this story about Benjamin Mauerberger, a south african #crypto bro and card carrying member of the chinese #mafia who made so much money via #pigbutchering and other crypto scams that he managed to co-opt a large part of #Thailand's government (to say nothing of #Cambodia and #Myanmar) is nuts.

if you’re wondering about the dark forces driving the current war between thailand and cambodia, this is one of those forces.

https://whalehunting.projectbrazen.com/americas-new-enemy-the-chinese-crypto-cartel-buying-states-to-fight-the-u-s-2/

#sapol #southafrica #whaleHunting #triads #organizedcrime #ChineseMafia #pigbutchering #ASEAN #scams #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #princeGroup #huione

#PSA: If someone says they accidentally reported you, it's a scam.

If someone says you need to verify your Mastodon account, it's a scam.

If someone says you need to change the email address on your account, it's a scam.

If someone tries to lure you off-platform to Discord or Telegram, it's a scam.

If someone jumps into your replies or DMs with a mutual aid request, it's a scam.

If someone from mastodon.social sends you an unsolicited DM, it's a scam.

---

Telltale signs of a scam:

- wants you to move off-site
- wants you to change account settings
- wants you to click something
- unsolicited private interactions
- new account
- under ~20 followers and over ~5:1 follow ratio
- sense of urgency
- appeals to your compassion
- piggybacks on a trending post or event

#KnowTheSigns #Report #Scams

FBI Warns of Fake Video Scams

The FBI is warning of AI-assisted fake kidnapping scams:
Criminal actors typically will contact their victims through text message claiming they have kidnapped their loved on... https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/12/fbi-warns-of-fake-video-scams.html

#Uncategorized #kidnapping #deepfake #scams #FBI #AI

this story about Benjamin Mauerberger, a south african #crypto bro and card carrying member of the chinese #mafia who made so much money via #pigbutchering and other crypto scams that he managed to co-opt a large part of #Thailand's government (to say nothing of #Cambodia and #Myanmar) is nuts.

if you’re wondering about the dark forces driving the current war between thailand and cambodia, this is one of those forces.

https://whalehunting.projectbrazen.com/americas-new-enemy-the-chinese-crypto-cartel-buying-states-to-fight-the-u-s-2/

#sapol #southafrica #whaleHunting #triads #organizedcrime #ChineseMafia #pigbutchering #ASEAN #scams #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #princeGroup #huione

#PSA: If someone says they accidentally reported you, it's a scam.

If someone says you need to verify your Mastodon account, it's a scam.

If someone says you need to change the email address on your account, it's a scam.

If someone tries to lure you off-platform to Discord or Telegram, it's a scam.

If someone jumps into your replies or DMs with a mutual aid request, it's a scam.

If someone from mastodon.social sends you an unsolicited DM, it's a scam.

---

Telltale signs of a scam:

- wants you to move off-site
- wants you to change account settings
- wants you to click something
- unsolicited private interactions
- new account
- under ~20 followers and over ~5:1 follow ratio
- sense of urgency
- appeals to your compassion
- piggybacks on a trending post or event

#KnowTheSigns #Report #Scams

FBI Warns of Fake Video Scams

The FBI is warning of AI-assisted fake kidnapping scams:
Criminal actors typically will contact their victims through text message claiming they have kidnapped their loved on... https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/12/fbi-warns-of-fake-video-scams.html

#Uncategorized #kidnapping #deepfake #scams #FBI #AI

#Russia #scams #education #Google

'A sprawling academic cheating network turbocharged by Google Ads that has generated nearly $25 million in revenue has curious ties to a Kremlin-connected oligarch whose Russian university builds drones for Russia’s war against Ukraine.'

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/12/drones-to-diplomas-how-russias-largest-private-university-is-linked-to-a-25m-essay-mill/

#Russia #scams #education #Google

'A sprawling academic cheating network turbocharged by Google Ads that has generated nearly $25 million in revenue has curious ties to a Kremlin-connected oligarch whose Russian university builds drones for Russia’s war against Ukraine.'

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/12/drones-to-diplomas-how-russias-largest-private-university-is-linked-to-a-25m-essay-mill/

SMS phishers pivot to points, taxes, fake retailers

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/12/sms-phishers-pivot-to-points-taxes-fake-retailers/

#HackerNews #SMSphishing #taxfraud #cybersecurity #phishing #scams #fake #retailers

A couple of months ago, Nicholas Hune-Brown, an editor at Toronto's The Local magazine, received a pitch from Victoria Goldiee, who appeared to be an up-and-coming freelancer, with bylines in The Cut, The Guardian and Dwell. He assigned her a story about healthcare privatization. And then he began to look at her work. Here's how he discovered she was a scammer — but perhaps, still completely real.

https://flip.it/_hFLcv

#Journalism #Media #MediaIndustry #Scams #ArtificialIntelligence #AI

The .cn domain name scammers are still at it, a new entry added to the archive at https://nxdomain.no/~peter/domainnamescam/

See "Domain Name Scams Are Alive And Well, Thank You" https://nxdomain.no/~peter/domain_name_scams_are_alive_and_well_thank_you.html for some background (written 2016, and the problem was not new then) #dns #domainnamescam #cndomains #scams #spam

The .cn domain name scammers are still at it, a new entry added to the archive at https://nxdomain.no/~peter/domainnamescam/

See "Domain Name Scams Are Alive And Well, Thank You" https://nxdomain.no/~peter/domain_name_scams_are_alive_and_well_thank_you.html for some background (written 2016, and the problem was not new then) #dns #domainnamescam #cndomains #scams #spam

Meta projected 10% of 2024 revenue came from scams

https://sherwood.news/tech/meta-projected-10-of-2024-revenue-came-from-scams-and-banned-goods-reuters/

#HackerNews #Meta #Scams #Revenue #2024 #Tech #News #Banned #Goods