Beware the Carnival of Cons: Unmasking the Latest Internet Scams

Hey, it's Scotty—your friendly neighborhood cyber sleuth, spinning you the latest in digital deception from the wild world of internet scams. Buckle up, because the past few days have been a carnival of cons, and I've got the freshest tech trickery hot off the press.

So let’s start in sunny Florida—because of course it's Florida—where just this week, a man named Thomas Breeden was arrested for running a massive romance scam ring. We're talking over $2.5 million swindled from victims across the U.S. through phony online relationships. This guy and his crew used fake military identities, love-bombed their targets on apps like Facebook Dating and Instagram, and then pulled the classic, “I need money to get off deployment” routine. And people fell for it—hard. The key takeaway? Never send money to someone you haven’t video chatted with, especially if they say they’re in the military overseas. Real love doesn’t ask for Apple gift cards.

Now, pivot to the West Coast—San Francisco to be precise—where the FBI nabbed a duo tricking people with deepfake voice scams. Yes, that's right, AI is now making scams sound like your actual cousin Jimmy. These scammers snagged voicemail samples off social media, then cloned voices and made urgent calls to folks pretending to be family in trouble. One mom wired $10,000 thinking her daughter was in legal hot water. Spoiler alert: Daughter was at a yoga retreat.

And speaking of AI, let’s talk about the Netflix doc that dropped three days ago—“Face Value: The Deepfake Conspiracy.” If you haven’t watched it, set aside 90 minutes tonight. It breaks down how scammers are using generative AI for fake job interviews, crypto cons, and even ID fraud. One victim literally did a Zoom interview with what looked and sounded like a real recruiter. Turned out? Full-on AI puppet. Moral of the story: if video quality is wonky, lips don't sync, or your gut says “nah,” hit pause. Call the actual company and verify.

Meanwhile, tech support scams are making a bold comeback, especially targeting seniors. Over the weekend, Microsoft warned that fake pop-ups claiming your system is infected are spreading again—some even directly calling your number. These pages look legit, logos and all, and ask for remote access. Don’t fall for it. Microsoft, Apple, or anyone reputable is never going to cold-call you or demand you install anything unrequested. If your computer’s screaming at you to call a 1-800 number, it’s not help—it’s a red flag waving in neon.

Now if you’re thinking, “Scotty, there’s no safe space left on the internet!”—breathe. There is. It’s called awareness. Freeze before you click, double-check sender addresses, use MFA everywhere, and for the love of data, don’t believe everything you see or hear—especially if it’s too dazzling to be legit.

That’s all from me for now. Stay sharp, stay skeptical, and as always—if someone says they’re a Nigerian astronaut stuck in space and just need gas money to get home, politely block and move on. Scotty out.