kidnapping, for seven years. The scam...
read moreScam of the day – October 27, 2019 – Alleged Ponzi Schemer Charged
Recently the Department of Justice obtained a grand jury indictment against Hal H. Brown Jr. on charges related to his alleged operation of a Ponzi scheme. Although, Charles Ponzi was not the first to use the technique of paying off early investors with the...
read moreScam of the day – October 26, 2019 – New Apple Phishing Email
Phishing emails, by which scammers and identity thieves attempt to lure you into either clicking on links contained within the email which download malware or trick you into providing personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft, are...
read moreScam of the day – October 25, 2019 – Microsoft Ending Support for Windows 7: What Does it Mean to You?
We all remember the massive 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack that affected computers in 74 countries including the UK where its entire health care system was affected. Ransomware is the name for malware that once installed on a computer, often unwittingly through...
read moreScam of the day – October 24, 2019 – Yahoo Phishing Email
Today's Scam of the day is another phishing email sent to me from a Scamicide reader who had received it. A copy of the short email appears below. As with all phishing emails, its purpose is to lure you into clicking on a link in order to resolve some problem. DO...
read moreScam of the day – October 23, 2019 – FTC Releases National Do Not Call Registry Data Book for 2019
Since it began in 2003, the National Do Not Call list has grown to include more than 239.5 million phone numbers. When you register your phone number with the Do Not Call list it becomes illegal for telemarketers to contact you by phone. The Do Not Call list does...
read moreScam of the day – October 22, 2019 – Yahoo Data Breach Settlement
If you had a Yahoo account between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2016 including a Yahoo email account, a Yahoo Fantasy Sports account, a Tumblr account or a Flickr account you are eligible for two years of free credit monitoring services or a cash payment of as...
read moreScam of the day – October 21, 2019 – Cell Phone Security
Let's start with the good news. Although many security experts still warn people to avoid public USB ports for charging your phone, such as commonly found at airports, the threat to the security of your phone by charging at one of these public charging stations is...
read moreScam of the day – October 20, 2019 – Phony Charity Ads on Social Media
According to the old proverb (are there any new proverbs?) the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The truth of this proverb has been proved recently by a number of scammers who are placing advertisements on your social media sites offering a wide variety of...
read moreScam of the day – October 19, 2019 – Dutch Prostitution Site Suffers Data Breach
Sex workers in the Netherlands and their customers use the website Hooker.nl as an online forum. It was recently disclosed that the site had been hacked and personal information of 250,000 sex workers and their customers was stolen. While prostitution is legal in...
read moreScam of the day – October 18, 2019 – Tech Support Scammers Arrested
Tech support scams in which consumers are tricked by scammers into believing there is a problem with their computers that require the expensive services of the scammers is a major problem. Tech support scams are increasingly common and victimize consumers 60 years or...
read moreScam of the day – October 17, 2019 – GAO Reports VA Not Protecting Veterans Enough From Scams
The General Accountability Office (GAO) which issues unbiased and extremely important studies on behalf of the federal government recently issued its report about the efforts of the Department of Veterans Affairs to protect disabled veterans from being scammed. The...
read moreScam of the day – October 16, 2019 – Why You Need Different Passwords for All Your Accounts
Identity theft is a serious crime that can result in financial harm and tremendous disruption of the lives of its victims. We are presently in an era of constant major data breaches so no matter how careful you are about protecting your personal information, you are...
read moreScam of the day – October 15, 2019 – Breast Cancer Awareness Month Scams
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and scammers are taking full advantage of the increased attention to this disease which is diagnosed in more than 200,000 women each year. Recently, I received a telephone call from a telemarketer seeking a contribution to a...
read moreScam of the day – October 14, 2019 – Indiana Woman Victim of Criminal Identity Theft
Criminal identity theft occurs when someone steals your identity and then commits crimes using your name and Social Security number. The problems encountered by someone whose identity has been stolen by a criminal who then commits crimes in the name of the identity...
read moreScam of the day – October 13, 2019 – New Instagram Feature Fights Phishing
Time and time again, the way in which major online attacks on government agencies, companies and all of us as individuals begin is through a spear phishing email. Phishing emails are emails that are sent to lure you into providing information or clicking on links in...
read moreScam of the day – October 12, 2019 – FTC Sending Refunds to Business Coaching Scam
Business coaches, who are people that advise and guide business owners in the operating and growing of their businesses, can be quite helpful, particularly to entrepreneurs. However, scammers posing as business coaches have been taking advantage of trusting business...
read moreScam of the day – October 11, 2019 – Alabama Hospitals Attacked by Ransomware
I have written many times about ransomware because it continues to be a major problem for businesses, governments and individuals alike. Ransomware is the name for malware that once installed on a computer, often unwittingly through clicking on links in spear...
