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  Geebo 9:00 am on February 16, 2023 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: catfishing ( 4 ), Facetime, romance scam ( 71 ), Scams ( 1,386 )   

  Romance scammers are FaceTime frauds 

  

  By Greg Collier

  A lot has been made about romance scammers in the news this week because of Valentine’s Day. While it’s always a good thing when the media shares information about this scam, it’s a scam that people should watch out for all year round. While the scam largely targets the elderly, anyone can fall victim to the scam regardless of age or gender. To complicate matters, romance scammers can use technological tricks to get around some of the red flags.

  For example, a widow from California recently lost $120,000 to a romance scam. The victim had met the scammer on Date, a dating platform primarily used by Jewish singles. The scammer claimed to be an international businessman from Germany living in Texas. That should have been a red flag, as romance scammers almost always pose as someone who is often out of the country. Other popular positions that romance scammers claim to have are being stationed overseas in the military or oil rig workers. This gives the scammers plausible deniability when it comes to meeting in person.

  That leads us to our next red flag, as the scammer in this instance also kept making excuses as to why the pair couldn’t meet in person. Then the requests for money started, which should be the biggest red flag indicating a romance scam. However, this particular scammer used a gimmick that probably made all the red flags go away.

  According to the victim, she would talk to who she thought was her romantic partner over the video chat app FaceTime. Typically, on FaceTime scam calls, the scammer will only show a picture and will claim that there’s something wrong with their camera or device. However, it’s not unheard of there being convincing filters that can imitate other people while FaceTiming. An untrained eye may not be able to spot such a ruse, but you can see how that might convince someone that their online relationship is real.

  When it comes to romance scams, no red flag should ever be ignored. If you’re using a dating site and someone asks to move off the platform to communicate, that could be a red flag. Always do a reverse image search, as scammers will often use pictures that are stolen from online platforms. And most importantly, never send money, no matter how big or small the amount.

   

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  Geebo 9:00 am on January 5, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Connecticut ( 2 ), Facetime, puppy scam ( 37 ), Scams ( 1,386 )   

  Puppy scammers FaceTime victim 

  

  By Greg Collier

  Scams are like a virus. They’re always adapting and mutating into new variants where they look to get a new advantage over their victims. And also, like a virus, scammers do not care who they have to hurt to get what they want.

  For example, a woman from Connecticut wanted to get a puppy for her children for Christmas. She found someone claiming to be a local breeder. The victim did her due diligence as she paid a service to make sure the alleged breeder wasn’t using a fake identity, and everything seemed to check out. Several conversations took place between the victim and the breeder. The breeder even FaceTimed with the victim, showing the victim a litter of puppies. Convinced that the breeder was legitimate, the victim sent payment to the breeder.

  When it came time to pick up the puppy, the breeder is said to have started giving excuses. The breeder claimed that one of the puppies had a fever, and then that one of the breeder’s other dogs had to go see an emergency vet. Then the breeder claimed that they were in the hospital before telling the victim it wasn’t the right time to give the victim the puppy. Then all communication was cut off and the victim never got a puppy nor a refund.

  What’s particularly disturbing about this variant of the puppy scam is that the scammer used actual puppies in the scam. Usually in a puppy scam, the puppies don’t actually exist. It’s harrowing to think where the scammer may have obtained these puppies and what they intend to do with them after the scam runs its course.

  If you’re in the market for a puppy, try to deal only with local and licensed breeders. This breeder may have been what they call a ‘backyard breeder’ who are unlicensed breeders that often have no regard for the health conditions of their animals.

  But as always, we highly recommend adopting a puppy from your local animal shelter. This can often be done with minimal or no cost. Some shelters even have waiting lists you can sign up for if you’re looking for a certain breed. Also, don’t let the shelter stigma convince you that all shelter dogs are problems. Many of them are there through no fault of their own and would make a great addition to any household.

   
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  Geebo 10:17 am on January 29, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Apple ( 31 ), Facetime, ios ( 3 ), privacy ( 46 ), security ( 46 )   

  Apple bug let you spy on friends 

  

  If you’re a fan of Apple products and are deeply entrenched within the iOS ecosystem, you’ve probably used the popular app Facetime. For those of you who may not know, Facetime is an app that allows you to make video calls to your friends on many Apple devices. While Apple prides itself on user privacy, the hacking of iCloud accounts notwithstanding, a major bug was recently discovered in Facetime that potentially allowed users to spy on their contacts.

  According to unofficial Apple new site 9 to 5 Mac, a bug in Facetime allows you to connect a Facetime call without the other party having to accept the call. In order to enact the bug, you would need to add yourself as a contact in a Facetime group call and the call would connect automatically while it appears to the other contact that they have not accepted the call yet.

  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI2za9p95r0%5D

  In order to prevent these types of Facetime calls from happening it was recommended that you disable Facetime in the settings of your iOS device. However, Apple has since reacted to the news of the bug by disabling group chat ion Facetime across most devices. Apple claims that there will be a patch for the bug later this week.

  This privacy gaffe comes in the wake of Apple taking out a massive billboard at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that touted their reputation of iOS devices being secure than other devices.