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Ads on Instagram—including deepfake videos—are impersonating trusted financial institutions like Bank of Montreal (BMO) and EQ Bank (Equitable Bank) in order to scam people, according to BleepingComputer. By staying alert and proactive, you can outsmart even the most convincing deepfake scams. Awareness is your best defense.
The targeted SMS scams asked employees to click a link and log in at a website that mimicked their employer’s Okta authentication page. The feds then obtained records from Virgin Media, which showed the address was leased for several months to Tyler Buchanan , a 22-year-old from Dundee, Scotland.
Researchers have uncovered a large campaign impersonating news websites, such as those from CNN, BBC, CNBC, News24, and ABC News, to promote investment scams. Besides the ads, websites, and platforms, the scammers use countless social media accounts to host and promote the sponsored ads. Double check anything you read.
This month, take advantage of all that NCPW offers, including access to free tools and information that can help you identify and prevent online scams, fraud, and identitytheft. Contact is usually made through social media, by phone or in person. Fraud alerts and credit freezes Protect you from identitytheft.
By compromising an increasing number of Discord accounts, criminals can fool other Discord users into believing that their everyday friends and contacts are speaking with them, emotionally manipulating those users into falling for even more scams and malware campaigns. But the end goal to this scam, and most others, is monetary gain.
Meta provided insight this week into the company’s efforts in taking down more than 2 million accounts that were connected to pig butchering scams on their owned platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Pig butchering scams are big business, with hundreds of millions of dollars involved every year.
Political ads could be hiding online scams, many people feel, and the election, they say, will likely fall victim to some type of “cyber interference.” 52% are “very concerned” or “concerned” about “falling prey to a scam when interacting with political messages.” Those ads may be falling on deaf ears, though.
According to new research conducted by Malwarebytes, 44% of people encounter a mobile scam every single day, while 78% encounter scams at least weekly. As Malwarebytes learned, 25% of scam victims were harassed or blackmailed, 19% had private info exposed, and 15% permanently lost their money. You can read the full report below.
During tax season, a vast amount of valuable personal and financial data is shared online, making it prime time for cybercriminals to rob you of your confidential information, identity, and money. According to the IRS, almost 300,000 cases of identitytheft were reported in 2024, leading to $5.5 billion in tax fraud.
Take the 184 million logins for social media accounts we reported about recently. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that these credentials are in the hands of cybercriminals who can use them for: Account takeovers : Cybercriminals can use stolen credentials to hijack social media, banking, or corporate accounts.
From bogus IRS messages to sneaky links designed to swipe your refund (and identity), phishing scams are ramping up. These red flags can lead to everything from identitytheft to being misled into claiming tax credits for which theyre not entitled. Cybersecurity experts urge the taxpayers to stay sharp and skeptical.
How to avoid Facebook phishing Since we can expect to see more phishing campaigns that use mailto: links, here are some tips to avoid falling victim to such a scam. Do an online search about the email you received, in case others are posting about similar scams. Use Malwarebytes Scam Guard to assess the message.
Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram says its testing new ways to use facial recognition—both to combat scams and to help restore access to compromised accounts. The social media giant is testing the use of video selfies and facial recognition to help users get their hijacked accounts back. Is a comparison always possible?
Nearly every aspect of life is connected to the internet, so protecting your devices, identity, and privacy has never been more critical. Phishing scams, ransomware attacks, data breaches, and identitytheft are part of a growing list of online dangers that are a daily reality.
Even McAfee’s most basic plan includes a VPN, identity monitoring, and text scam detection. I recommend McAfee if you’re looking for features like social media privacy, personal data monitoring, and scans of old internet accounts. McAfee Essential offers web browsing protection, VPN, and identity monitoring.
Deepfakes involve AI-generated synthetic media that convincingly mimics real individuals' voices and faces. While initially popularized in entertainment and satire, cybercriminals now weaponize this technology for fraud, identitytheft, and corporate deception.
Collectively, they could easily put affected customers at risk for account takeovers and identitytheft. Also: I clicked on four sneaky online scams on purpose - to show you how they work In March 2024, the company revealed that customer data from 2019 and earlier had been leaked on the dark web , affecting 7.6
Identitytheft. Social media misuse. By paying attention to your device settings you can take steps to protect your privacy across your digital life: Social media: Choose who can see your posts, photos, and personal information and review these settings regularly. Cyber threats. Online profiling. Financial fraud.
McAfees most basic plan consists of a VPN and text scam detection features that Microsoft Defender lacks. McAfee benefits organizations wanting features like social media privacy, personal data monitoring, and scans of old internet accounts. For basic identity needs, McAfee Essential or Premium should be sufficient.
In the headline for a recent story published by Cybernews , the cybersecurity media outlet said that 16 billion passwords were exposed in a record-breaking data breach, opening access to Facebook, Google, Apple, and any other service imaginable. Take the latest report of a major breach. Sounds scary, right?
No day goes by without risk of data breaches, identitytheft, or financial losses to both people and businesses around the world. In simpler terms, phishing scams, brute force attacks, and MFA bypass techniques. Recently, phishing scams have expanded and come out of emails.
Email hacks are not just inconvenient; they can lead to identitytheft and data breaches. Lets explore immediate actions and preventive measures to secure your digital identity. Heres how to secure them: Reset Passwords for Important Accounts: Prioritize financial, social media, and work-related accounts.
