He puts the “con” in romantic connection. Rather than scoring love at first swipe, Katie Powell, a single mom, was scammed out of $40,000 by a trickster on Tinder. “It’s turned my life upside down,” Powell, from Portland, Oregon, told KGW, her local NBC outlet. Powell met her romance scammer on Tinder, thinking she’d made … Read more
They’re turning on the waterworks — and for some deceptive daters, it actually works. Opening up the floodgates and pouring out your heart on a first date, spilling everything about your previous relationship drama and childhood trauma, is a messy mating movement known as “floodlighting.” And dating pros are putting a spotlight of caution on … Read more
New year, new scams. Fraudsters won’t give their antics a break, always discovering a new way to scam the innocent despite the extreme methods they have to go through. A recent survey conducted by GBG fraud prevention firm revealed that 79% of the 1,200 experts polled had noticed an increase in elaborate scam attacks over … Read more
Australians are being sent unsolicited parcels as part of a new scam where recipients unbox bizarre items including ripped-up fabrics or stuffed animals. The new scam – “brushing” – will see a person receive a random, valueless item they have not purchased, which has been reported in droves over recent weeks. The package typically contains … Read more
A San Diego senior is now living in her car after being swindled out of her savings by a scammer pretending to be Keanu Reeves. Katherine Goodson, 67, has gone public with her harrowing story in a bid to raise awareness about the rise in celebrity romance scams impacting the elderly. “I don’t blame anyone … Read more
A couple from Adelaide have been charged after allegedly faking their son’s cancer in order to raise $60,000. Michelle Bodzsar and her husband Ben Stephen Miller allegedly claimed their six-year-old had stage one eye cancer, setting up a crowd-funding page and pleading for donations for their son’s treatment. Bodzsar, a hairdresser, allegedly asked a colleague … Read more
LPGA star Charley Hull said scammers are claiming to be her and they are contacting her fans. Taking to her Instagram, the 28-year-old English golfer warned fans of fake social media pages requesting money on her behalf and explained that she felt the need to address it after an incident at an event recently. “I … Read more
Netflix and steal. Techsperts are warning Netflix subscribers about a “very large” cyber scam in which criminals hijack important financial info by sending people bogus messages. “These SMS scare campaigns targeting Netflix customers have become ubiquitous and never stop, but they vary in size and scope,” warned security firm Bitdefender, per tech site Cybernews. The … Read more
He was a soldier of misfortune. As artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated, so do the scams utilizing it. A UK woman who fell for a “US army colonel” she met on Tinder discovered later that he was a romance scammer after he swindled her out of over $20,000 by deploying hyperrealistic AI videos. “I’ve never … Read more
Don’t get prechecked by crooks. Experts are alerting travelers about the latest scheme that could steal your personal information and empty your bank accounts. Scammers are emailing frequent flyers about signing up for TSA PreCheck, an expedited screening program that assesses passengers’ risk before check-in, ahead of the hectic holiday travel season. Scammers are emailing … Read more
Googling seems harmless, but what you google may actually put you at risk of falling victim to a hacker. Cybersecurity experts have revealed common words and phrases you should never Google if you want to avoid being hacked. This comes after cybersecurity company SOPHOS issued an urgent warning on its website, asking people not to … Read more
Pretty woman, ugly tricks. Sophie Rain, an influencer with over 13 million followers on TikTok and Instagram, says sneaky ladies are using her sexy photos to catfish men out of money. “It bothers me a lot,” Rain, 20, told JamPress. “It really irritates me because it’s not my fault someone is using my photos to scam them.” Sophie Rain, 20, confessed her frustrations … Read more
There is a certain phrase that should now get your Spidey sense tingling. This three-word message is one that scammers rely on and could make you high-risk to fall for a scam text: “Would you kindly.” It may seem like a friendly or harmless phrase, but your guard should go up immediately. Even the single … Read more
For Caroline Calloway, everything is content. In the 2010s, she rose to fame as an early Instagram influencer, attracting hundreds of thousands of followers with pictures of her supposedly idyllic life studying art history at Cambridge University in England. But her fame turned to notoriety when it was revealed that she had purchased followers and … Read more
Phone scams have been around for a while, but recent advancements in artificial intelligence technology is making it easier for bad actors to convince people they have kidnapped their loved ones. Scammers are using AI to replicate the voices of people’s family members in fake kidnapping schemes that convince victims to send money to the … Read more
A new global survey found that nearly half of respondents have fallen victim to a cyberattack or scam. In a poll of 20,000 employed adults from around the world, 45% reported that their personal data, such as banking or email account information, has been compromised by a hacking attempt or scam. In fact, almost half admitted … Read more
Scammers are going phishing using the TikTok name. Officials at the social media app are warning people about a phishing text message scam in which con artists claim to be recruiters for TikTok. A Reddit user recently revealed, in a now-deleted post, that they received a strange text message from someone who claimed to be … Read more
Travel could be one of life’s great, enriching joys – often preceded by eager anticipation and met with euphoric excitement once a person plants his or her feet in a new land. Dizzying excitement, however, could be an opportunity for scammers to make a score. “We need to learn to not mix emotions with planning our … Read more
Hasta la vista, baby! A TikTok influencer was “catfished” on a vacation after booking what she thought was a hotel with a scenic seaside view — only to discover she’d been epically scammed. “We were screwed so hard,” said Sonja Dennig, 28, while recalling the dupe in a video with over 3.6 million views on … Read more
You want to lose weight — but you could lose money or end up in the hospital with one of these risky Ozempic scams. New research warns of illegal online pharmacies peddling faux or substandard Ozempic, or in some cases, taking money for nothing in return. “It’s hard to say how widespread these scams are,” … Read more