A list of topics we covered in the week of August 11 to August 17 of 2025

August 15, 2025 - A cybercriminal was found selling scanned IDs that were stolen from guests at Italian hotels on underground forums, warned CERT-AGID.

August 15, 2025 - National Public Data has changed ownership. Does this mean your personal information has changed hands too?

August 14, 2025 - Four men from Ghana were extradited for their alleged role in stealing more than $100 million through romance scams and BEC.

August 14, 2025 - Scammers are sending out fake Netflix job offers to get control of Facebook accounts.

August 13, 2025 - In the August 2025 patch Tuesday round Microsoft fixed a total of 111 Microsoft vulnerabilities, some of which are very important.

 A week in security (August 11 &#8211; August 17) 

A cybercriminal was found selling scanned IDs that were stolen from guests at Italian hotels on underground forums, warned CERT-AGID.

The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) for Italy’s “Agenzia per l’Italia Digitale” (AGID) issued a warning that cybercriminals are selling stolen identity documents from hotels operating in Italy.

This summer, a criminal hacker group named “mydocs” infiltrated the booking systems of at least ten Italian hotels, stealing high-resolution scans of ID documents, including passports and national ID cards, provided by guests during check-in. These documents, amounting to tens of thousands in number (potentially up to 100,000), have been offered for sale on dark web forums at prices ranging from $1000 to $10,000. Both Italian and foreign guests are affected, with luxury and city hotels among the breached venues.

While the incident appears to have taken place in June and July of this year, it is not clear how many years back the hotels’ scans are retained for, so you could be at risk if you have visited the hotels at an earlier time. AGID did not mention the hotels by name, but we hope the hotels will take it upon themselves to warn the people whose ID information may be for sale.

AGID warns that warned that the stolen data could be used for:

*   Fraudulent creation of new documents.
*   Opening bank accounts or lines of credit.
*   Social engineering attacks against individuals and their contacts.
*   Digital identity theft, with serious legal and financial implications.

Authorities advise guests to contact the hotels where they stayed if they suspect their data was compromised and to stay alert for scams or phishing attempts using their information.

**Protecting yourself after a data breach**

There are some actions you can take if you are, or suspect you may have been, the victim of a data breach.

*   **Check the vendor’s advice.** Every breach is different, so check with the vendor to find out what’s happened and follow any specific advice they offer.
*   **Change your password.** You can make a stolen password useless to thieves by changing it. Choose a strong password that you don’t use for anything else. Better yet, let a password manager choose one for you.
*   **Enable two-factor authentication (2FA).** If you can, use a FIDO2-compliant hardware key, laptop or phone as your second factor. Some forms of two-factor authentication (2FA) can be phished just as easily as a password. 2FA that relies on a FIDO2 device can’t be phished.
*   **Watch out for fake vendors.** The thieves may contact you posing as the vendor. Check the vendor website to see if they are contacting victims and verify the identity of anyone who contacts you using a different communication channel.
*   **Take your time.** Phishing attacks often impersonate people or brands you know, and use themes that require urgent attention, such as missed deliveries, account suspensions, and security alerts.
*   **Consider not storing your card details**. It’s definitely more convenient to get sites to remember your card details for you, but we highly recommend not storing that information on websites.
*   **Set up identity monitoring.** Identity monitoring alerts you if your personal information is found being traded illegally online and helps you recover after.

**We don’t just report on threats – we help safeguard your entire digital identity**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Protect your—and your family’s—personal information by using identity protection.

 Italian hotels breached for tens of thousands of scanned IDs 

National Public Data has changed ownership. Does this mean your personal information has changed hands too?

Remember that data broker nobody had ever heard of, but managed to leak a database which contained the data of some 2.9 billion people? It’s back, and this time with a search function.

National Public Data suffered an alleged breach in 2024 against a data base that, it turned out, carried 272 million unique social security numbers (SSNs.) Granted, that there are limits to the safety of using a nine-digit ID in 2025, but the news that the folks at National Public Data have decided it’s time for a comeback made me slightly nauseous.

