scams

Calls and SMS pretending to be our bank are the past, scams with AI cloned voices are the future: Crossover 1×26

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Scams are a lifeless thing. They surround us and they flood us because we have never been more connected and more distracted. And scammers and hackers know this and try to get more out of it. And that’s how it goes for us. We talk precisely about that reality in this episode in which Jaume Lahoz has as a special guest Maria Aperadoran expert in cybersecurity and criminology, and who makes an exhaustive review of the techniques that are most used to scam us. The ones before, and the ones now. Thus, it tells us about banking scams and identity theft, but also about the danger that the user faces when they install fake applications or when they resort to pirated software and broadcasts: in many cases, saving some money to watch a match or be able to play a video game can make let’s install some malware without realizing it and, of course, ending up being very expensive. But all these methods are now added the danger posed by artificial intelligencewhich allows cybercriminals to attack more and better than ever. especially with deepfakes and cloned voices that can end up convincing us… and ruining us. There are, of course, ways to protect yourself and to avoid possible scares. María Aperador tells us about all of them and opens a door to hope. As that one said, be careful out there. On YouTube | Crossover

Google’s AI summaries are already beginning to include scams

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Even the most experts in technology can fall into the online scam. One of them is Alex Rivlin, a real estate agent of Las Vegas who became without knowing it in the victim of a new and sophisticated scam. His case, uncovered by The Washington Post, ignites alarms on how new generative artificial intelligence tools, such as Google AI summariesthey are being exploited to give a new life to old deceptions. A scam that began with a simple task. With a simple search to book a transport for a European cruise. When looking for Alex Rivlin, Royal Caribbean’s customer service number on Google, the answer is It was directly given by the search engine, With a tray phone number. What I did not know is that this number was not of the shipping company, but of some scammers. A perfectly orchestrated hoax. By calling the number that the AI had offered, an alleged customer service worker answered that gave him the precise details about the transport he needed to use in Venice. He informed him of the rates and even negotiated the possibility of not charging some supplements that were in the company’s services portfolio. Finally, they reached an agreement: it would cost him $ 768. And to pay it, he provided his credit card. The scam was uncovered the next day. The victim detected that suspicious positions had appeared in his account and the name of the company that was charging him was not the ‘Royal Caribbean’, and Rivlin realized the deception. Fortunately, he could cancel his credit card and The bank returned the moneyalthough he was surprised at how well the scam was. Old tricks, new and powerful ammunition: the AI. The Rivlin incident is not an isolated case, but the tip of the iceberg of a growing problem. The technique of publishing numbers of FALSOS CUSTOMER Customer Services Telephone It is not new, but the arrival of the generative AI has catapulted it to a new level of effectiveness. Until now these scams took advantage of paying to appear in the first search results, but now that AI is the best weapon. This technology collects the information you can find in the network, but does not verify that it is authentic. In this way, if a telephone number is repeated on several websites and forums, AI can interpret it as a credible source and serve it directly to the user seeking help. In fact, the research done by The Washington Post found that this same phone was related to large cruise lines such as Disney. The response of technology and criticism of experts. Google has affirmed to The Washington Post that its summaries of AI and the Search results are usually effective When directing users to official information and that specific fraudulent examples have been eliminated. However, critics argue that it is not enough. Lily Ray, Vice President of SEO strategy at the Amsive Digital Marketing firm, points out that allowing AI summaries to provide phone numbers “open a new opportunity for scammers, and one that they are clearly taking advantage of.” Security experts underline that Google It already has commercial information databases Verified to which it could give priority, instead of depending on broader web content and susceptible to manipulation. Figmingly looking out of AI is not a good idea. This story lets us clearly see how hackers are going to find The way to get our data at all costs. In this case they have taken advantage of the trust we can have in the results of Google’s AI because it is the first thing that is seen. The same happened with sem search results that were located in the top positions, and that responded to our philosophy that the first link is always the best. That is why the recommendation is very clear: we must always verify the information we are looking for as a telephone number, in the official source as on the company’s website or in its own application. There are more scams related to AI. This example is not isolated, since we have seen studies that suggest that when we ask an AI a company of a company, It is possible that it is wrong. Something that gives the phishing. But they do not stay here, since the scams can reach Spotify reproduction lists either In a simple PDF. Images | Firmbee.com Nordwood Themes In Xataka | Call-Center operators are finding a curious problem: many clients believe they are an AI

Steam gift cards have become an unequivocal symptom of something increasingly worrying: love scams

