Scams are getting more advanced

Yes, these scams are getting more and more dangerous. This was a new one for me. I saw it on the news this morning.

A Chinese exchange student who fell victim to a “cyber-kidnapping” scam, in which his parents were extorted for $80,000, was found alive but “cold and scared” in a tent in the Utah wilderness, police said.

Kai Zhuang, 17, was reported missing on Thursday after his parents in China told officials at his host high school in Riverdale, Utah, that he appeared to have been kidnapped and a ransom had been demanded.

The case followed a typical pattern for cyber-kidnapping, in which “kidnappers” tell a victim to isolate and provide pictures as if being held captive – photos that are then sent to the victim’s family to extort a payment. The victims comply under the belief their family will otherwise be harmed.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/14/ai-kidnapping-scam-senate-hearing-jennifer-destefano
After analysing bank records, purchases and phone data in a days-long search, police became convinced he was isolating in a tent about 25 miles (40km) north in a large area near Brigham City.

“Due to the cold weather in Utah this time of year, we became additionally concerned for the victim’s safety in that he may freeze to death overnight,” the Riverdale police department said after he was found on Sunday.

A sergeant hiking on foot up a mountainside discovered Kai’s tent – which had no heat source, only a heat blanket, a sleeping bag, limited food and water and several phones that were presumed to be used to carry out the cyber-kidnapping, the department said.

The detective “contacted the victim inside the tent and found he was alive but very cold and scared”.
 

I got the following in one of my Gmail accounts. I have no idea who that person is or what order the email refers to. I guess the mention of a mystery order was so I'd click on the attachment. Well, that tactic didn't work. I deleted it after taking the photo. I had gotten a similar email from someone else a couple of weeks before this one.

20231223_045343.jpg
 
seadoug said:
Yes, these scams are getting more and more dangerous. This was a new one for me. I saw it on the news this morning.

A Chinese exchange student who fell victim to a “cyber-kidnapping” scam, in which his parents were extorted for $80,000, was found alive but “cold and scared” in a tent in the Utah wilderness, police said.

Kai Zhuang, 17, was reported missing on Thursday after his parents in China told officials at his host high school in Riverdale, Utah, that he appeared to have been kidnapped and a ransom had been demanded.

The case followed a typical pattern for cyber-kidnapping, in which “kidnappers” tell a victim to isolate and provide pictures as if being held captive – photos that are then sent to the victim’s family to extort a payment. The victims comply under the belief their family will otherwise be harmed.
US mother gets call from ‘kidnapped daughter’ – but it’s really an AI scam
After analysing bank records, purchases and phone data in a days-long search, police became convinced he was isolating in a tent about 25 miles (40km) north in a large area near Brigham City.

“Due to the cold weather in Utah this time of year, we became additionally concerned for the victim’s safety in that he may freeze to death overnight,” the Riverdale police department said after he was found on Sunday.

A sergeant hiking on foot up a mountainside discovered Kai’s tent – which had no heat source, only a heat blanket, a sleeping bag, limited food and water and several phones that were presumed to be used to carry out the cyber-kidnapping, the department said.

The detective “contacted the victim inside the tent and found he was alive but very cold and scared”.
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I'm so sorry he and his family went through what they did. But I was relieved to see the news that he was found. Unconscionable! I hope there is a special place in hell for people who do these things.
 

Microsoft's Ai with Edge is also stealing all your passwords. You have to go thru some stuff to stop it automatically grabbing them from you every time. Understand, the internet is, YOU ARE LIVING IN THE HOOD NOW SUCKER!

It only takes one example to explain the Internet today and that is_ _ _ Can you remember trying to sit and have Dinner at 5'ish and You're constantly having to answer the telephone because of junk calls. Buy better insurance, cover your theft policies on your valuables. You need our Theft Lock, health lock welfare lock? Well, Do you? Sure, the Forum's are BS also. It's just gonna get worser is most likely the problem. Just think about how many times it has tried to get your ok by just clicking for it.
 
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Can you believe anyone ……..would fall this …..eek::eek:…..apparently they are ….sad …

The scam involves Giving your PIN number …. over the phone ……Then leaving your card in the mail box to be collected :eek::eek:

Ive copied this from a email I recieved yesterday from.. Scam watch Australia ….



Card collection scam

Criminals are calling people and pretending to be from a trusted organisation like a bank, IT company or phone company. They will say your bank accounts or computers aren’t secure and your money isn’t safe.

They will ask for your PIN and tell you to leave your bank card in your letterbox :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: so it can be cancelled and replaced. ……

They may ask you to withdraw cash and leave that in the letterbox instead, :eek::eek:or they may pick it up from you directly.

These scammers can use technology to make it look like the call is coming from the bank’s or other legitimate business's phone number. They may send text messages in the same conversation thread as your real bank.

Our Scamwatch reports show these criminals are targeting older and vulnerable Australians who live alone. They are stealing large sums of money. Share this Scam Alert with your friends, family and colleagues - it’s important we all work together to help protect each other from scams.
Scam alert: Card collection scam
 
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Kadee said:
Our Scamwatch reports show these criminals are targeting older and vulnerable Australians who live alone. They are stealing large sums of money. Share this Scam Alert with your friends, family and colleagues - it’s important we all work together to help protect each other from scams.
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Sad to say, seniors are low hanging fruit. Often trusting, sometimes cognitively impaired, and easily frightened, they're apt to fall for stories they would have scoffed at in younger years.
 