After the fall-out of the aforementioned leak and others, the site shut down in December amid a wave of lawsuits against parent company Jerico Pictures. But the people at PCMag noticed that the domain nationalpublidata\[.\]com has been brought back to life.

In an update page about the security incident, the new owner states:

> “Jerico Pictures, Inc., the Florida company that suffered a major data breach in 2024, no longer operates this site. We have zero affiliation with them.”

Data brokers scrape, collect, and aggregate data, combining disparate details into comprehensive dossiers. Sometimes your information ends up there because of public records. And sometimes it’s the result of poor security, or, as we see a lot unfortunately, a leak, ransomware attack, or other type of data breach.

On their “About us” page the new owners note:

> “We collect the data you find on our people search engine from publicly available sources, including federal, state, and local government agencies, social media pages, property ownership databases, and other reliable platforms. After the data is in our hands, we verify and filter it to make sure it is indeed accurate and up-to-date.”

Their goal:

> “National Public Data is a people search website where you can find accurate information about US citizens. Our database gives you access to millions of public records to help you find the data you need the most for various purposes. Privacy, speed, and ease of use are at the heart of what we do. Start your search today and discover what you can learn.”

If you live in the US, it might be prudent to check what information they have about you and where they might have scraped that from. Did you know you can have a lot of that information removed?

In the meantime, the “info spillers” are back, and they seem to be making up for lost time. The real question isn’t if your data is at risk. It’s what you’re going to do about it now.

**Protecting yourself after a data breach**

There are some actions you can take if you are, or suspect you may have been, the victim of a data breach.

*   **Check the vendor’s advice.** Every breach is different, so check with the vendor to find out what’s happened and follow any specific advice they offer.
*   **Change your password.** You can make a stolen password useless to thieves by changing it. Choose a strong password that you don’t use for anything else. Better yet, let a password manager choose one for you.
*   **Enable two-factor authentication (2FA).** If you can, use a FIDO2-compliant hardware key, laptop or phone as your second factor. Some forms of two-factor authentication (2FA) can be phished just as easily as a password. 2FA that relies on a FIDO2 device can’t be phished.
*   **Watch out for fake vendors.** The thieves may contact you posing as the vendor. Check the vendor website to see if they are contacting victims and verify the identity of anyone who contacts you using a different communication channel.
*   **Take your time.** Phishing attacks often impersonate people or brands you know, and use themes that require urgent attention, such as missed deliveries, account suspensions, and security alerts.
*   **Consider not storing your card details**. It’s definitely more convenient to get sites to remember your card details for you, but we highly recommend not storing that information on websites.
*   **Set up identity monitoring.** Identity monitoring alerts you if your personal information is found being traded illegally online and helps you recover after.

**We don’t just report on data privacy—we help you remove your personal information**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. With Malwarebytes Personal Data Remover, you can scan to find out which sites are exposing your personal information, and then delete that sensitive data from the internet.

 National Public Data returns after massive Social Security Number leak 

Four men from Ghana were extradited for their alleged role in stealing more than $100 million through romance scams and BEC.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) extradited and indicted 4 Ghanaian nationals for allegedly stealing more than $100 million, mainly through romance scams and business email compromises.

According to a report from Comparitech, nearly 59,000 Americans fell victim to romance scams in 2024, losing an estimated $697.3 million. Our own research from last year showed that 10% of romance scam victims lose more than $10,000. The overall true cost is believed to be vastly higher than official reports, as many cases go unreported due to victims’ shame and difficulty tracing scammers.

Many of the scammers work offshore from countries where the chances of them getting apprehended are slim. But US Attorney Jay Clayton stated:

> “Offshore scammers should know that we, the FBI, and our law enforcement partners will work around the world to combat online fraud and bring perpetrators to justice.”

The four men are accused of being leaders of a criminal organization based in Ghana which committed romance scams and business email compromises against individuals and businesses located across the US.

