It is sometimes hard to identify a scam, especially when it involves payment with a check. We are all wary of promises to pay electronically and to provide our bank account numbers for direct access to our bank account (well,...more
July is Military Consumer Month. This month, we celebrate democracy and the past service of our veterans and those presently in service for protecting us and our democracy. Thank you so very much....more
The recent increase in smishing and vishing schemes is prompting me to remind readers of schemes designed to trick users into providing credentials to perpetrate fraud. We have previously written on phishing, smishing,...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) keeps track of scams that are reported to it and summarizes those scams in a report outlining the most successful scams of the prior year....more
The Office of the Controller of the Currency (OCC) issues a semiannual risk perspective report that “addresses key issues facing banks, focusing on those that pose threats to the safety and soundness of banks and their...more
It is so convenient now to order food from restaurants and have it delivered right to your door with delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats. Restaurants and delivery drivers depend on these services and orders to make...more
8/3/2023
/ Delivery Drivers ,
DoorDash ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fraud ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
On-Demand Services ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Scams ,
Uber
It used to be that one of the sure ways to identify a phishing email was to notice grammatical errors or broken English in the text of the communication. Thanks to new translation tools like Google Translate, that are...more
2/24/2023
/ Business E-Mail Compromise (BEC) ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Financial Transactions ,
Fraud ,
Google ,
Phishing Scams ,
Popular ,
Spoofing ,
Translations
It has been difficult to watch the extreme weather patterns that have been happening around the U.S. over the past few months. Fires and torrential rainstorms in California, tornadoes down south, blizzards in the Midwest and...more
According to NBC News and Reuters, the United States Secret Service confirmed that hackers from APT41, a criminal cyber-hacking group linked to the Chinese Communist Party, stole “at least $20 million in U.S. Covid Relief...more
Seeing the victims in Kentucky following the devastating floods is heartbreaking. Even more distressing is seeing those who are trying to help by donating funds to the relief effort victimized as well....more
The Federal Trade Commission kicked off Pride Month yesterday, acknowledging that “some of the most egregious scams and abuses target the LGBTQ+ community.” The scams that those in the LGBTQ+ community experience include...more
6/2/2022
/ Cybersecurity ,
Dating Services ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fraud ,
Geolocation ,
LGBTQ ,
Mobile Apps ,
New Guidance ,
Scams ,
Vulnerability Assessments ,
Vulnerable Victims
Unscrupulous criminals use crises to their advantage. Scammers are using the conflict in Ukraine to bilk money from people trying to help those impacted from the attacks....more
2021 will go down in our minds as many things, including the year in which more people reported fraud and the highest dollar amount of fraud losses in history. Not a great statistic....more
CYBERSECURITY -
New Jersey Settles with Cancer Center Over Business Email Compromise -
One of the challenging things about HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) enforcement is the fact that both the...more
12/27/2021
/ California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Drones ,
Facebook ,
Fraud ,
Hackers ,
Hate Speech ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular
Another fall-out from the pandemic is that impersonation fraud has increased dramatically. According to the Federal Trade Commission, “the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a sharp spike in impersonation fraud, as scammers...more
Another post pandemic fallout is the fact that rental car agencies have sold their fleets, for obvious reasons. In doing so, there aren’t enough rental cars for all of us who have been stuck at home and are now raring to go...more
Many individuals already use facial recognition technology to authenticate and authorize payment through their smartphone. According to Jupiter Research, by 2025 (only four years away), 95 percent of smartphones will have...more
4/15/2021
/ Biometric Information ,
Data Collection ,
Data Privacy ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fingerprints ,
Fraud ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mobile Payments ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Privacy Policy ,
Smartphones ,
Spotify ,
Terms of Use
Criminals use current events to launch new schemes designed to prey on victims’ vulnerabilities or fears. Throughout the pandemic, criminals have used fear of COVID-19, or the anticipation of a cure or a vaccine, to lure...more
3/26/2021
/ AstraZeneca ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Email ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fraud ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Moderna Inc. ,
Pfizer ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Scams ,
Surveys ,
Vaccinations
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning small businesses that they are being targeted by scammers through a new coronavirus-related scam. The scam “starts with an email that claims to come from the ‘Small Business...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched ReportFraud.ftc.gov so consumers can report fraud directly to the FTC in a more “streamlined and user-friendly way.”...more
It has been widely reported that hackers are taking advantage of the pandemic to perpetrate scams and frauds. We have seen attacks against workers of companies through phishing emails that include an attachment or link...more
CYBERSECURITY -
OFAC Issues Advisory on Sanctions for Facilitating Ransomware Payments -
On October 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an advisory “to...more
10/5/2020
/ Building Inspectors ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Drones ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraud ,
Hackers ,
HIPAA Breach ,
Identity Theft ,
OCR ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
PHI ,
Ransomware ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Unemployment Benefits
I have received many questions this week on what to do if you are the victim of a fraudulent unemployment claim. It is unbelievable how many people I know who have become victims—yes—including myself....more
The Department of Justice recently indicted four men—two of whom are located in Canada and two in New York—for a mass-mailing scheme that bilked thousands of senior citizens out of tens of millions of dollars....more
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently warned financial professionals that imposters are attempting to collect personal information of investors by spoofing financial professionals’ websites, reaching...more