online scam

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He Said He Was Stuck in Space, So She Opened Her Wallet
He Said He Was Stuck in Space,
So She Opened Her Wallet
in case you missed it
Sep 6, 2025 4:01 PM CDT

He Said He Was Stuck in Space, So She Opened Her Wallet

Scammer fools elderly Japanese woman with wild story, nabs nearly $7K

(Newser) - And you thought the AI-generated Brad Pitt scam was unbelievable. In a new case, an elderly Japanese woman was tricked out of thousands of dollars by a scammer claiming to be an astronaut stranded in space. The "romance scam" began in July when the two connected on social...

Scammers Cost Seniors Nearly $5B Last Year

Americans lost $16.6B to online scams overall, per FBI report

(Newser) - Americans lost a record $16.6 billion to online scams last year, according to new data highlighting a surge in cybercrime targeting older adults and cryptocurrency investors. This is up from $12.5 billion in 2023, according to new findings on cybercriminals via the FBI's annual Internet Crime...

Cops: Woman Posed as Men in Love Scams Targeting Elderly

She allegedly tricked 4 older women out of $1.5M by wooing them into fake romances

(Newser) - An Oklahoma woman apparently got sucked too far into the online dating world—but as the scammer, not the one being scammed, according to state authorities. Christine Echohawk is accused of posing as men to woo four elderly women, with a release from the office of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner...

Australia Still Chasing Influencer Who Faked Cancer

Belle Gibson, who just got the Netflix treatment, has not yet paid her debt

(Newser) - A decade after wellness influencer Belle Gibson admitted she didn't have terminal brain cancer, which she claimed was cured by the healthy lifestyle that made her famous, her story has inspired a new Netflix series—and fresh outrage in Australia about the case's lack of resolution. Authorities said...

Thousands Rescued From Notorious Scam Compounds
Thousands Rescued From
Notorious Scam Compounds
in case you missed it
Feb 23, 2025 6:31 AM CST

Thousands Rescued From Notorious Scam Compounds

Victims lured to Thailand with job offers were forced to work at scam centers in Myanmar

(Newser) - Thailand says thousands of people from numerous countries have been rescued from the notorious scam centers on the other side of its border with Myanmar. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said Wednesday that around 7,000 people who were rescued from the illegal operations are waiting to be transferred to Thailand,...

5 Arrested After Fake Brad Pitt Scams Fans
They Thought They Were
Talking to Brad Pitt, Lost $365K
in case you missed it
Sep 28, 2024 6:00 AM CDT

They Thought They Were Talking to Brad Pitt, Lost $365K

Police in Spain say 5 arrested in fraud scheme that bilked 2 women

(Newser) - Two Brad Pitt fans experienced the ultimate disappointment—and wallet buster—when it turns out the person online they thought was one of their favorite actors was actually a group of people scamming them, according to police in Spain. The Times of India reports on the arrest of five individuals...

Silicon Valley Exec Scammed Out of $400K

Rana Robillard thought she was sending a down payment, was actually having her money stolen

(Newser) - A Silicon Valley executive who was on the brink of buying a house instead ended up scammed out of nearly $400,000. Rana Robillard told her story to NBC News as a warning to other homebuyers about how sophisticated cybercrime has become. An email in late January, apparently from her...

Brooklyn DA Targets Crypto 'Pig Butchering' Scams

He says his office shut down 21 websites

(Newser) - Authorities in New York City said Thursday they disrupted an online fraud operation that stole millions of dollars by duping victims into making phony cryptocurrency investments. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said his office seized 21 web domains that were being used by scammers in so-called "pig butchering" schemes,...

Hundreds of 'Good-Looking' People Lured for 'Love Scam'
They Were Lured In, Then Made
to Carry Out 'Love Scams'
in case you missed it
Mar 17, 2024 11:40 AM CDT

They Were Lured In, Then Made to Carry Out 'Love Scams'

In this case out of the Philippines, some of the scammers were victims themselves

(Newser) - What claimed to be an online gambling firm was, in fact, a scam center that had trapped hundreds of "good-looking" people, who were then forced to woo unsuspecting victims, according to police in the Philippines, who raided the center 60 miles north of Manila on Thursday. Authorities served warrants...

Apple, Google Pull App Linked to Sextortion Scams

Wizz, a Tinder-style app aimed at teens, says it's trying to remedy the 'technical hiccup'

(Newser) - A Tinder-style app geared toward teens has been yanked from both Apple and Google's app portals after warnings about sextortion. NBC News reports that, according to emails it viewed, Wizz was pulled on Tuesday from the Apple App Store following pushback from the National Center on Sexual Exploitation on...