In the headline for a recent story published by Cybernews , the cybersecurity media outlet said that 16 billion passwords were exposed in a record-breaking data breach, opening access to Facebook, Google, Apple, and any other service imaginable. Take the latest report of a major breach. Sounds scary, right?
Phishing scams: Phishing scams that target travel-related platforms are on the rise. In 2024, the travel website booking.com reported a 500%-900% increase in travel-related phishing scams. This rise was attributed to the large number of scams using AI, making it easier for criminals to mimic trusted sources.
Threats like social media phishing have skyrocketed from 18.9% Some of these scams are directly aimed at children, including a rash of fake school emails designed to steal sensitive personal information. Phishing and social engineering scams use threats and a sense of urgency to get you to click links and share personal information.
Identitytheft and fraudulent refund schemes were major players. The AI-powered scam playbook From generative AI (GenAI) phishing emails to deepfake impersonations of IRS agents, attackers are raising the barand the risks. According to the IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) FY23 Annual Report , agents uncovered more than $37.1
The study also found that non-consensual explicit content accounted for 32% of all cases, the highest among all uses, followed by financial fraud (23%), political manipulation (14%), misinformation and disinformation (13%), identitytheft (10%), and other Purposes (8%). First Lady Melania Trump also advocated for the bill.
Two young men from the eastern United States have been hit with identitytheft and conspiracy charges for allegedly stealing bitcoin and social media accounts by tricking employees at wireless phone companies into giving away credentials needed to remotely access and modify customer account information. Prosecutors say Jordan K.
It seems like every day that I see social media posts in which people share photos of the official COVID-19 vaccine card that they have received after being vaccinated against the novel coronavirus that has inflicted tremendous suffering worldwide over the past year. Sample CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Card.
Social media users’ delight at receiving notification that their accounts have qualified for Verification (that is, receiving the often-coveted “blue check mark” that appears on the social media profiles of public figures) has become the latest target of criminal exploitation.
This prolonged season of online shopping (and stress) will provide ample opportunity for phishers, smishers, vishers and identity thieves to pilfer your valuable personal and/or payment information. Here are 50 ways to avoid getting scammed on Black Friday — and beyond. Choose credit over debit. Update your browsers.
Related: How Google, Facebook enable snooping In fact, a majority of scams occur through social engineering. The rise of social media has added to the many user-friendly digital tools scammers, sextortionists, and hackers can leverage in order to manipulate their victims.
How Can College Students Avoid IdentityTheft? With all these demands, fighting identitytheft might not seem like a pressing matter. But students are prime targets for identitytheft, which can cause long-term damage to their finances and credit. Why Are College Students Vulnerable to IdentityTheft?
Every day, criminals scour the internet for personal information they can use to commit fraud and identitytheft. This is as true for children as it is for adults, as kids can be victims of identitytheft well before they reach adulthood. How Thieves Can Use Social Media to Gain Information.
In June 2021, the Nigerian government officially placed an indefinite ban on Twitter , restricting it from operating in Nigeria after the social media platform deleted tweets by the Nigerian president. But after his name appeared in the news media, he received thousands of inquiries from people interested in his idea.
How to Prevent Tax IdentityTheft IdentityIQ Every year, tax season presents a seasonal opportunity for criminals seeking monetary gain from identitytheft. Clearing up issues related to identitytheft and fraudulent tax returns can be messy and significantly delay any tax refund you may be owed.
In this post, we will show you how to detect fake social media profiles. With the increasing prevalence of social media platforms in our daily lives, fake social media profiles have become a significant concern. Detecting […] The post How to Detect Fake Social Media Profiles appeared first on SecureBlitz Cybersecurity.
Tax Season Scams: How to Protect Your Identity IdentityIQ While it’s important to be on high alert and protect your identity all year long, tax season is an especially vulnerable time. Every tax season, identity thieves run a variety of scams to get their hands on taxpayers’ personal information.
What is Social Media Account Cloning? When a scammer has the right information, they can easily impersonate you on social media by cloning your account. Criminals can use cloned social accounts to scam your friends, commit identitytheft and even get your existing accounts shut down. IdentityIQ.
Why Child IdentityTheft Grows During Tax Season IdentityIQ In the intricate web of financial transactions, tax season unveils a concerning trend — the alarming growth of child identitytheft. Be wary of the content that is posted on social media.
With the increased global use of social media, there are more opportunities than ever for scammers to steal identities or perpetrate fraud online. For example, did you know that your status updates posted on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and many other social media sites can be used by criminals? Stop providing password clues.
With the US election campaigns at full throttle, scammers have taken a renewed interest in the ways this can be used to defraud people , often using the same tactics legitimate campaigns leverage for support (emails, text messages, phone calls, and social media pleas). Reminder, here is how you can securely register to vote.
According to a research, Men are twice as likely to be targeted by IdentityTheft attacks as Women, as the latter seem to be more cautious while making their personal information online. While a few suffered bank accounts drain or money scams via loans and credit cards frauds.
Each day people post a plethora of information to social media platforms, giving bad actors plenty of opportunity to steal personal data. What is IdentityTheft? If a criminal has enough of these elements, they can quickly be used in identitytheft. Child identitytheft: Using a juvenile’s PII to commit fraud.
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