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  • Geebo 8:00 am on October 7, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , Twitch   

    Major social media platform experiences historic data breach 

    Data breach exposed most American families

    By Greg Collier

    If we had to hazard a guess, we’d assume that most of our readership do not use livestreaming platform Twitch. If you’re not familiar with Twitch, it’s most famous for its users who stream themselves playing video games, although it does have other content such as musicians and talk shows. Yesterday, Twitch was the victim of a massive data breach of epic proportions, which has left some of its top users vulnerable to potential cyberattacks.

    Yesterday, hackers released a veritable cornucopia of Twitch’s inside information. This was a 128 GB file that contained the platform’s source code. In layman’s terms, hackers released all the code that the platform runs on to the public. Some of this code contained information such as how much some of Twitch’s top earners make, which for some is in the millions of dollars. Twitch streamers make a lot of their money through monthly subscriptions and viewer donations.

    What’s more concerning to the average Twitch user is that it’s been alleged that usernames and passwords have been exposed. If this is true, this could lead to a rash of identity theft if Twitch users use the same password elsewhere online. While this breach may not affect the majority of our readership, it could affect your kids, as Twitch is massively popular among a younger audience.

    This data breach could be used to teach your kids a lesson in online security. Find out if they have a Twitch account and if they use their Twitch password anywhere else online. Recommend that they not only change their password to Twitch, but also to change it if they use the same password anywhere else. You should also recommend to them that they should not use the same password on multiple platforms. It’s never too early to have your children learn the value of internet security.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on October 6, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ,   

    Watch out for sticky mailboxes 

    By Greg Collier

    There used to be a time when the blue US Postal Service mailboxes were considered almost sacred. We would hear all the time about how it was considered a federal crime to tamper with the box, let alone take mail from it. In today’s world, that’s no longer a deterrent keeping con artists and thieves out of postal collection boxes. Previously, when we’ve discussed mail being stolen from collection boxes, the box is overstuffed with mail where bad actors could just reach in and grab a fistful of mail. Now, it seems that mail thieves aren’t even waiting for the mailbox to be full before stealing mail from them.

    Police in Norwood, Massachusetts, have been warning residents there about a string of incidents where mail has been fished out of mailboxes. Mail thieves are using items like bottles that are covered in an adhesive to drop into the mailboxes and hopefully fish out some mail containing checks. As we posted about recently, this so thieves and scammers can dip the checks in chemicals to remove the ink from written and cancelled checks in a process known as check washing.

    Local police are recommending to residents that they should be aware of any mailbox that has any sticky residue on it. This also good advice to anyone who still uses their local mailbox to send their mail. However, the best way to prevent mail theft like this is to drop your mail off inside of your local post office or handing it directly to a mail carrier. It’s also recommended that you write your checks using a gel or felt tip pin, as these inks are more difficult to remove from checks.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on October 5, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , ,   

    You can’t rent a house through Coinstar 

    You can't rent a house through Coinstar

    By Greg Collier

    I think we can honestly say that this is one of the more unusual rental scams that we’ve heard of.

    It starts out as your typical rental scam. A scammers has listed a home for rent online that they don’t own at a below-market price. An Arizona man responds to the listing and wants to see the house first before giving the phony landlord any money. The scammer tells the man that the house is open, so the man can see it at his convenience. That part was true, the house was left open for the man to tour. While this is not the part of the scam that we find unusual, scammers often make appointments with realtors to get the codes to the lockboxes realtors use to secure the houses. The scammers then give the code to prospective victims, so they can tour the home. This tactic more than most makes the scammers appear legitimate.

    The man wanted to rent the home and told the scammers so. This is where the unusual part comes in. The scammers told the man to go to Coinstar. We all know Coinstar. It’s where we take all our loose change to convert into dollar bills. However, Coinstar can also be used to convert money into two of scammer’s favorite currency, gift cards and Bitcoin. Thankfully, this was the red flag that made the man realize this was a scam. The house wasn’t even for rent, it was for sale. The scammers copied the legitimate listing posted by the realtor and then made their ad look like they were renting the house. That’s the most common tactic of the rental scammer.

