All Things Technology + Scams & Hazards

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Dec 17, 2024 -  HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) - A top prosecutor in the state sought to warn people about scam in which suspects call people to convince them that they are part of a human trafficking investigation. 

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Dec 17, 2024 - Nigerian authorities have busted a major international scam operation that lured victims with promises of romance and lucrative cryptocurrency investments, a report has said. In a raid on a seven-story building in Lagos, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested 792 suspects, including 148 Chinese nationals and 40 Filipinos. 

Dec 13, 2024 -  "Reminder: You've still got a money request!" That was the subject line of the messages flooding my husband Barry’s inbox for weeks. The first couple were concerning, then it was just downright annoying. 

 He’s not the only one getting them; there’s a sneaky scam going around that looks totally legit — because it actually comes from PayPal. 

Nov 18, 2024 - The number of older Americans who report losing more than $100,000 to fraud in a given year has more than tripled since 2020, according to the Federal Trade Commission, a trend that experts say represents a grave and growing threat to older adults' financial security. 

Nov 8, 2024 - The Australian government plans to introduce legislation to ban social media for children under 16, BBC News reports. 

According to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the new laws will be aimed at mitigating the harm caused by social media platforms, and no exemptions will be made for children with parental consent.

Nov 8, 2024 - A federal judge said Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg is not personally liable in 25 lawsuits accusing his company of addicting children to social media. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California rejected accusations on Thursday that Zuckerberg directed Meta's efforts to conceal from children the serious mental health risks of using Facebook and Instagram. The plaintiffs called Meta's billionaire co-founder the "guiding spirit" behind alleged concealment efforts, saying he ignored repeated internal warnings about the risks and publicly downplayed them. 

Oct 26, 2024 - Roblox is introducing significant changes to enhance child safety and give parents more control over their children’s activities on the platform. Starting next month, these updates will implement a range of new protocols, including parental permissions for users under 13 and stricter content controls for younger players. 

Oct 13, 2024 -  It took two months of near daily conversations, of first cultivating trust and then love, before he walked into her trap. 

Sep 25, 2024 -  Scammers overseas are targeting Americans' hearts and their wallets. Men, who believe they're speaking with women online, are lured into sending them money -- but that money often ends up in the hands of young men in the West African nation of Ghana. CBS News foreign correspondent Debora Patta reports on her year-long investigation into these operations.  

Sep 24, 2024 -  Online scams are out of control. Like millions of people, I recently received an anonymous email with information about me, including my name, address, telephone number, and most disturbingly, a picture of my house.  

The New York State Police issued a warning that an automated "sextortion" scam has gone nationwide and is spreading across the state.

Article also contains stats by state of scams and info on the different scams out there.

Sept 20, 2024 -  COBB COUNTY, Ga. - The Cobb County Sheriff's Office is one of the only agencies in the state to have a K-9 that can sniff out electronic devices. The goal is to catch people involved in sex trafficking, child pornography, and online predators. His name is K-9 Sherlock. 

Sept 18, 2024 -   Cryptocurrency scams are on the rise, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation reporting that Americans were defrauded out of $5.6bn last year — and that the victims are often educated, well-off people. 

Sept 15, 2024 - A Federal Trade Commission study conducted between 2021 and 2023 found that scams perpetrated on social media, like Instagram, accounted for $2.7 billion in losses. As for Instagram, it's very likely a good number of those fraud cases involved the social media app, as Instagram has over 1.4 billion active users worldwide as of 2024 (per Statista). 

Sept 10, 2024 -  It’s hard to get 42 states to agree on much. But a bipartisan group of attorneys general on Tuesday demanded that Congress require Surgeon General warning labels on social media apps to help curtail addiction and a mental health crisis among young adults. 

Sept 10, 2024 -  Australian teenagers will need to verify their age on social media and gaming platforms under government plans to crack down on harmful content.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged that protecting every child would be difficult, but told parents that the government has “got your back”.

Sept 10, 2024 - Crypto continues to be a hotbed for crime, as the FBI says it received more than 69,000 complaints last year regarding crimes involving the use of cryptocurrency.

The US agency says there was more than $5.6bn in reported losses related to crypto-based crime, a 45pc increase compared to 2022. Criminals have been shown exploiting the cryptocurrency sector using various scams, including tech support, romance, investment and government impersonation scams.

Sept 10, 2024 -  Shalender Singh was surprised at when he got a message on WhatsApp from a stranger telling him to hold off on selling any shares because the stock market was about to go up. But when their advice paid off, he started to trust them.  A new study from the Better Business Bureau reports investment scams are on the rise, especially cryptocurrency and romance scams. Since 2020, the BBB received more than 4,000 reports related to investment scams — hitting a three-year high in 2023 with 1,400 reports. 

