Latest news with #scam
Yahoo
an hour ago
- General
- Yahoo
DMV warns against new wave of scam texts hitting New Yorkers
NEW YORK (PIX11) — If you got a text message from a number claiming to be from the Department of Motor Vehicles, officials from the agency are warning that it may be a scam. The latest scam text hitting New Yorkers may claim that a person has an outstanding traffic ticket and may be at risk of having their vehicle registration suspended, paying a service fee, or being prosecuted. More Local News Residents are warned not to respond to these messages, not to click on any links or attachments, and not to give any personal information over the phone, through text, or by email. 'These scammers flood phones with these texts, hoping to trick unsuspecting New Yorkers into handing over their personal information,' said DMV Commissioner Mark J.F. Schroeder. 'DMV will not send you texts asking for your personal information.' More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State DMV officials say New Yorkers can check for telltale signs of a phishing text such as poor spelling or grammar, the use of threats and URLs that don't match that of a legitimate site. Residents can report phishing messages to the DMV by emailing a description or a screenshot to Anyone who thinks their data may have been compromised can contact the Federal Trade Commission to learn what to do next. Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
State of Crypto: Someone Tried to Scam Me (Probably)
Coinbase won't call customers to warn them that their accounts may have been compromised. It's a common scam vector. Still, someone tried it on me. You're reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions. Last weekend, an unknown California number called me. A helpful gentleman informed me that my Coinbase account had been compromised during its recent data breach and he was there to assist me in not losing my assets. Oh no, the horror! All right, so obviously this is a scam. Right after hanging up with this supposed help desk agent, I texted a Coinbase spokesperson to verify that at no point would the exchange call a customer to tell them their account was compromised. It's scam 101 — if you're getting a phone call informing you that your account's been compromised, whether at a crypto exchange, a bank, the IRS, whatever, it's a scam. Do not share your personal details and do not provide any passwords if you get a call like this. There were a few flaws in the attempt to get me to, presumably, move my funds from my supposedly compromised Coinbase account to another address. But I'm hopeful that this can be a useful teaching moment for the nearly 70,000 people who have been affected by Coinbase's recent breach disclosure, as well as anyone else who receives a phone call claiming their information has been compromised. Here's how this went down. Let's start from the beginning. On Saturday, May 24, I received a call from a number I didn't recognize to my personal phone, not my public-facing work number. It being a weekend, one where I was actually visiting family in another state, I didn't pick up. Then the same number called back and I still didn't pick up (yes I know, riveting, but it's 2025 and you can leave a voicemail or text). Ten minutes later, I received a third call from a different number, which I did pick up because at that point I was curious. A fast-talking gentleman who called himself Riccardo told me he was part of Coinbase's Actions and Protections Department and that he was reaching out because my Coinbase account information had been compromised and a new email had just been added to my account. I was pretty confused, for reasons I'll get into below. But I was also intrigued because there were immediately four red flags. For simplicity's sake, I'll refer to the caller as "the agent" from here on out, but to be absolutely clear, I doubt he is an actual customer service agent, representative or other employee of Coinbase, and he certainly was not reaching out to me as an authorized representative of the exchange. First off, the phone call itself is a big red flag. Coinbase will never call a customer about a breach, but rather will contact customers via email, it previously said in a tweet. This is actually standard. The Federal Trade Commission website notes there is a vast range of scams wherein someone will call you, and numerous other companies have warnings that their employees will never proactively call a customer about account issues. The agent I spoke to said they would freeze my account for 24 hours to ensure no funds could be stolen (thanks, I guess?) and that a supervisor would reach out to me (I continue to wait for this supervisor to call). This supposed freeze on my account can be extended to three months if there are multiple failed login attempts. To wrap up the call, he said he'd send me an email summarizing all the details we'd discussed. On Saturday night, I received an email with the subject line "your case is under review." The follow-up email this very helpful customer service representative sent was extremely informative. For one thing, the email address they had associated with my account is a public-facing address, but is not the email address attached to my actual Coinbase account (in fairness, I forgot that part until I tried to find my login information a few days later). Gmail initially (correctly) flagged this email as spam. I moved it to my inbox, where Gmail then showed me that the sender (help@ was not the actual sender — the email arrived via Even the part is sketchy — for one thing, Coinbase's website is though it does send emails from info@ — still, you wouldn't expect a hyphen in a support email domain. For another, the info-coinbase domain was first created in November 2024 (according to an ICANN lookup) and isn't a real website. The email headers were also not super helpful in terms of providing any sort of identifying information, but they did confirm that the sender appeared to have tried to obfuscate their information. Curiously, the "Visit Coinbase" link at the bottom appeared to link to the actual Coinbase website and there do not appear to be any hidden embedded images or other attached files in the email at all. I'm not totally sure what's going on there. A real scammer could have embedded a virus of some sort into the email or even a tracking pixel. Another common tool scammers might use is putting in a phishing link in place of a legitimate one in an email, tricking the user into going to a website intended to steal their login information (this is not legal, technical or any other sort of advice; if you decide to try and scam somebody using information you gleaned from this newsletter, stop it). While scammers might sometimes know how much their intended victims have in a wallet or account, the person who called me did not appear to have that information (as I have zero crypto in my Coinbase account). I called the number back on Friday to see