Low-Hanging Fruit

In the technology world, people are jeopardized by two separate yet equally scary groups: the big tech companies, who care only for monetizing their users’ data; and the opportunistic scammers, who prowl the web looking for victims. These are their stories. Dear Xxxxxx, I’m writing this letter to you about your kiddo. Please don’t worry, … Read more

Zelle Scam Refunds

A year ago, I blogged about Zelle and why scammers often push their victims to use it. Money sent through Zelle is generally transmitted in an instant and that means the transaction is irreversible. Scammers want your money, and they don’t want you to be able to claw it back. They know that Zelle doesn’t … Read more

Recurring Facebook Scams

Here’s a (hopefully? for a while?) final run-down on recurring Facebook scams I’m seeing out there. Don’t fall for any of these, please! Celebrity Impersonation Pages Johnny Depp is not going to private-message you on Facebook. Lori Loughlin will not respond to your comments and Likes. Margot Robbie would never send you a Friend request. … Read more

Quishing

That’s not a typo. The title is not missing an ‘S’. Quishing is a new term, made by combining “QR code” and “phishing”. Like smishing, it’s yet another deceptive practice that scammers are using to take advantage of people. Here’s what you need to know, to be safe out there: QR Codes QR (quick response) … Read more

Everyday Facebook Scams

I’ve posted recently about several scams on Facebook; here are some more! Since Meta is so negligent at policing its platforms, bad actors and their schemes thrive on their social media platform. I may often have some new everyday Facebook scams to tell you about. Catalytic Converter Theft If you see post about catalytic converter … Read more

Caller ID Spoofing

Caller ID spoofing, or phone number spoofing, is important to understand. If you’re not familiar with this practice, let me explain: Caller ID Is Fallible When you receive a phone call, most phones display some identification about the inbound call. You may see: You need to know: The info shown on your Caller ID can … Read more

Commonplace Facebook Scams

There is no end to the scams I see on Facebook. I know I’ve posted at length about specific FB scams, but in this post, I want to run down quickly on a bunch of commonplace Facebook scams. Watch out for these, don’t fall for these, definitely report these: (Don’t) Buy This Shirt! This offer … Read more

Rental Scams

Rental scams are common on the internet. And they pertain to those looking for a place to rent, as well as landlords looking to rent out their property. Consider this info and be careful out there! If You Are Looking to Rent as a Tenant When you reach out to a landlord and inquire about … Read more

Traptops in 2023 v2.0

Just last month, I went on at length about traptops on this blog. I’m sorry to say that I have to return to this topic, as people are bringing to my attention some even sneakier traptops. Let’s pull open the drapes on these shenanigans, so fewer people get taken by this trickery. Here we go … Read more