Posted on 07/12/2022 10:18:36 AM PDT by devane617
We all like to think we're immune to scams. We scoff at emails from an unknown sender offering us £2 million, in exchange for our bank details. But the game has changed and con artists have developed new, chilling tactics. They are taking the personal approach and scouring the internet for all the details they can find about us.
Scammers are getting so good at it that even cybersecurity experts are taken in.
One of us (Oliver Buckley) recalls that in 2018 he received an email from the pro-vice chancellor of his university. "This is it, I thought. I'm finally getting recognition from the people at the top. Something wasn't right, though. Why was the pro-vice chancellor using his Gmail address? I asked how I could meet. He needed me to buy £800 worth of iTunes gift cards for him, and all I needed to do was scratch off the back and send him the code. Not wanting to let him down, I offered to pop down to his PA's office and lend him the £5 note I had in my wallet. But I never heard back from him."
The infamous "prince of Nigeria" emails are falling out of fashion. Instead, scammers are scouring social media, especially business-related ones like LinkedIn, to target people with tailored messages. The strength of a relationship between two people can be measured by inspecting their posts and comments to each other. In the first quarter of 2022, LinkedIn accounted for 52% of all phishing scams globally.
(Excerpt) Read more at techxplore.com ...
Some people’s facebook accounts are nearly a diary.
When in doubt - delete it.
If you’re absolutely sure it’s okay - delete it
Problem solved 🤪
“pro-vice chancellor”
I’m sending my kids to a college whose chancellor is still anti-vice.
;-)
Seriously? How dumb do you have to be for that scam? I was attacked with it, (from a board member) and my first response was to make a fake, personal reference. Gave me an embarrassingly long amount of fun, messing with the scammer.
I used to like LinkedIn, and then Microsoft took over and ruined it. I am off right now, and will get my next job without it.
Not me!
I tell all my personal secrets here on Free Republic.
Psst. Hey Professor! I can make your e-mail scam-proof. Just send me your e-mail address and password.
My favorites are, “You’re camera was on and you didn’t even know it, and guess what we caught you doing?”
Scammers are tapping into the “Big Data” opportunities, creating a profile and hitting you up...
We have one very effective scam going around. I was getting phone calls with someone saying “hello” in Chinese.
They call around using the university directory to find people from China. They tell them they are with law enforcement in China and are going to arrest their relatives which they name. They get money from them to “pay the fine”.
WV Gypsies run the Walmart parking lot scam on Chinese students using their fear of the police. They pretend the student hit them with their car.
There’s an old saying that you can’t cheat an honest man. Con men appeal to greed or vanity. Everyone wants unearned wealth or adulation. One should always be extremely skeptical when either is offered at little or no cost.
I love those since I don’t have and never have installed a camera or a microphone on my desktop.
“My favorites are, “You’re camera was on and you didn’t even know it, and guess what we caught you doing?””
I love that one. I don’t ever look at porn and the computer I use to do it doesn’t have a camera.
Is that and ad for PC Matic anti virus?
Don’t click “Allow”!
Search shows snippet of article and clicking it briefly shows a reputable site with that article but the splashes screen with “Click Allow to view video”.
If you do you will be inundated with messages from the rogue site.
I still haven’t seen hide or hair of my one million dollars from General M’Buggaboo.
The only ones i open are the ones from nigerian princes, as those are the only legit ones- they are super nice people who just need a little help gettign their tied up funds out of their bank accounts-
Yes, and it’s hilarious.
I’m with you. You can learn everything you’d ever want to know about me on my About page here on Free Republic. Nothing to hide, I.
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