Their victims were mostly older men and women tricked into believing they were engaging in a romantic relationship online. These “relationships” sometimes start as a harmless text or by a direct message on social media and dating apps. Soon the scammer will suggest to take the conversation to a more secure platform like WhatsApp or Telegram.

The scammers will take the time to get to know you and assess what the best approach is to deceive you. Most of the time they are after your money, but sometimes they are after information. These scammers may also use other people, who are often younger, as money mules.

The people entailed in romance scams are courted and lavished with attention, until it’s time to cash in. Then the scammer suddenly needs money for travel, an illness, or other made-up reasons. Some scammers also lure victims with a supposed, great investment opportunity that you can’t afford to miss—which will turn out great for them, not the victim.

The four Ghanaian men are facing multiple charges including wire fraud, money laundering, receiving stolen money and more. In total each is facing a maximum sentence of 75 years in prison if convicted on all the charges.

**Stay safe from romance scammers**

The scale of losses from romance scams often eclipses that of many other types of reported consumer fraud or internet crime, demonstrating the high financial risk entailed in these emotional exploitation schemes.

So, it’s important to understand how these scams operate and how you can stay safe. Some of these tips may seem basic, but in these cases, it’s easy for people to mistake their online relationship with the scammer for a real one. This isn’t the fault of scam victims—it is just a symptom of how effective these scam methods are.

*   Don’t send money or disclose sensitive information to anyone you have never met in person.
*   Take it slow and read back answers. Scammers usually have a playbook, but sometimes you can spot inconsistencies in their answers.
*   **Don’t do this alone**. Allow someone in your life to share this with. Their perspective may keep your feet on the ground.
*   Cut them off early. As soon as you expect you are dealing with a scammer, stop responding. Don’t fall for sob stories or even physical threats they’ll use to keep the connection alive.
*   Check their profile picture in an online search. You may find other profiles with the same picture. This is a huge red flag.
*   The move to a “safer platform” is another red flag. They are not doing this for privacy reasons, but to stay under the radar of the platform where they first contacted you.
*   Consult with a financial advisor or investment professional who can provide an objective opinion if you’re offered an investment opportunity.
*   If you encounter something suspicious, report it to the appropriate authorities—such as local law enforcement or the FBI via its Internet Crime Complaint Center. Your action could prevent others from falling victim.  
*   Share examples (anonymized) to help others. One way to do this is to use Malwarebytes Scam Guard, which also helps you assess if a message is a scam or not.

**We don’t just report on scans—we help detect them**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. If something looks dodgy to you, check if it’s a scam using Malwarebytes Scam Guard, a feature of our mobile protection products. Submit a screenshot, paste suspicious content, or share a text or phone number, and we’ll tell you if it’s a scam or legit. Download Malwarebytes Mobile Security for iOS or Android and try it today!

 Romance scammers in Ghana charged with more than $100 million in theft 

Scammers are sending out fake Netflix job offers to get control of Facebook accounts.

In what seems a phishing attack targeted at a certain audience, scammers are impersonating Netflix and reaching out to marketing staff.

The initial mail looks like what you might expect from a headhunter or a human resources (HR) recruitment specialist.

“I hope this note finds you well,” the email begins. “Your reputation as a visionary marketing leader has caught out attention, and I’d like to share an extraordinary opportunity with you at Netflix.”

Undoubtedly this email is crafted by AI and based on real-life examples. The role offered in the email as VP of Marketing would be a fitting role for the person that received this email, so it looks as if the scammers have done their research before reaching out.

Replying to the initial mail—which is not recommended, unless you like letting scammers know you exist and encouraging them to send you more phishes—got us one step closer to landing the exciting new job at Netflix.

We received an invitation to set up an interview with the ‘Netflix HR team’.  

Following the link under “Schedule Interview” gets us a block by Malwarebytes web protection.

Again, not something we would want our readers to do but in the interest of learning more about the scam, we bypass that block and proceed to the website.

We find that there are 20 openings, all more or less in the same fields of social media and marketing.

