Scams Archive

  • That’s what you get when you click random links: Facebook scam promises nude photos of Paramore’s Hayley Williams

    That’s what you get when you click random links: Facebook scam promises nude photos of Paramore’s Hayley Williams

    Matt invited us to a Facebook party last week, something along the lines of "CLICK HERE FOR A FREE IPAD~!" Now, I knew this was malware-related because I know Matt knows I wouldn't want an iPad—free or otherwise. Clearly something smelled fishy here. The point is, even so-called techies can be the victim of malware. There's a new scam going around Facebook right now that, while not malicious right now, could well mutate into something not very nice with the flick of a switch.

    Full Story

  • You don’t fall for the wallet inspector gimmick, so why fall for its online equivalent?

    You don’t fall for the wallet inspector gimmick, so why fall for its online equivalent?

    I think I'm getting to the point that, instead of feeling bad for people who fall victim to phishing scheme, or any other online nonsense, I'm actually like, “You know what? Serves you right.” There's a new scam going around that exploits Internet Explorer (in Windows XP, mostly), and it works by tricking users into pressing the F1 key at a certain time. Once the key is pressed, any ol' code a hackers wants to execute can be executed. Right now, the only work-around is to not press F1 when prompted by any ol' site. Cool.

    Full Story

  • Something about Web scams, and the sites that still support them

    Something about Web scams, and the sites that still support them

    Truth be told, I have no idea why I'm about to write this post, other than the fact that it's in my little writing queue. You can't fight City Hall. Here's the deal: the Federal Government of the United States spent a bunch of money investigating various online marketing scams. How they work, what makes people fall for them, etc. Consumers lost some $1.4 billion to such scams.

    Full Story

  • UK T-Mobile customer data sold to cold callers, responsible staff to be prosecuted

    UK T-Mobile customer data sold to cold callers, responsible staff to be prosecuted

    Filed under: ,

    Let's be honest, who here is actually surprised that underpaid and overworked data workers would sell on our details for a few extra quid? Given the number of uninvited calls to our unlisted phone numbers, we know for a fact that somebody has been dishing our personal contacts to those Nigerian princes and caring loan consolidators, so it's no shock to learn that T-Mobile employees have been fingered for committing the deed and are now facing prosecution. We're told that inappropriately leaked information made its way into the hands of brokers, who then "cold-called the customers as their contracts were due to expire" without T-Mob's knowledge. Disappointed by the failure of current fines to discourage such illegal information trade, British Justice Minister Michael Wills has even called for "custodial sentences" to be levied against the poor slobs responsible. So, if you're scoring at home, that's now two black eyes for T-Mobile when it comes to keeping our data safe. For shame.

    UK T-Mobile customer data sold to cold callers, responsible staff to be prosecuted originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Full Story

  • Free laptops sent to government offices spurs FBI case

    Free laptops sent to government offices spurs FBI case

    free laptopApparently it's not okay to send West Virginia's governor five free laptops. What a world! Governor Joe Manchin's office got a nice four-pack of Compaq laptops earlier this month, followed a week later by a fifth machine from HP. The only problem was that nobody in his office ordered them or paid for them.

    Full Story

  • Psst… Hey, buddy, I’ve got a 37-inch TV to sell you for $100

    Psst… Hey, buddy, I’ve got a 37-inch TV to sell you for $100

    Oh, dear. Imagine you're minding your own business at the local Wal-Mart when a man approaches you. “Hey, buddy, want a brand new TV?” “Sure,” you reply, “why not?” The man pops open his boot, shows off what looks to be a TV...

    Full Story