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  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 3, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    If it’s in the news, there’s a scam for it 

    By Greg Collier

    One of our well-used adages about scammers is they may be some of the most informed people on the planet. If there is a major news story, there will be scammers looking to take advantage of it. Typically, we see this with natural disasters such as hurricanes and the like. However, the news story can also be something more socioeconomic that’s a call to action for scammers.

    For example, student loans have regularly been in the news for the past few years. We all know why student loans have been in the news, and we’re going to gloss over those details to try to prevent this from becoming a political discussion. And as we all also know, student loans garnered a large amount of the headlines this past week.

    This has caused not only the Attorney General’s Office, but the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue a warning about student loan scammers. Both offices are warning consumers, scammers will more than likely start sending out texts, emails, and robocalls offering some kind of student debt relief.

    These scammers tend to use a nebulous name of an organization that doesn’t exist. They’ll often use generic names like ‘The Student Loan Forgiveness Center’. However, the scammers may have some of your identifying information to make the scam seem more authentic.

    In most cases, the scammers are trying to get you to pay an ‘application fee’ while they promise debt relief that will never come. Once a victim makes a payment to the scammers, they’ll continue to hound the victim for more payments, usually under the guise of having to navigate government red tape.

    Despite, the recent news, there are still student debt relief programs; however, they are only available through the government. Please keep in mind, the government is not going to call you to start the debt relief process. You have to reach out to them first.

    If you have more concerns or questions, you can read more about student debt relief scams at the Federal Student Aid website.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 30, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Why this crypto-romance scam is more successful than others 

    By Greg Collier

    Romance scams predate the internet. But back in those days, the scammer had to at least be there in person to scam their victim. Since then, online and long-distance relationships have become more socially acceptable. That has made the romance scammer’s job easier. Now, the scammers don’t even have to leave their homes to scam someone who could literally be living somewhere on the other side of Earth.

    However, more and more people have become more educated on the typical romance scam. That’s when the scammer will target a victim, cultivate an online romantic relationship with their victim, before asking the victim for large amounts of money. Unfortunately, that hasn’t deterred scammers in the least. When one scam stops being profitable, scammers will move on to another scam. And as far as the romance scam goes, the scammers have really stepped it up with their latest version.

    We’ve discussed it before. It’s known as the ‘pig butchering’ scam. It’s called that because the scammers make the victim think they’re being ‘fattened up’ financially, before the scammers lead them to the proverbial slaughter. After successfully establishing trust with their target, scammers proceed to encourage the victim to invest in cryptocurrency. They direct the victim towards a fraudulent cryptocurrency exchange operated by the scammer group. This deceptive exchange creates the illusion that the victim’s investment is experiencing rapid and significant growth. Unfortunately, when the victim attempts to withdraw their alleged profits, they are informed that an additional payment must be made before they can access their windfall. It doesn’t matter how much the victim pays, they’ll never see any return.

    This recently happened to a man in the Boston area. The man was even fully aware of the typical romance scam. When the man’s online partner started bringing up cryptocurrency, the man even said, “I’m not giving you any money.” But as scammers always do, they had an answer for the man. They told him, “No, you don’t give it to me. You establish your own account, and I’ll guide you.”

    And that’s what makes the pig butchering scam so successful for scammers. Victims think they’re accessing a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange when, in reality, it’s part of the scam. Unfortunately, the Boston man lost $300,000 in the scam.

    The cryptocurrency market is volatile enough that people don’t need scammers to help them lose their money. Only invest in cryptocurrency if you’ve studied the subject yourself. If someone you’ve never met face-to-face starts suggesting you invest in it with their guidance, there’s a very good chance they’re not who they say they are.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 29, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    New scam becomes disturbing trend 

    By Greg Collier

    Let’s just come right out and say it. Funeral scammers are ghouls. Most people are at their lowest emotional point when they’re confronted with having to inter a loved one. Since scammers use emotional manipulation as one of their tools, they’ve decided that when families are grieving is the best time to target them in a scam. But not just any scam, mind you. Scammers are specifically targeting the funeral home process to try to extort money from their victims. And unfortunately, this scam is starting to become even more prevalent.

