internet scam

18 Stories

5 Arrested After Fake Brad Pitt Scams Fans
They Thought They Were
Talking to Brad Pitt, Lost $365K
in case you missed it
Sep 28, 2024 6:00 AM CDT

They Thought They Were Talking to Brad Pitt, Lost $365K

Police in Spain say 5 arrested in fraud scheme that bilked 2 women

(Newser) - Two Brad Pitt fans experienced the ultimate disappointment—and wallet buster—when it turns out the person online they thought was one of their favorite actors was actually a group of people scamming them, according to police in Spain. The Times of India reports on the arrest of five individuals...

He Flew to Asia for a Job. The Offer Was a Ruse
He Flew to
Asia for a Job.
The Offer
Was a Ruse
longform
Sep 14, 2024 3:25 PM CDT

He Flew to Asia for a Job. The Offer Was a Ruse

New York Times shares the story of a Ugandan man who was forced to be a scammer

(Newser) - Jalil Muyeke was the victim of Internet scammers. But as Tara Siegel Bernard writes for the New York Times , "the masterminds behind these schemes didn't drain his bank account. ... They stole seven months of his life." The 32-year-old from Uganda is one of thousands of such victims:...

Silicon Valley Exec Scammed Out of $400K

Rana Robillard thought she was sending a down payment, was actually having her money stolen

(Newser) - A Silicon Valley executive who was on the brink of buying a house instead ended up scammed out of nearly $400,000. Rana Robillard told her story to NBC News as a warning to other homebuyers about how sophisticated cybercrime has become. An email in late January, apparently from her...

UK MP: 'I've Hurt People by Being Weak'

William Wragg says he revealed colleagues' phone numbers after getting caught up in sexting scam

(Newser) - British lawmakers who may have been targeted in a sexting scam were urged Friday to go to police, after a senior Conservative admitted disclosing the personal phone numbers of some colleagues to an unknown individual who held "compromising" material on him. William Wragg, who chairs the Public Administration and...

Apple, Google Pull App Linked to Sextortion Scams

Wizz, a Tinder-style app aimed at teens, says it's trying to remedy the 'technical hiccup'

(Newser) - A Tinder-style app geared toward teens has been yanked from both Apple and Google's app portals after warnings about sextortion. NBC News reports that, according to emails it viewed, Wizz was pulled on Tuesday from the Apple App Store following pushback from the National Center on Sexual Exploitation on...

She Left a Holocaust Survivor 'Penniless and Betrayed'

Peaches Stergo, who stole $2.8M from him, is handed a 51-month sentence

(Newser) - The Florida woman who "deceived an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, maliciously draining his life savings so she could become a millionaire through fraud," will pay for her crime. Peaches Stergo, 36, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in April and was on Thursday sentenced to four years and three months...

Romance Scammer Posed With Wads of Cash in Photos

New Jersey's Rubbin Sarpong is sentenced to 14 years in prison

(Newser) - A New Jersey man just got sentenced to 14 years in prison over an online scam in which he tricked about 40 women on dating websites into sending him money. Prosecutors say one of the women killed herself after wiring him $93,000 and realizing she'd been duped, reports...

Victim of Harvard Jobs Scam: 'How Could I Be So Stupid?'

'NYT' digs in to the fraudsters who targeted Nidhi Razdan, others

(Newser) - "How could I be so stupid?" It's the question that repeats in Nidhi Razdan's brain. She's the former NDTV news anchor who in January revealed she had been the victim of a sophisticated scam: one in which she quit her high-profile job to take a position...

Broken Hearts, Empty Wallets: Seniors Catfished for $139M

FTC report says there was a 'surge' in 2020 in romance scams bamboozling Americans 60 and over

(Newser) - Last month, the Department of Justice announced money laundering and wire fraud charges brought against nearly a dozen "romance scammers," and that's only scratching the surface of what the Washington Post calls a "surge" in such deceptions made worse by the pandemic, especially for the senior...

80 Charged in Massive Love Scam Run Out of LA

Man named Valentine, another Nigerian citizen are accused masterminds of scheme out of California

(Newser) - The feds say elderly women and businesses were the perpetrators' targets, and that they managed to squeeze at least $6 million out of their victims in what prosecutors are calling "one of the largest cases of its kind in US history." CNN reports on the arrests Thursday of...

City Treasurer Falls for Email Scam, to the Tune of $98K

Ottawa releases details of July incident

(Newser) - Ottawa's city treasurer was taken in by a phishing scam, and ended up sending almost $98,000 to an email fraudster, the city auditor general's office has revealed. Last July, Marian Simulik received an email that appeared to come from city manager Steve Kanellakos, asking for the sum—...

FBI Investigating "Army General" Facebook Scam

A woman in Oklahoma lost more than $225K

(Newser) - The FBI is investigating after a 70-year-old Oklahoma woman said she was duped out of more than $225,000 by someone posing online as a US Army general stationed in Syria. Phyllis Lindsey tells The Oklahoman that she was contacted on Facebook by someone alleging to be "Gen. Lester...

Sisters Allegedly Try Internet Scam on Nigerian Billionaire
Sisters Allegedly Try Internet
Scam on Nigerian Billionaire
in case you missed it
Jan 1, 2017 12:44 PM CST

Sisters Allegedly Try Internet Scam on Nigerian Billionaire

And yes we recognize the irony

(Newser) - Someone alert Alanis Morissette because a Nigerian billionaire is apparently on the receiving end of an alleged internet scam. The Toronto Star reports the ironic situation is unfolding around two sisters from Toronto—Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo—recently arrested in Lagos, Nigeria. The sisters Matharoo were "fixtures in the...

NBA Team Releases Players' Tax Info to Email Scammer

The scammer 'spoofed' the email address the Milwaukee Bucks' president

(Newser) - The Milwaukee Bucks say their organization inadvertently provided tax information of employees, including players, to someone who was impersonating the team's president over email, the AP reports. The NBA team said Thursday that the "security incident" involving the W-2 forms of all 2015 employees was reported to the...

eBay Scammers Made $3M in Fake Car Sales: FBI

Romanian ringleader now being sought

(Newser) - The FBI has a new wanted man—a 33-year-old Romanian accused of leading a ring of scammers who made $3 million selling non-existent vehicles on sites such as eBay and Cars.com, reports CNN . Nicolae Popescu allegedly found plenty of victims between 2011 and 2012. Authorities say he and his...

Lawyers Have Lost $70M to ... Email Scammers

One will be prosecuted this fall

(Newser) - Even lawyers can be taken in by email scams—and one US Postal Inspector estimates law firms have lost at least $70 million to such scams since 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. Scammers email lawyers—known for their eagerness to gain new clients, often via the Internet—with a...

Nigerian Scams Purposely Sound Unbelievable
Nigerian Scams Purposely Sound Unbelievable
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 24, 2012 10:55 AM CDT

Nigerian Scams Purposely Sound Unbelievable

Scammers want to rein in only the very gullible: study

(Newser) - "Nigerian scams" are so well-known that we call them, well, Nigerian scams. So why don't the scammers update their tactics a bit, rather than coming right out and admitting they're from Nigeria right there in the body of the email? The answer, according to a Microsoft researcher...

Online Romance Scams: a $50M Business

Those older than 40 and divorced are common targets: report

(Newser) - Scammers conned $50 million out of 5,600 people last year who were searching for love on the Internet, says a new report. That's an average of $8,900 per victim. The way it generally works: Fraudsters hunt for vulnerable targets on dating sites and social networks, and convince...

18 Stories