"I've never seen so many scams"
-
The note on a Washington, D.C., apartment building’s online message board looked enticing: “Anyone want a COVID vaccine? I have an extra Pfizer. Minimal side effects. I’m an RN. $500 OBO.”
People in Chicago are reporting phone calls offering a vaccine appointment—if they provide a prepaid gift card, their Social Security number and other personal information.
And in Colorado, scammers are using party invitation software and sites on the dark web to offer phony vaccine appointments—for a small fee, of course.
Americans are desperate to get COVID-19 vaccines, but supplies are scarce and the distribution has been chaotic and confusing. That combination has created a huge opportunity for scammers who want to part customers from their money or personal information.
“We’re starting to get more and more reports [of fraud],” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, said in a phone interview. “These scammers’ goal is to prey on your hopes and fears. They are trying to get you to give up information or money.”
-
The note on a Washington, D.C., apartment building’s online message board looked enticing: “Anyone want a COVID vaccine? I have an extra Pfizer. Minimal side effects. I’m an RN. $500 OBO.”
People in Chicago are reporting phone calls offering a vaccine appointment—if they provide a prepaid gift card, their Social Security number and other personal information.
And in Colorado, scammers are using party invitation software and sites on the dark web to offer phony vaccine appointments—for a small fee, of course.
Americans are desperate to get COVID-19 vaccines, but supplies are scarce and the distribution has been chaotic and confusing. That combination has created a huge opportunity for scammers who want to part customers from their money or personal information.
“We’re starting to get more and more reports [of fraud],” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, said in a phone interview. “These scammers’ goal is to prey on your hopes and fears. They are trying to get you to give up information or money.”
Not surprised at all.
It goes to show you that you can give people a device (mobile device) that can answer just about any question on the planet and they don’t know how to use it to verify the truth. You can literally speak into it with your question.
Or the power of social engineering is greater than the power of knowledge. Imagine when social engineering and algorithms combine systematically.