    Funeral scammers will comb the obituaries of the recently deceased. Traditionally, obituaries will contain the name of the funeral home that’s taking care of the deceased’s funeral proceedings. While spoofing the funeral home’s phone number, scammers will call the deceased’s family claiming to be from the funeral home. Typically, the scammers will say an item was left off the billing or that the family needs to pay some form of additional insurance before asking for an immediate payment over the phone. In some instances, the scammers will even act like they’ll hold the deceased’s remains hostage until a payment is made.

    Recently, funeral scammers targeted a family from the Philadelphia area. Just hours after the deceased’s obituary had been published, scammers were calling the family looking for money. The scammers used a funeral home employee’s name they had gotten from the funeral home’s website. They told the family urn/casket insurance had not been purchased and would need to be done so immediately. Thankfully, the family recognized this for what it was, and hung up the call. They called the funeral home themselves just to verify they had spoken to a scammer.

    In the unfortunate event you have to plan a funeral for a loved one, it’s recommended to get an itemized statement from the funeral home. This will go a long way in helping to protect you and your family from these scammers.

    It’s a shame the grieving have to be warned about funeral scams, but unfortunately, that is the world we live in today.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 28, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    AI voice-spoofing scam started earlier than we thought 

    By Greg Collier

    One of the many problems with scams is, by the time the public hears about them, they’re already in full swing and have claimed numerous victims. For example, we’ve only been discussing the AI voice-spoofing scam for roughly two months. While we assumed the scam had been going on longer than that, we were unaware of just how far back it started. According to one recent report, at least one scam ring has been implementing the voice-spoofing scam since October of last year. The reason we know the scam is at least that old is because a suspect has been arrested for such a scam.

    In a voice-spoofing scam, scammers extract someone’s voice sample from online sources and manipulate it using AI technology to make it utter desired phrases. This deceptive practice is commonly observed in phone scams, particularly those aimed at convincing victims that they are communicating with a trusted family member or loved one. The voice-spoofing seems to be only used in grandparent scams and virtual kidnapping scams, so far. It’s only a matter of time before scammers come up with new ways of using voice-spoofing to scam victims.

    Also, when we discuss voice-spoofing scams here in 2023, we’re referring to the new wave of voice-spoofing scams. In previous years, there have been voice-spoofing scams, however, they were almost primitive compared to today’s technology. Those older scams also needed several minutes of someone’s recorded voice before they could make a viable speech model. Today, scammers only need a few seconds of speech.

    Getting back to the matter at hand, a New Jersey man was recently arrested for allegedly scamming a Houston, Texas, woman out of $40,000. She thought the voice she was talking to was her son, who claimed to have been arrested. Then the alleged scammer would get on the phone posing as a public defender while asking the woman for bail money. The man was caught after investigators followed the money trail, since one of the payments was sent through money transfer. However, the victim in this case was scammed in October 2022.

    Since scammers hardly ever work alone, more arrests may be following, and you can almost bet there are more victims out there.

    If you receive a distressing call from a supposed loved one requesting urgent financial assistance, it is crucial to verify their situation by promptly contacting them through alternative means. Do not entertain any assertions that prevent you from ending the call or consulting other family members. Stay vigilant and prioritize verifying the authenticity of such requests.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 27, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Medicare scammers don’t know you have Medicare 

    Medicare scammers don't know you have Medicare

    By Greg Collier

    Medicare scammers are some of the worst. There are few things more heinous than threatening the elderly with the health benefits they earned in life. Scammers often call their elderly victims, posing as Medicare, while trying to get the victim’s Medicare information. This way, the scammers can file fraudulent claims under the victim’s Medicare policy. The victim’s will often be told benign things like Medicare is issuing a new type of ID card. Or they’ll be threatened with the loss of their benefits if the victim doesn’t comply with the caller.

    Here’s something to keep in mind, though. Most of the time, Medicare scammers are calling people blind, hoping they have Medicare. For example, a man in Indiana receives up to 35 calls a day from Medicare scammers. Except, the man hasn’t reached the age when most people enroll in Medicare. The man believes the reason he keeps getting so many scam calls is because he did what you’re supposed to do with a phone, he answered it. Once scammers know that they’ve reached a legitimate number and there’s an actual person on the other end, they continue to spam that person with phone calls. This isn’t strictly for Medicare scammers, either, as many different types of scammers will employ the same calling technique.

    As far as Medicare scams themselves go, please keep this one piece of information in mind. Medicare will not call you on the phone, unless you called them first with some kind of issue or concern. Medicare will not call you, asking you for your Medicare number. They will also not call you to offer you discounts on medical equipment or supplies. If Medicare does need to communicate with you, they will do so exclusively by postal mail. Even if the caller ID says that it’s Medicare calling, unless you called them first, that’s not them.