The website itself is a mix of content copied from the actual Netflix site and of the phishing campaign.

Back to scheduling our interview. We’re given an option to choose our interview slot:

Regardless of which of the two buttons you use on the screen, you’ll be asked to sign in to your existing “Career Profile” or create a new one.

At this stage, all red flags should go up. It doesn’t matter if you choose “Continue with Facebook” or whether you enter your email and click “Continue with Email” the next screen will ask you to sign in to your Facebook account.

The only difference is that the second option fills out your email in the login screen.

That doesn’t make a lot of sense—Facebook is not known to keep track of your calendar. It does keep track of a lot of things, but your meeting schedule isn’t one of them. Besides, if you look at the address bar, you’ll see I’m still at the fake Netflix site.

However, it’s very normal practice to offer the option of logging in with Facebook on third party sites, so it would be understandable for the jobseeker to click that link.

When you enter the credentials and click on “Log In”, it will take a while and then you’ll be notified that “The password you’ve entered is incorrect. Please try again!”

This login page is also the part that makes this attack a very sophisticated one. The phishers use a websocket method that allows them to intercept submissions live as they are entered. This allows them to try the credentials and if your password works, they can log into your real Facebook account within seconds. They could potentially ask for multi-factor authentication (MFA) confirmation if that’s necessary, too.

Imagine that the phisher can instantly see the credentials you submitted, tests them at the real Facebook login page, and subsequently sends you the appropriate response. (In my case “wrong password” since I had no intention of feeding them valid credentials.)

You’d have no idea that they were accessing your Facebook account and they’d have bought some time to log you out, spam your friends, or whatever else they wanted to do with your account.

We often see phishing campaigns like these that are explicitly designed to steal the credentials of marketing managers, social media staff, and especially those who have access to company Facebook Pages or business accounts.

Compromising a business account can allow attackers to run malicious ads using the company’s payment methods, demand a ransom for return of control over the account, or use the company’s reputation to spread more scams.

**What to do**

If you suspect your credentials may have been compromised, immediately change your passwords, enable multi-factor authentication, and notify your IT/security team if you have one.

You can stay safe from these attacks by:

*   Be super cautious at engaging in job offers that you have not applied for.
*   Carefully check the URLs, both in the email and on the website, before you click them (did you notice the missing “i” in the domain name?)
*   Check if the address in the browser bar matches what you expect to see, along with the content of the website.
*   Learn how to spot and recognize phishing attempts. Phishing mails are getting harder to identify now that cybercriminals are using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
*   Keep your browser, your Operating System, and other software up to date.
*   Use an up-to-date real-time anti-malware solution with web protection.

Since the phishing campaign was hosted behind Cloudflare’s services, we have notified Netflix and Cloudflare about this campaign.

**We don’t just report on threats—we remove them**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.

 Netflix scammers target jobseekers to trick them into handing over their Facebook logins 

The US court filing system, which houses court records and sealed filings, was reportedly hacked by Russians seeking sensitive documents.

Russia is after secret files in the US court system, according to reports this week—and its hackers appear to have reached at least some of them.

Last week, news broke of a successful cyberattack against the decades-old US court filing system. Called Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF), courts use the system to file and maintain documentation for legal cases around the country, which in turn can be accessed through a public portal called PACER. The attack happened as early ago as the first week of July, and possibly before that.

Now, investigators say that Russia is at least partly responsible for the hack, which they described in the New York Times as a multi-year effort to compromise the system.

What would Russian hackers be looking for? Many court documents are accessible via PACER for a small fee (or via other sites such as CourtListener for free). But CM/ECF also hosts many sensitive, sealed documents that are not available to the general public. These would be a treasure trove to those with criminal and/or nation-state connections.

Indeed, the targeted documents were those with overseas ties, according to the NYT report, which said that the attack has targeted at least eight district courts. Chief judges there were asked to move sensitive cases out of CM/ECF. At least one judge, for the Eastern District of New York, issued an order forbidding sealed documents to be directly uploaded there.

