Dec. 30, 2025

Scam updates and how to protect yourself

Scam updates and how to protect yourself

Join us for the last episode of 2025. We will discuss some scams like phone return scam, phishing scam, and fake kidnapping scam along with prevention reminders for the new year.

Let’s Talk About Scams is broadcast live Tuesdays at 8AM PT on K4HD Radio - Hollywood Talk Radio (www.k4hd.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Let’s Talk About Scams TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

Let’s Talk About Scams Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individual professional / legal advice. The podcast information was carefully compiled from vetted sources and references; however, R.O.S.E. Resources / Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly cannot guarantee that you will not fall victim to a scam.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/let-s-talk-about-scams--6483699/support.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.080 --> 00:00:04.679
This program is designed to provide general information with regards

2
00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:07.639
to the subject matters covered. This information is given with

3
00:00:07.719 --> 00:00:12.080
the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station

4
00:00:12.279 --> 00:00:17.480
are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial,

5
00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:21.640
legal counseling, professional service, or any advice.

6
00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:24.079
You should seek the services.

7
00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:29.280
Of competent professionals before applying or trying any suggested ideas.

8
00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:33.679
The information contained in this podcast is intended for informational

9
00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:37.159
purposes only and is not a substitute for individual professional

10
00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:41.039
legal advice. The podcast information was carefully compiled from vetted

11
00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:45.280
sources and references. However, Rose Resources outreach to safeguard the

12
00:00:45.320 --> 00:00:48.240
elderly cannot guarantee that you will not fall victim to

13
00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:53.759
a scam. Let's talk about scams. It's the must listen

14
00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:57.039
show for anyone who wants to protect themselves and their

15
00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:01.799
loved ones from scams. Every Tuesday am Pacific time on

16
00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:06.319
kfour HD Radio, Joyce Petrowski, founder of Rose, and her

17
00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:11.159
guests will provide valuable insights and practical tips on how

18
00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:16.239
to recognize and protect yourself from scams. And now here

19
00:01:16.359 --> 00:01:18.719
is your host, Joyce Petrowski.

20
00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:23.599
Welcome back everyone to let's talk about scams. I'm your host,

21
00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:28.000
Joyce Petrowski, founder and board president of Rose Resources Outreach

22
00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:31.159
to Safeguard the elderly. You can find more information on

23
00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:35.719
our website at Roseadvocacy dot org. On the homepage you'll

24
00:01:35.719 --> 00:01:39.480
see all our social media channels and if you scroll

25
00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:41.640
down to the bottom of the homepage, you'll find where

26
00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:44.400
you can sign up for our newsletters. We have one

27
00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:47.599
via email and one that we send out in the mail,

28
00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:51.920
and the one via email. Every Tuesday morning at nine

29
00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:55.560
fifteen am, Arizona time, you're going to get a tip

30
00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:59.599
Tuesday in your email inbox. Now you might already know

31
00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:02.959
that to and that's great, but it reinforces your healthy

32
00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:09.080
scam prevention habits, and it reinforces scams. So that helps

33
00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:12.000
you to be able to make scam prevention a habit.

34
00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:14.680
So the next time you are contacted, you're going to

35
00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:18.199
be more apt to take that pause, step back, think scams,

36
00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:21.199
know what to do in order to determine if that

37
00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.960
is a legitimate contact or if it's a scam. So

38
00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:29.319
today we're going to talk about a couple FBI public

39
00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:33.680
service announcements. We've got another credit breach. We're going to

40
00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:37.280
make you aware of and then an update for iPhones.

41
00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.479
So I'm going to share my screen to We're going

42
00:02:40.520 --> 00:02:47.120
to first go into the FBI Public service announcements. Sorry

43
00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:54.520
about that, and sorry that wasn't what I wanted to

44
00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:57.919
get to here. It is. So this one came out

45
00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:01.400
at the beginning of December. You might have already have

46
00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:07.960
seen this on our social media page. But it's about

47
00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:13.439
criminals using altered proof of life media to extort victims

48
00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:18.439
in the virtual kidnapping for ransom scams. So criminals are

49
00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:24.560
taking photos, you know, they're getting them through social media predominantly,

50
00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:27.080
but they're looking all over the internet form and they're

51
00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:33.599
altering the photos and to use as proof of life,

52
00:03:33.800 --> 00:03:38.319
the fake proof of life photos, saying that they've kidnapped

53
00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:43.400
that person and they're holding them for ransom. Now, a

54
00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:45.520
lot of times it'll be that they're going to contact

55
00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:48.400
them through text messages claiming that they've kidnapped their loved

56
00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:53.159
one and demand a ransom. They'll express significant claims of

57
00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:56.759
violence towards the loved one if the ransom's not paid immediately,

58
00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:01.680
and then they criminals can send what appears to be

59
00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:05.560
a genuine photo or video of the victims loved ones

60
00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:09.599
upon but if you look at close inspection, you can

61
00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:14.319
often see inaccuracies when you compare to the confirmed the

62
00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:17.519
actual real photos of that loved one. So here's some

63
00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:22.360
examples of what you might see in the altered photo

64
00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:26.800
which they could be photoshopping, taking away a tattoo or

65
00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:34.240
a scar. They could it could be inaccurate body proportions.

66
00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:38.879
So another thing here is interesting. The FBI says that

67
00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:42.680
the criminals will sometimes purposefully send the photos using a

68
00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:46.800
timed message feature, so it limits the amount of time

69
00:04:47.319 --> 00:04:52.000
that you have to analyze the images. So it's always

70
00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:57.560
good to do a screenshot or save the the the

71
00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:00.879
photo somehow save it on your device so you can

72
00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:05.480
go back and really inspect it. So here's some tips

73
00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:12.319
to protect yourself when posting the missing information online. Be

74
00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:15.600
mindful that scammers may contact you with a fake information

75
00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:21.519
regarding your loved one. Avoid providing personal information to strangers

76
00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:25.399
while traveling. A lot of people will put on social

77
00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:28.839
media that they're traveling. You know, I'm leaving from here

78
00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:33.600
and I'm going to hear. That's giving the scammer in

79
00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:36.720
the criminal that information to know that you're going to

80
00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:41.279
be in this particular place, so then they can use

81
00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:47.319
that for a fake kidnapping for ransom message to some

82
00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:50.399
of your loved ones. You can have a codeword that

83
00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:53.759
you only you and your loved ones know, and you

84
00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:55.839
need to make sure that if you do have that

85
00:05:55.959 --> 00:06:01.800
code word, that your loved ones know why the code

86
00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:04.639
word is established and how important it is to keep

87
00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:10.639
it confidential. There's that false sense of urgency which happens

88
00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:14.360
in the majority of scams. They know that if they

89
00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:18.759
can get you in that emotional state and keep everything

90
00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:22.120
urgent and emotional, then you're not going to think rationally.