    Before you contact anybody about touring a home you saw listed online, you should do a web search of the address of the home. This can often show you the actual rent and the actual realtor selling or renting the home. Zillow and Raltor.com are great ways to help detect fraud, as many phony listings are blatantly copied from these platforms. Also, no legitimate rental agency or realtor is going to ask you to pay any application fees are down payment in gift cards or cryptocurrency.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on October 4, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , St. Louis   

    Checks stolen from post office mailbox 

    By Greg Collier

    As much as we have moved away from paying for items with personal checks, there are still instances when a personal check is still necessary. For example, a woman in the St. Louis area needed to pay a contractor who was building her family a new home. That’s not a service that you can often pay with your debit card. The woman went to her local post office and placed the check that was addressed to the contractor in the collection box outside.

    She probably thought nothing of it until she received a call from her bank. The bank asked her if she had recently written a check for $73,000. She told the bank she didn’t and didn’t know the person that the check was supposedly issued to. The bank then asked her if she had used her local post office to mail the check. The bank said that they have had a number of customers had checks they wrote stolen from that collection box. The checks had all their ink removed and written to out to new recipients. Thankfully, the bank did not let the woman’s stolen check be cashed.

    This scam is known as check washing. It’s when someone dips an already written or even canceled check in chemicals and removes the handwritten ink from the check. The thieves can then write the check to whomever they want for whatever amount they want. As long as there is enough money in the checking account to cover the washed check, the check can be cashed.

    It’s recommended that in order to protect yourself that you switch from checks to electronic payments. However, like we said, in some cases, you have to pay by check. In that case, there are special pens you can buy that resist check washing. If you’re mailing the checks from the post office, have them mailed from inside the post office, where they’re less likely to be stolen. Lastly, never leave your outgoing mail in your home mailbox. More mail is stolen from home mailboxes than USPS mailboxes.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on October 1, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , , ,   

    Scam Round Up: Android Apps, Recorded Calls, and more 

    Scam Round Up: Android Apps, Recorded Calls, and more

    By Greg Collier

    Today, we’re closing out the week with another trio of scams that you may not normally come across in your daily life.

    ***

    Internet security experts are reporting about a wave of apps from the Google Play Store that have scammed Android users. The apps vary from photo editing to astrology, but their real purpose is to add charges to your phone bill. The apps tell users that they’ve won some form of free gift. All the user needs to do is enter their phone number into the app. However, instead of receiving a gift, the app signs users up to a monthly subscription fee of $42 a month that’s added to the user’s monthly phone bills. For some users, that’s more than double their monthly phone bill. Even though there’s an app in the Play Store, that doesn’t make it automatically secure. Always checks the permissions the app is asking for and avoid giving the app makers any more personal information than they need.

    ***

    Robocalls have been a scourge plaguing humanity for a few years now. It’s safe to assume that most of us have received a call asking us about our car’s warranty, even if some of us don’t own cars. However, some of these spam robocalls are more sinister than they appear. According to security experts, your only response to these calls should be to hang up. The last thing you want to do is say anything on these calls. The call will ask you if you want to stop these calls, just say yes. If you say yes, scammers can record your voice and use it to authorize a fraudulent purchase on your credit card. It also shows that there is someone at your phone number, which could result in you being targeted for more scam calls. While some people like to engage scammers, it’s a better strategy to just hang up.

    ***

    And of course, we can’t talk about scams without usually talking about gift cards in some form or fashion. A couple in North Carolina randomly received a gift card in the mail that was supposedly worth $400. The couple contacted their local news channel to see if this was a scam and of course, it was. How the scam works is the letter will contain a web link you need to go to in order to activate the card. Once you go to the link, you’re asked to input personal information such as your name, date of birth, and social security number. If you do this, your identity is almost immediately stolen. Please keep in mind that gift cards are the currency of scammers and should only be used for their intended purpose.

    ***

    Thank you for reading, and have a great and safe weekend.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on September 30, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , ,   

    Victim scammed by fake Cash App website 

    Victim scammed by fake Cash App website

    By Greg Collier

    Cash App has an advantage over its competitors like PayPal and Zelle. A Cash App user doesn’t need to have a bank account linked to their Cash App account. This is a great benefit to many Cash App users who are underserved by banks in their communities. However, that advantage comes at a cost. Cash App doesn’t offer the same protections that a bank might when it comes to scams, and unfortunately, Cash App is probably the most popular mobile payment app used by scammers. One of the more common Cash App scams is the fake customer service number scam. This is where scammers take out ads on popular search engines claiming to be Cash App’s official customer service number, but instead you’re directed to a scammer.

