Cybercrime Crackdown: Scam Busting Tips for the Digital Age

Hey hey, Scotty here—your favorite cyber sleuth and certified buster of bogus bytes. Let’s get straight to it: scams are popping off this week like popcorn in a microwave, and some recent headlines are straight outta a hacker-themed soap opera.

First up—chances are you've laughed at a prince-from-Nigeria email at least once in your life, right? Well, fast-forward to now and welcome to the evolved version. Last Friday, authorities in Canada finally nabbed the guys behind a global business email compromise scheme, led by none other than Seun Adediran, a 34-year-old dual citizen of Nigeria and the UK. These jokers were running sophisticated phishing campaigns, intercepting legit business emails and rerouting wire transfers to their own accounts. Estimated damages? Over $20 million in just two years. That’s not Netflix money—that’s international villain money.

Meanwhile, over in the States, the beloved state of Ohio just busted a crew using deepfake tech to impersonate business executives via video calls. Yeah, AI-powered scams are very much real and getting creepier. These fraudsters used generative AI to clone voices and faces for convincing Zoom calls—and convinced finance teams to transfer six-figure sums. Rule of thumb: if your CFO suddenly sounds like they’re reading cue cards on fast-forward, hang up and call them directly.

This week’s PSA: AI + scams = your bank account crying.

Now, let’s talk about the TikTok “investment guru” trend, which is less a trend and more an elaborate carnival mirror of lies. A guy named Devin Schroeder from Arizona just got arrested for allegedly running a Ponzi crypto scheme he'd branded as a “blockchain wealth strategy.” Spoiler: it was just him spending investor money on Lambos, not Litecoin. Authorities say he duped followers into handing over nearly $4 million. If you’re getting finance tips from someone who records in a pool float with a ring light—reconsider.

And the bombshell from earlier this morning: the FBI issued a warning about scam apps targeting seniors using QR codes on legitimate health websites. It's called QPhish—no, that’s not a band—where users scan a code to “download their vaccine passport” and instead end up installing a spyware-laced app. Wild stuff, right?

So here’s the game plan to dodge these digital bullets: never trust QR codes unless they’re on something you physically initiated—like a bank’s sign-in page or a trusted retailer. Check and double-check URLs. And call humans. Seriously. The phone still works.

And scammers love urgency. “Act now!” “Limited time!” It's not a discount, it's a danger flag. Trust but verify, folks. And if your tech-savvy niece says, “That looks sus”—listen to her.

In this age of AI clones, slick TikTok snake oilers, and QR code chaos, keep your head on a swivel. And remember: when in doubt… ask Scotty. I’ll always be out here to keep you a step ahead of the con game.

Stay sharp, stay safe, stay scam-proof. Scotty out.