91
00:06:22.240 --> 00:06:25.120
You're not going to stop and think. You're not going

92
00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:27.480
to call your loved one to find out what's going on,

93
00:06:28.360 --> 00:06:30.480
which is one of the ways you can verify is

94
00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:35.759
to call your loved one, not using the phone, you know,

95
00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:39.480
not using the text message, or you know, returning the

96
00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:45.879
phone call that came in. And always report it. You know,

97
00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:50.399
whether you've become a victim of the scam or you've

98
00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:53.639
realized it and prevented yourself from being a victim. It's

99
00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:57.120
always good to write everything down and then you can

100
00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:01.160
report it to the FBI at their IC three dot Gov.

101
00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:04.000
Now there's a few. There's one other thing that I

102
00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:07.000
want to tell you that you can talk to because

103
00:07:07.399 --> 00:07:10.639
scammers now they can They've been able to spoof caller

104
00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:14.680
ID for a long time, but now through different ways,

105
00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:17.240
they can actually spoof the phone number and make it

106
00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:21.439
look like it's coming from your loved one's actual phone numbers.

107
00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:27.360
So we've talked about the SIM swapping scam where scammers can,

108
00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:31.480
through your cell phone provider, impersonate you and get them

109
00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:35.639
to switch the SIM out to their benefit. So you

110
00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:39.399
can talk to your cell phone carrier and ask them

111
00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:43.519
about the ask them if they have a SIM protection

112
00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:48.040
or a port out pin that you can have on

113
00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:53.199
your account that helps prevent criminals from hijacking your phone

114
00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:57.680
number or spoofing you know, the calls and texts. So

115
00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:01.240
that port out pins going to be an added layer

116
00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:04.839
of security like a multi factor authentication code, and the

117
00:08:04.920 --> 00:08:07.600
SIM protection is going to be there to help prevent

118
00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:11.839
that SIM swapping from happening. Now, another thing that you

119
00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:15.839
can do is, you know a lot of times on

120
00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:21.240
social media, Facebook in particular, it's on Instagram and TikTok too,

121
00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:23.879
But I'm going to show you with Facebook how you

122
00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:30.600
can make your account private. So this is my personal Facebook.

123
00:08:30.680 --> 00:08:34.360
Yes you're gonna see that a friend of mine has

124
00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:39.120
the birth of his fifth grandchild. But anyways, go over

125
00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:41.559
here to where your photo is in the top right corner.

126
00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:45.080
You're going to come down to settings and privacy. Then

127
00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:49.720
you're going to go to the privacy center. And if

128
00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:54.519
you look here, it says settings to help control your privacy.

129
00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:59.799
So let's review those settings. Now we're going to come

130
00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:05.799
up here and that's manage your passwords. Security issues end

131
00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:08.519
to end encrypted. But if you come down here, you

132
00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:12.080
can manage your audience settings, and that is who sees

133
00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:16.360
the information on your Facebook. You go into here, and

134
00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:19.440
again this is my personal accounts. So these settings are

135
00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:22.080
going to be for me personally. I've got a lot

136
00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:26.519
of them set to public because I have Roses business

137
00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:30.360
page attached to my personal page, and that is a

138
00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:35.679
public facing page. So don't copy everything every setting that

139
00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:38.080
I have. You're going to want to go in and

140
00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:42.679
determine what works best for you. But seriously, can think

141
00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:46.519
about making your settings private so you can go into

142
00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:51.039
your profile information here. I can tell you here only me,

143
00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:54.360
only me, friends of friends only me. Now I've got

144
00:09:54.360 --> 00:09:57.159
public information down here. Yeah, I could go in and

145
00:09:57.240 --> 00:10:00.759
change this all to only me or friends who can

146
00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:04.639
see my friends list on my profile only if you're

147
00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:09.960
my friend, can you see the other friends? Who can

148
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:14.120
see the people in pages I follow? It's public because

149
00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:19.279
of the Rose business page being attached post and stories?

150
00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:23.480
Who can see those? So who can see my future posts? Again?

151
00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:26.559
I have it set to public because of Rose's business

152
00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:29.759
page and most of what I do on my personal

153
00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:33.840
Facebook is share posts from Rose. Who can see my stories?

154
00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:38.960
They're visible for twenty four hours on Facebook and messages.

155
00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:43.480
I have it posted as friends and I'm going to

156
00:10:44.200 --> 00:10:50.919
switch this to public because of Rose's Facebook page. But

157
00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:53.000
that's how you go in and you can switch it

158
00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:56.039
to custom where you can only show it to specific

159
00:10:56.120 --> 00:11:02.600
people or just your friends and past post who can see.

160
00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:04.919
If you want to limit who can see your past

161
00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:08.360
post to only friends, you click limit and you can

162
00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.840
go in and do that. Now. You can also come

163
00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:12.840
down if you want to block people, or if you

164
00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:15.840
want to see who you have blocked, it's going to

165
00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:18.840
come in. You can add somebody to your blocklist that

166
00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:22.159
says they won't tell them that you've blocked them. And

167
00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:24.159
I have one person blocked. I'm not going to get

168
00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:27.919
into it but and show you who that is. But

169
00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:30.120
you can click on that and that'll show you who's

170
00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:34.399
on your blocked list. Review tags before they appear in

171
00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:37.200
your profile. So this is something that I have on

172
00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:41.120
there that I want to I have it turned on

173
00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:45.240
right here. I want to review the tags before they

174
00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:49.559
appear on my profile. So if someone is posting a

175
00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:53.679
story or doing a post and they are tagging me

176
00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:57.559
in that post, I want to be able to review

177
00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:01.480
it before I have it show up on my feed

178
00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:04.960
or in my stories, because maybe it's something I don't

179
00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:06.960
want to show a show on mine and I can

180
00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:09.679
always hide it, or I look at it and say

181
00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:12.320
no that's okay, and I say okay, post to my store,

182
00:12:12.360 --> 00:12:15.840
you know, my feed. So I have that on because

183
00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:19.840
I just don't want I don't want anybody to be

184
00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:22.480
able to tag me and automatically have it show up

185
00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:27.200
on my page. I'm going to review it first, so

