Category Archives: :Blog:

Raoul Simons reports: A computer hacker faked his own death to avoid paying over $100,000 in outstanding child support to his ex-wife, according to court documents. Jesse E. Kipf, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft and one cou… Continue reading Hacker fakes his own death to avoid paying $100,000 in child maintenance→

April 3, 2024 TLP:CLEAR Report: 202404031000 Executive Summary HC3 has recently observed threat actors employing advanced social engineering tactics to target IT help desks in the health sector and gain initial access to target organizations. In genera… Continue reading HC3: Sector Alert: Social Engineering Attacks Targeting IT Help Desks in the Health Sector→

Otolaryngology Associates, LLC (OA) has 13 locations throughout Indiana in Indianapolis, Greencastle, Greenfield, Kokomo, Noblesville, and Carmel. On April 1, the ENT (ears, nose, throat) practice notified the U.S. Department of Health and Human Servic… Continue reading Indiana-based Otolaryngology Associates, LLC notifies 316,802 patients about February cyberattack→

EyeCare Services Partners  (ESP) is a private company with a network of ophthalmologic, optometric and ambulatory surgery centers. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. On February 9, an IT student who was searching the internet for exposed datasets no… Continue reading No need to hack when it’s leaking, Wednesday edition: Eyecare Services Partners exposed more than 2 million patients’ SSN – researcher→

Advance fee fraud campaigns are using generative AI in both text and video to speed up responses, evade filters, and make scams more convincing.

Large Language Models and other forms of Generative AI (GenAI) promise to make many people more productive, and cybercriminals are no exception. Fraudsters are using GenAI to enhance all kinds of scams, from consumer-focused bulk campaigns to highly targeted business email compromise attempts. High-profile cases have involved losses of tens of millions of dollars.

Over the last six months, Netcraft has noticed an increase in advance fee fraud emails with signs of ChatGPT-generated text, as well as a new pattern of deepfake videos designed to convince would-be victims and evade existing filters used to block scams, including examples impersonating the FBI, UN, and World Bank.

Advance fee fraud is a long-popular paradigm among scammers: they typically start with an unsolicited message indicating that the recipient is due money—for example, that a businessman has offered money to them or that they have won a competition such as an “internet lottery”—and that by paying a comparatively small fee, they will gain access to that fortune. However, the supposed fortune does not exist: once paid, the scammer will make off with the fee and either invent more roadblocks to continue extracting funds or move on to the next victim.

Another type of advance fee fraud we often see are compensation scams. Playing on the frequency of the previously mentioned lures, fraudsters claim that they can reunite the victim with their supposed funds. This is to further capitalize on people who had already fallen for other forms of scams, as the fraudster will themselves ask for a fee to be paid, with the fund never having existed.

“Sandra Steven” Deepfakes used to evade email filters

Netcraft recently received a …

Continue reading UN? FBI? World Bank? Deepfake police chief used for compensation scam video→

In September 2022, DataBreaches reported that Australian national David Kee Crees was going to be extradited from Australia to the U.S. to stand trial on hacking charges. Crees, now 25, has used a number of aliases. DataBreaches had first known him bac… Continue reading Update: David Kee Crees, aka “DR32,” in U.S. custody, trial scheduled for August→