Scams

A vulnerability in the official Twitter client Tweetdeck left users vulnerable to attack, forcing thousands of users to retweet cryptic lines of code to other users. Twitter repeatedly shut down the service, despite assurances the flaw had been ‘fixed’.

With the World Cup in Brazil poised to begin, the whole world is watching – and that includes cybercriminals. Here’s the latest on scam sites, phishing and how to enjoy surfing safely during the competition.

Convincing-looking emails where the victim is directed to click on a Dropbox link to download a supposedly unpaid invoice (and other classic phishing tricks) are circulating widely on the internet.

Some users of Apple iPhones, iPads and Macs have been getting strange wake up calls and unsettling messages demanding a ransom for access to their devices. Now is the time to make your i-stuff is locked down, even if you don’t live in Australia.

Google, Facebook, Twitter and AOL have joined forces to stamp out fake tech support services where customers are fooled into calling bogus technical support lines, where they are encouraged, not to fix their comptuer, but to install malware – or give away details crucial for identity theft.

‘Highly-paid’ mystery shopper assignments where you’re sent cashier’s checks upfront can end up costing you a lot of money.

Recently it was announced that Satya Nadella will be Steve Ballmer’s successor as CEO of Microsoft. Of course for the cybercriminals this is the time to dust off and polish the good old Microsoft Lottery scam and update it.

Befriending the wrong person on Facebook can hand a criminal the tools for an identity theft attack – and on LinkedIn, talking to the wrong ‘recruiter’ can lead to disaster.

Cybercriminals ‘manage’ phishing emails using techniques similar to those used by marketing agencies, including the use of ‘test audiences’ to see how effective a particular email is, according to an email security specialist.

Yet another innovative tech support scam, using Netflix phishing to get remote access to the victim’s system.

Networking giant Cisco has launched a “grand challenge” to invent a security solution for the “internet of things” – a broad term used to describe connected devices from industrial equipment to cars to smart home appliances.

It’s not just fake tech support: call centre cold-callers are operating various kinds of insurance scams, too.

A roundup of scam information, including a tax scams article, email with a link to malware, a phish, and the worlds laziest 419.

Missed a phone call? The Better Business Bureau says answering international telephone fraud calls looking like US calls might cost you more than you think.

419s are a well-known scam type, but some scams are more obvious than others. And sometimes it’s the seller who’s cheated not the buyer.

A video purportedly showing a gigantic snake swallowing a zookeeper is the latest viral scam on Facebook – tricking thousands of users into sharing a video which instead takes victims outside Facebook to a scam site.

Is there really anything new to be said about tech support scams? Unfortunately, the FTC tells us there is. Not only because people are still falling prey to this type of fraud, but because the scammers are still finding new approaches to harvesting their victims’ credit card details. Some quite interesting, sophisticated technical tricks are

There are plenty of scams effective enough to rate a warning or three, in the hope of alerting potential victims to the kind of gambit they use. And so, even though much of ESET’s business is focused on the bits and bytes of malicious software, I’ve spent a lot of time writing on WeLiveSecurity and

A phishing scam targeting Tesco bank customers puts on a festive party hat and pretends to offer something for nothing. Is this a topical trend?

Few things are sacred to today’ cybercriminals – and true love certainly isn’t one of them. Dating scams are a fast-growing area of cybercrime – rising by a third year-on-year in some countries, and ranging from fraud, to identity theft to malware attacks. Here’s how to stay safe.

It so happens that I live over 5,000 miles from the ESET North America office in San Diego, and so tend not to have water cooler conversations with the people located there. Of course, researchers working for and with ESET around the world maintain contact through the wonders of electronic messaging, but there are lots