Grandparent scams happen when a cybercriminal impersonates a victim’s family member, such as a grandchild, to convince them that there is an emergency. Despite the name of this scam, the victim doesn’t always have to be a grandparent or grandchild. The primary goal of these scams is to extort money from a victim by pretending that their loved one is in danger.

Ponzo schemes continue to grow in complexity and notoriety. These schemes are not transactions or one-time hacks. “Ponzi schemes are fraudulent business operations that promise high returns with little or no risk, claiming investors' money will go towards a legitimate investment.” Investors believe they will score huge returns from their initial investment, yet most only realize once it is too late that the entire scheme is doomed to fail from the beginning.

LinkedIn is the world's largest professional networking service for accountants, policemen, politicians, advertising professionals, business executives, college students, investment bankers, and consultants. Most use LinkedIn to connect with others and help with career development, new business contacts, and professional networking. However, job scams and other online cybercriminals use LinkedIn features for fraudulent activities.

Google Chat is a popular communication software that allows you to share content and send messages in real time. Individuals use it for personal communication or collaboration with teams at work. However, as its popularity is increasing, people are using it as their primary form of communication.

Pig butchering scams came onto the scene a few years ago and have been gaining momentum ever since. A unique take on an old classic, pig butchering is a typical investment scam with a romantic or relationship-based twist. The large sums of "invested" money are typically funneled into fake crypto apps where they are promptly lost.

You can stay protected against tech-support scams by learning to spot them and following tips to avoid them, such as never answering unsolicited calls from unknown numbers, never giving someone remote access to your computer and not clicking on malicious advertisements. Continue reading to learn more about how you can protect yourself against tech-support scams and what to do if you’ve fallen for this type of scam.

Top tips is a weekly column where we highlight what’s trending in the tech world today and list out ways to explore these trends. This week, we’re showing you how to spot a fraud call and avoid getting scammed. Microsoft, AT&T, the FBI, and the IRS—what do these four entities have in common? Most likely, you or someone you know has received a call from somebody impersonating these entities.

A large-scale fraud operation, dubbed "Ticket Heist," is exploiting over 700 domain names to sell fake tickets for the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris. This campaign, which appears to predominantly target Russian-speaking users, extends beyond the Olympics to other major sports and music events, posing a significant risk to potential ticket buyers. Details of the Ticket Heist Campaign.

Pretexting is a type of social engineering attack in which the scammer manipulates their target into sharing private information or sending money by making up a story. Pretexting can occur on the phone, via text message, through email or in person. The goal of pretexting scams is typically to infect your device with malware, steal your money, breach private data and more.

Read Also: Four cybercrime ring members arrested for hacking government websites, teen gets one year in prison for hacking teacher’s laptop, and more.