     

  • Geebo 8:01 am on June 26, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Elderly man loses $800K to in a week to scammers 

    By Greg Collier

    This story is as heartbreaking as it is infuriating. An elderly man from Washington sold his home for $800,000 and planned to use the money for his retirement. Within a week, he was essentially homeless.

    When the movers showed up at his home, he couldn’t afford to pay them. He called his daughter, who lives in Minneapolis. The man kept telling his daughter everything will be fine soon, but wouldn’t elaborate. Eventually, she was able to coax out of her father he thought he had won a sweepstakes.

    The man had fallen victim to the advance fee scam. This is when scammers will tell the victim they’ve won something, but they need to make a payment in order to claim their prize. Typically, the scammers will say the money the victim is paying is for taxes or processing fees.

    In this man’s case, the scammers kept asking for cashier’s checks in the amount of $50,000 each before they took all of his savings. They called and texted him every day for a week before they completely drained him of all his money.

    Once again, the bank is being called into question for not allegedly seeing the red flags of a man who withdrew $200,000 in one day from two separate branches of the same bank. Scammers of all types will often instruct their victims to use separate bank branches to try to throw off suspicion from the banks.

    There could be a light at the end of the tunnel for the victim of this story. Both the media and the FBI are looking into the man’s case and seem to have some promising leads. However, in the majority of cases, victims never see their money again.

    For those of us with elderly relatives, we want to try to protect them from cruel scams like this, but we can’t be there 24-7 for them. The best way to help them is to remind them of scams like this. You can let them know it’s illegal for anyone to ask for money for a sweepstakes prize. You can also show them this blog post or any number of news articles that detail this scam.

    No one’s parents or grandparents should have to endure this kind of financial torment.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 23, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Like we need another bank scam 

    By Greg Collier

    We’re pretty sure it goes without saying that bank customers are one of the largest targets of scammers. If we’re not being assailed by text messages telling us to protect hacked accounts through Zelle, our debit card information is being stolen through skimmers, or people are trying to get us to deposit phony checks. Now, bank scammers are pulling an old scheme which seems almost antiquated by today’s standards.

    According to a report out of Florida, several residents have received robocalls from scammers posing as banks. And we say banks, we mean a few different banks. At one point, a potential victim could receive a robocall that says it’s from Bank of America, while getting one shortly later that says they’re from Wells Fargo. However, both robocalls say the same thing.

    The robocalls will tell you a purchase you made with your debit card has been declined, and your card has been blocked. The message also provides a customer service number for the recipient to call. The customer service number leads to a scam call center, where the scammers will attempt to obtain not only your financial information but, possibly, your money as well.

    If you were to get one of these robocalls, and it says it’s from Bank of America, and you actually bank at Bank of America, that’s a coincidence. That also goes for most of the major banks. Scammers will set out the widest net possible in order to catch as many potential victims as they can.

    If you receive one of these robocalls, do not call the number they leave. Instead, call your bank’s customer service number from the back of your debit card. If you were to call the scammers’ number, they would only need a little bit of information or a touch of misdirection before they could empty your account and disappear into the wind.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 22, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: casting call, , fitness tracker, ,   

    Scam Round Up: Fitness Tracker Scam and More 

    By Greg Collier

    If you tend to shop online, you may want to keep an eye out for a recurring delivery scam. A woman from Kansas was expecting a delivery of medical equipment in the mail when she received a text message. The message claimed to be from the US Postal Service, stating her delivery was $0.30 short on postage that she would need to pay. The text message contained a link which took her to a website that appeared to be the official USPS website. Since she thought the website was official, she gave them her debit card information. Luckily, her bank caught the charge and notified her she had been scammed. She did have to cancel her debit card and get a new one, which can be an inconvenience if you tend not to carry cash.

    There’s also a similar scam to look out for where the text messages say your delivery will be late or couldn’t be delivered. These text messages claim to come from services like UPS and FedEx, along with USPS. These messages should be ignored and deleted. Instead, check the tracking number of your delivery to see if there are any actual issues.

    If you’re the theatrical type or looking to get into the entertainment industry, you may want to be aware of fake casting calls. For example, South Carolina is where the show Outer Banks is filmed. Fake casting calls for extras were posted to social media. The scam listings were said to be a ploy to ask potential extras for money to be in the production. The official casting agency says that’s not how it works, and they would never ask for money.