186
00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:31.399
that's done. So that's all you can do there. You

187
00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:35.159
can go into these other privacy topics, more privacy resources,

188
00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:38.679
all of that. You know, you scroll down here. You

189
00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:44.080
can find out if you do ads your information and

190
00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:51.399
permissions are here. Privacy profile, privacy settings for Facebook and

191
00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:54.279
for Instagram. You can find those at the bottom. So

192
00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:57.360
that's how you can go in and check out your

193
00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:01.240
privacy settings for and I'm going to stop. Actually no,

194
00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:05.240
I'm going to go back to the PSAs here. So

195
00:13:05.399 --> 00:13:09.559
please go in, especially to your Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or

196
00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:12.000
really any social media that you have out there, and

197
00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:16.120
make a determination do you really need to have all

198
00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:20.159
of this visible to the public. Scammers will find all

199
00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:24.080
this information and they'll use it to their advantage. Change

200
00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:27.799
as much as possible, if not all of it to private,

201
00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:32.320
or if you're going to change it to only allowing

202
00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:35.519
your friends to view. Be very careful. When you get

203
00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:39.600
a friend request from somebody, ask yourself, do I already

204
00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:43.399
have that person as a friend. One way you can

205
00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:45.159
check is to go in and look at your friend's

206
00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:48.879
list and you can search and search for that person's name,

207
00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:52.320
and if they already show up, then that means somebody's

208
00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:56.279
cloned their account. And no, you're not going to accept

209
00:13:56.279 --> 00:13:58.720
that friend request, but you are going to let your

210
00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:01.720
friend know that, hey, I got a friend request from you,

211
00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:06.039
so someone's cloned your account. You could also take that

212
00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:12.320
profile and report it as well. Say this friend request

213
00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:16.879
doesn't show up in your current list of friends, well

214
00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:20.200
then you need to ask yourself do I know this

215
00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:23.840
person right? Do you have a lot of mutual context?

216
00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:27.000
You can go in your mutual friends. You can go

217
00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:30.840
in and see who the mutual friends are and make

218
00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:33.799
a determination based on that. You know, add that to

219
00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:37.279
your factors to determine if you want to accept this

220
00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:40.960
person as a friend. Go in and look at their

221
00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:45.120
their page, you know, is it even if you show

222
00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:48.799
even if there's a few friends in common, go in

223
00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:51.360
and look at that person's page and see if it

224
00:14:51.399 --> 00:14:55.399
makes sense. Is it a new profile, is it they

225
00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:57.879
only have a few posts, you know, just different things

226
00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:01.919
like that that don't seem right. And just really do

227
00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:05.720
your research before you accept someone as a friend that

228
00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:11.120
you don't know. The next public service announcement was just issued.

229
00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:17.320
Looks like about eleven days ago, So this was this

230
00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:19.679
is an update to one that was released just six

231
00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:24.759
months ago in May. So scammers are still impersonating senior

232
00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:30.000
US officials in malicious messaging campaigns. So they've got activity

233
00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:34.799
dating back to twenty and twenty three where scammers have

234
00:15:34.840 --> 00:15:39.000
impersonated senior US state government, White House cabinet level officials

235
00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:43.320
as well as members of Congress to target individuals, including

236
00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:47.480
the officials family members, in personal acquaintances. So if you

237
00:15:47.559 --> 00:15:49.480
happen to get a message claiming to be from a

238
00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:55.000
Kerrent or former senior US official, don't assume it's automatically authentic.

239
00:15:55.480 --> 00:15:59.559
And we'll look at some different recommendations. So here's an

240
00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:03.039
example as to how it works. So the actor impersonates

241
00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:07.919
a high ranking official and they use an encrypted application.

242
00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:13.360
So Signal is an encrypted messaging app, and I know

243
00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:17.200
Signal's been in the news at different points through over

244
00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:20.240
the last year, but WhatsApp is encrypted as well. There's

245
00:16:20.279 --> 00:16:24.519
a lot of different encrypted messaging apps out there. But

246
00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:28.559
the scammers when they impersonate these high ranking officials, they'll

247
00:16:28.600 --> 00:16:32.679
ask about US policy, They'll request copies of personal documents,

248
00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:37.360
They'll want to note appointment to companies leadership. They'll propose

249
00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:42.159
a meeting with high ranking officials. They'll request a wire transfer.

250
00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:45.440
This is a big year coming up in twenty six

251
00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:49.679
for election, and so are they going to impersonate them

252
00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:54.000
saying that they're asking for a donation to their election campaign?

253
00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:58.559
And they need it immediately in order to do something,

254
00:16:58.600 --> 00:17:02.519
so wire transfer it. They'll discuss current events, all to

255
00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:07.680
make it seem more realistic, and they've actually they're using

256
00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:13.079
AI artificial intelligence generated voice messages. They'll do it through

257
00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:17.119
text messaging. They'll do it through voicemails they claim to

258
00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:22.079
come from that senior US official. Establish a report. The

259
00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:25.160
actors contact the individual and briefly engage on a topic

260
00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:27.839
the victim is versed on, with the request to move

261
00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:34.319
communication to a secondary encrypted mobile messaging app. Once communication

262
00:17:34.519 --> 00:17:38.079
is established on that encrypted messaging app, actors continue to

263
00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:41.000
engage the victim in a number of ways. So they'll

264
00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:45.799
discuss the topic current events, by lotter relations, asking about

265
00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:49.759
a trade or security policy. They'll propose scheduling a meeting,

266
00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:54.759
or maybe you're being considered for a nomination to a

267
00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:58.599
company's board of directors. They've also requested victims to take

268
00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:02.920
certain actions, such as provide an authentication code that allows

269
00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:06.240
the actors to sync their device with the victims contact list.

270
00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:11.599
Supply personally identifiable information and copies of sensitive personal documents,

271
00:18:12.119 --> 00:18:15.720
maybe a passport, maybe a birth date, a social security number,

272
00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:22.279
could be medical information. Wire funds under false pretenses It's

273
00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:25.319
not always to an overseas financial institution. It could be

274
00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:28.759
one here in the United States with the goal of

275
00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:33.519
getting it overseas, request the victim to introduce them to

276
00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:36.359
a known associate. Maybe they're using you to try to

277
00:18:36.359 --> 00:18:40.079
get to someone else. But in most cases the FBI

278
00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:44.079
has seen it come through like a text message such

279
00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:48.279
as Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp. Those are all encrypted, they're all

280
00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:52.559
legitimate encrypted apps, but again scammers are using them to

281
00:18:52.599 --> 00:18:57.960
their advantage. So here's one they've redacted personal information. But

282
00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:06.599
you know, just a message like that. So here's some recommendations.

