internet scams | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

The United States Department of Justice announced Monday the arrest of 74 email fraudsters across three continents in a global crackdown on a large-scale business email compromise (BEC) scheme. The arrest was the result of a six-month-long operation dubbed " Operation Wire Wire " that involved the US Department of Justice, the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Treasury, and the US Postal Inspection Service. The international law enforcement authorities led by the FBI arrested 42 of the total 74 individuals involved in BEC scheme in the United States, 29 in Nigeria and 3 each in Canada, Mauritius, and Poland. "Foreign citizens perpetrate many BEC scams. Those individuals are often members of transnational criminal organizations, which originated in Nigeria but have spread throughout the world," the DoJ says. Moreover, the authorities seized nearly $2.4 million and recovered about $14 million in fraudulent transfers, according to the FBI, which estima...

Criminals are posing as IT support staff, calling unsuspecting U.K. internet users to push rogue antivirus software. GetSafeOnline.org reports this as part of their Internet safety week campaign. These scam operations often involve up to 400 people using sales techniques and social engineering to deceive victims. The goal is to obtain credit card information through the sale of rogue antivirus software or gain remote access to the victim's system for future use. Typically, the scam begins with an unexpected call. The caller, pretending to be an IT helpdesk technician, builds rapport with the victim, presenting themselves as trustworthy by using personal information available online. The victim is then questioned about computer problems like slow email or internet browsing. Once the victim admits to an issue, the caller exaggerates the problem and offers a solution for a small fee. The caller might say, "For a small fee, we can install something to fix your system and clean it c...