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Scam of the day – January 21, 2020 – Puppy Scams Coming From India
According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) pet scams involving the online sale of non-existent dogs have increased 39% since 2017. People buy dogs or other pets online and although they think they are taking proper precautions, they often end up getting nothing in...
read moreScam of the day – January 20, 2020 – Equifax Settlement Claim Deadline Approaching
There has been a lot of reporting in the media about the major Equifax settlement of claims brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and all but two of the states' Attorneys General related to the avoidable 2017...
read moreScam of the day – January 19, 2020 – FTC Shuts Down “Success By Health” Pyramid Scheme
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued multi-level marketer "Success By Health" and its executives alleging that the company operated an illegal pyramid scheme. The United States Federal Court for Arizona has granted a temporary restraining order shutting down...
read moreScam of the day – January 18, 2020 – Critical New Security Updates to Microsoft Windows Operating System
As was made abundantly clear by 2017's massive Wannacry ransomware attack that exploited a vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows operating system for which Microsoft had already issued a security update, constant updating of the software we all use with the latest...
read moreScam of the day – January 17, 2020 – Free Cruise Scam Starts with a Robocall
Over the years I have written numerous times about the problems presented by robocalls and with good reason. Automated robocalls which, for commercial purposes, are illegal, are the number one consumer complaint reported by the public to the Federal Trade Commission...
read moreScam of the day – January 16, 2020 – Criminal Identity Theft Lands Innocent Man in Jail
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 – January 15, 2020 – Income Tax Identity Theft
A recent report of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) had some good news in regard to what it estimated was the amount of income tax identity theft that the IRS had been able to stop prior to paying money to the income tax identity thieves. Unfortunately, the...
read moreScam of the day – January 14, 2020 – Bill Gates Is Not Offering To Give You Money
It has been more than a year since I first warned you about scams related to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, but after receiving an email from a Scamicide reader telling me his story about almost becoming a victim of this particular scam, I decided that it...
read moreScam of the day – January 13, 2020 – Legislators Urge FCC to Action Against SIM Swapping
SIM card swapping is a major problem. A Subscriber Identity Module, more commonly known as a SIM card, is an integrated circuit that stores information used to authenticate subscribers on mobile devices, such as a cell phone. The SIM card is able to be transferred...
read moreScam of the day – January 12, 2020 – Fake Draft Notices Cause Panic Among Young Men
Although the United States has not had a military draft since 1973 at the end of the Vietnam War, young men are still required to register for the draft upon reaching the age of eighteen. Presently there are no plans whatsoever for the re-institution of draft,...
read moreScam of the day – January 11, 2020 – Natural Disaster Charity Scams
Natural disasters, such as the massive bushfires in Australia and the recent earthquake and aftershocks in Puerto Rico have been devastating. Natural disasters such as these bring out the best in people who want to donate to charities to help the victims....
read moreScam of the day – January 10, 2020 – Fortune Teller Charged With Scamming a Woman Out of $71,000
Palm reader Tracey Milanovich was recently arrested and charged with scamming a Somerset, Massachusetts woman out of $71,000 after convincing the woman that her daughter was possessed by a demon. Police allege that Milanovich convinced her victim that if she paid...
read moreScam of the day – January 9, 2020 – Amazon Phishing Email
Shopping on Amazon is extremely popular both with consumers and scammers seeking to exploit Amazon's popularity. I have warned you many times over the years about scammers who send various types of phishing emails which purport to be from Amazon attempting to lure...
read moreScam of the day – January 8, 2020 – Ohio Woman Victimized by 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 – January 7, 2020 – Apple Tech Support Robocall Scam
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 – January 6, 2020 – Mariah Carey’s Twitter Account Hacked
Last week hackers took over the Twitter account of singer Mariah Carey and sent out sexually explicit messages to her 21.4 million followers that appeared to come from Carey. After several hours her Twitter account was secured. I reported to you in September...
read moreScam of the day – January 5, 2020 – Another Wells Fargo Phishing Email
Here is another good example of a phishing email that is presently being circulated. It was sent to me by a Scamicide reader who received it. It makes for compelling reading, but it is a scam. Phishing emails, by which scammers and identity thieves attempt to lure...
read moreScam of the day – January 4, 2020 – Annual Report of the Do-Not Call Registry
Since it began in 2003, the National Do Not Call list has grown to include more than 239 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 not...
