Former Employee Impersonation Scam Alert:

A Sheridan company reported an email that looked like it was from a former employee, although the ‘reply to’ was not from the company’s named domain. The email went to several current employees and asked for a report of unpaid invoices from their Accounts Receivable department including current balances and due dates. CyberWyoming Note: This is a great reminder to tighten up your accounting practices and ALWAYS talk to each other before sending sensitive information or money. Had it been a current employee, it may have sounded like a normal request.

More Geek Squad Email Scams Reported:

Very real looking emails are circulating Wyoming that claim membership for support is expiring, an auto renewal will take place, and impersonating Geek Squad branding. The latest one was reported by a Big Horn citizen.

Another Dying Widow Email Scam:

The dying widow’s email address is tomwest2x@gmail.com but her name is Mrs. Abiha Akten, which is a real clue that this is a scam. Honestly, if Mrs. Akten really has $32 million, she probably would be talking to friends and family about her dying wishes, not random people on email. Reported by a Laramie citizen.

Medicare Impersonation Calls Continue:

An Evanston citizen reported a phone call impersonating Medicare saying that there are new Medicare cards as Medicare is ‘getting rid of the red, white and blue cards.’ The caller asked for the information off of the old card to ‘make the changes.’ Medicare is NOT changing their cards.

Russian Email Reported Canceling an Amazon Order:

A Laramie citizen reported a .ru (Russian) email address saying “Your order has been successfully canceled.” Oddly there isn’t a link in the email, so this is probably an attempt to get you to engage.

Is Your Phone Listening To You:

A Laramie citizen reported a spooky coincidence but questioned if it is it really a coincidence at all? Two Laramie citizens were discussing great service about a Cheyenne-based vehicle service company. The first citizen was recommending the company. The second citizen had her phone on the table next to her but it was in sleep mode with a dark screen. About 10 minutes after the conversation, the second citizen opened Grabby Word (popular app similar to Scrabble) and all of the ads were for this Cheyenne-based company. The second citizen had never searched for the company, called the company, or known about the company so her conclusion was that her phone was listening to the conversation.

Norton Fake Invoices Continue:

While most of the fake invoices that have been reported by Wyomingites are from Gmail accounts, a Laramie citizen reported one from an outlook.com email account. NortonLifeLock wants to remind you to type support.norton.com into your browser bar to get help if you are own Norton software and are unsure of the link.

National Cybersecurity Alliance Valentine’s Day Alert about Romance Scams:

According to the FBI, Americans lost $133.4 million to romance scams in the first half of 2021. Many of these scams came through legitimate and trusted dating platforms. Here are red flags to look for:

1. Request for money for an urgent matter. (Never send money, gift cards or wire transfers to someone you haven’t met in person.)
2. The person claims to live far away, overseas, or in the military.
3. The relationship is moving really fast.
4. Promises to see you in person are broken.
5. There is pressure to move the conversation off the dating app.

What to do if you suspect a romance scam? File a police report and report the scammer to the FBI at ic3.gov.

MS-ISAC Patch Now Alert:

The Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) has published a patch now (update your software) alert for Adobe (Premiere Rush, Photoshop, and Adobe After Effects), Microsoft, and Mozilla Firefox products. If you use these products, make sure the software (or firmware) is updated.

Data Breaches in the News:

Ohlone Community College District (possible breach via ransomware), Freedom Convoy’s donation site called GiveSendGo, Georgia voter information (EasyVote Solutions), Memorial Hermann Health Systems (Houston) through Advent Health Partners, Puma, Meter Network, Moonriver Network, Washington State Department of Licensing, Morley Companies Inc., Civicom, Advocates (nonprofit in Massachusetts), County of Kings COVID-19 public health data breach, Segway (online store), Memorial Health System (Ohio), International Committee of the Red Cross (affected 60 Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies throughout the world), RR Donnelly, OpenSubtitles, Aditya Birla Fashion, Caring Communities and Entira Family Clinics via Netgain Technology, and ShopGoodwill.

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Please report scams you may experience to phishing@cyberwyoming.org to alert your friends and neighbors.

Other ways to report a scam:

• Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker: bbb.org/scamtracker/us/reportscam
• Wyoming Attorney General’s Office, Consumer Protection 307-777-6397, 800-438-5799 or ag.consumer@wyo.gov
• File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at ftccomplaintassistant.gov
• Report your scam to the FBI at www.ic3.gov/complaint
• Reported unwanted calls to the Federal Trade Commission’s Do Not Call Registration. Online at donotcall.gov/report.html or call 1-888-382-1222, option 3
• Office of the Inspector General: oig.ssa.gov
• AARP Fraud Watch Network (any age welcome) Helpline 877-908-3360
• IRS: report email scams impersonating the IRS to phishing@irs.gov
• Call the Wyoming Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) for assistance with potential Medicare fraud, abuse, or errors at 1 800 856-4398
• Victim Support: The AARP Fraud Watch Network and Volunteers of America (VOA) created a new, free program to provide emotional support for people impacted by a scam or fraud, called ReST. Visit www.aarp.org/fraudsupport to learn more about the free program and register