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A study of cyber-criminals in Ghana found that members of the "Sakawa Boys" romance scam network deliberately target lonely British women, with some fraudsters justifying their crimes as "reparative justice" for colonialism by claiming they are reclaiming wealth taken during British colonial rule. The scammers use social media to emotionally manipulate victims into sending money while posing as men with stable careers, and show little remorse for their actions despite the significant financial and psychological harm caused. Ghana ranks 13th globally for online fraud, and a recent Interpol-coordinated operation arrested over 1,200 cyber-criminals across 18 African countries and the UK, recovering $97.4 million

Phishing scams are increasingly using fake DocuSign emails impersonating major companies like Apple to trick victims into calling fraudulent support numbers. These convincing emails include fabricated receipts, order IDs, and DocuSign links with security codes, but scammers use the provided phone numbers to steal personal information, banking details, or convince victims to download remote access software. Users can protect themselves by verifying sender email addresses, knowing that legitimate companies do not send receipts through DocuSign, and avoiding clicking suspicious links or calling numbers in unsolicited emails.

Scammers are impersonating local law enforcement officials in a jury duty fraud scheme, calling victims with claims of missed jury duty and threatening arrest warrants to extort payment via wire transfers or gift cards. The scam targets vulnerable individuals by using personal information and blocked numbers to appear credible, though legitimate jury summonses are always delivered by mail. Key protections include never trusting unknown callers demanding payment, verifying claims directly with official court or police numbers, and recognizing that government agencies never request payment through gift cards or cryptocurrency.

**Type:** Cryptocurrency/Financial Fraud Alert The Trump family's World Liberty Financial (WLFI) cryptocurrency project has raised significant concerns about conflicts of interest and market manipulation, with the project team blocklisting major investor Justin Sun from selling his tokens shortly after trading commenced, potentially to prevent price decline. The Trumps have profited approximately $412.5 million from early token sales and indirect payments, though media reports claiming $5 billion in gains are misleading since these represent unrealized "paper" profits and insider selling would likely cause market collapse. Congressional Democrats are pushing for stronger oversight language in proposed crypto legislation to prevent similar presidential conflicts of interest in financial ventures.

An 80-year-old woman in Sapporo, Japan lost approximately $6,750 (1 million yen) in a romance scam after meeting a scammer on social media who claimed to be an astronaut trapped in space and suffocating, requiring urgent funds for oxygen. The article notes that romance scams are surging globally, with U.S. victims losing $1.14 billion in 2023 with a median loss of over $2,000 per person, and warns that elderly populations are particularly vulnerable as scammers increasingly use AI deepfakes, voice synthesizers, and chatbots to make their schemes more convincing.

An 80-year-old woman in Sapporo, Japan, lost approximately 1 million yen ($6,750) to a romance scam in which a fraudster posing as an astronaut claimed to be stranded in space and urgently needed money to buy oxygen. The article notes that romance scams are surging globally, with US victims losing $1.14 billion in 2023, and that elderly people are particularly vulnerable due to advancing AI technologies enabling increasingly convincing deepfakes, voice synthesis, and chatbot interactions.

A Boise, Idaho gas station clerk named Avalon Hardy intervened to stop at least seven cryptocurrency scams targeting elderly customers by questioning suspicious Bitcoin ATM transactions and unplugging the machine to prevent a 79-year-old from losing $15,000 and a 75-year-old from losing $19,000. Crypto fraud has become increasingly prevalent, with scammers using tactics like impersonation, fake government agencies, and AI-powered deepfakes to target older adults, who reported losses exceeding $1.6 billion in 2023 alone and are the most vulnerable demographic to these schemes.

A phishing scam impersonates Evite event invitations with emotionally charged subjects like "Special Celebration of Life" to trick recipients into clicking malicious links that can steal personal information, capture login credentials, or install malware. The scam uses realistic Evite branding and design to appear legitimate, but can be detected by verifying sender email addresses, hovering over links to check URLs, and using antivirus software with phishing detection.

Gurpreet Singh, a young man from Amritsar, was victimized by an international visa scam after being contacted on social media by someone promising to arrange a UK visa through Iran. After arriving in Iran in September, he was kidnapped and held hostage by organized criminals demanding ₹50 lakh (approximately $60,000 USD) in ransom, with evidence suggesting the gang has cross-border Pakistani connections and targets Punjabi youth seeking overseas settlement.