Experts have already warned that court files are the crown jewels for cyber attackers.

“Experience has shown that the Judiciary is a high-value target for malicious actors and cyber criminals seeking to misappropriate confidential information and disrupt the judicial process in the United States,” said Michael Y. Scudder Jr., chair of the Committee on IT of the Judicial Conference on Courts, testifying to Congress in June this year.

He mentioned that in 2024 alone, the judiciary’s security team blocked 200 million harmful events from reaching local court networks, adding that attacks were becoming more sophisticated over time.

This isn’t the first time that attackers have made it through the filing system’s defenses. In 2021, CM/ECF suffered a major cybersecurity breach, as reported by the Judiciary at the time, later revealed to have involved three hostile foreign actors, per Politico.

The Judiciary is also in the process of modernizing the filing system, Scudder said. That would mean replacing CM/ECF, which was first introduced in the mid-nineties. PACER is also up for replacement.

However, a replacement has been on the cards since at least 2022, when the Judiciary discussed its refresh plans.

The US government runs on technology systems, having moved away from paper. But those systems are often in dire need of modernization. In July, the US Government Accountability Office released an update to a 2019 audit of government IT systems. Of the ten critical legacy systems most in need of modernization back then, only three have been addressed as of this February. Some of the oldest legacy systems, operated by the Department of Defense and the Treasury, date back to before Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon.

**We don’t just report on threats—we remove them**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.

 Russians hacked US courts, say investigators 

In the August 2025 patch Tuesday round Microsoft fixed a total of 111 Microsoft vulnerabilities, some of which are very important.

In the August 2025 patch Tuesday round Microsoft fixed a total of 111 Microsoft vulnerabilities. A few of them are very important for people to apply.

Even if you’re not a tech expert, keeping your Windows system up to date is one of the simplest and most effective ways to protect yourself from online threats. Microsoft releases important updates on the second Tuesday of every month, called “Patch Tuesday.” These updates fix security problems and keep your Windows system up to date.

Here is a step-by-step guide for updating your Windows 11 (it might be slightly different for older versions) computer this August 2025:

1\. Open **Settings**

*   Click the Start button (the Windows logo at the bottom left of your screen).
*   Click on Settings (it looks like a little gear).

2\. Go to **Windows Update**

*   In the Settings window, look for Windows Update (usually at the bottom of the menu on the left).
*   Click on Windows Update.

3\. **Check for Updates**

*   You’ll see a button that says **Check for updates**. Click it.
*   Windows will now look for the August 2025 Patch Tuesday updates.

If you have selected automatic updates earlier you may see this:  

And this:

*   Which means all you have to do is restart your system and you’re done updating.
*   If not, continue with the below.

4\. **Download and Install**

*   If updates are found, they will start downloading right away. When that’s done, you’ll see a button that says **Install** or **Restart now**.
*   Click **Install** if needed and follow any prompts. Your computer will usually need a restart to finish the update. If it does, click **Restart now**.

5\. Double-check everything Is updated

*   After restarting, go back to Windows Update and check again. If it says **You’re up to date**, you’re all set!

Of the 111 fixed flaws, a few stand out. Let’s have a look at why this round is important.

CVE-2025-50165: Untrusted pointer dereference in Microsoft Graphics Component allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.

This vulnerability can be exploited without user interaction and for example be exploited by sending a target a specially .jpeg file in an Office document or other documents and files. Successful exploitation allows arbitrary remote code execution (RCE) which basically means your machine is at their control.

CVE-2025-53766: Heap-based buffer overflow in Windows GDI+ allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.

A buffer overflow occurs when an area of memory within a software application reaches its address boundary and writes into an adjacent memory region.

GDI+ (Graphics Device Interface Plus) is a component of the Windows operating system that provides a way for applications to display graphics and formatted text on screens and printers.

An attacker could trigger this vulnerability by convincing a victim to download and open a document that contains a specially crafted metafile. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could cause remote code execution or information disclosure on web services that are parsing documents that contain a specially crafted metafile, without involvement of the target. In the worst-case scenario, an attacker could trigger this vulnerability on web services by uploading documents containing a specially crafted metafile.