Sept 8, 2024 -  "The Chinese gangs taught me how to make my profile look credible, gain followers and post regularly. After finishing my training, I started identifying my victims through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Line," said Narin, a 20-year-old from northern Thailand. 

Sept 5, 2024 -   Three alleged conspirators – Chidi Olujie, 36, a Nigerian citizen and resident of Maryland and the District of Columbia, Jennifer Chibueze, 36, a Nigerian citizen and resident of Maryland, and Jessica Nortey, 32, a Ghanaian citizen and resident of Maryland – are charged with conspiring to launder over $1 million in proceeds from a romance scam and other online frauds, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday. 

Sept 1, 2024 -   Californians, according to a recent study, lead the nation in money lost to romance scams at nearly $200 million and report more of these crimes annually, making it the most “catfished” state in the country. 

Sept 1, 2024 -  Many people associate online scams with their parents or grandparents, those non-native internet users who might easily fall for a run-of-the-mill phishing attempt.

But it's actually the generations that are perpetually online, like Gen Z, that are the most susceptible, and so it is Gen Z that is actually losing the most money — by far — to online scams.

Aug 27, 2024 -  Authorities are warning people to remain vigilant of scammers using AI to disguise themselves in video calls. 

A total of 26 West Australians have lost $2.9 million to romance scams this year.

State Commerce Minister Sue Ellery has encouraged people to report suspicious online activity to authorities.

 July 26, 2024 - California is another state lining up to pass a law requiring adult sites to verify the ages of porn watchers.

The California State Assembly passed the Parent’s Accountability and Child Protection Act that will require porn companies doing business in the state to verify that users are 18 years or older. This law would also affect other businesses such as fireworks, body branding, and even BB guns. Democrat Rebecca Bauer-Kahan and Republican Juan Alanis pushed for passage of the bill, which ended up receiving 65 out of possible 80 yes votes, and zero no votes with 15 assembly members listed as not voting.

May 9, 2024 -Cartels are using flashy social media posts with piles of money, jewelry and luxury items to entice teens in America and Mexico to smuggle illegal immigrants across the U.S. border – and officials say the young people have no idea what they are getting mixed up in. 

Aug 12, 2024 - Financial exploitation is a growing threat affecting investors of all ages and wallet sizes. With the rise of sophisticated scams fueled by advancements in technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), it is crucial for individuals to stay vigilant. 

Aug 5, 2024 - The family of a New York teenager has sued Instagram and its parent company Meta for intentionally creating products that are addictive to children.

In a class action complaint filed in California on Monday, lawyers acting on behalf of 13-year-old girl named only as "AA" accused the social media giant of using compulsive design to keep minors scrolling despite knowing that it could harm their mental health.

Aug 2, 2024 - The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit last Friday against TikTok and parent company ByteDance for failing to protect children's privacy on the social media app as the Biden administration continues its crackdown on the social media site. The government said TikTok violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act that requires services aimed at children to obtain parental consent to collect personal information from users under age 13.

 

Jul 30, 2024 - Australia is one of several countries currently considering a social media ban for children. Nationally, there are calls to raise the age a young person can legally use social media from 13 to 16, while South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas is leading calls to raise the age to 14. 

Jul 29, 2024 - Social media has substantially changed how people communicate, sell products and services, and tell stories—although that wasn't necessarily the intention. 

Jul 26, 2024 - Florida’s social media law that bans children under the age of 16 from opening social media accounts on some platforms and blocking minors from accessing online pornography continues to move forward after Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office on Tuesday published three proposed rules. 

Jul 22, 2024 - With tens of millions of users under the age of 13, Roblox has become the biggest online gaming playground for kids. The company says its combination of AI chat filters and human moderators makes the platform safe for users of all ages. But a Bloomberg Businessweek investigation suggests that Roblox may have striking vulnerabilities.  

June 24, 2024 - Our new suite of tools includes expanded in-app warnings, enhanced friending protections, simplified location-sharing, and blocking improvements – all designed to reinforce the real friend relationships that make Snapchat so unique.  

May 19, 2024 The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged two arrested Chinese nationals for allegedly orchestrating a pig butchering scam that laundered at least $73 million from victims through shell companies. 

 Mar 14, 2024 - Pornhub, a pornographic website, disabled users in Texas from accessing the site on Thursday after the state attorney general and lawmakers sought to require adult websites to verify the age of visiting users. 

Feb 13, 2024 - BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Online safety for children is challenging for many parents.
When one Bakersfield father found out his daughter accessed inappropriate websites on a school issued computer — he was horrified.

The 10-year-old girl had access to Discord, an online communication service, using her Bakersfield City School District issued computer.

Dec 7, 2023- On August 3, an unknown number contacted my dad via text message. The person wrote to him in Chinese, saying a mutual friend in Los Angeles referred them to my dad as somebody who could give advice on what living in the US would be like.