Home of Mysteries with Character
Earlier this week, I spoke to the Kiwanis Club of Lake San Marcos about how to stay safe from scams and cons. In that talk, we went over some of the different types of scams and, at one point, I talked briefly about what’s now called the Nigerian 419 scam (the name is derived from […]
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I just fell for this one because I saw a name I recognized as well as the formatting was nearly perfect. I didn’t notice that the message came into the wrong email address, but today there’s an email scam that supposedly is coming from LinkedIn to tell you about messages in your inbox. If you […]
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On Nov. 15, an email scam resurfaced that was first reported earlier this year. The email was supposedly from ADP, a business-to-business solution provider and references “ADP Funding Notification – Debit Draft.” The version of the email received on Nov. 15 reads: “Your Transaction Report(s) have been uploaded to the web site.” It then lists […]
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On October 23, the FBI issued an alert about a dating extortion scam via the Internet Crime Complain Center (IC3). According to the alert, the scam “baits individuals into intimate online conversations” and extorts money through blackmail. Online dating scams are certainly nothing new, however the October 23rd FBI alert indicates that there has been […]
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I wrote this article for my Crime and Courts column on Examiner.com earlier today. Included here is an image of the email received. In one sense, this is a testament to the interconnectedness of the Internet. There are three different countries involved in this scam, but the bottom line is that it’s still just plain […]
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This story ran in my Crime and Courts column on Examiner.com on October 13. The reality is that even apps in Google Play store have included a virus. US News & World Reportincluded a story on this months ago. On October 12, the FBI issued an alert through the Internet Crime Complain Center (IC3) to […]
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Today is release day for the Apple iPhone 5. Millions of people are waiting for their shipping notifications from UPS that will announce the shipment of their new phone. However, it’s also a day when those same people may be vulnerable to a new email scam. Unlike the Nigerian 419 scam, which works “offline,” this […]
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If you own a domain name, you eventually may be hit with a domain name registration scam. Here’s how it works. You receive an “urgent” notice from a domain registry service telling you that your domain should be renewed with them immediately. The problem is that the letter or email might not be from the […]
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Have you ever heard of a scam used on travelers using pizza menus? Until yesterday, I hadn’t. And, until yesterday, I never would have hesitated when ordering a pizza from a hotel room. Travel scam – pizza menus The pizza-menu scam is quite simple as far a scams and cons go. Someone walks through a […]
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In this morning’s email, I found an email from Verizon Wireless Services. The email was addressed to me, included the Verizon logo, colors, etc. In short, it appeared to be legitimate with two exceptions. There was no identifying account information and the balance was huge. How to tell a phishing email from the real thing […]
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One of our goals is to visit all of the piers in California. We actually visited the Capitola Wharf before we set that goal, but it still counts! I’d like to go back to Capitola because it’s a very cool little town. It seems very retro in many ways, so black-and-white on this photo of […]
