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Scam of the day – December 5, 2020 – Yet Another Mavis Wanczyk Lottery Scam
Perhaps it is due to the financial strain so many people are under during this time of the Coronavirus pandemic, but recently I have received many emails from Scamicide readers telling me about various new incarnations of a variety of scams that share the same hook...
Scam of the day – December 4, 2020 – A New Variation on the Nigerian Email Scam
Today's Scam of the day is another version of the Nigerian email scam that continues to plague the online community. Although it may seem that the Nigerian email scam began in the era of the Internet, the origin of the scam actually goes back to 1588 when it was known...
Scam of the day – December 3, 2020 – Phony Coupon Scams
The holiday shopping season is well underway and, many people are looking for coupons to cut the cost. Everyone loves coupons and like many things in our lives, coupons which used to be found commonly in newspapers and magazines have migrated online. Last Spring the...
Scam of the day – December 2, 2020 – Puppy Scams Increasing
Scams involving sales of non-existent puppies have increased dramatically in the last few years and are soaring during the Coronavirus pandemic when many people are looking for the emotional support of a loving dog. We can only expect an increase in this scam now...
Scam of the day – December 1, 2020 – Don’t Get Burned When Buying the Season’s Hottest Toys
Every year there are a few toys that are in especially high demand. Often it is difficult to find these toys and the prices when you do manage to find them can be pretty expensive which is why so many people are susceptible to being scammed by criminals offering to...
Scam of the day – November 30, 2020 – Phony McAfee Invoice Scam
The phony invoice scam is a common scam popular with scammers because it is quite effective. It starts when you receive an email that purports to be from a popular company with which many of us do business that indicates that you owe them a significant payment. The...
Scam of the day – November 29, 2020 – Home Depot Settles Data Breach Lawsuit
I have been reporting to you since 2014 about the massive data breach at Home Depot that affected as many as 56 million Home Depot customers between April and September of 2014. A class action on behalf of the victims was settled in 2016 and I reported to you at...
Scam of the day – November 28, 2020 – Ponzi Schemer Sentenced to Prison
Longtime Scamicide readers will remember that I have written many times about a wide variety of investment scams. There are many different investment scams, but generally, people often become victims of investment scams when they invest in things that they don't...
Scam of the day – November 27, 2020 – Mavis Wanczyk Based Scams Continue
Perhaps it is due to the financial strain so many people are under during this time of the Coronavirus pandemic, but recently I have received many emails from Scamicide readers telling me about various new incarnations of a variety of scams that share the same hook...
Scam of the day – November 26, 2020 – Online Holiday Shopping Warning
Today is Thanksgiving and many people have already turned their attention to the upcoming holiday shopping season that starts in earnest tomorrow. For many of us, particularly during the Coronavirus pandemic, shopping online is both more convenient and often more...
Scam of the day – November 25, 2020 – New AOL Phishing Scam
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 one of two things can occur and both are bad. Either you will end up...
Scam of the day – November 24, 2020 – Student Loan Debt Relief Scammer Settles FTC Civil Charges
In October of 2017 the Federal Trade Commission, working with the Attorneys General of eleven states, launched what it cleverly calls, Operation Game of Loans to jointly target these various student loan scams. Some scammers promise dramatic reductions of debt of...
Scam of the day – November 23, 2020 – Ohio Job and Family Services Phishing Email
People in Ohio have reported receiving an offical looking email that appears to come from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in which people are lured into clicking on links purportedly for information about applying for Pandmic Unemployment Assistance...
Scam of the day – November 22, 2020 – Worst Passwords of 2020
Each year the password manager company NordPass does a study of the worst passwords commonly used. These easily discerned passwords make their users particularly vulnerable to identity theft. These passwords become available to identity thieves through data breaches...
Invitation to a Free Steve Weisman Webinar on Protecting Yourself Online During the Pandemic
With so many of us working from home, cybersecurity during the pandemic is very important. I am giving a webinar for the University of Massachusetts Alumni Association on November 30th about protecting yourself online during the pandemic. They are graciously opening...
