What comes to mind when you think of someone getting scammed? A grandma on the phone with some jerk? If so, this will probably surprise you.
The total money lost by teens in online scams grew by nearly 2,500% between 2017 and 2022. Victims under the age of 20 lost a staggering $210 million in 2022 alone.
Educating our kiddos on red flags is the first step in keeping them from becoming victims. That’s why I’m telling you about the scams and hacks targeting kids and teens right now.
Sextortion scams increased an alarming 20% between October 2022 and March 2023. Scammers used to target adults, but teen boys have become their latest focus.
I spoke with a lawmaker on my national radio show, South Carolina State House Rep. Brandon Guffey, who is working to bring harsher punishments for this kind of sexual extortion. His son was targeted and took his own life in July 2022. Such a tragic story. The family is now suing Instagram.
Common tactics:
The threat of exposure causes major panic, and many kids try to make the payments. Don’t wait to talk about this one with your children. Let them know you’re there to help if something like this happens.
Roblox and Fortnite are household names among both kids and cybercriminals. Both platforms have their own in-game currency, which requires a credit card and personal information tied to the account.
Common tactics:
Cybercriminals have a new twist on ransomware that takes a strange turn. They infect victims’ devices with HardBit 2.0 malware that encrypts critical files. To get access back to those files, you must pay a fee. Here’s the twist. They try getting information from you that would make your insurance company pay the ransom.
Open/download audioScammers often rely on scare tactics to manipulate people out of fear. While most people are smart enough to see through these tactics, many are still getting duped. In this episode of Consumer Tech Update Kim looks at a big extortion email scam that has been playing on many people’s fears and stealing their money.
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Scammers will do almost anything to get their hands on your personal information. Even though your social media accounts are of high value, photos of you in compromising situations can also yield a big reward for them. This is called sextortion and has been increasing at an alarming rate.
It’s been three weeks since Pluto TV promised to look into its enormous data leak. Since then, we’ve heard nothing but crickets. The silence is deafening and means you’re not getting any help. You’ve got to protect yourself.
Phone scams are all about deception — but fear is another tactic that scammers are more than happy to use against you. And if they can frighten you into sharing personal data, you can bet that they’ll push for your money, too.
Few things are scarier than a direct threat to you and your family. Whether it comes by email, text, or phone call, an extortion message can feel like a disgusting violation of privacy.
But add sexual blackmail to the mix, and all bets are off. If you’ve ever gotten an email from a hacker claiming they’ve got you on tape watching porn, you know exactly how disturbing “sextortion” scams are. Tap or click here to see why they’re back in the news again.
The coronavirus pandemic already has many of us on edge. The last thing we need to add to the mix is a bunch of criminals trying to take advantage of this dire situation.
Unfortunately, crooks have no shame and we’ve seen plenty of coronavirus-related scams making the rounds. Tap or click here for 8 tips to avoid them.
Sextortion scams are one of the most disgusting scams online right now. They convince people that they have incriminating or embarrassing evidence on them when in reality there is none. Well there seems to be another one making the rounds, and this time it has seemed to hit the corporate world.
You know a scam is pretty severe when the FBI has to weigh in. That’s the case with this new gift-card scam. These clever hackers are using this time of year to convince people that their employer or boss has requested them to go purchase a gift card and send them the number. The scammers then wipe the cards clean and walk away with the money. Here’s what to look out for so this doesn’t happen to you.
Fake news is one of the scourges of our increasingly connected world. With billions having instant access to social media sites and the web, misinformation can spread quickly like wildfire. To discern what’s bogus from real, we typically rely on concrete proof, like a video, for example, to prove that something was actually said or done.