what might happen. No one picked up. I guess my account must be secure now. : Stand With Crypto announced Soulja Boy and 070 Shake would headline a "get out the vote rally" next week ahead of New Jersey's governor primary election. SWC removed Soulja Boy a day later after discovering he was found liable for sexual battery and assault charges and ordered to pay $4 million last month, in a case stemming from 2021. : SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce told the Bitcoin 2025 Las Vegas audience that it's fine to invest in speculative assets, especially if there's no federal regulator with close oversight, but those investors can't ask for a bailout when prices sink. : House Republicans have formally introduced the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, its market structure bill, just weeks after circulating a discussion draft. : The SEC's latest staff statement looks at staking and how the securities regulator might evaluate that part of the crypto ecosystem. : The SEC and Binance filed a joint stipulation to drop the regulator's case against Binance. : News broke over the weekend that a crypto investor had been kidnapped and tortured for his Bitcoin keys. Two suspects accused of perpetrating the kidnapping have been arrested and pled not guilty. : Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump calling on him to publish the names of his guests at last week's memecoin dinner. Friday 15:00 UTC (11:00 a.m. ET) A federal judge held a telephone hearing to assess Roman Storm's defense argument that the Department of Justice may have withheld information. The judge ruled that in her view, the DOJ did not have to review its materials and had not withheld information that rose to the level of affecting proceedings. () The White House published a "Make America Healthy Again" report that cited nonexistent studies and references — with telltale signs that AI may have been used to generate at least some parts of the report. () The Fed said 8% of adults who responded to a survey said they held cryptocurrency in the U.S., down from 12% four years ago. If you've got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you'd like to share, feel free to email me at nik@ or find me on Bluesky @ You can also join the group conversation on Telegram. See ya'll next week!
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sheriff's office warns of ‘ghost tap' scam targeting East Tennessee
KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — A nationwide crime trend has hit East Tennessee, as Knox County Sheriff's Office detectives have apprehended more than 10 individuals taking part in a 'ghost tap' scam. The sheriff's office issued a release on the scam Saturday morning. Scammers load stolen credit card information onto a digital wallet and then use that to purchase gift cards, which are resold online to launder the stolen money. Gun shops across the state lose revenue as TBI troubleshoots firearm background check system outage So far, detectives have apprehended more than 10 people, who they said are primarily Chinese nationals, suspected of taking part in the scam. KCSO explained that on a larger scale, the scam is resulting in financial institutions losing millions of dollars every week. The sheriff's office also shared why they think scammers may be targeting the region. 'These criminal groups are traveling from California, New York, and Texas, exploiting jurisdictions they believe won't recognize their scheme,' the sheriff's office wrote. The best way to protect yourself from the scam is by protecting your information. KCSO said if you have gotten text messages about unpaid tolls, misdelivered packages, or account issues, it's important not to click any links in the messages or enter your information. The tactic is part of a real-time smishing (SMS phishing) scam that is used to steal personal and financial information. Richard L. Bean to retire after mayor calls out problems at juvenile detention center The sheriff's office also shared some other tips to protect yourself: Never share personal or financial info via text or email with unknown senders. Law enforcement or government agencies will never ask you to pay debts with gift cards or request private info over the phone. Report suspicious messages immediately. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Khaleej Times
9 hours ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Dubai: Luxurious hotels at cheap prices? Offer may be a scam, warn authorities
Saw a low-priced staycation venue with high-quality amenities, stunning views, and a feel of quiet luxury? Don't jump to book just yet. Authorities in Dubai have warned of fake staycation and getaway offers. Such scammers may use visuals of what seems to be elegant hotels or beach chalets to lure potential victims. While you may be looking to surprise your loved ones with a well-deserved break, they might get a different kind of surprise if you show up to the location only to realise that no such venue exists. Scam getaway location listings may ask for your financial details, and once the transaction is processed, stop answering calls or responding to messages. Dubai Police emphasised the importance of booking through trusted agents and websites, in a video advisory posted on X.
The Herald
13 hours ago
- General
- The Herald
'Fraudster' arrested after allegedly confessing to RDP housing scam
A woman who allegedly scammed a number of people by promising to fast-track their applications for government-subsidised housing has been arrested after allegedly walking into the Gauteng department of human settlements office and confessing her crimes. The woman told a senior official at the department's customer support centre earlier this week she had illegally collected more than R100,000 from members of the public, the department said She claimed she could help them 'jump the housing waiting list' and secure Breaking New Ground or RDP houses. The official alerted authorities and the suspect was apprehended in a joint operation by the department and the Ekurhuleni metro police. She is now in police custody and faces charges of fraud. Human settlements MEC Tasneem Motara praised the official who escalated the matter. 'I commend the official who acted responsibly and was not tempted to get involved in corrupt activity herself. We are serious about cracking down on corruption and fraud, especially those who are trying to take advantage of citizens who have a real need to be allocated [housing] as soon as possible.' The department reiterated warnings about housing scams and reminded the public it does not charge for any of its services. It urged residents to remain alert and avoid being duped by individuals who falsely claim to be government officials. 'Please be aware of unscrupulous individuals who pose as officials from the Gauteng department of human settlement — falsely claiming to be MECs or heads of department to deceive and extort money from the public.' TimesLIVE
