I was looking through my email inbox and saw a message from a very familiar address—mine. My first thought when I saw the email was that someone was spoofing my address, so I looked closer. But the closer I looked, the more it appeared someone had hacked my email. With that, I went into research mode, and discovered a clever twist in an email extortion scam.What an … [Read more...] about Fortune tellers, magicians, and the email extortion scam
scams
How do you outsmart a romance scammer?
How do you outsmart a romance scammer? The short answer is, you don’t. But that doesn’t mean you have to be a victim. Look, it’s February, and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. That means love is in the air. And everyone wants to find their perfect match. Even the scammers. Although their perfect match is the person who falls for their scam, not their charms. So while … [Read more...] about How do you outsmart a romance scammer?
Tips about Covid unemployment benefit fraud
It’s a new year. That means it’s also tax season. And more than 23 million people who file taxes will declare unemployment benefits they received. While those benefits helped those who lost their jobs, they were also a boon for scammers. To give you an idea of the size of the problem, California alone suffered losses exceeding $20 billion in unemployment fraud in 2021. Covid … [Read more...] about Tips about Covid unemployment benefit fraud
Good grief! Not another letter from Santa scam!
Letters from Santa - here we go againThe first email hit my inbox on December 1st. The second came in this morning. The subject was, ‘Your kids will love Santa’s letter.’ Good grief. Are we really doing this one again? Apparently so because the scammers know parents can be suckers for something as awesome for their kids as a personalized letter from Santa. Well, … [Read more...] about Good grief! Not another letter from Santa scam!
A Private Investigator looks at romance scams
This post follows up on last month’s post, Greed and love — the 2021 romance scam perfected. The difference is, this month we’re getting personal. Elizabeth Breck, a licensed private investigator in San Diego, describes her own experience with romance scams. Elizabeth is also the author of the Madison Kelly Mystery Series. Anonymous came out to critical acclaim in 2020, and … [Read more...] about A Private Investigator looks at romance scams