Tips and Tricks, Hacker's Brief 7/24/2023
Geek Squad Invoice scam: A Laramie citizen received an email from a Gmail address that some money was to be refunded to her account. Attached was, supposedly, an invoice from the Geek Squad. However, the subject of the email is that money is to be refunded, but the “invoice” is for a yearly renewal. The phone numbers in the invoice do not belong to the Geek Squad or to Best Buy. CyberWyoming note: Perhaps you’ve noticed there are waves of certain phishing and smishing (text) scams. So be prepared for more Geek Squad scams to grace your email and texts over the next couple of weeks. And don’t click on any of the links, open attachments, or call any of the numbers that are listed. If you’re worried, look up Best Buy online and call that telephone number.
Beware of “free” offers: A Nevada citizen reported receiving several emails offering various “free” items – power washers, tool sets, gift cards. All of them are phishing emails. Many of them have typos in the subject line to get past your email spam filter. CyberWyoming note: For safety’s sake, we recommend you delete all emails with free offers without opening them.
Action Required for Verification: CyberWyoming received an email that their email account needed to be verified because the storage space was full. All of the links in the ‘verification’ email lead to scam websites. If this was a real email, alerting you to a storage issue, the solution would be deleting old emails to create storage space, not to click on links.
The latest romance scam: Scammers are pretending to be U.S. soldiers actively serving in Ukraine. They ask for money for a care package using a fake military site. Since there is no official U.S. presence in Ukraine, ignore the requests. – Brought to you by Scambusters
The latest phone scams:
The summer camp call: There’s been a gas leak and they need to evacuate immediately. The camp counselor wants you to pay for a hotel for your child.
The charity call: A voice you’ve definitely heard on TV called you, looking for cash to help disaster victims. What’s your credit card number?
The neighbor call: She’s saying your dog was hit by a car and she took him to the vet. You’ll pay the bill now, right?
The auto parts call: Your trusty mechanic calls with bad news — do not drive your car. There’s been a major recall and you need to buy the parts.
The family call: It’s someone you know and they’re in jail, selling an heirloom, or diagnosed with a terminal illness. You’ll help out, won’t you?
Tell the person you’ll call them right back. Then hang up and call the camp, the charity, the neighbor, etc. Chances are it is a scam. – Brought to you by The Current Tech News CyberWyoming Note: remember our tip to create a secret family password that the scammer wouldn’t know.
Fake Shark Tank advertising: Ads, often posted on social media sites, not only claim their product has been endorsed by one of the investors, but also use photos of the individual and logos from the show and TV news broadcasters. In some cases, they even use "doctored" deep fake photos and videos in which investors appear to back their products. In other cases, scam companies try to pass themselves off as genuine firms that have won Shark Tank backing. The panel of investors have produced a video in which they warn viewers to be extra cautious. "There are businesses that are advertising online claiming to be Shark Tank companies, but they never appeared on the show," says Cuban. Diet pills are among the most common source of scams that fraudulently use the Shark Tank label. -Brought to you by Scambusters
MS-ISAC and CISA Patch Now Alert: The Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) or the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has published a patch now (update your software) alert for FortiOS and FortiProxy, Apple products, Adobe products. If you use these products, make sure the software (or firmware) is updated.
Data Breaches in the News: Azure, Google Cloud, JumpCloud, Lemmy.world, Docker Hub, Colorado State University, H&R Block, TaxAct, TaxSlayer.
Latest MoveIt victims: University of Northern Colorado, University of Utah, Southern Utah University, Honeywell, Norton LifeLock, Fidelity, Shutterfly, Delta Dental, TD Ameritrade.
Note: If you have an account with one of these companies, be sure to change your password and consider placing a credit freeze on your accounts through the three credit reporting agencies: TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax.
Please report scams you may experience to phishing@cyberwyoming.org to alert your friends and neighbors.
Other ways to report a scam:
Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker: www.bbb.org/scamtracker/us/reportscam
Wyoming Attorney General’s Office, Consumer Protection
Email ag.consumer@wyo.gov
Complaint form https://attorneygeneral.wyo.gov/law-office-division/consumer-protection-...
File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
Report your scam to the FBI at https://www.ic3.gov/Home/FileComplaint
Reported unwanted calls to the Federal Trade Commission’s Do Not Call Registration. Online at https://www.donotcall.gov/report.html or call 1-888-382-1222, option 3
Office of the Inspector General: https://oig.ssa.gov/
AARP Fraud Watch Network (any age welcome) Helpline 877-908-3360
IRS: report email scams impersonating the IRS to phishing@irs.gov
Call the Wyoming Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) for assistance with potential Medicare fraud, abuse, or errors at 1 800 856-4398
Victim Support: The AARP Fraud Watch Network and Volunteers of America (VOA) created a new, free program to provide emotional support for people impacted by a scam or fraud, called ReST. Visit www.aarp.org/fraudsupport to learn more about the free program and register.