Scam of the day – November 21, 2020 – CashApp Scams
Peer to Peer Payment Payment Services (P2P) such as Zelle, Venmo, ApplePay, PayPal, Square Cash and PopMoney are popular ways to quickly and conveniently send money electronically from your credit card or bank account. Recently, the P2P service Cash App has become...
Scam of the day – November 20, 2020 – Online Shopping Scam Lessons from Singles Day
The holiday shopping season doesn't begin in earnest in the United States and many other places around the world until later this month. In the United States, the day after Thanksgiving, often referred to as Black Friday is the unofficial start to the holiday...
Scam of the day – November 19, 2020 – Return of the Secret Sister Scam
Fans of the old horror movie Poltergeist 2 remember the classic line "They're back" and so it is with the classic Secret Sister scam which returns each holiday season. I first reported to you about this scam in 2015. It seems harmless enough when you see it come up...
Scam of the day – November 18, 2020 – Danger of 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...
Scam of the day – November 17, 2020 – FTC Sending Refunds to Victims of Bitcoin Scam
Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin are legitimate, but scammers are increasingly taking advantage of the public's fascination with cryptocurrencies to take old forms of scams and update them with a cryptocurrency twist. I have been writing about cryptocurrency scams...
Scam of the day – November 16, 2020 – FTC Sends Warning Letters to 20 More Marketers of Bogus Coronavirus Treatments
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it had sent out 20 more warning letters to companies marketing phony cures and treatments for the Coronavirus. This brings the total number of companies who have received such cease and desist letters to 350...
Scam of the day – November 15, 2020 – FTC Sending Refunds to Victims of Credit Repair Scam
In August of 2019 I first told you about the Federal Trade Commission initiating legal action against Grand Teton Professionals which the FTC alleged has been operating credit repair scams since 2014 using the names Deletion Experts, Inquiry Busters and Top...
Scam of the day – November 14, 2020 – Another Publishers Clearinghouse 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...
Scam of the day – November 13, 2020 – USPS Informed Delivery Program
We are about to enter the holiday season and many people will be getting deliveries from the United State Postal Service of valuable items in addition to your normal deliveries of sensitive and important mail such as credit card statements. In 2017 the United States...
Scam of the day – November 12, 2020 – FTC Shuts Down Phony Websites Purporting to Sell Clorox and Lysol Products
Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, the demand for disinfectant products made by Clorox and Lysol has been high with stores temporarily running out of these products at times. Taking advantage of the high demand for these products, according to the...
Scam of the day – November 11, 2020 – Veterans’ Day Scams
Today we 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 people...
Scam of the day – November 10, 2020 – Critical New Apple Software Updates
As was made abundantly clear by 2017's massive Equifax data breach which affected 148 million people and was perpetrated by exploiting a vulnerability in Apache software for which Apache had already issued a security update, but Equifax failed to install, it is...
Scam of the day – November 9, 2020 – Will Smith Becomes Victim of Identity Theft
Although the actual crime occurred years ago, the news recently reported that actor Will Smith became a victim of identity theft when Carlos Lomax, using Smith's Social Security number and name was able to open 14 credit accounts in Smith's name and steal close to...
Scam of the day – November 8, 2020 – Latest Google Chrome Security Update
As was made abundantly clear by 2017's massive Equifax data breach which affected 148 million people and was perpetrated by exploiting a vulnerability in Apache software for which Apache had already issued a security update, but Equifax failed to install. Constant...
Scam of the day – November 7, 2020 – Microsoft 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. ...
Scam of the day – November 6, 2020 – Coronavirus Clinical Trial Scams
With many companies intensely working on developing a vaccine to prevent the Coronavirus there are literally thousands of clinical trials being conducted. Many people are interested in participating in these trials both to be able to do something to contribute to the...
Scam of the day – November 5, 2020 – Another Stimulus Check Scam
In the months since Congress passed the CARES Act which provided $1,200 payments to millions of Americans who suffered financially due to the Coronavirus pandemic, as many as twelve million people who were eligible for these payments did not receive anything. ...
