The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued an alert warning that scammers are tricking victims into converting their savings into cash or precious metals, then sending couriers to pick up the items for safekeeping. The scammers then steal the goods and cut contact with the victims. The FBI says victims lost more than $55 million to these scams between May and December 2023.

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) is a non-profit organization that minimizes and mitigates the risks of identity threats. Their role as a reputable security solution enables them to collect and analyze data from survey respondents; this report asked questions of small business (SMB) owners and employees to assess the state of identity threats better.

You can avoid scams on Facebook Marketplace by only using secure methods of payment, looking at buyer and seller reviews, inspecting an item closely before purchasing it and only communicating through Messenger. While Facebook Marketplace is a great way to find clothes, furniture and other items at discounted prices, there comes the risk of being scammed on the platform, making it crucial to be extra cautious as both a buyer and a seller.

Spoiler: Those ads you're seeing for a new X cryptocurrency endorsed by Elon Musk aren't what they appear to be.

Organizations face a constant challenge to balance transparency and security in today's rapidly evolving digital landscape. One emerging concept that has gained traction in recent years is the practice of "self-doxxing." This seemingly counterintuitive term refers to the deliberate and controlled sharing of an organization's information, often sensitive, to enhance transparency, accountability, and trust.

While looking for a job, you have to be careful about which jobs you apply to and avoid job offer scams. Some signs of a job offer scam are if the recruiter asks for personal information before hiring you, the job seems too good to be true, the company wants you to pay for something, or if communication is unprofessional. Continue reading to learn more about job offer scams, why they are dangerous, how to tell if a job offer is a scam and how to stay protected against them.

You can stay safe from gift card scams by checking gift cards for physical tampering before purchasing them and avoiding requests that ask you to purchase gift cards as a form of payment. While gift cards are a common gift that many people choose to give each other, they are also commonly used by scammers for financial gain. According to the Better Business Bureau, gift card scams increased 50% from 2022 to 2023 with losses from January to September 2023 totaling $147 million.

Companies grow through mergers and acquisitions. Marketing teams promote new products. New products spawn new web domains. As brand names, URLs, and cloud IT infrastructure proliferate, so do enterprises’ vulnerability to online attacks. At the same time, security professionals working with limited resources find it increasingly challenging to maintain oversight of their online assets.

The latest consumer alert posted by the federal trade commission (FTC) signals that the upticks in QR code-based scams are being seen by cybersecurity vendors are indeed a valid growing problem. You won’t need to go very far before you find a QR code. Restaurants commonly use QR codes to point you to a menu, parking lots use them to point you to a website to pay for parking, and according to the FTC, scammers use them to engage you in scams.

Trained security awareness professionals are aware that whatever someone says about themselves and personal experiences can be used against them in a social engineering scam. It is always good to share that message, at least once a year with co-workers, family members, and friends. I was reminded of this latest news story discussing a recent Instagram and TikTok trend. Basically, users are sent (or send) a “survey” that asks the receiver to describe themselves.

Online shopping has allowed buyers to find bargains and conveniently purchase from retailers all over the world. However, cybercriminals take advantage of the anonymity of online shopping to scam online buyers. If you get scammed while shopping online, you need to contact your credit card issuer, freeze your credit, change any compromised passwords, contact the online marketplace and report the scam to the FTC.

Be careful of emails, SMS messages, or calls claiming to be from your bank about your card being used fraudulently. If this ever happens, call the phone number on the back of your card. This is a very common sort of social engineering fraud. Do not get scammed like TV host Andy Cohen did.

Read also: Four people arrested over ChatGPT-linked ransomware attacks, a scammer charged for stealing $7.5M from two charities, and more.

Anyone can get scammed. If you think you're somehow immune to being scammed, then, in my opinion, you're a prime target for being scammed. No one is too big, too clever, too security-savvy to avoid being duped because it's only human to make a mistake and screw up. And that certainly seems to be the case with Bill Lou.

The thriving online marketplace holds boundless opportunities for businesses and consumers. But lurking beneath the surface of convenient digital transactions is a persistent threat: ecommerce fraud. Consider the unsuspecting customer who stumbles upon what looks like your online store, snags a coveted deal, and enters their payment details—only to find out later that a fraudster has stolen their financial data from a spoofed website.