    Something similar recently happened to a woman from Arizona. She used Cash App exclusively and did not have a bank account. She recently purchased a new phone and wasn’t sure how to transfer her Cash App account to her new phone. Just because smartphones are commonplace now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone knows all the ins and outs of them, and purchasing a new phone can be a daunting task for some. The woman and her son looked on the internet for instructions on how to do this and came across a website that looked like an official Cash App site.

    The phony website even listed the correct customer service number for Cash App. However, when they clicked on the phone number, it redirected them to a scam call center. The phony rep asked for her account information and transferred all of her entire paycheck to a bank account controlled by the scammers. Another drawback to Cash App is that once a transfer is made, the account who received the money can block the account that sent the money. Or, in this case, the account that had money stolen from it.

    With payment apps like Cash App, your account isn’t permanently tied to the phone you first started using it on. As long as you haven’t changed your phone number, you should be able to redownload the app to your new phone and enter your login information and everything should be on the new phone.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on September 29, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , twitter bots, ,   

    Twitter bots are scamming PayPal and Venmo users 

    Twitter bots are scamming PayPal and Venmo users

    By Greg Collier

    We didn’t intend to write three stories in a row about payment app scams, yet here we are. Apps like PayPal and Venmo have become so common, it’s almost expected for scammers to try and weasel their way into our electronic wallets. We have documented quite a number of scams that involve not only PayPal and Venmo, but Cash App, Zelle, and other platforms as well. Those scams usually involve some kind of fraudulent transaction, but it seems at least one group of scammers have stepped up their game when it comes to finding new targets.

    Scammers have recently set up bots to look for any mention of the names PayPal or Venmo. For example, if someone were to ask another person on Twitter if they had a PayPal, so they could pay them for an item or support a content creator for example, the bot picks up on that mention. What happens next borders on evil genius territory.

    The bot will then make an almost duplicate Twitter account of the person being asked if they have PayPal. They’ll block the account they’ve cloned, then respond to the person who asked about their PayPal account with a link that goes to the scammers account. So the person who is supposed to be receiving the money doesn’t even see the fake account responding to the person who asked them about their PayPal account. In a normal Twitter conversation, it would go something like this.

    Person 1: Hey, I like your content. Do you have a PayPal?

    Impersonated Account: I sure do. (With attached link to scammer’s PayPal)

    Meanwhile, Person 2 never sees the impersonated account respond, and loses out on a sale or support.

    If you feel the need to discuss someone’s PayPal or Venmo account with them on social media, make sure to do it through private messages and not in a way where everyone can see it. Also, if you’re someone who solicits donations for their work through PayPal, it’s best not to list your PayPal details in your public profile as bots could be targeting you.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on September 28, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ,   

    PayPal scam targets the elderly 

    PayPal scam targets the elderly

    By Greg Collier

    Yesterday, we talked about Venmo has been used in various scams, but today is all about Venmo’s big brother, PayPal. For those who may not know, Venmo is owned by PayPal. Anyway, PayPal is also no stranger to scams. Scammers have been fleecing PayPal users before Venmo was even a thing. Historically, PayPal was used as a scamming tool by shady eBay sellers. This was around the time when eBay owned PayPal, but has since spun off the payment app. We’re not saying that PayPal is responsible for the scams, but since PayPal has become so common in internet commerce, it has become a major avenue of scammers.

    A report out of Southern California says that there is a PayPal scam going around targeting elderly users of the platform. Most PayPal users get an email every time they make a purchase using PayPal. PayPal users will be most familiar with the email that comes with the PayPal logo that tells you where you made the purchase and how much the purchase was. A 67-year-old woman from San Diego received one of these emails, but it was for a purchase she didn’t make that was for an exorbitant amount. Legitimate PayPal emails also contain PayPal’s customer service number. This scam email also contained a phone number, but it went to a scam call center instead of PayPal.

    The phony customer service representative asked to log into the woman’s account in order to reverse the charge. The woman was also asked for banking information, since PayPal accounts are required to be linked to a bank account. Thankfully, the woman caught on that this was a scam and did not give up any of her information.

    If you are a PayPal user, and you receive an email that claims you were billed for a purchase you didn’t make, the first thing you should do is log into your account. Then check the transactions to see if the fraudulent purchase is there or not. If it’s not there, you can delete the email and forget about it. If a fraudulent transaction is there, call the customer service number listed on PayPal’s website or the back of your PayPal debit card. Whatever you do, don’t Google for the phone number, as that could lead you to a fraudulent call center. Also, avoid using any phone numbers contained in emails, as they could also direct you to a group of scammers as well.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on September 27, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ,   

    Did Venmo lead to a kidnapping scam? 