283
00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:09.079
You know, verify the identity of the person calling you

284
00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:12.240
or sending you a text or voice message before responding,

285
00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:17.319
do the research for the originating number the organization, Find

286
00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:20.480
the person or the organization's legitimate number, and call them

287
00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:23.359
and say, hey, are you or so and so trying

288
00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:27.279
to message me about whatever the subject matter is. That's

289
00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:30.759
how you're going to verify that authenticity. Carefully examine the

290
00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:35.559
email addresses or the contact information, including phone numbers, even

291
00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:41.240
if the phone number that they're using is legitimate because

292
00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:44.839
they said they can spoof phone numbers. Now you still

293
00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:51.680
want to call the legitimate phone number for whatever organization

294
00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:57.440
or person. Don't return the phone call that came to you,

295
00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:59.920
or click on the phone number and the text message.

296
00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.519
You know you'll be able to contact them, you know,

297
00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:08.200
maybe through an official website or the official phone number

298
00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:16.880
and verify what's going on. You know, they do the

299
00:20:16.920 --> 00:20:19.640
AI generated voice cloning. So yes, oh my gosh, it

300
00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:21.720
sounds like the President of the United States, so it

301
00:20:21.799 --> 00:20:24.759
must be him. No, his voice is all over the place.

302
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.440
They can take clips of it. They can make his

303
00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:31.240
voice say whatever they want, So don't believe it just

304
00:20:31.319 --> 00:20:34.359
because the voice sounds like the person they're purporting to be.

305
00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:40.400
The artificial intelligence generated contact has advanced so much it's

306
00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:45.759
often difficult to identify. You can always, you know, if

307
00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:48.519
you believe it's a scam and you're not sure, you

308
00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:52.839
could always contact your local FBI or your local law enforcement,

309
00:20:53.880 --> 00:20:57.319
the Federal Trade Commission, you know, ask them for help.

310
00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:03.319
So again, you know, be careful with sharing personal information

311
00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:08.279
online or over the phone. Don't send money, gift cards,

312
00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:11.480
crypto or other assets to people that you've just met

313
00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:17.160
online or over the phone. Not clicking on links and

314
00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:21.960
emails or text messages. It's very hard not to do

315
00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:24.960
when you're on a phone on a mobile phone, because

316
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.559
sometimes just scrolling you've accidentally clicked on something, which is

317
00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:34.200
again why you should always have strong antivirus anti malware

318
00:21:34.359 --> 00:21:36.759
on your mobile device. You have to treat it as

319
00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:43.440
a mobile computer. Don't just automatically download information that's on

320
00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:47.319
a communication that you didn't initiate. And set up two

321
00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:51.079
factor authentication on all the accounts that will allow it.

322
00:21:53.079 --> 00:21:55.720
Now they're going to use social scammers are going to

323
00:21:55.759 --> 00:22:00.279
use social engineering to get you to disclosure your code.

324
00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:02.880
And we've talked about this before. They're going to pretend

325
00:22:02.920 --> 00:22:06.079
to be the bank. We've determined fraud on your account,

326
00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:09.079
and we need to verify it you that we're talking to,

327
00:22:09.240 --> 00:22:11.680
So we're going to provide a code and you need

328
00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:13.720
to read it back to us to verify you. Well,

329
00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:17.599
that's they're using that because they've gotten to the point

330
00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:19.720
they already know your log in and they know they

331
00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:22.279
need this code to get into your account. And it

332
00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:24.720
says where do you want the code sent? It shows

333
00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:26.960
the last four digits of your phone number or the

334
00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:30.319
last part of your email address, and they already know

335
00:22:30.359 --> 00:22:32.799
your email address and your phone numbers, so they click

336
00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:34.680
on it, they send it to you, you get it,

337
00:22:35.079 --> 00:22:36.880
you turn around and give it to them. They're in

338
00:22:36.920 --> 00:22:40.680
your account. They're changing all of your passwords, your logins,

339
00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:44.079
turning off the two factor authentifica, all that type of stuff,

340
00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:47.200
and they're going to drain your accounts. So be very

341
00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:51.519
very careful that creating that secret word or phrase. It's

342
00:22:51.559 --> 00:22:56.079
a good idea as well. It doesn't replace multi factor

343
00:22:56.079 --> 00:23:00.000
authentification with the different accounts, but a secret worder phrase

344
00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:04.440
that you have with your family members. Please just make

345
00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:07.920
sure whoever has that in the family that they understand

346
00:23:09.079 --> 00:23:13.200
the need to keep it confidential and why it is there,

347
00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:17.519
and it is only used in order to verify identities

348
00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:22.200
and give examples as to what could happen, because you

349
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:25.119
don't want someone in your family thinking, oh, well, that's

350
00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:28.319
never going to happen, that's far fetched, and thinking and

351
00:23:28.359 --> 00:23:31.799
then it doesn't really you know, it's not really that confidential,

352
00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:34.519
and blah blah blah. You know, let them know that

353
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:40.279
these things happen to everybody, and scams are easy to

354
00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:44.119
fall victim too, and this is exactly why we need

355
00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:49.880
to keep this confidential. So that's it. On the PSAs

356
00:23:49.960 --> 00:23:55.079
from the FBI I'm going to stop sharing now and

357
00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:57.400
the next scam that we're going to talk about, and

358
00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:00.240
you again might have seen this on our social media.

359
00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:09.079
It's about it's specifically with iPhones, but they could also

360
00:24:09.160 --> 00:24:11.759
use it for Android phones as well. This article that

361
00:24:11.799 --> 00:24:15.680
I'm reading from talks about an iPhone scam because the

362
00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:21.480
person that wrote in had an iPhone and it almost

363
00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:25.480
tricked this person into sending their phone back. And they

364
00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:27.759
do it a lot this time of year because a

365
00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:31.920
lot of people get new or upgraded cell phones for

366
00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:36.640
Christmas for the holidays, and so they know they have

367
00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:39.599
a lot bigger pool of people that they could trick

368
00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:42.960
into sending the phones back. So this in the article,

369
00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:45.119
this is what someone had wrote in. It said, someone

370
00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:48.279
called me and told me they sent the wrong iPhone.