I don't worry about that, as I never answer my phone. A call comes it, I look at the call log and see who it was and IF I want to talk to them I'll call them back. If I don't want to, I don't. And if they're someone I never want to heave from, I block their phone number. This so much easier than having to think about all the scam calls you get now days. I just assume all calls are scams until I see otherwise.
 
So…I need to sell a car. Posted it on craigslist with contact info. The car is rather cool…so was not surprised when it generated interest. But everyone seemed to want a different thing to prove maintenance records ect. I fell for this about four times in a matter of hours before I figured out it was a scam. Called my bank and killed my card because all these VIN searches and window sticker sites take money. Bank wanted to know if I wanted to dispute the charges…told them no because I fell for the ruse…
 
You should have said Yes, because the charges were fraudulent as they were trying to con you and you figured it out. By not disputing the charges, you let then get away with it. File a Police Report, then call your bank and tell them you changed your mind.

I would never go to craigslist for anything, as there are as many con artists on there as there are clickbait videos on YouTube.
 
I've had nothing but headaches since my information was leaked on the dark web in a data breach last summer. A few days ago, I woke up to an email from OneMain Financial informing me that I'd been turned down for a loan I'd never applied for. After contacting them—not in the number given in the email because I was concerned it was a phishing scam—I froze and locked my credit and initiated a fraud alert with all three credit bureaus.

I have 2FA set up for pretty much everything now, and I change my passwords for all email and online accounts every 90 days, and I have limits placed on my credit cards to deny any transaction over $100. Sigh. It's been such a hassle.

Maybe I should have put this in the "Rant—Tell 'Em Off" thread.
 
DH & my credit info have been locked at all three credit bureaus for at least a decade. Two or three times I needed to unfreeze at one of the bureaus. It only took a short phone call and included instructions to automatically re-freeze three days later.

Sounds like you've had a terrible time of it, @KSav. Did it turn out that someone had actually attempted to take out a loan in your name at OneMain, or was it an email phishing expedition?
 
StarSong said:
DH & my credit info have been locked at all three credit bureaus for at least a decade. Two or three times I needed to unfreeze at one of the bureaus. It only took a short phone call and included instructions to automatically re-freeze three days later.

Sounds like you've had a terrible time of it, @KSav. Did it turn out that someone had actually attempted to take out a loan in your name at OneMain, or was it an email phishing expedition?
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I should have been proactive like you, @StarSong, and locked my credit as soon as my information was leaked, or even before that, as a general precaution.

The person at OneMain Financial's fraud bureau wasn't completely clear about whether a loan had actually been applied for. She said it looked more like an inquiry had been made about a personal loan. Last October, I did investigate debt consolidation (and decided against it), but this loan request had apparently been made last July 6. I was wondering: Did I explore personal loans last July and simply forgot? I don't think I did, though, and I definitely did not apply for a specific loan anywhere, so I went ahead with the credit freeze/lock and fraud alert.
 
KSav said:
I should have been proactive like you, @StarSong, and locked my credit as soon as my information was leaked, or even before that, as a general precaution.
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My feeling has long been that our credit is nobody's business but our own. Unless someone is applying for credit or loans, no person, company or other entity should be entitled to that information.
 
StarSong said:
My feeling has long been that our credit is nobody's business but our own. Unless someone is applying for credit or loans, no person, company or other entity should be entitled to that information.
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I agree! I forgot to mention another woe that happened a few months ago, which fortunately Wells Fargo caught immediately: Someone tried to order a $200 pair of athletic shoes using my debit card (!) via a Twitter link. Wells Fargo immediately flagged it, denied the transaction, and froze my card.

It's emotionally tiring to stay on constant alert. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone were just honest?
 
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KSav said:
I agree! I forgot to mention another woe that happened a few months ago, which fortunately Wells Fargo caught immediately: Someone tried to order a $200 pair of athletic shoes using my debit card (!) via a Twitter link. Wells Fargo immediately flagged it, denied the transaction, and froze my card.

It's emotionally tiring to stay on constant alert. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone were just honest?
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If I were in your shoes, I'd ditch the debit card entirely. Credit cards offer much more fraud protection. You were lucky WF caught it.
 
I have been a WF customer since the 1970s, and in spite of things you hear in the news about management level CC scams, etc., they have always been fine for me. I knew the senior manager of a branch I used to go to for decades, and he is now a retired executive of the company. I also knew other principal department managers at the same branch.

If and or when I ever had a problem, I either talked to one of them, or did some strategic name dropping... ;)
 
Axel Slingerland said:
I have been a WF customer since the 1970s, and in spite of things you hear in the news about management level CC scams, etc., they have always been fine for me.
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Same here. They've gotten a lot of heat, perhaps justifiable. They drove me batty pushing credit card offers several years ago, then the story came out about employees basically being forced to do that and resorting to opening fake accounts to keep their jobs, but I've had nothing but positive experiences with them.
 
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I opened an account at WF a few years ago because I couldn't find any other bank offering safety deposit boxes. I made an appointment with the branch, opened a small checking account and got a SD box. $50 a year rental for a much larger box than the one my previous bank had been charging $125 for!

My experience with WF has been nothing but positive. Bonus - I'm always in and out of there super quick because there are always several tellers working.
 
Regardless of who anyone says they are ..... the caller id can be spoofed.
My bank did call me i let go to voicemail and looked up specific branch on internet then called direct it WAS them but i simply do not give anyone a chance.
It is amazing to me but people at work FAIL the security sending weird emails to see if we are paying attention and not clicking on it ..... they did a couple this week i simply marked as phishing and my co-workers did not read clearly clicked and have to take a remedial class next week ........ STAY alert will protect you most of the time anyway.
 

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