Just got an scam email from "RyanAir". #Scammers are getting sneakier and, as always, seek to prey on people's kindness.

#scams #security

https://www.carlsetzer.com/2025/03/14/ooohhh-this-scam-almost-got-me/

Anatomy of a romance scam. My Scammer Girlfriend: Baiting A Romance Fraudster. #RomanceScam #scam #scammers

https://www.bentasker.co.uk/posts/blog/security/seducing-a-romance-scammer.html

Malicious #GitHub #repositories linked to nearly 1M #infections • The Register

Also, phone cleaner apps are a data-sucking #scam , #Singapore considering the literal rod for #scammers , and more
#malware #security #privacy

https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/10/infosec_in_brief/

If you might be interested in how the phone scam "industry" is works then there is a great episode on the Scammer Payback YouTube channel with "Jim Browning" which is illuminating on how that side of cybercrime and fraud works,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re1dAB7pyeQ

A Great Use for AI:
[Wasting Scammers Time!]

A AI chatbot that acts like a 78-year-old grandmother and receives phone calls. Of course, since the grandmother [Daisy, by name] doesn’t get any real phone calls, anyone calling that number is probably a scammer. Daisy’s specialty? Keeping them tied up on the phone.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/feb/04/ai-granny-scammers-phone-fraud

I want to do some really fucked up things to all these diabetes scammers!

Facebook scammers want you to think Elon Musk can cure diabetes

https://www.engadget.com/social-media/facebook-scammers-want-you-to-think-elon-musk-can-cure-diabetes-153042842.html?src=rss

"-Financial records in the leak show that, in four years, two groups of call centers based in Israel, Europe, and the country of Georgia raked in about $275 million from would-be investors.

- These operations have all the hallmarks of a massive scam: The call center agents use false identities, forged paperwork, and deceptive advertising; “investors” were systematically prevented from withdrawing their money; and almost all of the investment “products” on offer were unlicensed and had official warnings from authorities.

- Over 20,000 hours of leaked phone calls between scammers and their victims across dozens of countries give unprecedented insight into the brutality, efficiency, and global reach of the investment scam industry.

- Many victims are left penniless; some express suicidal thoughts. But the scammers — who adopt false identities and use software that can be manipulated to create illusory profits — keep coming back for more.

- The leaked files show the call centers are professionally run, with HR departments, corporate parties, and offices in slick office buildings. Marketing firms, payment service providers, and software companies enable their operations.

- The call centers have twisted corporate strategies, running leaderboards for top scammers and issuing performance-related bonuses — including a Rolex watch awarded after a particularly lucrative swindle."

https://www.occrp.org/en/project/scam-empire/scam-empire-inside-a-merciless-international-investment-scam

This New #Discord Virus is Only Targeting #Scammers? by #NoTextToSpeech

https://youtu.be/t7REnKeMnYk

1 Million Third-Party #Android Devices Have a #Secret #Backdoor for #Scammers

New research shows at least a million inexpensive Android devices—from TV streaming boxes to car infotainment systems—are compromised to allow bad actors to commit ad fraud and other #cybercrime.
#advertising #scam #security #privacy

https://www.wired.com/story/1-million-third-party-android-devices-badbox-2/

Elon Musk’s Starlink Is Keeping Modern Slavery Compounds Online

A WIRED investigation reveals that criminals who make billions from scam compounds in Myanmar—where tens of thousands of people are enslaved—are using Starlink to get online.

#ElonMusk #Starlink #Scammers
https://www.wired.com/story/starlink-scam-compounds

These scammers are getting better… until they misspell easy words like “temporarily” and “attempt.” C’mon McGhee Accounting, attemp to do better to temporary restrict my access! I smell phish!

>>She offered to share more information to help the company in “disrupting the work of bad actors.”

SpaceX and Starlink never replied, West claims.<<

#Wired #Starlink #Myanmar #Slavery #Scams #Scammers #SpaceX
https://www.wired.com/story/starlink-scam-compounds/

We finally updated the squiffy formatting and added a short update to our "How to Avoid Being Scammed" blog article. Please share and get the word out. https://www.hireillo.com/blog/scam-emails-the-scourge-of-illustrators/

Trump Vowed to Clean Up Washington, Then His Team Hired a Man Who Pushed a Scam the IRS Called the “Worst of the Worst” - Grifters gonna grift. #USPol #politics #scammers #RepublicansDidThis https://www.propublica.org/article/frank-schuler-gsa-doge-syndicated-conservation-easements-tax-scam

BOTS & SCAMMERS ON FACEBOOK!!

This is beyond annoying. Friend requests; love your book, can we talk; etc. So many of these comments and messages. What happened to social interactions with real people? For me, the platform has become pretty much useless.

Anybody else notice the same?

Now this is a use of AI I actually want to see more of:

"O2 has launched Daisy, an AI-powered “granny” designed to waste scammers’ time with lifelike, rambling conversations.

Trained in partnership with YouTuber Jim Browning, Daisy is added to scam call lists to keep scammers on the line and prevent them from targeting real victims.

Every minute wasted on Daisy is a minute saved for real people."

(source on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDCLLHMPKOG/)

Finally a good use for machine learning!

https://slashdot.org/story/25/02/05/1426220/ai-granny-driving-scammers-up-the-wall

I had a spam msg yesterday that I’ve been brooding on as it was odd in how it happened. Totally unlike a normal msg. I was on the phone to a girlfriend & it was on speaker as I was doing stuff in the kitchen while I was talking. My phone made a noise, but not the usual msg tone & when I looked there was a grey square in the middle of my screen with white writing saying it was from NAB & that there was unexpected activity on my account & I may have been hacked & to call a certain phone number. At the bottom of the grey box was another saying DISMISS - which I did. I knew it was a scam as firstly I don’t have an account at NAB & secondly I’m not stupid.
What bothers me is I’ve never received a msg anything like the grey square thing that appeared on my screen & when I checked my normal msgs app - it wasn’t there either. It was just very very strange. #Scammers