**We don’t just report on threats—we remove them**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.

 Microsoft patches some very important vulnerabilities in August&#8217;s patch Tuesday 

Two different groups were found to have abused a now patched vulneraability in popular archive software WinRAR. Who's next?

On July 30, 2025, WinRAR released a new version (7.13 Final) to patch a vulnerability which was used in two separate malware campaigns. WinRAR is a popular file archiving and data compression tool that allows users to compress files into smaller archives, like RAR and ZIP, and can also unpack various archive formats.

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-8088, is a path traversal flaw that affects the Windows version of WinRAR and allows the attackers to execute arbitrary code by crafting malicious archive files.

A path traversal vulnerability, also known as a directory traversal vulnerability, is a type of security flaw that allows attackers to access files and directories they should not be able to reach. They typically occur in web applications but can affect any software that handles file paths.

In one campaign, attributed to Russia-aligned group RomCom, the vulnerability was used to drop files in folders other than those stipulated by the user. This allowed cybercriminals to drop files in startup folders and other important areas of the Operating System (OS).

The RomCom attackers used the vulnerability from July 18 – 21 against financial, manufacturing, defense, and logistics companies in Europe and Canada. The malicious archives were sent out in phishing campaigns where the attackers posed as job applicants and sent their resumes as attachments.

Another group called Paper Werewolf used the same vulnerability to target Russian organizations. In early July, researchers discovered this activity in targeted phishing campaigns. The attackers posed as employees of a Russian research institute and attached a letter supposedly from one of the ministries.

At the time, the vulnerability was still a zero-day. Now that a patch is available and more details have emerged, other cybercriminals will almost certainly try to weaponize the same vulnerability, possibly by including malware in online downloads.

Therefore, users of WinRAR are under advice to install the latest version as soon as possible. To check the version of WinRAR you have installed, open WinRAR and navigate to **Help** > **About WinRAR**. This will display a window showing the version number and other details.

**Stay safe**

Some guidelines to stay safe from these types of malware campaigns:

*   Keep your software and devices up to date.
*   Use an up-to-date, real-time anti-malware solution, preferably with a web protection component.
*   Only download software from trusted places, such as the vendor’s website.
*   Don’t open unsolicited attachments. If an attachment arrives unexpectedly, verify its legitimacy through a different channel before opening it.
*   Be cautious around files from unknown or untrusted sources.

**We don’t just report on threats—we remove them**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.

 WinRAR vulnerability exploited by two different groups 

Scam hunter Julie-Anne Kearns, who helps scam victims online, opened up about a tax scam she fell for herself.

The next time you shake your head at another online scam and vow that you’d never fall for it, remember that even the most tech-savvy people can sometimes slip up.

A case in point: Julie-Anne Kearns. This self-made scam-hunter told her story to the Guardian last week, revealing how she had been duped by people pretending to be from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which is the UK’s version of the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Kearns had first pursued scam-hunting when spotting an attempt to scam her in 2022. After reporting on it on her TikTok account, she started hearing from plenty of people sharing their own experiences of online scams. Although she worked full time for the UK’s National Health Service, she began helping victims track down online criminals.

As her following grew, more online scammers tried to dupe her. Eventually, one succeeded.

It was a classic refund scam, with the criminals impersonating HMRC and sending Kearns a letter telling her she had a rebate. They asked for extra details to confirm her identity, and because the letter seemed consistent with others from the real HMRC, Kearns complied.

Kearns sent the scammers copies of her passport and driving license. The scammers promptly used those materials to claim Kearns’s rebate, and also sold the information on the dark web. The identity thieves started a business in Kearns’s name and took out loans. This tanked her credit rating and also left her battling a legal claim for non-payment of a £16,000 loan that she never took out.

“I worried about whether to share that I’d been scammed,” Kearns told the Guardian. She decided to tell all, because she hoped it might help others avoid the same fate.

