phishing

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Reuters Asked AI Bots to Scam the Elderly. They Obliged

Investigation finds that major bots will help write phishing emails, even if they balk initially

(Newser) - If you tell one of the major artificial intelligence bots that you'd like help crafting a phishing email to steal money from seniors, they will, of course, say no way. But as a Reuters investigation reveals, those big-name bots——Grok, ChatGPT, Meta AI, Claude, Gemini, and DeepSeek—can...

FBI Flags Mystery Packages With Fake QR Codes
Be Careful You Don't
Become a 'Quishing' Victim
in case you missed it
Sep 14, 2025 7:00 AM CDT

Be Careful You Don't Become a 'Quishing' Victim

Recipients are being tricked into scanning malicious QR codes, per the FBI

(Newser) - The FBI is sounding the alarm on a new scam straight from the "what could possibly go wrong?" file: unsolicited packages containing only a mysterious QR code. Once just an easy way to check menus or pay for takeout, QR codes have landed on the scammer's menu....

Staff's Initial Glee on Bonuses Email Soon Turns to Ire

Train company slammed for sending 'phishing simulation test' under guise of extra payment

(Newser) - After working through the pandemic, employees of a UK railway company were excited to see an email in their inboxes indicating gratitude from management. Per CNBC , the message from higher-ups at West Midlands Trains indicated to 2,500 staff members they'd soon be receiving a bonus. "We realize...

TV Anchor Quit for Harvard Job. Then She Noticed 'Anomalies'
TV Anchor Quit for Harvard Job.
Then She Noticed 'Anomalies'
in case you missed it
Jan 23, 2021 3:35 PM CST

TV Anchor Quit for Harvard Job. Then She Noticed 'Anomalies'

Nidhi Razdan of NDTV says she fell victim to a 'sophisticated and coordinated phishing attack'

(Newser) - Nidhi Razdan spent 21 years as the lead anchor of India's NDTV, which one might think would give her the chops to take on a position as an associate professor of journalism at Harvard. In fact, in June she said she was giving up her job to do that...

Company Gives Workers a Painful Phishing Lesson

Email promised holiday bonuses, if employees would just click on these links first

(Newser) - The timing was about right, and the sentiment seemed genuine. Hundreds of GoDaddy employees received an email on Dec. 14 saying, "2020 has been a record year for GoDaddy, thanks to you," the Copper Courier of Arizona reports. "Though we cannot celebrate together during our annual Holiday...

Newspaper Company 'Out-Evils Itself' With Fake Bonus Offer

That's according to Vice's headline on the story

(Newser) - Journalists are bristling with outrage after receiving an apparent bonus offer that turned out to be a hoax—sent by their boss, the Daily Beast reports. Tribune Publishing, which owns major papers like the Chicago Tribune and New York Daily News, sent the email offering congratulations and saying bonuses of...

Criminals Use Fear During Crisis: Secret Service

Federal agencies warn of fake charities and fake coronavirus treatments

(Newser) - Times like these give criminals an effective and profitable tool in preying on people, the Secret Service has warned Americans: fear. The agency said the pandemic provides "a prime opportunity for enterprising criminals" to take advantage. Fake charities spring up to collect donations for the ill, ABC News reports,...

Shark Tank Judge Not Out $388K After All

Barbara Corcoran's bank gets other bank to freeze transfer after phishing scam

(Newser) - The Shark Tank judge who lost $388,700 in a phishing scam has gotten the money back. "I really thought it was a goner," Barbara Corcoran says in a statement obtained by CNN , adding that she had "already accepted" her loss and "moved on." But...

Even 'Sharks' Fall Victim to Phishing Schemes
'Shark' Out $400K
in Phishing Scam
Feb 27, 2020 11:21 AM CST

'Shark' Out $400K in Phishing Scam

Barbara Corcoran 'won't be getting the money back'

(Newser) - Even sharks get swindled now and then. Shark Tank investor Barbara Corcoran has revealed that she lost almost $400,000 in a phishing scam this week. The real estate mogul tells People that her bookkeeper received an email with a $388,700 invoice from a person she believed to be...