    Like any other job offer, research the company you would be dealing with to make sure you’re dealing with the actual company and not some impostor company.

    Lastly, if you’re into fitness and use a fitness tracker, you may want to be wary of the online communities which some of the trackers can connect you to. The groups themselves can actually be beneficial, especially to those who may be struggling with their fitness goals. But just like most online communities, scammers lurk among the members.

    According to reports, scammers will approach a victim about their fitness goals. After a while, the scammer will get more friendly before asking for money with some story designed to manipulate your emotions behind it. It almost seems like a low-key version of the romance scam. The scammers will also insist on communicating with them outside the community page or app.

    To better protect yourself, try not to use a photo of yourself as your profile picture. Also, don’t share any personal information with people you don’t know in regular life.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 21, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    New missing pet scam terrorizes owners 

    By Greg Collier

    The panic you feel when a beloved family pet goes missing is almost palpable. Owners of missing pets can’t help but wonder what their pet is possibly going through. In those situations, our thoughts often turn to the worst possible outcome. Then there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Someone has come forward claiming to have found your pet. But they’re not a good Samaritan. Instead, they’re a scammer looking to make some money off your anxiety.

    Unfortunately, this is a common scam anymore. If you were to lose a pet and put up flyers or ask for help on social media, there’s a good chance the first person to contact you will be a scammer. Scammers will say they have your pet before asking for some kind of reward. Some scammers will even make it sound like they’re holding your pet for ransom.

    More recently, scammers have increased the emotional manipulation used in the scam. Now, scammers are not only claiming to have found your pet, but they’re also claiming they had to take the pet in for emergency surgery. The scammers then try to get the amount of the ‘surgery’ out of the pet owners. Some scammers even pose as the local shelter while trying to get money from the owner. Sadly, some pet owners have fallen victim to the scam and lost large amounts of money to the scammers.

    It used to be when something like this happened, you would ask the caller to send you a picture of them with your pet. Some experts have warned this may not be viable anymore with the advancement of AI photo apps that could make it appear as if they have your dog.

    If you receive a call like this and the person says they took your dog into emergency surgery, ask them where the surgery took place. Then call the veterinarian’s office or animal shelter to verify their story before handing over any money.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 20, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Mother convinced daughter arrested in AI scam 

    Mother convinced daughter arrested in AI scam

    By Greg Collier

    If anyone could recognize their daughter’s voice with just a few short words, it would be their mother. At least, that’s what scammers are hoping as AI-generated voice spoofing scams continue to plague families.

    Within the past few months, we have seen an increased uptick of phone scams that use AI-generated voices. As we’ve previously discussed, there are two scams where an AI-generated voice of the victim’s loved one makes the scams seem more believable.

    One of those scams is the virtual kidnapping scam. That’s when scammers will call their victim to tell them that they’ve kidnapped one of the victim’s loved ones, while demanding a ransom. In actuality, the supposed kidnap victim is unaware they’re being used in a scam.

    The other scam is the grandparent scam. It’s called the grandparent scam because in it, the majority of scammers target elderly victims and claim to be one of their grandchildren. Calling it the grandparent scam can be a misnomer, as scammers will also target parents and spouses.

    One mother from Upstate New York was shopping for her daughter’s wedding when she received a call from scammers. She immediately heard her daughter’s voice saying she got into a car accident. But it wasn’t her daughter’s voice. Scammers had spoofed it using AI.

    Scammers only need a few seconds of someone’s voice before they can make an authentic sounding AI model, along with the speaker’s cadence. They get their voice samples either from someone’s social media or making phone calls to their target. Since the daughter was preparing for her wedding, there may have been a wide variety of voice samples to choose from.

    But getting back to the scam, after the mother heard her daughter’s voice, a scammer got on the line posing as local police. They said the daughter caused a wreck while texting and driving, and needed $15,000 for bail.

    Thankfully, even though the woman was convinced that was her daughter’s voice, she did not fall victim to the scam. Instead, she called her daughter, who was in no danger at all.

    If you receive a phone call like this, try to contact the person who was supposedly arrested. Even if you held a conversation on that call and the person sounded exactly like your loved one. Scammers will try to keep you on the phone, but no one ever had their bail raised while someone verified their story.

     

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