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scam of the day - Charon - 05-05-2024
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Scam of the day – May 5, 2024 – Mavis Wanczyk Scams Continue
Steven Weisman, Esq.
May 4
She's back! Actually, she has never left. I have been writing about scams related to Mavis Wanczyk for seven years but recently I have received many emails from Scamicide readers telling me about various new incarnations of a variety of scams that share the same hook which is that Mavis Wanczyk is giving money away to lucky people. Many of you may not remember the name of Mavis Wanczyk, but she was the lucky winner of a 758 million dollar Powerball drawing in 2017. Not long after she claimed her prize, a scam started appearing in which many people received emails with the message line referring to the Mavis Wanczyk Cash Grant. The email indicated that you were chosen to receive a large cash grant from Mavis Wanczyk. All the lucky strangers receiving the emails had to do was provide personal information in order to qualify for the grant. In addition, phony social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were also set up in Ms. Wanczyk's name through which people were contacted with the same phony offer of free money informing them that in order to qualify for the grant they merely needed to provide personal information.
Recently a Scamicide reader told me that after he had tweeted a message on X (formerly Twitter) he was contacted by a scammer posing as Mavis Wanczyk that she liked his tweet and that she was sharing some of her Powerball winnings with a select amount of people that follow her on social media. Fortunately, the Scamicide reader looked into Mavis Wanczyk and found out about the various scams using her name.
TIPS
It is difficult to win a lottery you have entered. It is impossible to win one that you have never entered and neither lottery winners, nor anyone else is sending out messages through the Internet offering free money to anyone who responds with personal information. Never give out personal information that can make you vulnerable to identity theft unless you have absolutely verified that the party requesting the personal information is legitimate and has a legitimate need for the information.
Finally and most importantly, remember neither Mavis Wanczyk nor any other lottery winner is giving away money to strangers.
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and insert your email address where it indicates "Sign up for this blog."
Phone calls, emails, and text messages are among the primary ways that scam artists, the only criminals we call artists, contact their targeted victims. Scammers have a knowledge of psychology that Freud would have envied, and they are adept at luring us to click on malware-infected links, provide personal information that can lead to identity theft, or make a payment. Anyone can be scammed. For years, I have told you, “Trust me, you can’t trust anyone,” and that you should be skeptical of emails, phone calls, and text messages prompting you to act. But how can you know if a phone call, email, or text message is legitimate? Fortunately, there is a terrific new product called ScamAssist® from Iris® Powered by Generali that you can turn to quickly to let you know if that communication is a scam. It can be a lifesaver. While Iris® Powered by Generali doesn’t offer ScamAssist for direct purchase, if you’re a business professional looking to fill a product gap in your portfolio and want to provide customers a service they’ll truly value, contact Iris at IrisIdentityProtection.com/Scamicide to learn how you can get started. Join a growing list of companies – such as Staples – that have recognized that providing ScamAssist to its customers helps protect them and generates goodwill.
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RE: scam of the day - Charon - 05-06-2024
Read on blog or Reader
Site logo image Scamicide
Scam of the day – May 6, 2024 – Phony Norton Invoice Scam
Steven Weisman, Esq.
May 5
The phony invoice scam is a common scam popular with scammers because it is quite effective. It starts when you receive an email that purports to be from a popular company with which many of us do business that indicates that you owe them a significant payment. The scammers count on people being concerned that they are being wrongfully charged for a product they did not order. You are provided a telephone number to call if you dispute the bill. If you call the number, you will be prompted to provide personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft.
The copied email below, which I personally received, appears to come from Norton Life Lock, a company that provides a wide range of digital security services and identity theft protection services. As always, the purpose of a phishing email is to lure you into clicking on links contained within the email or providing personal information, in this case by phone if you call to dispute the phony bill . If you click on links in phishing emails, you end up downloading malware and if you provide the requested information, it ends up being used to make you a victim of identity theft. This particular phishing email provides a phone number to call if you wish to dispute the obviously phony invoice. If you call the number in the phishing email you will be asked for personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft. The phone number is not one of Norton Life Lock. The real phone number of Norton Life Lock is 800-543-3562.
There are a number of red flags that indicate that this is a scam. Your name does not appear anywhere in the invoice. Only your email address appears in the phony invoice. Also, the email was sent from an email address that has no relation to Norton Life Lock. Finally, the email provides what it says is a toll free number to call if there are any issues with the invoice, but the area code 432 which is indicated in the email is not a toll free number, but rather an area code used in Texas.
Here is a copy of the invoice being circulated.
Norton Logo
Thank you for trusting NortonLifeLock for your Cyber Safety needs.
You are almost done!
Hi User,
Your Order Number NP1338685316 for $ 514.48 is now complete. Your order details are shown below and are stored in your NortonLifeLock account.
Norton™ 360 with LifeLock™ Select
You must download and install Norton™ 360 with LifeLock™ Select on each device that you want protected. Please follow these simple steps:
Download your NortonLifeLock subscription by clicking on the "Get Started" button or go to your Norton account
Follow the instructions to install your NortonLifeLock service on one or more devices
You have just joined over 5 million other LifeLock Members.
IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE THIS PURCHASE , CONTACT AT OUR CUSTOMER SUPPORT DESK TOLLFREE NUMBER
DO NOT REPLY ON THIS EMAIL
TOLLFREE +1(432) 614-5254
Your subscription is active and will renew on May 10, 2024 for $ 499.48/ year + applicable tax
— Your NortonLifeLock Team
Order Number: NP1338685316
Payment Method: Credit Card
Billing Date: May 2, 2024
Product Information
Price: $ 499.48
Norton™ 360 with LifeLock™ Select