371
00:24:48.759 --> 00:24:53.160
They said they were from the company, a specific company,

372
00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:58.720
which was the company the person had received the iPhone,

373
00:24:58.839 --> 00:25:01.359
the new iPhone from, but they sent him the wrong

374
00:25:01.720 --> 00:25:06.000
iPhone and needed to replace it. So this person was

375
00:25:06.039 --> 00:25:08.480
to rip off the label on the box, tape it up,

376
00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:11.960
and set it on his front porch steps and FedEx

377
00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:13.440
was going to pick it up and they'd put a

378
00:25:13.480 --> 00:25:17.000
label on it and just for his trouble, they would

379
00:25:17.000 --> 00:25:21.160
send him one hundred dollars gift card. But what got

380
00:25:21.160 --> 00:25:29.359
this this gentleman to start questioning things was the person

381
00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:32.319
on the other end of the phone was just too anxious.

382
00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:36.160
They called him again at seven am to make sure

383
00:25:36.200 --> 00:25:39.279
that they would follow his instructions. Right after that, they

384
00:25:39.319 --> 00:25:42.920
picked up the box on the steps, called the cell

385
00:25:42.920 --> 00:25:46.599
phone company, who confirmed it was a scam. There's no

386
00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:50.839
such things as refurbished I seventeen phones because they're brand new.

387
00:25:51.880 --> 00:25:58.000
So he this person ended up calling the scammer back.

388
00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:02.440
We don't suggest to do that, this is just what

389
00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:06.160
they did, and had a few choice words and hung up.

390
00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:11.279
But even since then, the scammers continue to call for

391
00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:17.119
the same thing. So just because you realize it's a scam,

392
00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:19.880
and the scammer knows that you've realized it, they're going

393
00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:22.119
to continue to call because they got you to a

394
00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:25.079
certain point and they think if they can just be

395
00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:28.799
more convincing and get you into a deeper emotional state,

396
00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:33.599
they're going to convince you to do this. So we

397
00:26:33.720 --> 00:26:37.519
went through basically how it works is they focus on

398
00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:40.200
people who have recently bought a new iPhone. Now again,

399
00:26:40.279 --> 00:26:43.640
this could work with Android phones as well. The information

400
00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:48.160
often comes from data broker sites, leaked purchase data, or

401
00:26:48.279 --> 00:26:54.000
marketing lists that are sold online. Then the scammers can

402
00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:57.799
spoof the carrier's phone number so the call seems legitimate.

403
00:26:57.960 --> 00:27:03.240
They sound confident there's a shipping mistake. They insist the phone.

404
00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:07.240
The phone must be returned right away. They reinforce urgency.

405
00:27:07.319 --> 00:27:10.680
The carriers already scheduled. You just need to take the

406
00:27:10.759 --> 00:27:13.440
label off the box, tape up the box with the

407
00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:16.240
phone in it, leave it outside. It'll get picked up

408
00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:18.960
and you know, FedEx, you whoever it is that they

409
00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:22.759
use as a carrier. And again this is nothing against

410
00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:26.240
the carriers, because you know they're the scammer's creating the

411
00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:30.680
label with the carriers. So the carriers are thinking that

412
00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:39.880
this is a legitimate pickup. But they they sorry, I

413
00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:45.359
got sidetracked there. The device is gone, so the scammer

414
00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:47.839
either resells it or strips it for parts. By the

415
00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:56.880
time you realize something's wrong, recovery is unlikely. So flip

416
00:27:56.920 --> 00:28:00.680
over and see what it says here. So here's some

417
00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:05.559
red flags with this. You get that unsolicited call. That's

418
00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:07.599
the first thing we talk about in our Anatomy of

419
00:28:07.640 --> 00:28:13.160
a scam is that contact method and this one happens

420
00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:18.000
to be a phone call and you need to return

421
00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:25.279
your new iPhone, and they pressure you to act fast

422
00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:28.839
because they don't want you to take time to think

423
00:28:28.839 --> 00:28:31.839
about what's going on, because if you took paused and

424
00:28:31.880 --> 00:28:36.079
you took time to think about it, you're going to think, well,

425
00:28:36.119 --> 00:28:39.440
wait a minute, did I even request to have my

426
00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:42.039
iPhone returned? Was there an issue with it? Did I

427
00:28:42.119 --> 00:28:44.839
make a request? And you'll go, no, I didn't, and

428
00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:46.480
then you're going to know it's a scam. So they're

429
00:28:46.519 --> 00:28:48.839
going to be urgent about it, and they're going to

430
00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:52.480
want you to act fast so you don't think about

431
00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:58.000
what's going on. Instructing you to leave it sitting outside

432
00:28:58.119 --> 00:29:01.119
for a carrier to pick up with no label on it.

433
00:29:01.160 --> 00:29:03.359
That's just not how it works. And they're going to

434
00:29:03.359 --> 00:29:06.720
give you a gift card for your cooperation doesn't work

435
00:29:06.759 --> 00:29:10.079
that way either, and they continue with follow up calls,

436
00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:12.599
you know, just to make sure that you're still emotional,

437
00:29:12.680 --> 00:29:20.359
you're still acting fast and all that. So, so if

438
00:29:20.400 --> 00:29:24.519
you are going to do a legitimate return for a product,

439
00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:28.440
you're going to get a return shipping label. It either

440
00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:31.920
would have already come in your delivery in case you

441
00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:33.960
needed to return it, you just have to fill it

442
00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:36.920
out and maybe activate it, you know, I don't know.

443
00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:39.400
Other times you could go on your online account and

444
00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:41.839
say I need to return this, do what you need

445
00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:45.359
to do there, and then they email you a shipping

446
00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:48.839
a return shipping label. You know, every company is different

447
00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:53.160
on how they do their returns, and so don't just

448
00:29:53.920 --> 00:29:58.039
leave a package out waiting, you know, with no return

449
00:29:58.119 --> 00:30:03.519
label on it. The urgency anything that's urgent, especially like returns.

450
00:30:05.480 --> 00:30:08.440
You know, if you've initiated the return, they're going to

451
00:30:08.519 --> 00:30:11.839
tell you you've got once you once the return has

452
00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:15.000
been approved, you've got x amount of days to return it.

