Two Alerts from Laramie’s ACPE Federal Credit Union:

First, free trials are not always a free trial. ACPE has seen a large amount of scams that offer a free trial but the ‘really fine print’ gives you a very short time to cancel before you are stuck with a monthly bill. Second, women who live alone should be on the lookout for romance scams. ACPE has seen an increase in preying upon women during the pandemic. If your love interest is someone who asks for money, it may be a scam. Talk to your local bank or credit union representative to get a second opinion.

iCloud Does Not Call You:

A Wyoming citizen reported a phone scam from fraudsters claiming they were from iCloud. The callers said that her iCloud account had been compromised and tried to scare her by saying “do not do your banking.” Oddly, they didn’t call her on her cell phone number, but on her land line. This is a scam that has been around for over a year, but seems to re-emerge about every 3 months. If you get a call like this, hang up and, if you are worried, call Apple Support directly.

Laramie Chamber Business Alliance Alert:

The Laramie Chamber Business Alliance wants you to know that they are not calling you because of a COVID related reimbursement for a member directory advertisement. The scammer is asking for verification of a credit card number. Do not give them your credit card number.

SBA Scam:

The Casper Area Chamber of Commerce wants you to know about an unknown malicious cyber actor who is spoofing (making a fake website look like the real SBA’s site) the Small Business Administration(SBA) COVID-19 relief webpage via phishing emails. These emails include a malicious link to a fake page used for credential stealing. The alert was put out by CISA (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency) https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/alerts/aa20-225a.

Fake Hardware Order Email Scam:

A fake order email scam was reported by a Wyoming citizen. The subject line reads “Your order has shipped(#[order number])” and it is from admin@geoce.threports.com spoofed as Customer Service. Of course, since you didn’t order the goods, they are hoping you will click on the link to their malicious website. The link does not go to a real hardware site but instead goes to http://aimexamet.com/1S0u086kzq1sg1w-2fpukk0zhq0043a826u600md1

Amazon Email Scam:

A Wyoming citizen reported a fake Amazon scam sent fromcsypjzmdphgbkj@e113oqrsp.sonice.net, spoofed as no-reply@amazon.com,with the subject line of “Important Update.” The email is riddled with misspellings and incorrect grammar. For instance it starts out as “Dear Costumer,” apparently thinking this Wyoming citizen makes costumes? The email claims that Amazon’s service detected an invalid sign-in attempt from an odd location and tries to get you to click on a link to update your Amazon account information.

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 WordPress File Manager Plugin (website development tool) product. If you use this product, make sure the software updated.  

Scambusters.org Alert FTC Impersonators:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is not contacting consumers by phone, email or social media promoting the Global Empowerment Fund. This is a scam and a fake fund and the scammers ask for your banking information to supposedly give you money from the fund. The FTC will never ask for your bank account details.  

FTC Alert Disaster Scams:

With the hurricane season, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants you to know that fraudsters take advantage of disasters.  If you donate to a disaster fund, be sure to donate to a well-known disaster fund charity.  CyberWyoming wants you to know that it is always a good idea to check out the ratings on charities at www.charitywatch.org.

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• Please report your scam 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
• File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at ftccomplaintassistant.gov
• Report your scam to the FBI at https://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

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