Technology E-mail & Phone Threats 2020

This post was originally published on February 5, 2020
The latest update to this post was made 5 years ago.

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Phone Threats

• Kidnappers – in this type of scam, the recipient receives a phone call with a kidnapper claiming to have a family member. There is a pre-recorded loop of screaming in the background to add authenticity to the call. The scammer demands payment and if not executed immediately threatens harm or death to the captured family member. This is a scam though, they don’t really have your family member. The reason for the demand for immediate payment is by putting you on the spot, you don’t have time to check on the said family member and naturally, you don’t want them to be harmed.
• Police – Police impersonation phone calls typically state that a family member or loved one has been arrested and you must present bail money. The caller ID has been spoofed and it shows the call is originating from your county police or sheriffs office. The caller demands money for bail be put on a prepaid credit card, once the money is loaded on the card, you are asked to give the card information to the criminal in exchange for the release from jail.
• Courts – these calls commonly accuse of failing to comply with jury or court services at either the county or state level. Callers are pressured to provide identity information, which can lead to identity theft and fraudulent credit accounts being setup. The recipient is threatened with jail time or fines with they do not immediately comply with the demands. Just remember, no one will ever demand personal information via a phone call or by e-mail under normal circumstances. Of course this doesn’t apply if you are calling your credit card company or bank, but receiving a random call with requests for this information should immediately be disconnected.
• Power Company – these calls are reportedly from your local utility company, stating that your bill is past due and you are at the point of service suspension unless payment is made. The caller ID is commonly spoofed in this case, making it appear to be from your local utility company. To remediate the issue, the recipient is instructed to go purchase a pre-paid credit card for the amount of the past due balance. Notably, the callers often request a Green Dot Money Pak. Once the victim gets the card, they are instructed to call the scammer back and give them the information. These are timed scams, usually requiring immediate action to get the card and call back within a short time window.
• Social Security – This phone caller states that they are from the Social Security office and they you’ve been picked for a non taxable grant in the amount of $xxxx – all they need is a few hundred $$ to get the process started. Truth is, there is no grant and if you pay the ‘processing fee’, chances are you’ll never see that money again.
• Technical Support – the technical support scam involves receiving a phone call claiming to offer a legitimate technical service, such as a malware cleanup. The caller will often identify themselves as a representative of a large company technical support department, such as Microsoft. These scams often originate out of India and claim “your computer has been performing illegal activity” and they want remote access to get in and clean it up. When the victim falls for this, the attacker remotes in and “cleans up the system” for a fee, often times leaving a backdoor or real malware in place of the harmless, non-existent software they claim was causing your computer to be flagged. In recent years, some callers have reported having Macintosh computers, so the Microsoft scam doesn’t apply to them, but the attackers know better and now have an “Apple” division they will transfer you to.
• IRS – IRS scam phone calls either demand payment for owed money to the IRS or claim that the IRS actually owes you money. The object is to obtain your personal information to be later used in identity theft or fraudulent credit card acquisition. The caller may actually have quite a bit of information about you, which catches most off-guard and makes the call seem all that more legit. The IRS will not ever ask for money via a random phone call. They do not text demands, e-mail demands or call for tax payment demands.
• Say Yes – This phone scam simply makes use of the phrase “Can you hear me?”. If you get this call, you should hang up immediately! The attacker in this case is recording the response, which is in turn used to authorize otherwise unauthorized transactions. The scam works when the victim receives a phone call from a company claiming to be a cruise line or government agency. After the introduction the recording will ask something along the lines of if you can clearly hear the caller. If you answer ‘yes’ the scam is completed. This response can be used to sign you up for services, in which the attacker can then demand payment. Since they have you on record saying YES, you are essentially agreeing to the terms of whatever they decided to sign you up for. Since the scammer already has your phone number and possibly other data purchased from a data breach you may have been involved in, they can cleverly impersonate you. If the victim disputes the charges, the attacker can return fire stating they have your approval on a recorded conversation. You should hang up immediately if you receive this type of phone call.

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