1. Medical Providers Targeted for Wire Fraud Scheme
The FBI has reported a scam targeting medical professionals. Individuals pretending to be members of a medical board, FBI agents, or DEA agents contact medical professionals and claim that their licenses have been compromised and are being used in a scheme to traffic drugs.
The scammers then direct the medical professionals to wire money as non-compliance fees and as refundable bonds to “move the investigation forward.” These funds are sometimes promised to be returned within three days. Some medical professionals are even told to transfer funds to additional foreign bank accounts because of “other entities that are linking fictitious accounts” to the target’s personal, business, and investment accounts.
This scam typically presents through texts and phone calls, often at the target’s workplace, and often using spoofed numbers. In some cases, email is used for contacting. Official-looking faxes containing ‘evidence’ are sometimes sent, often including publicly available information such as the target’s license number, business address, or National Provider Identifier.
How can you avoid falling for this scam:
- With spoofed numbers, this scam be a little trickier to identify. A spoofed number is when the information sent to your caller ID is deliberately false and typically made to appear as an official, recognized number. What you can do, however, is gather all the information you can, such as the ‘agent’s’ name, title, and badge number, and then get off the phone. You can then visit the agency website they claim to represent and call one of the numbers listed there. Do not simply re-dial the call you received. You should be able to confirm that the agent is legitimate, or you can then report the scam.
- Remember not to give away any of your own personal information on unsolicited calls. There is a wealth of data available to the public that can make a person seem legitimate, but if you did not initiate the call, be suspicious. Do not confirm anything. Get whatever information you can and then independently try to verify it.
- Always be suspicious of unsolicited requests to wire money, especially over the phone. Regulated agencies typically send letters in the mail and will have secure portals for legitimate fee payments. And they don’t often sound like something out of The Sopranos (needing money to ‘move an investigation forward’).
2. Beware that New Suitor
With Valentine’s Day just two weeks away, this next scam couldn’t be more timely. Interpol has issued a notice to its 194 member countries of fraud schemes starting on dating apps.
Scammers create accounts on dating sites and build artificial romances. Once the relationship has reached a level of regular communication and trust, the criminals start sharing investment tips with their targets and invite them to join in money-making schemes.
According to Interpol, “Victims download a trading app and open an account, buy various financial products and work their way up a so-called investment chain, all under the watchful eye of their new ‘friend.’ They are made to believe they can reach Gold or VIP status.
“As is often the case with such fraud schemes, everything is made to look legitimate. Screenshots are provided, domain names are eerily similar to real websites, and customer service agents pretend to help victims choose the right products.
“One day, however, all contact stops and victims are locked out of the account. They’re left confused, hurt, and worried that they’ll never see their money again.”
So how can you stay safe from this?
- Always be vigilant with strangers, especially when it leads to a request for money. And yes, someone on a dating app who you have not actually met, no matter how many pictures they have or how much you “click” when you chat/email/talk, is still a stranger. Online anyone can say or be anything.
- Be skeptical and do your research. If an investment deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Look up reviews for the app or trading website, and Google it to see if it has been reported by others before you.
- If you’re looking for love in all the wrong places, ask people you know to help set you up or join local groups. Dating apps can be great. But they won’t do the kind of screening your friends and family will. And if you do get scammed, report it so someone else won’t be.
3. Not Actually Government Assistance
It’s a new year with new government officials in place, and the scammers are happy to exploit it. Experts are reporting scams that pose as government assistance programs and target individuals.
This scam typically arrives through email and speaks of “emergency financial aid,” in one example. Compensation can be as high as five thousand dollars, and the message typically includes a link for details.
The emails are short and could seem plausible, given the stimulus conversations, small business programs, and other funding packages mentioned in the news. But if you click on the link for details, you’ll go to an official-seeming “government” site that asks for your personal information. If you submit the data, you’ll be told that someone will contact you soon. They won’t.
What can you do against this?
- Look for the basic indicators first: spelling or grammar mistakes, the sender name not matching the sender email, and anything else that seems ‘off.’
- If the message passes the ‘sniff test,’ continue to use caution. Hover over the link before clicking on it. See if you can determine any particular program or government agency the message is supposedly from. If you’re still not sure, send it to your IT team to test it. The link may not be malicious, but your technology partners can find out more in a protected environment so you and your data are not at risk.
Bonus Scam Alert
Experts are warning that fake Parler links and downloads may soon hit the masses.
As you may recall from the headlines, Parler was the new social media platform that quickly attracted a large fanbase and was almost as quickly de-hosted by Amazon Web Services and removed from the Apple and Google app stores.
A couple of weeks ago, 70 TB of Parler data was leaked online. That data dump reportedly includes user profile data, user information, admin rights data, videos, and posts (including deleted posts).
So according to KnowBe4, “This massive haul of leaked data could allow malicious actors to individually target Parler users in campaigns as well as all manner of online scams.”
What can you do against this?
- Former user or not, never click a link to download an app in an unsolicited message. If you were expecting a confirmation, okay (though I still don’t recommend it). But if a message comes to you out of the blue, go to the app store independently to ensure you are downloading the correct app and the most recent version.
- Remember to make yourself pause if any message seems to elicit a strong emotion, whether that’s excitement, fear, anger, etc. For example, if you were a Parler user upset by it going down and thrilled to hear it’s back up, you should still try to verify it some other way before clicking. And if you are disgusted to hear it’s back up, or curious to see what it’s really like, again, try to verify it independently first.
