Hackers Brief from Cyber Wyoming | April 18, 2022 | Announcements | #phishing | #scams | #education | #technology | #infosec

A Rock Springs citizen reported a PayPal impersonation email that was very convincing except that it had an attachment for the invoice, which the citizen was very smart not to open, and it was from a Gmail address. The email’s subject line was ORDER:NUMBER:#HY514N2G6B253.

A very poorly worded email from a Gmail address, with the subject of “I trust in God” was reported by a Laramie citizen. Roberto claims to be a dying widow and a good Christian and requests your help to distribute funds to charity.

The Cheyenne PD wants you to know of a phone scam impersonating a Sheriff’s Deputy. The caller says that you have missed jury duty and you will be jailed unless you provide money or a gift card. The Cheyenne PD wants you to know you can’t pay your way out of jury duty and that actual law enforcement officers will never ask for gift cards.

A Big Horn citizen, whose name is not Brandi, reported 8 text messages to Brandi from 307, 817, 407, and 321 numbers. The texts were trying to sell Brandi “licensed health advisor” services. CyberWyoming Note: Do not respond to these texts as they are checking to see if the number is active and it could open you up to more spam texts.

A Buffalo citizen reported an email impersonating Bank of America saying “We were unable to withdraw funds from your Pay From account.” The Pay From account number was incorrect, as part of the scam and showed *****4491 as banks often do mask part of the account number. The email threatened suspension of the Bill Pay service and encouraged the Buffalo citizen to call the number in the correspondence, which wasn’t Bank of America’s real number.

‘Honest prayers’ by Mrs. Teriza William may not be so honest. Often these dying widow schemes are used to get your banking information disguised as an ask to champion a project to give money away to charity. Reported by a Laramie citizen.

With college student loan repayments due to start again on May 1, scammers are going to offer fake debt relief in return for ‘a small fee’. If you know a college student, warn them about this scam and more half-truths that could be believable like unpaid tuition fees, overpayment, honor society memberships (some are real, so check them out), blackmail because of compromising photos, digital downloads to save textbook money, crypto trading (this has been reported in Wyoming), bogus achievement claims, and general phishing emails. Direct college students to https://studentaid.gov/ and remind them to beware of offers too good to be true. Brought to you via Scambusters.org.

Before you donate to help the people in Ukraine, be sure to check out www.ftc.gov/charity and check out the organization in CharityWatch, Charity Navigator, or the BBB’s Wise Giving Alliance websites. Cryptocurrency Donations: When the government of Ukraine announced that it can receive donations for help in cryptocurrency, scammers heard it too. Social media posts and direct messages on social media have been spotted, designed to trick you into sending money to the wrong people. Before donating money by using cryptocurrency, do an online search of the wallet address to confirm you are sending money to the REAL address.

If you receive a text saying “Your order has been delivered. This text session will close in 5 min.” don’t respond. Your name and number will be added to list of live accounts that crooks will use in the future.

Fox News (13 million records including employee information), Texas Department of Insurance, Cash App, Parker Hannifin, Mailchimp (cryptocurrency clients’ mailing list), Iberdrola, Palo Alto Networks (customer support cases), Law Enforcement Health Benefits, Partnership HealthPlan of California, Shutterfly, Globant, Oklahoma City Indian Clinic, Illuminate Education, Horizon Actuarial Services (impacted MLB Players Benefit Plan), Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, National Spelling Bee, Okta, Microsoft, HubSpot, Jefferson Dental and Orthodontics, Creative Services Inc., South Denver Cardiology Associates, and Bridgestone Americas.