read moreScam of the day – October 10, 2019 – FTC Sues House Flipping Seminar Company
At the request of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, a federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order against Zurixx, LLC, a company that puts on real estate seminars in which attendees are supposedly told how to...
read moreScam of the day – October 9, 2019 – Medicare Open Enrollment Scams
The annual open enrollment period for Medicare will begin on October 15th and continue until December 7th. This is the only time during the year that people enrolled in Medicare can change their Medicare health plans, Medigap plans and their prescription drug plans. ...
read moreScam of the day – October 8, 2019 – Phoenix Police Arrest Telemarketers
I first told you about the Wyze Money scam three years ago when, at the request of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a temporary restraining order was issued by a judge in the Federal District Court for Arizona temporarily shutting down the operation of a...
read moreScam of the day – October 7, 2019 – 218 Million People Affected by Words With Friends Data Breach
Once again we have an announcement of a major data breach. This time it is the popular mobile word game "Words with Friends" which according to a hacker named Gnosticplayers was hacked by him or her, stealing personal information including names, email addresses,...
read moreScam of the day – October 6, 2019 – Another Pyramid Scheme Settlement
It was just a few days ago that I told you about the Federal Trade Commission's legal action against Vemma Nutrition Company, which the FTC described in its court complaint as an illegal pyramid scheme that preyed primarily upon college students and other young...
read moreScam of the day – October 5, 2019 – Overpayment Scam
The overpayment scam is the basis for many scams including phony mystery shopper scams about which I have written many times. Another example of the overpayment scam occurred recently when a British Columbia wedding photographer was scammed out of $4,600 through this...
read moreScam of the day – October 4, 2019 – FTC Sending Refunds to Victims of Pyramid Scheme
All good things come to those who wait. In my Scam of the Day for September 4, 2015 I told you about the Federal Trade Commission's legal action against Vemma Nutrition Company, which the FTC described in its court complaint as an illegal pyramid scheme that preyed...
read moreScam of the day – October 3, 2019 – Utility Phone Scam
Scams involving utility bills for electric, water or gas services have long been popular with scammers. Often scammers make robocalls posing as their targeted victims' electric utility company threatening to turn off the customer's power if payment is not paid...
read moreScam of the day – October 2, 2019 – Refunds Being Sent to Student Loan Debt Relief Scam Victims
More than forty-two million Americans have student loans with an outstanding balance of more than 1.4 trillion dollars so it is no surprise that scammers are focusing their attention on these students and former students through scams that falsely promise to provide...
read moreScam of the day – October 1, 2019 – Medicare Gene Testing Scammers Arrested
DNA testing has become very popular for helping to determine your ancestry. They also can be used to identify your genetic risk of certain diseases. Scammers, however are taking advantage of people's interest in these tests that are done for medical purposes to...
read moreScam of the day – September 30, 2019 – FTC Warning the Public About Social Security Scam
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued another warning about phony robocalls that are made to appear as if they are coming from the Social Security Administration. In the call, you are told that your Social Security benefits are being suspended and then...
read moreScam of the day – September 29, 2019 – DoorDash Becomes Victim of Massive Data Breach
In Shakespeare's play Henry V, the king utters the phrase, "once more unto the breach, dear friends," and so it is, because once more we have learned of a massive data breach. This time it is DoorDash, the food delivery service. While the data breach was only...
read moreScam of the day – September 28, 2019 – Match.com Sued by FTC
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued online dating service Match Group, Inc. which owns and operates not just Match.com, but also Tinder, OK Cupid, PlentyOfFish and other dating sites. While the FTC alleges a wide variety of improper actions by Match, the one...
read moreScam of the day – September 27, 2019 – Mail Stealing Identity Thieves Arrested
Identity theft can be high tech, low tech or no tech. Stealing mail from mailboxes for purposes of identity theft has been done by identity thieves for years. Numerous times over the last few years I have warned you about the danger of having your mail, such as...
read moreScam of the day – September 26, 2019 – Russian Pleads Guilty to Massive Data Breach
Earlier this week, Andrei Tyurin, a Russian hacker pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit computer hacking. The charges stemmed from a number of large data breaches done by Tyurin including, most notably the 2014 data...
read moreScam of the day – September 25, 2019 – Amish Affinity Fraud
Affinity fraud is the name for the type of fraud where people put undeserved trust in someone offering an investment opportunity because that person is "someone like me." Affinity fraud works because people trust other people who may share a common bond, such as...
read moreScam of the day – September 24, 2019 – FTC Shuts Down “Free Trial” Offer Scam
While not all offers of a "free" trial of a product from a company are scams, this is the basis of many sams. The scams begin with ads that appear to offer a free trial of a product with the consumer only being required to pay a small shipping and handling charge....
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