This 'Pig Butchering' Scam Has Victims on Both Sides

Modern-day slaves are forced to try to scam unsuspecting Americans

(Newser) - It has a memorable name—and a devastating impact. CNN takes a deep dive into the rise of a "pig butchering" scam involving cryptocurrency, modern-day slaves, and duped Americans. It spent six months speaking with victims, investigators, and, yes, some scammers to pull the veil back on a scheme...

'Silver Singles' Guy Bilked Woman Out of $1.2M

Rotimi Oladimeji of Texas is now headed to prison

(Newser) - A Texas man who was part of a romance scam that bilked a Missouri woman out of $1.2 million was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in federal prison and ordered to repay the money, reports the AP . Rotimi Oladimeji, 38, of Richardson, Texas, was sentenced a year after...

She Wanted Anonymity After Powerball Win, Didn't Get It

Cristy Davis advocates for winners being able to stay anonymous after scammers exploited her

(Newser) - No one matched all the requisite numbers in Wednesday's Powerball drawing, which has sent the jackpot for Saturday night's picks to $725 million . Winning such a huge lottery is a moment most of us have daydreamed about, but Cristy Davis actually lived that dream, after claiming a $70...

Cops: Cyberscam Led Man to Kill His Family

Thai police say Sanit Dokmai, now charged with premeditated murder, also tried to take his own life

(Newser) - At least 11 people are suspected to be involved with a loan scam that allegedly drove a man to kill his wife and two young boys before trying to take his own life in their family home, Thai police said Wednesday. Sanit Dokmai has been charged with premeditated murder after...

Family Guilty of Selling Bleach as Fake COVID Cure

Floridians did so through their Miami church

(Newser) - Four members of a Florida family were convicted Wednesday of selling a toxic industrial bleach as a fake COVID-19 cure through their online church, per the AP . A federal jury in Miami found Mark Grenon, 65, and his sons, 37-year-old Jonathan, 35-year-old Joseph, and 29-year-old Jordan, guilty of conspiring to...

Infamous Online Scammer May Have Been Unveiled
Infamous Online Scammer
May Have Been Unveiled
longform
Apr 2, 2023 5:15 PM CDT

Infamous Online Scammer May Have Been Unveiled

ProPublica digs into lucrative story of 'OBN,' who has tricked Instagram into banning accounts

(Newser) - It's no surprise to learn that celebrities, even lesser ones, can make big money plugging products on Instagram. And as ProPublica explains, that has led to a lucrative hustle scammy in nature by those who know how to manipulate the system. The story focuses on an mysterious online figure...

This Romance Scam Also Had a Crazy Sting Operation
This Tinder Scam Ended
With a Crazy Police Sting
longform
Mar 26, 2023 4:00 PM CDT

This Tinder Scam Ended With a Crazy Police Sting

The Verge explores a carjacking via the online hookup site

(Newser) - Stories about online romance scams are fairly common these days, but the one recounted by the Verge has some strange twists. For one thing, the victim wasn't an older person unsavvy about tech; it was a 32-year-old tech entrepreneur with deep pockets named Mike Vallejo. For another, this scam...

Emerging Form of Trafficking Turns People Into Scammers

Rights group says 700 Malaysians are trapped in Laos right now

(Newser) - It's a form of human-trafficking with a high-tech twist: Young men and women who respond to a job offer and end up forced into running online love and investment scams. Voice of America zeroes in on one alleged instance of this involving Malaysia and Laos. The Malaysian International Humanitarian...

Fake Astronaut Wooed Woman to Pay for Return Ticket to Earth
Woman Duped Out of $30K
in Out-of-This-World Scam
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Oct 15, 2022 4:45 PM CDT

Woman Duped Out of $30K in Out-of-This-World Scam

Online lover convinced 65-year-old in Japan he was astronaut who needed cash to return to Earth

(Newser) - Nigerian prince scams are so 1990s—welcome to the 21st century and the Russian cosmonaut scam. Kyodo News reports that police are looking into the claims of a 65-year-old woman in Japan's Shiga prefecture who said she fell in love with a man online who tricked her into...

He Told Her How to Protect Her $230K. It Was a Scam

Illinois woman, 74, fell prey to convincing scammer

(Newser) - CBS Chicago offers a cautionary tale about scammers preying on seniors. In this one, 74-year-old Henriette Schmuhl believed a man who phoned her to inform her there was a warrant out for her arrest. The man purported to be from Homeland Security, provided a fake badge number and case...

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