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“I work in a store where we have Steam gift cards. Today an older lady came twice and bought cards worth $ 500. It turns out that $ 1,600 has been spent in recent days. How is it possible for someone to need so much money for Steam? “ The message published it A Reddit user that he showed his concern for the lady, and suspected that he was perhaps being scammed. Most like that it was happening just that. It is a case of book of Scam of love. One that over the years, of course, has adopted several forms and has ended becoming an epidemic. These types of scams usually have the same modus operandi: The scammer creates a false identity to gain the trust and affection of a victim. Many of those victims are older people who feel alone and find a company (and hope of something more) in those conversations. They usually use attractive profiles and create intense emotional relationships. The scammers dodge a personal meeting at all costs. They always live outside, on an oil platform, or work in the armed forces in some country in conflict. Once they earn that trust, they request money under various excuses. For example, medical emergencies, trips or investments. Precisely the way in which these payments require is what varies. One of the methods used by some scammers It is cryptocurrency paymentbut that is usually a complex way for older people and without computer knowledge. In recent years a method has especially imposed on others: Gift cards. These gift cards – for example, of Steam, but also from Google Play or Netflix, among others – are a perfect way to request money because, in the first place, they are irreversible transactions, and secondly, because they allow scammers to hide their footprint since they are anonymous and very difficult to track. A dangerously ideal means for scams These cards are simply codes that are once held by the scammer can be converted into money in different ways: They can resell them in gray resale markets online or in forums such as Telegram. They also usually resell them to attract buyers They can redeem them in false or third -party Steam accounts, and then they can sell those games as gifts to other people. They can even recharge false accounts and then resell them to gamers interested in them. They may also convert the balance of these cards into cryptocurrencies. Not directly, but through intermediaries They do accept gift cards as payment method for cryptoactive. Or use those cards legitimately and buy games or digital content that they then give. That serves to appear that they are generous in later scams in those that use those gifts as bait. In those scams of love, this type of Steam cards therefore become an ideal way to “facilitate” the victim to send money and do so in a very difficult way to monitor. Older people are the favorite victims of scammers –They have seen cases by everywhere, some that go from Notable Simply extraordinary– And that’s why it is important to try to alert them. Here the stores and shopping centers that sell these types of cards should have some type of policy to detect too frequent purchases of these cards and for Notify potential victims of this type of scams. For the rest of the users, a petition: do not buy gift cards through unofficial roads: otherwise, we are likely to contribute to the problem not mitigating. In Xataka | A “fine” on the windshield, a QR and a false website: thus begins the scam that tries to steal money from your card

Chinese dolls of sinister smile are breaking it in Spain. They are called Labubu and they are already falsifications and scams

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Rabbit ears and a very sinister smile. So are the labubu, some small collection dolls that, following the wake of successes like Sonny AngelThey are invading everything. After its success in China, the fever for these collection dolls has left their borders and has arrived in Spain. And with it the inevitable is also coming: falsifications. Context. Labubu are an original creation of the Hongkonese artist Kaising Lung, marketed by Pop Mart, which also markets Other similar collection toys lines. These are small stuffed animals with a keychain hitch, which are usually hung from the bag or backpack. When we buy one, several designs appear on the side of the box and you can touch any of them. This surprise effect and the gamification of the purchase have caused them to become an object of desire for collectors around the world, getting to pay authentic fortunes For them. Viral success. Although there were long before, the Labubu boom occurred in 2024. In China they generated the whopping 3,000 million yuan (about 355 million euros). 2025 is even better For these little elves. Only in China the growth is 100%, but in the rest of the world it would already be in 480%. There is a key factor in this global success: there are more and more celebrities and influencers who show their labubus in public. The first Celebrity that popularized them It was Lisa, from the K-Pop Blackpink group. Now they are hanging from Rihanna, Dua Lipa, Madonna or Kim Kardashian bags. The fever arrives in Spain. We said there is an invasion of Labubus and Spain was not going to be less. At the end of last year They opened a store in Barcelona and the tails to buy one of these dolls were kilometer. In the official store they are exhausted and, although there are other stores that sell Labubus in Spain, the same thing happens: almost all They have hung the ‘out of stock’ poster‘(Yeah, Also Amazon). With this panorama, the sale platforms are being filled with Labubus, with an increase in searches for 856%. Falsifications and scams. Stock -free stores and demand for clouds are the perfect ingredients for counterfeiters to fall in action. According to a Kaspersky reportit’s already happening. Fraudulent websites that sell counterfeit figures have been created and, in addition, they steal data from the users they buy. They always recommend buying official distributors, but since in Pop Mart Spain there are hardly any stock, many users go to Wallapop, Milanuncios or Vinted. There are many available, many of them original, but here another problem is presented: the price. Normally a Labubu costs between 15 and 30 euros. Taking advantage of scarcity, many vendors They swell prices. Precedents. Collecting Figuritas is no news. A few years ago we lived the Funko Pop Fever. In 2019, the North American company He presumed to have tripled its value, Although a couple of years ago we knew that their finances did not happen their best moment. Labubu fever takes advantage of the wave generated by a more recent phenomenon: The Sonny Angelsthose Japanese dolls that many people had glued on their smartphones and that were also a problem by The amount of falsifications that circulated. In ambiguity is success. Although similar to the Sonny Angels, Labubu are pioneers in one thing: it is the first time that China “colonizes” Europe with a cultural and consumerist phenomenon of this type. According to This Chinese journalist, The secret of success would be precisely that Labubu does not seem something Chinese. Its ambiguous design makes it more consumable by a massive audience. The corporate image of its parent company, Pop Mart, is also more ambiguous or “less China”, something that according to this journalist is intentional and would have a goal: “There is less likely that there is a violent reaction if Beijing does something wrong.” And China became cool. They told it in This Economist articlewhere they explore the change of image that China has experienced since the West in recent years. A clear indicator is the success of Chinese cultural products such as The movie Ne Zha 2or video games like ‘Genshin Impact’ and ‘Black Myth: Wukong‘. Tiktok’s success, his leadership in industries such as The electric car or the drones They have contributed to improving the image of the country outside their borders, something that coincides with a growing United States Negative Vision Under Trump’s mandate. Image | Declan Sun in Unspash In Xataka | A new potentially disruptive scenario opens in global energy: China has touched the oil in oil

