Former President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order (EO) entitled “Strengthening and Promoting Innovation in the Nation’s Cybersecurity” on January 16, 2025. The EO is designed to
Privacy Tip #425 – Late Shoppers: Beware of Scammers Sending You to Fake Websites
Scammers prey on us at our most vulnerable. Although some of us are early holiday shoppers, others wait until the last minute. Scammers know this and are lurking to find late shoppers scrambling for gifts. Many late shoppers feel a bit desperate, so they are at risk of falling for scams that divert them to…
Privacy Tip #421 – Threat Actors Using DocuSign API to Send Fake Invoices
DocuSign is a great and efficient way to obtain authentic signatures for contracts and invoices. As with other efficient tools, threat actors will and have found a way to use the DocuSign API to send fake invoices to divert funds.
According to security researchers at Wallarm, “Unlike traditional phishing scams that rely on deceptively…
Ally Financial Faces Class Actions Over Data Breach
Ally Financial Inc., a digital financial services company, faces two class action lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina related to an April 2024 data breach. The suits allege that Ally failed to secure customers’ personal information, including Social Security and auto account numbers. One lead plaintiff claims that…
Privacy Tip #417 – Scammers Using Hurricane Relief Aid to Commit Fraud
Unfortunately, when natural disasters hit innocent victims and good-natured people want to help those in need, scammers swoop in to manipulate the bleak situation to commit fraud or price gouging.
Following Hurricanes Helene and Milton , the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Justice, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a warning…
FTC Concentrating Enforcement Efforts on Use of AI in Operation AI Comply
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated a new “law enforcement sweep called Operation AI Comply.” The operation shows that the FTC is serious about protecting consumers from companies that use artificial intelligence (AI) tools and services to “trick, mislead, or defraud people.” Such conduct is “illegal,” and in announcing the first five enforcement…
Privacy Tip #414 – Beware of Fraud Schemes Promising Big Monetary Rewards from AI
Fraudsters are using the hype of new technology, specifically artificial intelligence (AI), to commit fraud on consumers. The same bad guys are just spinning buzzwords to develop new schemes to take advantage of consumers.
This week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it took enforcement action against five companies “that use AI hype or…
EPA Notice of Violation Letters Phishing Scam
Thank you to Jon Schaefer for this post. Jon focuses his practice on environmental compliance counseling, occupational health and safety.
On July 30, 2024, the U.S. EPA Office of Inspector General issued a fraud alert to bring attention to an increasing number of companies reporting that they have received fraudulent EPA Notice of Violation…
Kudos to Microsoft’s Takedown of Storm-1152
There was a big win for the good guys against the bad guys this week. On December 13, 2023, after obtaining an order from the federal court in the Southern District of New York to seize U.S. based infrastructure and take offline websites used by a group Microsoft identifies as Storm-1152, Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit…
Privacy Tip #382 – Beware of Fake Package Delivery Scams During Holiday Season
There are lots of package deliveries this time of year. When shopping online, companies are great about telling you when to expect the delivery of your purchase. Fraudsters know this and prey on unsuspecting victims especially during this time of year.
Scammers send smishing texts (smishing is just like phishing, but through a text), that…