A quick-thinking title company owner was able to stop a fraudulent sale when it appeared the scammer was using AI to try to steal properties.
‘It is not real': Title company owner warns of new twist to title fraud
You spotted a scammer on Facebook: Do your good deed and report the page. Go to the profile, and in the top right corner, click the three dots. Select Find support or report, and then follow the on-screen prompts.
Protect your fam from fake kidnapping calls
Could you tell your child’s voice from a scammer’s? With AI cloning technology, it’s harder than ever.
Another scammer is now rich: A retired Florida therapist thought she was helping the FBI take down a Mexican cartel. Really, scammers convinced her to wire $600,000 from her retirement account to a protected “government locker.” Her banks tried to warn her, but she was fed a script to get them off her back. How awful.
Who is Kitboga?
Kitboga is one of the most popular scammer baiters out there. What’s a scammer baiter? Watch to find out.
A U.S. senator was deepfake duped: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., had a Zoom call with a scammer posing as Ukraine’s former foreign minister. The deepfake looked and sounded just like the real guy, and the scammer pressed for Cardin’s opinions on sensitive foreign policy and the upcoming election. Cardin got suspicious and the call ended. It’s still unclear who was behind it.
Human-trafficking scammers: What a sad story. A Ugandan man was lured to Thailand with the promise of a $2,500-a-month data entry job. In reality, he was trafficked into working as a pig-butchering scammer. He made $400 a month working 17-hour shifts, seven days a week (paywall link). If his productivity dropped, he was punished with hundreds of push-ups and forced runs around a parking lot. After seven long months, he escaped and is now telling his story to warn others.
New Amazon scam spreading: In triangulation fraud, a scammer lists a product at a crazy-low price, gets payment from an unsuspecting buyer and then uses a stolen credit card to buy the product from a real retailer. The scammer ships the product off to the buyer, the fraudulent charge is reversed, and the jerk is long gone with the money. Incredibly low prices are always a red flag.
💳 Don’t fall for it: Scammers pretending to be bank employees are phoning and texting with fake account fraud warnings. They’ll tell you to cut up your credit cards, leaving the chip inside intact. They then send someone to pick it up. With just that chip, they duplicate your card. A friend of mine started chanting in Latin the last time a scammer called. The man screamed, “No, don’t put a curse on my family!”
🧈 This gold scam panned out: A 74-year-old Maryland man bought gold bars with his life savings and handed them over to a fraudster to “protect his bank account.” After, he saw a story on the local news about a woman losing $1 million dollars to this same scam. He contacted the police, who set up a trap and arrested the scammer. Unfortunately, the gold was long gone.
🏎️ A Ferrari exec slammed the brakes: A Ferrari C-level exec got a text from his CEO, who wanted to chat on WhatsApp. They were texting about possible mergers when the CEO said, “Let’s talk.” And they did. The C-level exec said it was someone posing as the CEO (paywall link). He tested the caller, asking for the name of a book the actual CEO had recommended the exec read the week before. Surprise, the scammer hung up.
Your scammer could be a victim too
There’s a massive cyberfraud industry exploiting people through slavery and kidnappings. If you’ve got a connected car, your data might be sold for pennies. Plus, we meet Ben Chin, the Candy Crush champ who beat 15 million players to win $500,000!
MrBeast breaks the internet
His channel has more than 300 million subscribers, making him the most subscribed YouTuber in the world. What’s the key to his meteoric rise? Plus, X allows porn, don’t try this castor oil TikTok trend, and watch out for the latest scammer tricks.
🚨 $400K MIA: A Silicon Valley woman nearly lost her down payment when a scammer infiltrated the email thread between her and her real estate broker. They convinced her to wire the money to a new account. It took banks five months to get it back. If you’re buying, talk through the wire instructions upfront with your broker, and when it’s time to send, call to confirm the details.
Your car is watching
Automakers and insurance companies are teaming up to share data on your driving habits. Also, EV sales are struggling, and there are issues with Airbnb. I speak with a guy whose identity was stolen, and now the scammer is using his info to con others.
The phony invoice scam
Think you’ve paid a trusted vendor? Make sure you haven’t handed over money to a scammer first. Here’s how to spot and avoid phony invoice scams.
Celebrity catfish: Kate Beckinsale just called out a scammer who used her identity to con an elderly man out of thousands. His kids reached out to the actress, begging her to prove that she wasn’t the one contacting him. He was convinced she proposed to him via text.
✈️ This is so sad: A 79-year-old Florida woman missed her husband’s funeral after falling for an airline ticket scam. She dialed 411, asked for Allegiant Air and was directed to a scammer. When she got to the airport, she was told the “ticket” she bought didn’t exist. Always book direct, folks. Use the airline’s official site or number.
Kitboga: Behind the scenes of his scambaiter chronicles
Kitboga joined The Kim Komando Show to talk all things “scambaiter.” He shared lots, including the longest time he has spent with a scammer. Find out on the full podcast here.
🙏 Talk to your kids, I’m begging you: A 17-year-old boy from Ohio was conned into sending explicit photos to a scammer. Over 19 hours, the boy received more than 200 Instagram messages before he took his own life. Parents, share this story with your kids and tell them if this happens, you’ll help them no matter what, no questions asked.