[ WASHINGTON: Scammers stole more than US$3.4bil (RM16.2bil) from older Americans last year, according to an FBI report released April 30 that shows a rise in losses through increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics to trick the vulnerable into giving up their life savings. Losses from scams reported by Americans over the age of 60 last year … Read more
[ A 74-year-old woman was arrested after police say she robbed a bank in Pennsylvania at gunpoint. The Fairfield Township Police Department asked for help identifying the woman in an April 19 Facebook post, saying she was wanted in connection with an armed robbery that same day. Later that day, police released an update saying … Read more
[ When Denise Brown peruses the tightly packed gift card display at her local CVS in Harlem, New York, she sees the perfect present for her grandson: a Sony PlayStation gift card. Others, acting in bad faith, see these gift card displays as easy money in one of the country’s costliest and most common consumer … Read more
[ It was a common scam that ended with an uncommon outcome, tragically in an Ohio driveway. William J. Brock fatally shot an Uber driver because he wrongly assumed she was part of a scheme to extract US$12,000 (RM57,408) in supposed bond money for a relative, authorities said this week. Lo-Letha Hall was a victim … Read more
[ CHESTERTON: A local man lost US$25,000 (RM119,387) in a scheme originating on an online dating site, police said. The 59-year-old man said he developed a friendship in January with a woman he met on a dating website and she offered to teach him about investing in crypto currency, according to Chesterton police. The man … Read more
[ A Nebraska couple was recently scammed out of US$115,000 (RM551,080) in a “very unusual” and “scary” fraud scheme, investigators say. A couple – ages 71 and 68 – were at their home in Lancaster County on Friday, March 29, when their computer suddenly shut down, Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said during an April 16 … Read more
[ A devious cryptocurrency scam called “pig butchering” that involves luring investors online into coughing up their savings in the hopes of big returns has cost New Yorkers more than US$10.5mil (RM49.83mil) over the past year, Brooklyn prosecutors said Thursday. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said “pig-butchering” operations reach out to their marks on social … Read more
[ PENANG: A Maybank branch employee in Kampung Baru, Penang recently prevented a customer from losing RM150,000 to phone scammers impersonating enforcement agency officers. The issue started when the customer Fatimah, a 57-year-old government contract worker, received a call that appeared to be from her bank, claiming that she was involved in unauthorised transactions and … Read more
[ Financial sextortion has been reported as the fastest-growing crime targeting children in North America. According to reports by the FBI, Federal Trade Commission and Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), it is happening at alarming rates. Paul Raffile of the NCRI told me “virtually all males on social media are targeted,” which is what I … Read more
[ A 74-year-old Lincoln woman was defrauded of US$25,000 (RM118,225) after her Facebook account was hacked, police say. The woman reported the fraud to the Lincoln Police Department on Wednesday afternoon. She said she had been using Facebook Marketplace to buy and sell items when she discovered her account was hacked, Capt Todd Kocian said. … Read more
