WASHINGTON (AP) — The greatest grift in U.S. history was brazen, even simple. Criminals and gangs grabbed the money. So did an U.S. soldier in Georgia, the pastors of a defunct church in Texas, a former state lawmaker in Missouri and a roofing contractor in Montana. Over the last three…
What’s worse being heart broken or broke? How about both. According to The Federal Trade Commission, romance scams have climbed to record highs in recent years. In North Carolina, 539 victims lost $17.3 million to romance scams in 2021. That’s an average loss of $32,194 per victim. WRAL 5 On…
What’s old is new again in a reemerging social media scam impacting Facebook and Instagram messenger users. The scam In recent weeks there has been an uptick in fake profiles messaging Facebook users through Instagram. The scammer will duplicate a real profile using that accounts Facebook profile image and send…
Since 2019, there have been 12,980 reports of mobile phone scams made to Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. Mobile scams can include missed calls, imposters, recorded messages, text messages, fake deliveries, confidence tricksters and phone insurance scams. Mobile fraud criminals sometimes pose as legitimate…
By Doriel Abrahams, Head of Risk, Forter Generative AI and, more specifically AI based chatbots such as ChatGPT, have continued to dominate headlines and amaze consumers this year. With their rise in popularity and usage, there are a lot of interesting – and important – conversations to be had around…
What’s worse being heart broken or broke? How about both. According to The Federal Trade Commission, romance scams have climbed to record highs in recent years. In North Carolina, 539 victims lost $17.3 million to romance scams in 2021. That’s an average loss of $32,194 per victim. WRAL 5 On…
When four-star Gen. Stephen J. Townsend found himself in a financial bind while deployed overseas in 2019, he did what any top commander in the U.S. military would: get on Facebook to contact a 74-year-old widow he had never met before. Townsend, a well-respected military commander who headed up the…
ORLANDO, Fla. – A man whose face was the center of a catfishing scheme and his girlfriend took the helm of a new social media lifeline for victims of romance imposters around the world. Alessandro Cinquini, aka Alex the Officer, and his girlfriend Nicole Hayden created ”Digital Love Awareness,” a…
When we think of digital fraud, your granny who still has an AOL email might come to mind. After all, didn’t she almost get scammed out of her retirement after sharing everything from her favorite way to remove coffee stains to her social security number with a phony customer service…
A New Jersey-based romance scammer who has allegedly conned at least 155 women out of more than $500,000 was sentenced to five and a half years behind bars, authorities said Friday. Patrick Giblin, 58, of Atlantic City — who has been busted repeatedly for swindling widows, disabled women and single moms…