Kearns isn’t the only savvy person in the cybersecurity field to fall victim to scammers. Others who are clued into scams have also been taken in. Cybersecurity researcher Troy Hunt fell victim to a phishing attack in March, after someone pretending to be from his newsletter distribution provider Mailchimp sent a bogus notification about penalties to his account. In the attack, the scammer stole around 16,000 records belonging to his blog subscribers.

“I’m enormously frustrated with myself for having fallen for this, and I apologize to anyone on that list,” Hunt wrote at the time.

Jim Browning, a scam hunter who regularly goes after online criminals halfway around the world, also suffered from a phishing attack in 2021. Criminals pretending to be from YouTube used Google Chat to send an email from the Google domain, convincing him to delete his YouTube channel.

“It wasn’t exactly my finest hour, but it does go to prove that anyone can be scammed if the circumstances are exactly right,” he said after getting his channel reinstated.

These experiences illustrate why victim shaming is such a pointless exercise. If people with experience in scamming sometimes get scammed themselves, then it’s understandable that those with less expertise in online crime also get taken in.

Even those trying to protect themselves will run across situations where they let their guard down, whether it’s phishing, answering seemingly legitimate letters from the tax department, or falling for a romance scam because they’re lonely.

Shame is a powerful weapon. When someone is caught in a scam, fear of speaking out can make things worse. So, if there’s someone you know who has been caught in a scam, have some compassion, and a non-judgmental ear.

**We don’t just report on threats—we remove them**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.

 Scam hunter scammed by tax office impersonators 

Scammers are using the age old tactic of scaring victims into clicking by sending out fake product recall messages from Amazon.

Scammers are using the age old tactic of scaring victims into clicking by sending out fake product recall messages from Amazon.

The text message tells you that the item does not meet Amazon’s standards, and tries to install some urgency by claiming it is not safe to use. It also includes a link where it says you can find more information and claim a refund.

> “Amazon Safety Recall: We are contacting you because the product you purchased is being recalled. This recall is due to quality and safety issues. We urge you to stop using the product immediately and contact us to arrange a full refund. You can view your order details at the following link:
> 
> Safety Recall: Order Number:#-142-15261-31435 Your safety is our top priority, please visit our website for more details and instructions. We apologize for the inconvenience and disappointment this may cause you.
> 
> Thank you for shopping at Amazon.”

Of course the link doesn’t go anywhere near Amazon, it’s actually a shortened URL that sends you to amazonzbzc\[.\]co. This is a known phishing site that mimics Amazon, and is after your personal information or to steal your money.

The text messages are intentionally vague about the nature of the product or the exact issue they are being recalled for. This is done so a maximum number of people will think that this might concern them. If the scammers said that the TV you bought might explode, you wouldn’t click the link if you hadn’t purchased a TV recently.

The Federal Trade Commission even issued a warning about these scams back in July, illustrating how this type of scam tactic is growing.

**How to avoid Amazon phishing scams**

*   If you receive a text like this, don’t click on any links. Instead, check if it’s legit by logging in to the Amazon app or website, then going to **Message Centre** under **Your Account**. Legitimate messages from Amazon will appear there.
*   Report the scam to Amazon itself, whether you’ve fallen for it or not. US citizens can send unwanted texts to 7726(SPAM) or use the **Report Junk** option.
*   Set up two-step verification for your Amazon account. This puts an extra barrier between you and the scammers if they do manage to get hold of your login details.
*   Scammers sometimes use information they’ve found online to personalize their scam messages. Check what information is already out there about you using our free Digital Footprint Scanner and then remove or change as much of it as you can.
*   Install web protection that can warn you of phishing sites, card skimmers, and other nasties that could lead to your data being taken.
*   Lastly, if you’ve fallen for this or a similar scam, change your Amazon password and anywhere else you use that password. Also, make sure to monitor your card statements for any unfamiliar charges, and contact your bank immediately if you see anything suspicious.

**We don’t just report on scans—we help detect them**

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Malwarebytes