As the United States of Americas enter the final days of the race for the White House, the FBI has warned that fraudsters are using the presidential election campaign to scam citizens out of their savings and personal data.
Read more in my article on the Tripwire State of Security blog.
Category: Scam
Two men have been arrested by the FBI and charged in relation to their alleged involvement in a scam which saw almost a quarter of a billion dollars worth of cryptocurrency stolen from a single victim.
Two men arrested one month after $230 million of cryptocurrency stolen from a single victim.
The men were allegedly less than careful hiding their behaviour - spending $500,000 a night in nightclubs, buying hundreds of bottles of champagne, gifting designer handbags (and even a pink Lamborgini) to random women they bumped into on a night out...
Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
Nearly three years ago, a new wave of scams emerged, targeting individuals through phone calls and emails. Scammers claimed to possess intimate images of their victims and threatened to release them publicly unless a ransom was paid within a specified time frame.
This evolved into what is now known as the “S#$tortion” scam. In these schemes, victims are accused of visiting illicit websites monitored by law enforcement. To keep their browsing history private, the criminals demand payment, threatening to expose the victim’s details on social media, potentially damaging their reputation.
Recent findings from Cofense, an email security firm, reveal that scammers have intensified their tactics. They now threaten victims by claiming to know their exact whereabouts and have pinpointed their physical addresses. To bolster their threats, they send PDF files featuring Google Street View images, which are intended to validate their claims. However, researchers note that while the addresses may correspond to the victim’s general area, they do not show the victim’s actual home or workplace.
These threat actors are demanding payment in cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin, and warn that failure to comply will result in the release of personal information to the victim’s contacts on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
From Google’s perspective, they utilize AI tools to filter out spam and extortion emails, but criminals often craft clever subject lines that bypass these filters, landing in unsuspecting users’ inboxes.
Cofense advises online users to be vigilant. Here are some tips for staying safe:
a. Avoid clicking on links from unknown sources.
b. Do not share intimate details, photos, or videos online, especially with people you do not fully trust.
c. If you receive an email impersonating law enforcement, report it to the authorities.
d. Never disclose personal information such as phone numbers, passwords, PINs, email addresses, or banking details, even to friends or family.
By remaining cautious and informed, individuals can better protect themselves against these malicious scams.
The post Beware of Google Street View Images Extortion Email Scams appeared first on Cybersecurity Insiders.
There's a whole new dating scam that could mean you end up out of pocket (or beaten up) after a first date with a glamorous admirer, and a woman in Los Alamos uses an Air Tag to entrap a thief.
Plus - don't miss our featured interview with Maya Irvine of Sysdig.
All this, and a very bad Cockney accent, in the latest edition of the "Smashing Security" podcast by industry veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault.
Scammers are once again using deepfake technology to dupe unwary internet Facebook and Instagram users into making unwise cryptocurrency investments.
AI-generated videos promoting fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platform Immediate Edge have used deepfake footage of British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and His Royal Highness Prince William to reach an estimated 890,000 people via Meta's social media platforms.
Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
Cybersecurity journalist Joe Tidy has found himself in the unusual position of being targeted by a scammer calling herself "Jessica", he revealed this week.
Read more in my article on the Hot for Security blog.
Are you eager for your credit report to be "cleaned-up" so lenders and landlords will have a better opinion of your financial responsibility and creditworthiness?
You might be wise to read my article on the Hot for Security blog.
In episode six of The AI Fix, our hosts discover an unusual place to put a traffic cone, Mark learns why Americans should pretend to be from Brazil, and Graham discovers a way to make any situation much, much worse. Graham inflicts his terrible Australian accent on Mark while explaining bot-on-bot crime, and Mark tells … Continue reading "The AI Fix #6: AI lobotomies, and bots scam scam bots"
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has warned that scammers are impersonating its employees, in an attempt to commit fraud.
Impersonation scams are on the rise, warns the agency.
Read more, and learn how to protect yourself, in my article on the Tripwire State of Security blog.
Microsoft gets itself into a pickle with a privacy-popping new feature on its CoPilot+ PCs, the FTC warns of impersonated companies, and is your company hiring North Korean IT workers?
All this and much much more is discussed in the latest edition of the “Smashing Security” podcast by cybersecurity veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault, joined this week by author, journalist, and podcaster Geoff White.