Online Scams
Recent Highlights
All Stories for Online Scams
Did an Australian influencer poison her baby for social media fame and donations?
Fp Explainers •A Queensland influencer, 34, is charged with poisoning her one-year-old daughter to raise over $60,000 via GoFundMe. Police allege she filmed the child in distress to gain followers and solicit donations. The case has sparked outrage as the woman faces charges including fraud, torture, and child exploitation
India most targeted nation for mobile malware attacks with 28% of all attacks, finds global report
Fp Staff •India accounted for 28% of global mobile malware attacks out of over 20 billion mobile threat transactions made between June 2023 and May 2024. This is more than that of the US & Canada. The study also found that India accounted for over 66% of all such attacks in Asia-Pacific
Fake wedding invitations shared over WhatsApp, emails are Indian scammers' favourite new tool
Fp Staff •In Rajasthan’s Bikaner, one victim fell prey to this ploy, losing Rs 4.5 lakh from his bank account just days after opening a fraudulent wedding card file from an unknown sender
Mumbai senior citizen put under ‘digital arrest’, duped of Rs 3.8 crore: How to protect yourself from such scams
Fp Explainers •A 77-year-old woman from South Mumbai was kept under ‘digital custody’ for over a month by scammers who threatened her with arrest and duped her of Rs 3.8 crore. With cases of ‘digital arrest’ scams on the rise, it is important to understand what they are and how to protect yourself from such frauds
Meta cracks down on ‘pig butchering’ scams, claims to have removed over 2 million accounts
Fp Staff •Pg butchering scams involves fraudsters tricking victims — often found on social media or dating platforms — into fake cryptocurrency investments or financial schemes. Such scams have siphoned off more than $75 billion globally since 2020
India saw massive increase in online scams during festive shopping season, finds survey
Fp Staff •With more Indians turning to online shopping around the festivities, online scammers are having a field day. Thanks to deepfakes and sophisticated phishing attacks, Diwali 2024 saw a massive uptick in online scams, as per McAfee's Global Festive Shopping Survey 2024
Canada: Why are senior scams increasing despite awareness?
•Fraud targeting seniors has become the leading crime in Canada, driven by scammers using advanced technology to carry out increasingly sophisticated schemes. From voice simulation to fraudulent cryptocurrency investments, fraudsters exploit seniors’ trust and lack of digital familiarity, raising the question of how they can be better protected
Don't fall for quick fixes: How Microsoft's global IT outage gave rise to scams
Fp Explainers •Cybersecurity experts and agencies worldwide are cautioning people about a surge in opportunistic hacking attempts related to the recent IT outage. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz advised users to ensure they are communicating with official company representatives before downloading any fixes. While there is no evidence that the outage was caused by malicious activity, some bad actors are attempting to exploit the situation
What is the ‘India Post’ scam? How not to fall for it?
Fp Explainers •Multiple people have flagged getting messages on their mobile phones, claiming to be from India Post asking them to update their addresses for delivery of packages. The government has said they are fake. What’s going on?
Indonesia arrests over 100 Taiwanese for online scams targeting Malaysians
•Bali immigration authorities said that after a tip-off from Indonesian police, they raided the villa in Tabanan Regency on Wednesday, where the group of 12 women and 91 men was found with hundreds of mobile phones and other electronic devices