Mrs. Laura Renard – Another Dying Widow Who Wants Help Giving Money to Charities:

A Laramie citizen reported another dying widow scam email heavy on the religious heartstrings. The email was from laurarenard133@gmail.com and the subject line was “Donation Fund From Mrs. Laura Renard.”

Bitcoin Email Scam:

A Sheridan citizen reported an email from adikaven68@gmail.com spoofed as “Bitcoin Manager” or bitcoinmanageraccount847@gmail.com saying there was an incorrect transfer of bitcoin that should have gone to you and the Swedish Blockchain Office caught it. Do not give them your personal information. CyberWyoming Note: Wyoming is internationally known as a blockchain friendly environment, which means we get more scams about cryptocurrency and blockchain.

McAfee Impersonation to Gain User Credentials:

A badly worded McAfee impersonation email saying your account is suspended was reported by a Sheridan citizen. Interestingly, the link redirects to Germany and the website landing page looks exactly like a Russian scam reported about 2 weeks ago. The email was from notice@crdl.io spoofed as Warning-365. The first line in the email is “We noticed you left something in your subscription and didn’t want you to get vulnerable for any threats!”

Stewart Cameron Wants Your Project Details:

A Laramie citizen reported a suspicious business-to-business email from stewartcameronof@yahoo.com with the subject line of “Reaching Out!” Stewart requested project details from the business. Most reputable businesses do not email from yahoo accounts.

Financial Intelligence Department Doesn’t Exist in the US Treasury:

If you receive an email from info@eiyou.gr.jp or from goodservice3@hotmail.com with the subject line of “Attention Beneficiary” supposedly from the Financial Intelligence Department in the US State Department or US Treasury Department (the hackers just threw a bunch of different department names together), then it may be a good time to block country codes on your email settings or home cable modem or router. Visit the how to section of your email service or home networking equipment manufacturing to learn how. (The country code .jp is Japan’s country code.) Reported by a Sheridan citizen.

Scambusters.org Top 10 Most Common Online Scams Targeting Kids:

1. Fake competitions, talent searches, and online events. Youngsters love the idea of winning something or having their work displayed, and they're gullible enough to fall for a ruse that requests their personal information or even an entry fee on their folks' payment card.
2. Games, quizzes, and other online activities that impose a recurring fee or require payments to "buy" access to higher levels or power to advance in gameplay. More than 40 percent of parents told a recent survey that their kids played online games every day.
3. Phony scholarships and grants, including fraudulent student debt relief schemes.
4. Fake bargains and free gifts or trials. This is the juvenile version of the too-good-to-be-true scam that targets all of us. Children with access to payment cards are often not savvy enough to spot the tricks.
5. Phishing via emails, online clickbait links, and text messages that directly request personal information and passwords that take them to fake sign-on pages or provide access to "adult" sites.
6. Hacking of equipment such as web cameras or video-calling activities.
7. Making friends with imposters on social media, including the risk of being groomed by online predators.
8. Theft of mobile devices.
9. Tricks targeting health, fitness, and appearance areas to which youngsters may be particularly vulnerable, such as diet, weight loss programs, cosmetics, and fashion clothing.
10. Fake news, videos, and ads that influence their behavior or provide links to dangerous websites.

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 Fortinet’s FortiWeb and Microsoft’s Edge browser. If you use these products, make sure the software (or firmware) is updated.

Go Daddy Data Breach – What to Do:

If you or your business uses Go Daddy’s services for your website, be sure to go to the Go Daddy portal and change all of your passwords. Here’s an article about the data breach: techcrunch.com/2021/11/22/godaddy-breach-million-accounts.

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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