    Did Venmo lead to a kidnapping scam?

    By Greg Collier

    As we have said previously, payment apps like Venmo are a great convenience for consumers. Venmo allows its users to make payments to friends and family or make a purchase without having to carry cash. However, it has a peculiar feature that’s enabled by default, and that’s the user’s public feed. It allows just about anyone to see a user’s Venmo activity, such as whom they paid and how much. The feed can be made private, but many users don’t even know the feed even exists. The feed has been used in a number of Venmo-related scams, but this is the first time we can recall it being used in such a harrowing scam.

    A woman from Georgia received a phone call that came up in her caller ID as coming from her mother. Somehow, the scammers were able to ascertain her mother’s phone number and spoofed it. The scammers claimed they were in her mother’s house and were holding her mother hostage. They demanded $2500 to be paid through Venmo. She only had $500 in her account, and the scammers accepted that. Meanwhile, the woman’s boyfriend was on the phone with the woman’s brother, who was at the mother’s home at the time and verified no kidnapping was taking place. However, the woman had already sent the scammers the money, and Venmo makes it easy to block users once the transfer has been made. It’s believed that the scammers knew she was a Venmo user by guessing random usernames to see if that brings up a public feed. The woman had just used Venmo that day.

    As you may know, this is known as a virtual kidnapping scam, and it has become prevalent over the past few years. If you were to receive a phone call like this, your initial reaction may be to believe what you’re being told. However, kidnappings for money are actually very rare in the United States. What you should do is try to get in contact with the person who has been supposedly kidnapped, either through using a different phone to call them or some other means of communication. You can also ask to speak to the supposed hostage and ask them a question only they would know.

    Scammers often use fear as a tactic to get their victims to give them exorbitant amounts of money. However, if you have the knowledge to thwart them, you’ll have nothing to fear.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on September 24, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ProPublica, ,   

    Facebook marketplace is deadly 

    Facebook marketplace is deadly

    By Greg Collier

    Craigslist used to be the poster child for dangerous marketplace platforms. It was a reputation they earned through their unmoderated ad listings which led to countless scams, human trafficking, and a number of high-profile murders. However, within five years of launching, Facebook Marketplace has become the supposed industry leader. The reason Facebook Marketplace became so successful so fast is that Facebook already had a built-in audience of one billion users worldwide and for many of Facebook’s users, Facebook is their internet. And since Facebook doesn’t want their users to wander outside of Facebook’s walled garden, Facebook will implement features to try to keep users engaged. Marketplace is just one of those features.

    ProPublica is a non-profit organization that does investigative journalism. Recently, ProPublica did an extensive investigation into the problems with Facebook Marketplace. ProPublica claims in their report that Facebook Marketplace’s problems pale in comparison to the number of problems Craigslist had. They start off their report with a story about a man who was making a living selling cars on Facebook Marketplace. His Facebook account was hacked and scammers started selling cheap junk through his account. Since the account still has his name on it, he’s in fear for his life that a disgruntled customer will come looking for him. When the man tried to resolve the matter with Facebook, they just banned him from the platform with no answers given.

    But to Facebook, the fact that a Marketplace account is attached to a real person makes it safer for users. Except Facebook neglects to mention the part where just about anyone can open a Facebook account. And much like Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace is awash with stolen goods on their listings. Facebook says that they have precautions in place to prevent scams and stolen items from being listed but according to ProPublica who spoke with past and present Marketplace employees, Facebook only reacts to complaints and does little to prevent fraudulent listings from going live.

    While Facebook Marketplace hasn’t had the number or PR nightmare that Craigslist had, there have been a number of murders committed using Facebook Marketplace. Much like we posted about OfferUp, the majority of these murders come from armed robberies. We’ll spare you the gruesome details, but many of these murders were particularly disturbing.

    Our point is that just because Facebook may be your social network of choice, that doesn’t make Marketplace safe by any stretch of the imagination.

    The even more unfortunate part of this blog post is that a lot of our audience won’t see it, since Facebook would almost assuredly prevent it from being posted on its platform. But they can’t stop you from posting it on Facebook. So please consider sharing this post or the ProPublica article with people you know who use Facebook Marketplace.

     

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