City Treasurer Falls for Email Scam, to the Tune of $98K

Ottawa releases details of July incident

(Newser) - Ottawa's city treasurer was taken in by a phishing scam, and ended up sending almost $98,000 to an email fraudster, the city auditor general's office has revealed. Last July, Marian Simulik received an email that appeared to come from city manager Steve Kanellakos, asking for the sum—...

Scammers Ask School for $9M—and Get It
School Gets Email Seeking
$9M—and Sends It
longform
Oct 20, 2018 3:00 PM CDT

School Gets Email Seeking $9M—and Sends It

Phishing scheme fools MacEwan University in Canada

(Newser) - How do you get millions from a Canadian university? Just ask, apparently. A fraudster emailed MacEwan University in 2017 seeking roughly $9 million (USD) and the school sent it right off, the Toronto Star reports. To be fair, the Edmonton school was busy constructing a $137 million building featuring dance...

Beware This Scam Targeting Netflix Users

Email asks users to restart membership by clicking link

(Newser) - Pay extra attention to Netflix emails arriving in your inbox, because one may hide a scam. Police around the country are warning of a phishing scam included in an official-looking email asking Netflix users to restart their memberships, per ABC 11 . The email claims Netflix "could not validate the...

Equifax's Latest Headache: a $10 Fake Website

Software engineer worked up a phony to expose company's phishing vulnerabilities

(Newser) - Still reeling from a double data breach and accusations of insider trading , the New York Times now reports that Equifax's latest problem comes via a software engineer who created a phony copy of its website about the data intrusion—which the company then included in a series of tweets....

University Fooled Into Paying $11.8M to Fake Account

Emails requested a change in banking info

(Newser) - A university in Canada is the victim of what is being described as one of the biggest known phishing scams ever. MacEwan University in Edmonton discovered the fraud on Aug. 23, when a construction company it works with asked why it had yet to be paid. But the school had...

Bank CEOs Fooled by Notorious Email Prankster

No sensitive information was shared

(Newser) - Falling for a phishing scam is bad. Falling for a phishing scam when you're the CEO of a major bank, well, that's worse—and the unfortunate reality for Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein and Citigroup's Michael Corbat. The unsuspecting chief executives, along with Citigroup consumer-banking chief Stephen Bird,...

Watch Out for Strange Google Docs Links

There's a major phishing scam going on

(Newser) - Beware any offer to share a Google Docs file, even if that offer appears to have been sent by someone you know. The Los Angeles Times reports thousands of people were targeted by a phishing scam Wednesday. The scam starts with an email with a link to a Google Docs...

One Typo Exposed John Podesta's Email to Hackers

According to a massive 'New York Times' investigation into Russian hacking

(Newser) - A single typo may have changed the course of history. In a massive report on the scale and method of Russian hacking from 1996 to the 2016 election, the New York Times reveals exactly how 10 years' worth of emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign chief were used against him....

Podesta Got Hacked Because Clinton IT Team Was Fooled

Probably

(Newser) - It appears we now know how John Podesta's email account got hacked, and it seems Russia was behind it. CNN reports a new batch of emails belonging to Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman released Friday includes one from March with the subject line "Someone has your password."...

Using Siri, Google Now, Hackers Can Nab Your Data

Attackers could open malicious websites, send phishing emails, and more

(Newser) - Using radio waves, hackers at the French government agency ANSSI say they've been able to silently trigger voice commands on any smartphone thanks to access via Google Now and Siri. Reporting in the journal IEEE , they say it's possible to operate the voice-activated command tools to do things...

Netflix Email Scam Stole Private Documents

And a Pinterest scam is going around, too

(Newser) - Click on any Netflix tech-support emails lately? Then you may have fallen victim to a phishing scam that swiped your login information at the very least, CBS News reports. The Better Business Bureau says the phony emails, sent out by con artists, have been linking customers to a login page...

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