Hey listeners, Scotty here—the only person you’d want as your sidekick if your inbox gets hit with a scam. Let’s get straight into what’s been making headlines in scam-land the past few days, because the internet criminals have not exactly been on vacation.
Right now, caller ID spoofing is raining havoc across Europe. Europol says phone networks are drowning in fake calls thanks to scammers using Voice over IP and sneaky apps to make calls look like your bank, the government, or your grandma. Elisa, the biggest telco in Finland, just reported 90% of incoming weekday calls from abroad were fraudulent before they threw down new anti-spoofing defenses. Imagine getting a call from your own area code and it’s not your cousin with their usual “can I borrow twenty?”—it’s someone trying to jack your savings. Europol warns that these spoofing rings are often international, making it hard for police to catch anyone, especially when some vendors offer “spoofing-as-a-service.” Add in SIM-based scams and you’ve got the world’s worst group chat.
Meanwhile, voice phishing’s been busy outside Europe too. Over in Korea, the Minjun ring made headlines after one of its operators, Baek Song-yi, got her prison sentence reduced just this week. She’d impersonated bank employees, swindling 107 victims out of $1.7 million, all orchestrated from the Philippines. Her defense? She turned snitch, gave up the group, made settlements with her victims, but the court still wasn’t buying excuses for the sheer damage.
Closer to home, let’s talk one particularly wild U.S. scam: in Illinois, charges were dropped against Jayesh Rabari and Nikul Desai, accused of stealing $100,000 from a Spring Grove couple through a fake Amazon account warning and tall tales about being FTC agents. Why no conviction? The couple couldn’t positively identify them, language barriers nixed their diversion program, and restitution kicked in—but get this, authorities say these "FTC scam calls" are happening again right now. If someone claiming to be a Fed starts asking for secret info, hit pause and call their official number—never trust a number handed over by a surprise caller.
Families of jail inmates, beware! The Yavapai County Sheriff just flagged scams in Arizona where fraudsters pose as sheriff’s office employees, asking for money to get loved ones into fake "rehabilitation programs." North Carolina, California counties—same trick: phony bail bond requests and threats. It’s spreading fast, and at last count, local fraud investigators are getting dozens of cases a week, often powered by stolen personal data.
Scammers really love chasing the latest tech. Last Thursday, Malwarebytes reported Geek Squad scammers sending fake PayPal invoices and phishing attacks disguised as death notices targeting LastPass account holders. The big ticket though: “check cooking”—yes, scammers photograph and digitally deform checks to pull money right out of your account, so protect those checkbooks like they're rare Pokémon cards.
What can you do? It’s simple. Always verify who you’re dealing with. Never share your passwords, PINs, or one-time passcodes—your bank will never ask. Double-check app links, scrutinize email addresses, and make sure you’re using strong passwords and two-factor authentication everywhere you can. Honestly, vigilant cybersecurity is your best armor.
Before you bounce, thanks for tuning in! Keep your digital guard up, watch out for those ghost jobs and fake calls, and don’t forget to subscribe for more. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
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