This week, while Dave is out, hosts Maria Varmazis and Joe Carrigan are discussing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. Maria and Joe are joined by friend of the show Michele Kellerman. We start with some follow-up from Michele on efforts in the Philippines to crack down on online fraud centers and the ongoing fight against scam operations. Joe explores WhatsApp's new on-device scam detection feature and whether it can actually spot suspicious conversations without compromising privacy. Michele covers an elaborate jury-duty scam that kept a Florida woman on the phone for more than 10 hours, using fake law enforcement, cryptocurrency payments, and stolen personal information to steal more than $25,000. Maria looks at a new wave of back-to-school scams using fake websites, phishing attempts, and AI-generated content to target parents and students. Our Catch of the Day comes from Ami, who discovered that even paying by check isn't foolproof after a mailed check was intercepted, altered, and cashed by someone else.
Resources and links to stories:
- Scam no more: how the Philippines is cracking down on online fraud centres with UN support
- WhatsApp rolls out new feature that flags potential scam messages
- PA man loses nearly $400K after online chess game leads to Cryptocurrency scam
- The ‘Jury Duty’ Scam That Cost This Family $25,000
- New York back-to-school scams: Fake websites, AI ads and phishing texts to watch for
Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@n2k.com.