453
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:17.359
It needs to be received by this date in our

454
00:30:17.400 --> 00:30:19.880
office in order to process it and give you your

455
00:30:19.880 --> 00:30:22.720
refund or your replace, whatever it is. They're going to

456
00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:28.559
give you time to do it. Installing, you know, strong

457
00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:31.480
antivirus again, you know we're going to continue to talk

458
00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:36.200
about that. You should have strong antivirus anti malware on

459
00:30:36.359 --> 00:30:39.599
all of your devices and devices includes your mobile phone

460
00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:43.960
because they are mobile computers. And save any messages or

461
00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:48.079
called details because then you can report this information whether

462
00:30:48.119 --> 00:30:51.160
you've fallen victim to it or not. You can report

463
00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:54.839
the information to law enforcement because you're not the only

464
00:30:54.880 --> 00:30:59.240
one that has fallen victim or almost fallen victim to

465
00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:02.200
this type of scan. And the more information law enforcement has,

466
00:31:02.680 --> 00:31:05.079
the more pieces of the puzzle that they can put

467
00:31:05.079 --> 00:31:07.960
together and find the people that are doing this and

468
00:31:08.119 --> 00:31:11.519
share your share your experience with other people. We love

469
00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:15.359
to have people come on the show as guests and

470
00:31:15.480 --> 00:31:19.319
share their experiences. Whether you have fallen victim to a

471
00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:23.839
scam or not, sharing your experience is very powerful and

472
00:31:23.880 --> 00:31:28.359
it helps other people know what's going on. If you

473
00:31:28.519 --> 00:31:30.279
have an experience and you want to share it with

474
00:31:30.359 --> 00:31:33.279
us on this show, just reach out to us. Info

475
00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:39.319
at Roseadvocacy dot org. Again, it's info at Roseadvocacy dot org.

476
00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:48.039
There's a new data breach that was just published yesterday.

477
00:31:49.720 --> 00:31:55.720
It affects social security numbers of five point eight million consumers.

478
00:31:56.160 --> 00:32:00.559
So there's a company called seven hundred Credit and this

479
00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:08.519
company the records are related to customers of auto dealerships

480
00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:14.920
because auto dealerships that some auto dealerships use seven hundred

481
00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:20.000
Credit services and so it would be that information that

482
00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:26.039
got breached and they while seven hundred Credit has not

483
00:32:26.119 --> 00:32:29.200
published an exhaustive list of every data field involved. The

484
00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:38.680
company has confirmed that sole security numbers have been were

485
00:32:38.680 --> 00:32:43.799
one of the US highly sensitive personal information that was exposed,

486
00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:50.240
which again raises your risk of identity theft and financial fraud.

487
00:32:51.000 --> 00:32:55.640
So again we're going to reiterate strong anti virus and

488
00:32:55.799 --> 00:32:59.240
antimoware on all of your devices, including your mobile phones.

489
00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:05.799
If you're still reusing passwords, you might want to switch

490
00:33:05.799 --> 00:33:09.880
to a password manager. It is subscription based. We don't

491
00:33:09.880 --> 00:33:12.400
have a recommendation for a specific one. You can just

492
00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:17.000
go on and google the best password Managers for twenty

493
00:33:17.079 --> 00:33:19.680
twenty five, or we're right around the corner is twenty

494
00:33:19.799 --> 00:33:22.920
twenty six the best Password Managers for twenty twenty six.

495
00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:26.359
There's a lot of legitimate tech companies that have gone

496
00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:30.640
through and on a regular basis they evaluate password managers,

497
00:33:30.680 --> 00:33:34.519
antivirus software, credit monitoring companies, and they give you a

498
00:33:34.559 --> 00:33:37.519
list of their top rated ones, their pros and cons,

499
00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:41.359
the subscriptions, and sometimes they might even have discount codes.

500
00:33:41.640 --> 00:33:43.720
But when you are googling, if you're going to Google

501
00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:47.319
that or whatever you are going to google, just know

502
00:33:47.480 --> 00:33:51.839
that when you look under the heading of and I'm

503
00:33:51.880 --> 00:33:55.279
going to share my screen again and show you guys here.

504
00:34:01.119 --> 00:34:02.920
So like, I'm going to go on and I'm going

505
00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:09.920
to Google best Password Manager twenty twenty five. Okay, you

506
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:12.599
see here where cyber News comes up, but right here

507
00:34:12.719 --> 00:34:17.400
underneath the title, it says sponsored. Now, a lot of

508
00:34:17.519 --> 00:34:21.159
legitimate companies will have sponsored ads. They can buy ads

509
00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:25.599
on Google. Nonprofits can do it too, and it's legitimate.

510
00:34:25.960 --> 00:34:29.760
But scammers can do it also, And so don't just

511
00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:32.599
click on the first one you come to. If you're like, Okay,

512
00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:36.679
I recognize cyber News and that is a legitimate company

513
00:34:36.719 --> 00:34:40.199
and I know their website. Will then just go directly

514
00:34:40.280 --> 00:34:44.519
to Cybernews's website and search on their website for the

515
00:34:44.559 --> 00:34:48.440
best password Managers of twenty twenty five. You'll get their article,

516
00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:52.280
or just keep scrolling down. Okay, sponsored again, I'm going

517
00:34:52.360 --> 00:34:57.519
to keep going down copilot. That's the artificial intelligence. Wired is,

518
00:34:58.039 --> 00:35:02.320
to my knowledge, a legitimate company. If you already use

519
00:35:02.400 --> 00:35:06.639
them and you know their website, go directly there again

520
00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:10.559
you come down here. Now, these are not sponsored. And

521
00:35:10.920 --> 00:35:15.119
I actually use Tom's Guide as a reference for some

522
00:35:15.320 --> 00:35:17.920
certain things, and so I know that it's Tom's Guide

523
00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:21.679
dot com. But again, if you want to If you

524
00:35:21.800 --> 00:35:27.239
know that that's the actual website that you're looking at,

525
00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:29.159
then you know you can click on it. But the

526
00:35:29.199 --> 00:35:32.079
better thing to do is you know the actual website, well,

527
00:35:32.119 --> 00:35:35.400
then let's make a let's go in and go Tom's

528
00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:39.559
Guide dot com and go in here and go directly

529
00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:42.559
to the Tom's Guide instead of clicking on that link.

