SCAM! SCAM! SCAM!

[onetrack]

Now they should tie the prick to a post in a town square and let the public loose on him to beat the crap out of him.

[red750]

Sorry, I got the location wrong, it was Sydney.

 

It is estimated that he has sent 17 million scam emails.

[red750]

A consumer watchdog is warning shoppers to be on high alert for scam QR codes this Christmas as criminals are increasingly using the technology to steal your data.

 

Everywhere you go these days, from restaurants and cafes to gyms and parking garages, you’re often asked to scan a QR code with your phone to get access to the most basic of business services.

You may find that annoying and time consuming, but by scanning the code, you’ve also just given that business permission to collect your digital data – whether you knew that or not.

 

QR scams on the rise

It’s probably no surprise then, that the QR code has come to the attention of cybercriminals and scammers as another way of getting your info.

US watchdog the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a stark warning for shoppers ahead of the Christmas rush.

 

It says criminals have been hiding malicious links inside fake QR codes and placing them on top of existing legitimate ones in stores. At the same time, there has been a marked increase in fake QR codes being sent via SMS, advertising sales and other special offers.

 

“A scammer’s QR code could take you to a spoofed site that looks real but isn’t,” the FTC says.

 

“And if you log in to the spoofed site, the scammers could steal any information you enter. Or the QR code could install malware that steals your information before you realise it.”

 

That time of year (for scammers)

The FTC caution comes as one of Australia’s big four banks issues its own Christmas scam warning.

 

Westpac research has found that transaction scams, those that involve buying and selling items or services, were up 47 per cent compared with last year. The majority of those scams were facilitated through fake websites, social media or online marketplaces.

 

Ben Young, Westpac head of fraud, says the highest number of transaction scams are usually reported at this time of year, in November and December.

“Scammers often target customers at this time of year when people are spending more and can sometimes be a bit more distracted,” he said.

[onetrack]

I very rarely use Q-codes, because I find that 90% of the time, it's impossible to scan the code and get it to work. So I don't find them particularly useful.

 

Besides, I am very alert as to what permissions are being allowed with any particular app, and I refuse access to my phone with a very large percentage of apps that request a wide range of access that is not needed for the particular use.

[onetrack]

Nissan Australia has been hacked and Nissan is warning their customers to be alert to phishing attacks and scam SMS's and emails, obviously because customers personal information has been accessed by the scammers.

As one of the commenters points out, it can be as simple as now getting an email from Nissan saying you just qualified for a free service from them - just click on the link!

 

https://www.drive.com.au/news/nissan-australia-customers-warned-following-cyberattack

 

Toyota has also been hacked by scammers holding them to ransom. It's a very appealing world for scammers, this internet world.

[facthunter]

The way Nissan's WiFI etc is set up they are a big risk to anyone who drives the car by having their data used.  I've come across that statement many times ai what I would call, reliable sources. Nev

[red750]

Received this email this morning.

 

Note the originating email address, address salutation, amount with no dollar symbol, and blue link with hyphens instead of dots inn address. Besides which, I have not lodged a return for years, I earn less than minimum taxable.

 

 

The ATO don't send emails like this, they notify you there is a letter in your mygov account inbox.

[onetrack]

I'm getting a lot of scam calls from Thailand recently, the crooks must be on the move. Perhaps law enforcement is more easily bribed there.

[Bruce Tuncks]

I'm hoping to get a letter from the real  ATO just so I can treat it like a scam.

[Bruce Tuncks]

Red, I couldn't scroll with your posted thing, so this maybe odd for you to understand. How can they take your money when it looks like they are giving you about 450 dollars?

Once I was the subject of a pfishing email and I should have noticed that the email was a fake, but they were using the paypal website stuff and I didn't notice that the originating country was Italy! They sure knew how to appeal to a cheapskate, they said that some person had used my details to buy oil filters in Ballarat, and I would be charged for them if I didn't act. 

