If the Cyber-Scammer Says ‘I’m With the Brand,’ You Could Be a Prime Sucker
By The Editors
PlannedMan

Scammers love using make-believe credibility to separate you from your money.

If the Cyber-Scammer Says ‘I’m With the Brand,’ You Could Be a Prime Sucker

Highlights


Some cons are more artistic than others. Saying, "Hi, I'm from Costco and I can help..."

...is far more plausible than, "Hi, I'm from the government and I can help."

Ransomware attacks that paralyze major enterprises get most of the publicity, but you the individual consumer may be more vulnerable to proliferating low-rent cyber scams that gain trust by hijacking well-known brands, according to John F. Wasik in RealClearInvestigations.

Ransomware attacks that paralyze major enterprises get most of the publicity, but you may be just as vulnerable.

  • Ever since people found themselves stuck at home in the pandemic, scammers have been dramatically upping their game of fraudulently exploiting trusted brands, including Amazon, Apple, and Costco, as decoys in their relentless quest to separate you from your cash.
  • The core emotional trap of the scams is to scare or entice you into calling, clicking or emailing to quickly reveal account information.
  • It’s estimated that hundreds of millions of potential marks are targeted each month alone by one alarming ruse asking to confirm a recent Amazon purchase.
  • Costco is falsely cited in at least 13 different scams, including a fake customer satisfaction survey promising “exclusive awards of up to $500” or free HDTVs.
  • Apple warns of fake calls or emails that pretend to alert potential victims through “pop-ups and ads that say your device has a security problem” or an “iPhone calendar virus.”
  • Scammers don’t require much more than a cheap router to blast out such name-brand swindles.
  • They illustrate how even the latest tech cons preying on people’s trust have evolved from one of the oldest tricks in the book — brand fraud — from knockoff Rolexes to cattle rustling.

Wasik’s full report can be read here.

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