read moreScam of the day – January 3, 2020 – Wawa Data Breach Class Action Filed
In the December 22, 2019 Scam of the day, I informed you about the massive data breach suffered by Wawa, a convenience store chain of more than 850 stores around the country. Wawa had recently disclosed that it had suffered a data breach that went undiscovered for...
read moreScam of the day – January 2, 2020 – Federal Express Phishing Email
Shown below is a copy of an email recently received by a Scamicide reader that purports to be from Federal Express urging the email recipient to click on a link to the oddly worded "message with the required information" without any indication as to to what the...
read moreScam of the day – January 1, 2020 – Device Activation Scams
Over the holidays many people received digital assistants such as Google Home or Alexa as well as other devices that are part of the ever-increasing Internet of Things which are devices connected to the Internet for our convenience. These devices must be activated in...
read moreScam of the day – December 31, 2019 – Bank Text Message Scam
Phony text messages purporting to be from your bank or credit card company is a scam about which I have been warning you for more than six years, but appears to be a scam that is dramatically increasing. Recently, on its Facebook page, M&T Bank issued the...
read moreScam of the day – December 30, 2019 – Jury Duty Scam
I have been warning you about the jury duty scam for seven years, but it continues to snare many unwary victims. Recently, the Sheriff of Oakland County, Michigan issued a warning about this scam and there have been increasing reports of this scam being perpetrated...
read moreScam of the day – December 29, 2019 – Investment Adviser Charged by SEC
Recently the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged California investment adviser Keith Springer and his firm Springer Investment Management Inc with defrauding hundreds of his clients by failing to disclose compensation and benefits they received for...
read moreScam of the day – December 28, 2019 – Phony Kidnapping Scam Spreading
I have been warning you about phony kidnapping scams, also known as virtual kidnapping, for seven years. The scam starts with a telephone call informing the person answering the phone that a child or other relative has been kidnapped and if they do not respond by...
read moreScam of the day – December 27, 2019 – Another Mystery Shopper Scam
I have written many times over the last seven years about the mystery shopper scam because it continues to ensnare unwary victims including a Massachusetts woman Lisa Zais who responded to a text message that appeared to come from Whole Foods asking her if she wanted...
read moreScam of the day – December 26, 2019 – Words With Friends Data Breach Affects more than 172 Million People
Zynga, the company that owns the popular game Words With Friends has disclosed that information on 172,869,660 Words With Friends accounts was stolen in a data breach earlier this year. Zynga had announced the data breach in September, but had not indicated how many...
read moreScam of the day – December 25, 2019 – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Scam
The final Star Wars movie, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" was released into theaters on December 19th and it is very popular with movie goers. It seems many people are anxious to see this movie, however, there are people who want to see the movie, but don't want...
read moreScam of the day – December 24, 2019 – Ring Camera Hacking Update
In the Scam of the day for December 14, 2019 I told you about a Tennessee family who reported the Ring camera installed in the bedroom of their three young girls was hacked and the hackers not only were able to spy on the children, but also actually spoke to the...
read moreScam of the Day – December 23, 2019 – A Cryptocurrency Ponzi Scheme Uncovered
Although cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, may seem to be new. I have been writing in Scamicide.com about cryptocurrency scams for five years. Cryptocurrencies are legitimate, but scammers are increasingly taking advantage of the public's fascination with...
read moreScam of the day – December 22, 2019 – Massive Wawa Data Breach
While many of you may never have heard of Wawa, it is a convenience store chain of more than 850 stores around the country. Wawa recently disclosed that it had suffered a data breach that went undiscovered for nine months in which credit and debit card numbers, card...
read moreScam of the day – December 21, 2019 – Weight Loss Scam Refunds
Weight loss scams are among the most common scams and with good reason. Many people want to lose weight and most of the scam products promise to do that for you easily without diet or exercise. The unfortunate truth is that there is no magic formula for quick and easy...
read moreScam of the day – December 20, 2019 – New Threat at Gas Pumps
For years I have warned you about the dangers of skimmers installed on gas pumps. Skimmers are small electronic devices that are easily installed by an identity thief on gas pumps, ATMs and other card reading devices. The skimmer steals all of the information from...