Scam of the day – November 4, 2020 – Social Security Impostor Phone Calls
Early this year the Senate Aging Committee released its annual report in which it indicated that fraudulent phone calls where scammers pose as Social Security Administration employees asking for personal information were the number one phone scam last year. Scammers...
Scam of the day – November 3, 2020 – 60 People Indicted in Massive Telemarketing Scam
Recently, Erica H. MacDonald, the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota announced indictments against sixty people alleged to be operating a nationwide fraudulent telemarketing scheme that focused on scamming senior citizens and defrauded them out of more than 300 million...
Scam of the day – November 2, 2020 – A New Twist on the Publishers Clearinghouse 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...
Scam of the day – November 1, 2020 – Important Online Trading Academy Update
In March I told you about the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suing the investment training company Online Trading Academy (OTA) and its principals for fraud. In September the FTC settled its claims agains the OTA and its principals. As a part of the settlement, the...
Scam of the day – October 31, 2020 – FTC Releases 2020 National Do Not Call Registry Data Book
Since it began in 2003, the National Do Not Call list has grown to include more than 241.5 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...
Scam of the day – October 30, 2020 – Dangerous Cell Phone Scams
Today's Scam of the day was prompted by an email from a Scamicide reader whose wife was contacted by an acquaintance asking for her cell phone number and to participate in a transaction where she would receive code numbers by text mesage that she was asked to forward...
Scam of the day – October 29, 2020 – Mystery Shopper Scams Increasing
I have written many times over the last eight years about the mystery shopper scam because it continues to ensnare unwary victims, however, these scams continue to be effective and are increasing in number so it is important to remind you about them again. Mystery...
Scam of the day – October 28, 2020 – Freeway Pawn Scam
The California Highway Patrol has issued a warning copied below about a scam occuring on the highways of California in which scammers park their cars on the side of a highway with the hood up pretending to be broken down. The scammers then wave down good samaritans...
Scam of the day – October 27, 2020 – Smishing Attacks Increasing
Although the name may not be as familiar as "phishing" which is the name for emails that lure you into clicking on malware infected links or providing personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft, "smishing" is the name given to text...
Scam of the day – October 26, 2020 – Phony Deputy Phone Call Scam
Impostor scams have long been among the most lucrative for scammers. While there are many variations of this scam, the most common variations have involved scammers calling their intended victims on the telephone posing as some governmental agency such as the IRS,...
Scam of the day – October 25, 2020 – Phony Tech Support Phone Number Scam
Clever scam artists, the only criminals we refer to as artists are increasingly setting up phony websites that appear to be for customer service or tech support of many of the companies with which we do business. They also purchase telephone numbers that are a single...
Scam of the day – October 24, 2020 – Phony Charity Fundraisers Shut Down
Phony charities are big business for scammers who prey upon generous people who think they are contributing to help those in need. I have written many times over the years about a wide variety of phony charities and the efforts of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)...
Scam of the day – October 23, 2020 – FTC Settles Major Robocall Claim
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...
Scam of the day – October 22, 2020 – FTC Refunding Victims of Get Rich Quick Scam
I have been reporting to you about this particular scam since December of 2017 when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) first filed a complaint in Federal Court against Ronnie Montano, Hyong Su Kim, Martin Schranz and their companies, eMobile Code, Easy Cash Code, Full...
Scam of the day – October 21, 2020 – Coronavirus Related Student Debt Relief Scams
I have written often about phony student loan debt relief companies and with good reason. 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...
Scam of the day – October 20, 2020 – FTC Refunding 7 Million Dollars to Victims of Tech Support 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...
Scam of the day – October 19, 2020 – PayPal 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...
Scam of the day – October 18, 2020 – Barnes & Noble Data Breach Endangers Customers
Bookseller Barnes & Noble announced that it had suffered a data breach which it only recently discovered. Fortunately, customers' credit card information appears not to have been compromised in the data breach, however, some personal information including...