530
00:35:42.639 --> 00:35:46.400
Because if you saw it had a US after it

531
00:35:47.039 --> 00:35:50.360
and I don't know, but I know this is Tom's Guide,

532
00:35:50.440 --> 00:35:52.519
so and then you can go in here and you

533
00:35:52.559 --> 00:35:56.039
can use the search bar to search for whatever article

534
00:35:56.079 --> 00:35:58.880
it was you were looking for. So that's that's a

535
00:35:58.920 --> 00:36:05.000
better way to search there. The other thing you could

536
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:08.880
do is a lot of companies now are have the

537
00:36:08.880 --> 00:36:13.280
option of using a past key instead of a password,

538
00:36:13.840 --> 00:36:17.880
and a past key is biometric information. A lot of times,

539
00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:21.000
like when I log into Amazon, it'll ask me do

540
00:36:21.039 --> 00:36:22.599
I want to set up a pass key? You can

541
00:36:22.639 --> 00:36:25.280
set it up and I do. Use a password manager

542
00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:27.440
and it will allow me to have the past key

543
00:36:27.639 --> 00:36:33.360
in my Amazon account file in my password manager. It's

544
00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:40.440
biometric information, the facial scan, a fingerprint, you know, something

545
00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:46.599
like that, and those are security experts have said those

546
00:36:46.639 --> 00:36:49.960
are a lot more safer than passwords, because every year

547
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.519
they do they do a survey and the majority of

548
00:36:54.599 --> 00:36:59.880
us reuse passwords, and a lot of people still use

549
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:02.599
password one, two three, which is just like giving people

550
00:37:02.639 --> 00:37:04.519
the keys to your house and your car and saying,

551
00:37:04.559 --> 00:37:06.920
come in and do whatever you want, whatever you want.

552
00:37:08.280 --> 00:37:10.400
But if you're going to reuse a password, you have

553
00:37:10.440 --> 00:37:13.719
to ask yourself, if I'm going to reuse this password,

554
00:37:14.360 --> 00:37:17.239
what damage can be done? If someone figures it out

555
00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:19.800
on the first account I used it, They're going to

556
00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:22.199
plug it in to all these other accounts. They have

557
00:37:22.239 --> 00:37:25.119
a software system that's going to do that, and now

558
00:37:25.159 --> 00:37:27.880
they're going to have access to those accounts other accounts

559
00:37:27.880 --> 00:37:30.440
that you've reused the password on. So you've got to

560
00:37:30.480 --> 00:37:34.719
ask yourself that question. You could sign up for credit

561
00:37:34.760 --> 00:37:38.280
monitoring services. Again, those are subscription based. You can do

562
00:37:38.320 --> 00:37:41.239
the same research that we talked about with the password managers.

563
00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:46.639
You could put a credit freeze on You have to

564
00:37:46.679 --> 00:37:51.039
go through all three credit reporting agencies Experience, TransUnion, and Equifax.

565
00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:53.199
Quickest way to do it is to set up an

566
00:37:53.199 --> 00:37:55.519
online account with them and you can go in and

567
00:37:55.519 --> 00:37:58.880
freeze it and it just stays frozen. And that is

568
00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:03.079
probably one of the best preventative measures for identity theft,

569
00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:07.400
because when someone goes to take a loan out in

570
00:38:07.480 --> 00:38:11.360
your name, whoever they're taking the loanout with, is going

571
00:38:11.360 --> 00:38:13.679
to run a credit check on your name and sold

572
00:38:13.679 --> 00:38:17.199
security number, and if your credit's frozen at all three

573
00:38:17.239 --> 00:38:19.440
of the agencies, it's going to come back that we

574
00:38:19.639 --> 00:38:24.119
can't give you any information on their credit because it's frozen.

575
00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:30.440
So and then you'll get a letter from that company

576
00:38:30.480 --> 00:38:33.800
saying we're not we can't issue you credit. You need

577
00:38:33.840 --> 00:38:36.039
to unfreeze your credit and then come back and talk

578
00:38:36.079 --> 00:38:38.800
to us. That's happened to my husband many times over

579
00:38:38.840 --> 00:38:41.960
the last twenty years, and we're like great, because we

580
00:38:42.039 --> 00:38:45.039
didn't ask for that credit, so his information's been out

581
00:38:45.079 --> 00:38:50.159
there a long time. Some people don't want to freeze

582
00:38:50.159 --> 00:38:54.639
their credit for a variety of different reasons. So if

583
00:38:54.639 --> 00:38:57.280
you're not going to freeze your credit, then monitor your

584
00:38:57.280 --> 00:39:01.239
credit reports on a regular basis so that way you

585
00:39:01.840 --> 00:39:07.400
can find any fraudulent credit quickly and start the process

586
00:39:07.400 --> 00:39:14.920
of identity theft and get that off of your account.

587
00:39:16.079 --> 00:39:20.440
What other things are on here? There are personal data

588
00:39:20.519 --> 00:39:27.199
removal companies. They are subscription based. Just understand that, Yeah,

589
00:39:27.239 --> 00:39:29.079
you can sign up for him. It's great to have them.

590
00:39:29.119 --> 00:39:34.559
They will constantly scan, you know, continuously scan the web

591
00:39:34.639 --> 00:39:37.280
for your personal information because yes, they can have it

592
00:39:37.320 --> 00:39:39.960
all taken off as of this point in time, but

593
00:39:40.199 --> 00:39:42.920
give it twenty four hours and there might be some

594
00:39:43.000 --> 00:39:45.159
of your information might pop back up. So they're going

595
00:39:45.199 --> 00:39:48.360
to have to continually do it to continually get get

596
00:39:48.400 --> 00:39:55.119
this your information off off of the Internet. The last

597
00:39:55.119 --> 00:39:59.159
thing I want to talk about today is Apple has

598
00:39:59.239 --> 00:40:06.079
a new security update with UH and I'm not going

599
00:40:06.119 --> 00:40:09.960
to go into detail on what it is that was compromised.

600
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:15.400
There's a lot of code and stuff involved, but the

601
00:40:15.440 --> 00:40:20.760
the the vulnerabilities that were tracked have been exploited in real,

602
00:40:20.920 --> 00:40:28.719
real world world attacks, and it says they were limited

603
00:40:28.719 --> 00:40:34.159
to specific targeted individuals. It doesn't say who the specific

604
00:40:34.239 --> 00:40:37.880
targeted or if it was like a specific category of

605
00:40:37.920 --> 00:40:43.880
people so or specific industry or something like that. So basically,

606
00:40:44.920 --> 00:40:50.239
Apple's release patches, they've released the updates across their supported

607
00:40:50.280 --> 00:40:54.599
operating system, so it's across all of their devices, the iOS,

608
00:40:54.880 --> 00:40:59.159
the iPad os, the mac os, Safari, watch os, tvOS,

609
00:40:59.360 --> 00:41:03.360
vision os, all of it. So if you have updates

610
00:41:03.440 --> 00:41:07.760
that haven't been installed. Please go in and install those

611
00:41:07.840 --> 00:41:11.559
updates on all of your devices that are Apple and

612
00:41:11.599 --> 00:41:14.920
that includes any maybe home devices that you have that

613
00:41:15.039 --> 00:41:17.960
might be Apple as well. And you can set up

614
00:41:18.000 --> 00:41:22.719
your accounts to automatically do these updates on a regular basis.