[octave]

I had a text message saying my parcel was unable to be delivered and to click on the link to provide my details. I get many of these and the clever thing is that I am waiting for a parcel.  I think these days there is a high likelihood that any random person a text is being sent to actually is waiting for something. Even if they are not it is a little intriguing to think that something is about to be delivered.  The thing is not to click on a link.    Anything I order, if it is coming from Austpost I can track through my app.  A parcel from other sources can be tracked through various tracking sites without giving anything more than the tracking number.  I haven't been caught .... yet

[red750]

Octave, did it have a tracking number in red in the email? I've had a few of those. If you have the Australia Post app on your phone, it will tell you if that is a valid tracking number. I have opened an Australia Post account and can check there. I received one of those emails that looks genuine. The AP account said the tracking no. was invalid. I am expecting a parcel from the US any day now.

[octave]

No tracking number just a link which is always suspicious.  

[Jerry_Atrick]

Looking at that email, the other suspicious thing is in the salutation, there was no name.. It wa simply, "Dear".

 

 

[facthunter]

Do they mean, trop cher?  It may well be. Nev

[red750]

I've reported it to scamwatch.gov.au.

[Marty_d]

Ok, here's one that frightened me a bit.

 

I was talking to a colleague today and he said that yesterday he had a scam call from someone purporting to be his wife.  IN HER VOICE.  She said she'd broken down and the tow truck had arrived, and she needed to pay the driver but didn't have enough cash so could he send some money to her account.

 

So somewhere the scammers have got a sample of his wife's voice (apparently 6 seconds is all it takes) along with his mobile number and were using AI to talk to him, in real time, with her voice.  He said tone, inflection, everything was perfect.  It was live chat, he was asking questions and she was responding.

 

He knew it wasn't his wife as he could see her in the kitchen preparing dinner while he was talking on the phone with "her".

[onetrack]

That's one of the reasons I never use voice commands for anything. In the past, I'd found Google recording my voice when I'd simply accidently hit the "microphone" icon next to Google search icon.

If you don't know where to look on your Google account and how to delete any audio you've recorded (and a lot is recorded accidentally), there's no telling what scumbags will do with it. 

 

I wouldn't be in the least surprised to find corporate scumbags using peoples voice recordings without their approval, to further develop their AI programmes and software.

People are only just starting to find out now how these corporate scumbags are keeping track of peoples habits with computerised systems in their cars.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/12/17/what-does-your-car-know-about-you-we-hacked-chevy-find-out/

[nomadpete]

What concerns me most is that washington post article was written 5 years ago.

 

I'm not concerned about advertisers knowing where I go shopping but I am concerned about carmakers and phonemakers, etc having their 'confidential' database hacked by people about to steal my identity. There have been increasing reports of bank accounts being emptied, and fraudulent purchases made.

[red750]

My bank account is already empty.

[spacesailor]

Keep your gold in the Garden .

AND electrify it .

shocking

spacesailor

[willedoo]

I had my bank's fraud department ring me this morning to check on a suspicious transaction. It was a genuine transaction but they were right on to it and rang within ten minutes of the transaction going through. It's good to see they are checking in real time, probably with automatic red flags on certain criteria.

 

I was paying a bill yesterday by direct bank transfer and the amount exceeded the daily transfer limit for transfers, so I had to split it into two payments and make another one today. With my internet server I have a dynamic IP address so I get a different IP assigned every time I connect. To the bank's automated fraud detection it looks like the transactions were made by two different devices whereas in reality it's the same device, just different IP addresses. I get verification emails all the time from various accounts warning me a different device has logged on to my account with them, but so far it's just been me doing it.

[old man emu]

3 hours ago, spacesailor said:

Keep your gold in the Garden . AND electrify it .

Spacey, please put your EV posts over in the electric vehicle thread.

[Bruce Tuncks]

I like the idea of electrifying your money-bin but I reckon it's illegal.

[Bruce Tuncks]

Your money would be in a metal box connected to the mains and with lots of plastic separating the metal box from the earth. The mains connection would not be obvious to somebody digging from the top.

Please don't mention my name if you really do this.