Eight Arab. A lot of spam emails are sent this way In the US Every single day. The Komando staff (including myself!) has had some real winners lately.
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Here’s a look at actual spam emails circulating right now.
$40,000 fake invoice scam
Paul emailed me about a $39,500 invoice, demanding I pay it as soon as possible. What’s the problem? I didn’t owe him a penny. The subject was ‘Forwarded: Past Due Invoice 324476’ and then began a chain of emails between me and my private company email address) and someone named “Paul Delacroix”.
If autocorrect is bothering you, fix it
According to their email, we were late in paying their bill, and they wanted that money Now.It seemed like “Paul” and I were doing business together. In one email, I told him we needed to have a follow-up call. In another, I asked “Paul” to email our finance director, Amber, because she would send the money.
“Paul” made up the whole thread and used it to trick Amber into thinking I had already approved the invoice. This scammer knew a lot about us, such as my personal email address, Amber’s role in the company, and Amber’s email address. They also knew about our company’s industry; “Paul” was attempting to extort money from us for using his “ethics in broadcasting” legal materials and representatives.
Don’t fall for this. Amber forwarded the email to me. This rang alarm bells for her because when we make plans to spend a lot of money, she is almost always part of that conversation. If she is not, I inform her later, since she is the one paying the bills day to day.
Scammers won’t even shy away from faking entire email conversations to get what they want from you. (Photo: Peter Daisley/Getty Images)
Connected: A Chilean gang tried to break into my house.
Geeking Out
Did anybody call the Geek Squad? Content queen Ally didn’t, but she keeps getting email receipts for subscriptions she never signed up for.
Why? They want your money. By sending a real-looking (but fake) invoice, they want you to think you forgot to pay for something. Such emails usually include a request for your credit card or bank information.
If you don’t get caught up in it He tricks, they often involve a Phone Number You have to call to inquire about the invoice. When you call, crooks pretend to be customer service, try to get you to pay over the phone or try to swindle you in some other way.
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dirty money
Sextortion scandals Komando IT genius John received a suspicious email with a PDF attached. It contained his full name, work address, phone number, and the “I’m not playing games” threat.
The sender claims they have footage of John doing “embarrassing things” (i.e. surfing a porn website). They say that in just a few clicks they can send the footage to all of John’s contacts.
And, as we reported, the scammer ended the matter with a photo of John’s location – one of the entrances to our broadcast headquarters.
What is the matter? These crooks also want money – in this case, $1,950 worth of Bitcoin to be deposited to the address they provided. Their goal is to scare and harass you enough to make you pay up. After all, who would want their grandmother to see them doing something naughty?
A picture of a hacker is shown. (iStock)
they don’t do that In fact You have the footage, and many other victims have reported receiving the same message. Don’t fall for the trap.
Connected: Kitboga uncovers a shocking new scam.
Focus your attention
I received a few emails from Ian asking me to change my direct deposit information…except it wasn’t really Ian.
Double dipping: this bastard wants money And Business information. If I believed it, I probably would handed over to a hacker Company bank account number or other protected information.
Tipoff? Ian would definitely go to the accounting team with a question like that, not me. And if I click where his name is listed as the sender, it shows an email address that is definitely not his.
20 tech tricks to make life better, safer, and easier
A Simple Rule
If you run a business, you might be surprised to hear this: I approve every expense myself. Yes, I’m busy recording my national radio show, writing my daily newsletter and running a business – but I’m the one closest to knowing what we spend. I can spot these tricks a mile away.
Final approval doesn’t always come from the business owner, but I recommend involving multiple people in the payment process. No bill should be paid without someone else confirming, “Yes, this is a service we pay for. This bill is real.”
The picture shows a man holding a Visa Premier credit card in front of a computer screen displaying an Internet website with a message warning against fraud. (Valerie Hache/AFP via Getty Images)
This is more important than ever in the age of deepfakes, when it’s easy for someone to pretend to be a contractor or employee and take advantage of the person signing off on a payment.
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Go one step further
I recommend every company to create a payment password, a safe word, a confirmation – call it whatever you want. Let’s say our word is “Tangerine”. The idea is that both the person approving the payment and the colleague or company official asking for the payment should say this word.
In our engineering firm example, the deepfake worked flawlessly. The employee genuinely thought they were talking to the CFO. But what if they asked for the confirmation step and the person kept staring at them with blank eyes? It would all fall apart.
It’s a simple way to protect your businessYour team and your money.
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