615
00:41:23.760 --> 00:41:26.440
Look into setting that up as well so you can

616
00:41:26.519 --> 00:41:30.280
install those your They can be installed as soon as

617
00:41:30.320 --> 00:41:35.760
soon as the updates come out and are made available.

618
00:41:39.920 --> 00:41:46.599
Let's see that is it on that one. So just

619
00:41:46.639 --> 00:41:50.360
to summarize, make sure you do all of your software updates.

620
00:41:51.239 --> 00:41:55.400
Set your devices to do those automatic updates so you

621
00:41:55.440 --> 00:41:58.440
don't have to worry that you might forget that you

622
00:41:59.159 --> 00:42:01.159
want to go in and do it. If if you

623
00:42:01.199 --> 00:42:03.760
don't want to set up for automatic updates, put it.

624
00:42:04.039 --> 00:42:06.360
Put it. Put a reminder on your phone once a

625
00:42:06.400 --> 00:42:09.760
week or however often you want, if you want to

626
00:42:09.800 --> 00:42:12.320
look at it every day, every other day, twice a week,

627
00:42:12.400 --> 00:42:14.679
once a week however often, put a reminder on your

628
00:42:14.679 --> 00:42:18.159
phone and then go in to all of your devices,

629
00:42:18.159 --> 00:42:21.280
and that includes your home devices as well, anything Apple related,

630
00:42:21.320 --> 00:42:23.559
but you can do it for Android as well. You

631
00:42:23.599 --> 00:42:25.559
can do it for all of your devices that are

632
00:42:25.559 --> 00:42:28.559
connected to the internet to go in and do these

633
00:42:28.639 --> 00:42:32.679
updates because yes, they might have some new features out

634
00:42:32.800 --> 00:42:36.239
for you, but they also are going to have patches

635
00:42:36.440 --> 00:42:42.000
for security flaws that they have found after the previous

636
00:42:42.119 --> 00:42:47.480
updates were put out. And don't forget. No matter what

637
00:42:47.599 --> 00:42:51.079
type of contact you get, always make sure that you

638
00:42:51.119 --> 00:42:54.519
take a pause, You step back, You think about the situation.

639
00:42:55.239 --> 00:42:58.559
You verify the situation before you can even begin to

640
00:42:58.679 --> 00:43:03.159
believe that it it's true. And go into your social

641
00:43:03.239 --> 00:43:07.400
media accounts and look at your privacy settings and change

642
00:43:07.480 --> 00:43:10.039
as much as possible, if not all, of it to

643
00:43:10.760 --> 00:43:14.880
private so it limits who can see your information. And

644
00:43:15.039 --> 00:43:19.079
don't just automatically accept friend request. Look and see if

645
00:43:19.079 --> 00:43:22.800
they're already your friends, then you know that their account's

646
00:43:22.800 --> 00:43:26.480
been cloned. If they're not already your friend, you know,

647
00:43:27.079 --> 00:43:30.039
look at the look at the the friend requests, look

648
00:43:30.039 --> 00:43:34.599
at the accounts profile, see what's on there? Are they

649
00:43:34.639 --> 00:43:37.440
posting doesn't make sense? Do you have a lot of

650
00:43:37.559 --> 00:43:41.559
mutual friends? Who are the mutual friends? Do your research

651
00:43:42.760 --> 00:43:45.880
and find out what's going on before you just automatically

652
00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:50.320
accept those friend requests. I am still working on getting

653
00:43:50.320 --> 00:43:55.159
a guest. Hopefully i'll have them next week for to

654
00:43:55.239 --> 00:44:00.800
share their scam experience. So until then, remember you can

655
00:44:00.840 --> 00:44:04.320
go on our website at Rosadvocacy dot org. All the

656
00:44:04.360 --> 00:44:08.400
social media channels are there. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel.

657
00:44:08.760 --> 00:44:12.159
We are more than halfway there to one hundred subscribers.

658
00:44:12.440 --> 00:44:14.400
We want to get to one hundred because it opens

659
00:44:14.480 --> 00:44:18.159
up some more things on our account, so please subscribe

660
00:44:18.239 --> 00:44:21.320
to our YouTube channels. We also have a Let's Talk

661
00:44:21.320 --> 00:44:24.599
about scams dot com website you can go on. You

662
00:44:24.639 --> 00:44:27.079
can find all of our prior episodes on both that

663
00:44:27.159 --> 00:44:31.719
website and our YouTube channel. Follow us on social media

664
00:44:32.400 --> 00:44:34.800
and scroll down to the bottom of the page and

665
00:44:34.840 --> 00:44:38.159
sign up for our emailed newsletter and or our mailed newsletter.

666
00:44:38.559 --> 00:44:42.320
This is information to keep you informed about scams and

667
00:44:42.360 --> 00:44:45.440
how to protect yourself and help you develop the healthy

668
00:44:45.440 --> 00:44:50.079
skepticism and the healthy scam prevention habits. It needs to

669
00:44:50.119 --> 00:44:52.960
be a habit so when you are contacted, because you

670
00:44:53.159 --> 00:44:56.679
will be contacted, you're going to be more app to

671
00:44:56.880 --> 00:45:00.239
stop and pause and think about what's going on on

672
00:45:00.400 --> 00:45:04.519
and verify the situation. So until next week, everybody, have

673
00:45:04.639 --> 00:45:08.679
a wonderful, happy, safe New Year's and I'll see you

674
00:45:08.719 --> 00:45:10.199
guys next Tuesday. Thank you.

675
00:45:11.800 --> 00:45:14.880
Well, that's all the knowledge. For this episode, tune in

676
00:45:15.039 --> 00:45:19.119
every Tuesday at eight am Pacific time on KFOURHD Radio

677
00:45:19.280 --> 00:45:23.960
at KFOURHD dot com as Joyce explores a variety of knowledge.

678
00:45:24.000 --> 00:45:27.599
So you have the power to make scam protection your

679
00:45:27.719 --> 00:45:31.360
healthy habit, and until then, feel free to reach out

680
00:45:31.400 --> 00:45:33.960
to Joyce and let's talk about scams.