As we’ve mentioned before, many companies try to lure consumers into purchasing products — be it skincare treatments or weight-loss supplements — by plastering offers for “free” or “risk-free” trails on advertisements. But as federal regulators reminded us once again, these deals often aren’t free, and don’t come without risk. [More]
Crime & Fraud
Feds Shut Down “Risk-Free” Online Marketing Scheme Peddling Golf, Kitchen Products
By 3.24.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
T-Mobile Adds Free Scam Call Warning System To Customers’ Phones
By 3.24.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
If telecoms and regulators can’t agree on blocking known scam callers and robocalls at the source, can’t our devices at least warn us when a call is coming from a known scam number? T-Mobile has added anti-scam features for its customers in programs that it’s calling Scam ID and Scam Block. [More]
Police: Man Hid In Sears Store At Closing Time, Tried To Steal $830K In Jewelry
By 3.24.17
At closing time in any store, you want to make sure that no one is hiding out inside, planning to pull off a heist once all of the employees have left. That never really happens, though, right? A man in suburban Maryland is accused of hiding in a Sears, then smashing jewelry display cases with a hammer and stealing their contents. [More]
FCC Plan To Let Phone Companies Block More Annoying Robocalls Moves Forward
By 3.23.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Many of the FCC’s most visible consumer protection moves — net neutrality, privacy — prove contentious within the Commission. But today, in a rare show of unanimity, all three sitting commissioners agreed with consumers about one big fact: Robocalls really, really suck, and the FCC is in a position to do something about it. [More]
Surprise! You’re Not Getting A $250 Walmart Gift Card From That Facebook Link
By 3.22.17
The offer of free money is hard to pass up, but, as we’ve warned before, those promises of hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards, a free car or trip, and other too-good-to-be-true offers are just that. The latest version of this scheme involves a $250 Walmart gift card. [More]
Hackers Say They Will Wipe iPhones Unless Apple Pays Ransom
By 3.21.17
Hundreds of millions of iPhone owners may be up a creek next month, at least according to a hacker group that claims to have unprecedented access to the devices and is threatening to remotely wipe them clean if Apple doesn’t pay up. [More]
NY Fed President: Banks Must Change Culture That Led To Wells Fargo’s Fake Accounts
By 3.21.17 — Updated: 3.25.17
Giving employees incentives to do a good job can go a long way in getting results, but as we learned with Wells Fargo’s recent fake account fiasco, it can also cause serious issues: hefty fines, loss of customers, and fired executives. One top banking official says the issue needs to change this culture now, and learn to balance incentives with the interests of the customers. [More]
Is Your DVR Acting Funny? It Might Be Attacking The Internet
By 3.20.17
It’s pretty obvious when a major internet service provider is under some kind of attack: The service gets bad and slow, error messages pop up all over, and everyone basically knows something is not right. But it’s a lot harder to tell is some other web-connected device you use is acting strange because it’s old, or is broken… or remotely attacking the internet on the other side of the globe. [More]
Police Looking For Daughter Who Assaulted Mom With McDonald’s Cheeseburger
By 3.20.17
A woman in Indianapolis is wanted for alleged assault with a ketchup-y weapon, after an argument at a local McDonald’s resulted in someone taking a partially eaten cheeseburger to the face. [More]
If You Use A Tax Preparer, Make Sure They Don’t Get Taken In By ‘Last-Minute Email’ Scam
By 3.20.17
Taxes can be complicated, and you may have last-minute tweaks to make as you pull together paperwork. Scammers are now taking advantage of this fact, posing as taxpayers to siphon away their annual refunds. [More]
Search Warrant Issued For Everyone Who Googled Identity Theft Victim’s Name
By 3.17.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Try to imagine a police officer in the pre-internet era serving a search warrant on the phone company, wanting the names of everyone who looked up a certain number. What would have seemed ludicrous at the time is now feasible, and one judge believes Google should turn over the personal information for anyone who used the search engine to look up a victim’s name. [More]
Spammers Must Pay $500K After Using Hacked Emails To Push Diet Pills
By 3.17.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Last summer, federal regulators charged the operators of an alleged spam scam of hijacking hacked email accounts to spread the word about a slew of unproven weight-loss products. Now, the three affiliate marketers have agreed to pay $500,000 to put the case behind them. [More]
Thieves Use Comcast Van As Getaway Vehicle
By 3.17.17
Thieves use all manner of transportation to make a (sometimes) speedy getaway from their crime scenes: a horse, taxis, motorized shopping carts; the list goes on. This week, a pair of robbers added to this rich history, driving away from the scene of a crime in a stolen Comcast van. [More]
12 Indicted In Massive Organized Retail Theft Ring That Spanned 28 States, 20 Years
By 3.15.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
When someone mentions the takedown of an organized crime ring, the first thing to come to mind is probably something along the lines of The Sopranos. But in New York today, the Attorney General’s office announced the indictment of 12 organized crime members accused of stealing over $12 million in high-end electronics and ink cartridges from national retailers in 28 states. [More]
DOJ: Russian Intelligence Officers Hired Hackers To Attack Yahoo’s Network
By 3.15.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Back in September, Yahoo confirmed a massive data breach that affected at least 500 million users that dated back to 2014. At the time, the company said it suspected a “state-sponsored” actor did it. The U.S. Justice Department has now brought charges against two Russian intelligence agents, as well as two accused co-conspirators, in connection to the hack attack. [More]
Several High-Profile Twitter Accounts Hacked Overnight
By 3.15.17
If you happened to be on Twitter in the early hours of the morning here in the U.S., you may have noticed some strange activity: Several major news sites’ accounts, along with accounts of various European political bodies, were hacked ahead of elections in the Netherlands. [More]
Feds Say Invention Marketing Firm Used Bogus Testimonials, Threatened To Sue Clients
By 3.14.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Getting your awesome invention from scribble to prototype to store shelves is often no simple task, but one company that promised to help amateur inventors patent and market their creation has been shut down by a federal court after being accused of bilking millions of dollars from its clients. [More]
Watch Out For Department Of Health And Human Services Impostors On The Phone
By 3.10.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Health care and the government are in the news lately, but they shouldn’t be on your phone. If someone calls you up and asks for personal information, don’t give it to them, even if the caller ID says “HHS Tips” or “Federal Government,” or the call appears to be coming from the 202 area code in Washington, DC. The people making these calls are impersonating the government. [More]