Dennis and Carole received a phishing email impersonating Sam's Club, offering a $100 reward for completing a survey; Carole clicked through and entered her email address but no credit card information. Although no immediate financial risk exists, scammers now have her active email address and may target her with more sophisticated phishing attempts or sell it to spam lists. The article recommends running antivirus scans, reporting the email as phishing, and considering data removal services to reduce future targeting.

A Malwarebytes survey of 1,300 adults across five countries found that iPhone users are more susceptible to online scams than Android users, not due to device differences but rather behavioral choices—53% of iPhone users reported falling for scams compared to 48% of Android users, with iPhone owners less likely to use security software, set strong passwords, or avoid suspicious deals and sellers. The research demonstrates that overconfidence in Apple's security reputation leads many iPhone users to take riskier online behaviors, emphasizing that device safety depends on user habits rather than the phone's built-in protections.

The Pocatello Police Department warned of multiple scams circulating in the area, including ransom scams where perpetrators falsely claim to hold a loved one hostage and now use AI-generated images, audio, and video to increase credibility. Additional scams reported include romance scams requesting gift cards and money, and impersonation scams where fraudsters pose as law enforcement threatening arrest unless payment is made. Police advise residents to exercise caution and skepticism when contacted by unknown parties.

This educational article explains how fraudsters exploit social media platforms through fake accounts and purchased verification badges to deceive users. The piece outlines why social media is vulnerable to scams—including speed of information sharing, weakened verification systems, and users' tendency to lower their guard—and provides practical protective steps such as scrutinizing profiles before engagement, avoiding suspicious links, and using reverse image searches to verify authenticity.

Attackers are exploiting Apple's iCloud Calendar invite system to send sophisticated phishing messages that bypass spam filters by originating from Apple's official servers. The scam falsely claims unauthorized PayPal transactions and directs victims to call a fake support number, where scammers attempt to gain remote access to devices or steal sensitive financial information. Users should treat unexpected calendar invites with suspicion and verify claims directly through official company accounts rather than responding to embedded messages or calling provided numbers.

Interpol arrested over 250 suspected cybercriminals across 14 African nations in Operation Contender 3.0, disrupting romance scams and sextortion schemes that targeted approximately 1,500 victims with estimated losses near $3 million. The operation, conducted in late July through early August, identified digital infrastructure used by scam syndicates that exploited victims' trust and emotional vulnerabilities through fake romance profiles and blackmail using explicit imagery. Ghana led the crackdown with approximately 70 arrests, while operations in other countries including Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire dismantled networks impersonating celebrities and operating organized sextortion rings.

A man named Kent encountered a web injection scam when a fake bank login pop-up appeared during an online financial transaction, successfully tricking him into providing his email and phone number before he recognized the "Credit Donkey" redirect as suspicious and closed his browser. Web injection scams hijack browser sessions to overlay fraudulent verification screens that feel authentic because they appear while users are already logged in, with the goal of capturing login credentials or two-factor authentication codes. To protect against such scams, individuals should monitor accounts daily with login alerts enabled, change passwords using a password manager, check for personal data exposure in breaches, and consider using data removal services to limit scammers' access to personal information.

Cybercriminals are increasingly using sophisticated phishing emails impersonating trusted coworkers and employers to trick recipients into opening malicious attachments or clicking fraudulent links, with AI-generated content making these scams harder to detect. A Texas resident nearly fell victim to such a scam when she received a suspicious email appearing to come from her employer but containing an unopened attachment; she protected herself by changing her password, running virus scans, and enrolling in identity theft protection. To fully protect against these workplace email scams, individuals should review login histories for unauthorized access, enable two-factor authentication on critical accounts, alert their IT department of suspicious emails, and keep all software updated to prevent malware exploitation.

According to Citizens Advice, one in five UK residents fell victim to financial scams, prompting cybersecurity companies to develop protective tools. McAfee launched a Scam Detector feature within its Total Protection and LiveSafe packages that identifies suspicious text, email, and video messages across multiple platforms and devices, starting at £10.99 per year. The tool works alongside antivirus protection to help users avoid malware infections and financial fraud schemes.

**Scam Type:** Fake settlement claim websites and phishing emails Scammers are creating fraudulent websites and sending deceptive emails impersonating legitimate data breach settlement payouts (such as Facebook's $725 million and AT&T's $177 million settlements) to steal victims' Social Security numbers, banking information, and other personal data. To protect yourself, verify settlements through the FTC's official ftc.gov/enforcement/refunds site, watch for red flags like requests for complete SSNs, processing fees, urgent language, misspelled URLs, and grammar errors, and consider mailing claims directly rather than using links in emails.