Creative ones at that. This story in the TL today gets my blood boiling.
A scam aimed at the families of deployed military personnel has targeted at least one local family, and the American Red Cross is warning potential victims to be cautious when giving out personal information...one example of the scam involved a woman who called a military spouse claiming to be a representative from the American Red Cross. The caller said that the spouse on duty had been injured in Iraq and could not be treated medically until the proper paperwork had been completed...The caller then asked for the spouse to verify the soldier’s Social Security number and birth date. In this situation, the spouse caught on and refused to give out the information.
Calling the wife of a guy in Iraq and telling her that her husband has been injured knowing that after getting such shocking news she might let her guard might be down is a classic example of social engineering. Fortunately she knew that the Red Cross doesn't contact the family when someone has been injured, that's the job of the services. Identity theft is probably the least reported on crime in the US and it affects so many people.
Right on time I just got a phishing email.
Thieves have no boundries when it comes to stealing. These people would steal money from their mothers.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to keep our guard up constantly, but it really is the only way to combat this epidemic and growing crime.
People have to be aware of their vulnerabilities and plug those gaps. Those vulnerabilities are no different than a few years ago, but today are worth much more!