What is Phishingalert and how to use it to avoid scams of impersonation of identity on online casinos

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Let’s explain What is and how the service works Phishingalert of the Government of Spain. It is a security service with which you can be notified when they are registered with your data in an betting house, and thus prevent them from using some campaign of Phishing First to steal your data and then to use them for this purpose. We are going to start the article explaining what this system is and how you can understand what it really does. Then, we will tell you how you can register in it. What is the Phishingalert system The Phishingalert system is a service launched in 2023 by the General Directorate of Planning of the Game (DGOJ), belonging to the Ministry of Consumer. It is a system of alerts for impersonation of identitywith which to be on warning if someone wants to cheat you in an alert house. Every month we receive several Phishing messages with which cybercriminals try to get our personal data and data from our cards. And in addition to these methods, there may also be some data filtration of some online service that includes your card number or similar. With these personal data of yours, something that many cybercriminals do is Register with your name in betting houses To cheat you with it. Come on, they get through you, use your bank account, and When you want to account They have scammed 300 euros in an betting house. Or it may also happen that they do not use your bank data, and that Only use your ID To supplant your identity. In these cases, everything played in betting houses could appear in your income statement even if another person has played, so you also have to pay for it. And this is where phishingalert comes into play, a service you can register if you want to Prevent unauthorized registrations in online gambling. Specifically, in those gambling included within the scope of Law 13/2011, and in which an identification is needed to play, and that is collaborating with the DGOJ identity verification system. Come on, you should know that It doesn’t work for all online gaming In general, but for those most reliable and legal, those who really verify your identity. When you register in Phishingalert, you will receive A report with all the services that have verified your identity So far, online game operators. So you can know if someone has used your data without your permission. In addition to this, once you have registered, every time a new gaming operator verifies your identity when registering, it will compare that data with the people registered in Phishingalert. Names, surnames, birth date and ID will be verified. AND If there is a coincidence with your data, a notification will be sent to you To indicate that you will have to go to the online service to complete the registration. How to register in Phishingalert To register in this alert service for phishingalert identity supplantation, you have to go to the official service website. Enter the page Sortingand in it click on Online presentation. That will appear. This will take you to a very old -looking page. In it, you have to click on the button Register That will appear above all. Now you will go to a pretty confusing page. In it you have to ignore the buttons in above, and go down to the section of Protection of personal data. In it, Choose one of the options for NATURAL PERSONS REGISTRATIONwhich can be without Digital certificate and introducing your data by hand, but you can also do it using any of them, including the FNMT certificate and the DNIE. In addition, you can also use the Permanent key. Now you will go to a page where you have to fill your data. If you have used your digital certificate, the personal will be registered. In addition to your name and surname, or your ID, you also have to Choose the notification formwhich can be by email or by normal mail. In addition, you also have to write your email twice to receive communications, write a password that will combine with your ID to log in, and your mobile phone to receive any notice also. Now you will go to a screen where, under an introductory text you will see the data you have chosen. In the event that you are satisfied with them click on the button Confirm That appears on you. When you do, it will be sent to you An email with a link To verify your data. When you press it, you will have to log in and ready, you will have registered. In Xataka Basics | What is the difference: malware, viruses, worms, spyware, Trojans, ransomware, etc.

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