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  Geebo 8:00 am on August 30, 2024 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Election ( 21 ), Massachussetts, pennsylvania ( 9 ), Scams ( 1,366 ), text messaging ( 36 ), text scam ( 23 ), voting ( 4 )   

  Beware of Text Message Voter Scams 

  

  By Greg Collier

  As election season heats up, voters in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are being targeted by scam text messages designed to sow confusion and steal personal information. Officials in both states are warning citizens to stay vigilant and protect themselves from these deceptive tactics.

  In Pennsylvania, voters in key areas near Philadelphia such as Bucks, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties have reported receiving fraudulent text messages ahead of the November general election. These texts falsely claim that there are issues with the recipient’s voter registration status or that their previous votes were not counted. Some messages even direct voters to call fake numbers, allegedly belonging to local election offices.

  These messages are part of a broader attempt by bad actors to manipulate voters during a critical election period. Pennsylvania’s Department of State has emphasized that voters should not trust unsolicited messages that provide alarming or urgent information about their voting status. Instead, voters should verify any concerns by visiting the official state voter services website at vote.pa.gov or by contacting their local election office directly.

  Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, the Secretary of State’s office has issued a similar warning to voters about a potential text message scam as the state primaries approach. Some voters have reported receiving texts claiming they are not registered to vote, with a link provided supposedly to resolve the issue. The state cautions voters not to click on these links, as they may be attempts to collect sensitive information for malicious purposes.

  Massachusetts election officials will never contact voters via text message about their registration status. Voters who are unsure about their registration can check their status on the official website VoteInMA.com or by contacting their local election office directly.

  As election day draws near, it’s essential for voters in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and across the country to be cautious about unsolicited communications regarding their voter status. Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and their messages may appear credible at first glance. However, by relying on official sources and reporting suspicious activity, voters can help protect themselves and ensure their voices are heard without interference.

  If you receive a suspicious text message related to voting, don’t engage with the content. Instead, report the message to your state’s consumer protection agency and verify your voter information through official channels. By staying informed, you can play a crucial role in safeguarding the integrity of our elections.

   

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  Geebo 9:00 am on February 15, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: coronavirus ( 40 ), covid-19 ( 48 ), craigslist ( 129 ), Massachussetts, Scams ( 1,366 ), vaccines ( 8 )   

  Don’t let strangers take Grandma to her vaccination 

  

  In most states, seniors age 75 or older are currently eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. One of the problems these seniors face is that they may not have reliable transportation to get to one of their state’s vaccination centers. In order to combat this problem, the state of Massachusetts has adopted a program where those who transport the senior citizen to the vaccination center can also receive the vaccine.

  The program was intended to give caregivers such as a spouse or adult child to take their loved one to get the vaccine. However, like most things that have good intentions at heart, there are those who look to take advantage of the program. Almost as soon as the program was announced, there were those who took to Craigslist offering money to seniors who would let them accompany them to the vaccination center. At least one person has offered over $1000 to allow them to accompany a senior to their vaccination.

  While it’s natural for people to be desperate to receive the vaccine, some of these offers could potentially be from scammers. Since seniors tend to be the largest target for scammers, this program has opened a golden opportunity for con artists. These scams could range from identity theft to a Medicare scam and anything in between. That’s not even taking the senior’s safety into account. Craigslist has been known to have a less than stellar reputation when it comes to user safety.

  When most of us were children, we always heard the warning of not getting into cars with strangers. If this is what we tell our children, then it should apply to our older family members as well. Do you really want a parent or grandparent getting into a vehicle with a stranger so they can get their vaccine?

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on April 25, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: child safety ( 8 ), Human trafficking ( 97 ), Massachussetts, Snapchat ( 13 )   

  Will traffickers lure your kids on Snapchat? 

  

  Within the past few days, there has been a rumor surrounding the photo-sharing app Snpachat. The rumor that’s been circulating mainly on Facebook claims that there is a sex trafficking ring operating in Lawrence, Massachusetts that recruits young girls over Snapchat. The rumor purports that strangers are adding your kids as friends on Snapchat and once they do that the traffickers are able to ascertain your child’s location and potentially kidnap them. However, according to the Lawrence Police, there is no such trafficking ring operating in Lawrence and fact-checking site Snopes says the rumor is gaining ground due to a misunderstanding about how Snapchat works.

  Snapchat does have a feature where friends can see each other’s location if both friends agree to enable the feature called Snap Map. But if one of the users does not enable Snap Map their location cannot be found. It’s not an automatic thing that turns on once you accept somebody’s friend request.

  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q-gjHtttGQ%5D

  Now while there is not currently a sex trafficking ring in Lawrence, that doesn’t mean that traffickers don’t use social media to approach children. In typical cases, traffickers will target children who are having problems at home or have run away in the past. In many instances, those children will have exhibited some evidence on their social media accounts. This allows traffickers to start grooming them by telling them how they understand the child better than the child’s parents do. In some other cases, the traffickers will promise kids from low-income areas with promises of fame and money and convince the child to run away.

  This could happen on any social media platform and not just Snapchat. These grooming techniques are not a new thing and were even used in the MySpace days. One of the best ways to protect your kids from traffickers and other online predators is to talk with them about how these predators operate and how most strangers online probably want something inappropriate from them. Another good way is to keep tabs on the apps your children may use and who is on their friends list. If it’s somebody that they’ve never met in person that you don’t know it’s a good idea to have them remove that person from their contacts. Lastly, you may want to consider holding on to all your children’s device after they go to bed in order to keep an eye on any unusual messages they may receive.

   
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  Geebo 9:28 am on April 2, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Backpage ( 69 ), Human trafficking ( 97 ), lawsuit ( 47 ), Massachussetts   

  Lawsuit by underage victim to proceed against Backpage 

  

  Before FOSTA has been signed into law, a federal judge in Massachusetts has ruled that a lawsuit against Backpage can proceed against them. A woman who was trafficked on Backpage when she was 15, has been trying to sue the website claiming that they knowingly facilitated child prostitution on their platform. The U.S. District Court Judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence showing Backpage allegedly altered the ad between submission and publication.

  Sadly, two similar lawsuits by underage trafficking victims were dismissed by the same judge once again citing section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. The CDA has long been the statute that Backpage had hidden behind to avoid prosecution and lawsuits from the multitudes of trafficking victims that have been sold into sexual slavery through their ads. Thankfully, that provision of the CDA is about to go away as the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) is awaiting a signature from the President to be passed into law.

  While some in the tech industry have decried that FOSTA is the end of the internet as we know it, we once again have to remind them the legislation has been specifically worded to target websites that are knowingly facilitating human trafficking. We also have to remind them that legislators wouldn’t have had to gotten involved if Backpage didn’t insist on making the vast majority of their money through such a heinous practice.