read moreScam of the day – December 19, 2019 – Holiday Pet Scams
According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) pet scams involving the online sale of non-existent dogs have increased 39% since 2017. People buy dogs or other pets online and although they think they are taking proper precautions, they often end up getting nothing in...
read moreScam of the day – December 18, 2019 – Phantom Debt Collectors Settle with the FTC
Receiving a telephone call from a debt collector is not a pleasant experience. Being hounded by someone attempting to collect a debt you do not owe is fraud. These non-existent debts are sometimes referred to as "phantom debts." In February, I reported to you that...
read moreScam of the day – December 17, 2019 – Police and Firefighter Charity Scams
The holiday season is a time when many people give to charities. In particular, you will most likely be contacted by numerous people soliciting charitable contributions on behalf of organizations purporting to support the brave men and women who make up our police...
read moreScam of the day – December 16, 2019 – Tech Support Scammers Settle with the FTC
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 – December 15, 2019 – Beware of Porch Pirates
The popularity of online shopping has brought a dramatic increase in the number of packages delivered by companies such as UPS and Federal Express. The popularity of online shopping has also resulted in a new term entering the lexicon, namely, "porch pirate," which...
read moreScam of the day – December 14, 2019 – Ring Cameras Being Hacked
In the Scam of the day for December 28, 2018 I told you about a Houston family who were frightened when they heard vulgar threats coming from the baby monitor they used to watch their four month old son. Their baby monitor had been hacked by someone attempting to...
read moreScam of the day – December 13, 2019 – AOL Phishing Email
Today's Scam of the day is about a phishing email presently circulating that attempts to lure you into clicking on a link in order to continue using your AOL account. If you click on the link two things can occur and both are bad. Either you will end up providing...
read moreScam of the day – December 12, 2019 – Dangers in Shopping Online
Holiday shopping online is extremely convenient, but it can also be extremely dangerous. Scammers construct many phony online shopping websites to lure you into providing your credit or debit card information. Sometimes they mimic legitimate websites and it is easy...
read moreScam of the day – December 11, 2019 – Tudor Grange Samworth Academy Phishing Email
Today's Scam of the day was forwarded to me by a regular Scamicide reader. It is another phishing email intended to lure you into clicking on links that will either download malware on to your electronic device or prompt you to provide personal information used to...
read moreScamicide – Important Announcement
Scamicide has just passed an important milestone with the publication of our 3,000th Scam of the day. Scamicide has been helping people avoid scams and identity theft schemes since 2011 and has been in the forefront of making people aware of the many scams and...
read moreScam of the day – December 10, 2019 – Chase 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 providing personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft, are nothing new. ...
read moreScam of the day – December 9, 2019 – Phony Letter Threatening Terrorism Charges Scam
Impostor scams in which the scammer contacts his or her targeted victim posing as a governmental agency, such as the IRS demanding payment to resolve a bogus claim are very common, however, a new version of the impostor scam raises this scam to a new, frightening...
read moreScam of the day – December 8, 2019 – Hackers Using Smart Televisions to Attack You
I have been warning you about dangers in the rapidly expanding Internet of things for more than five years. The Internet of Things is made up of a broad range of devices connected to the Internet including home thermostats, security systems, medical devices,...
read moreScam of the day – December 7, 2019 – Romance Scam Arrests in Asia
Over the years I have warned you many times about romance scams, but it is important to do so again because these scams are getting worse. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Americans lost more money to romance scams last year than to any other scam and...
read moreScam of the day – December 6, 2019 – Russian Hacking Group Evil Corp. Face Criminal Charges
Russians Maksim Yakubets and Igor Turashev who the Justice Department allege operated an international cybercrime organization known as Evil Corp (which sounds like it should be the villain in an Austin Powers movie) were charged yesterday with stealing 100 million...
read moreScam of the day – December 5, 2019 – Netflix Hackers Reactivating Canceled Accounts
Some former Netflix subscribers who cancelled their accounts are reporting that they are still being charged for their subscriptions. The problem arises when scammers using the username and passwords of the former Netflix subscribers to log into the canceled accounts...
read moreScam of the day – December 4, 2019 – CISA Extortion Scam
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is a federal agency created in 2018 that works with both the public and private sectors to build and maintain our nation's infrastructure and protect it from cyberattacks. CISA recently issued a warning to...
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