BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Have scammers targeted you? It's a growing problem that we've told you about before. Now the Better Business Bureau says there are a record number of phishing scams targeting everybody.
I spoke with the BBB and a cyber security expert about the most common threats and what you need to know.
"We're seeing them reported in record numbers," explained Katarina Schmieder, the Communications Director for the Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York.
She said from 2022 to 2023 reports of scams doubled and in 2024 we are on track to break another record.
"People are being targeted via text message," She said.
The BBB gets numerous complaints about the so-called "thruway text scam" telling people they have an unpaid toll and asking them to pay it immediately.
Another common scam right now is one we told you about earlier this month. An email from someone claiming to have inappropriate pictures and videos of you and threatening to release them if you don't pay. It starts with an image of your home to show you that they know where you live and then it goes on to say that they've installed spyware on all your devices. They then say they will share those images with all of your contacts unless you send payment through Bitcoin.
She said it's important to understand this is a scam and you should not engage with the sender.
"Scammers are adapting to new technologies so they're now targeting people via text messaging and they're using AI to send more sophisticated messages. We're seeing more scams involving cryptocurrency because it's so difficult to trace. If you end up sending that payment the odds of you getting your money back are unfortunately very slim," said Schmieder.
Cyber security expert Arun Vishwanath said you should also be aware of scammers stealing online tickets to events like Taylor Swift concerts.
"We know that Ticketmaster had a hack. There was a massive data breach that happened. There were some 500 million users whose data had been compromised. There's a massive lawsuit that's ongoing with Ticketmaster," he explained.
Vishwanath said hackers are accessing accounts and transferring tickets to other buyers, he recommended you use your app instead of the website.
"The app can have biometrics in it. The app can have real-time notifications in it and the app can also have two-factor authentification This way if people have your password they still can't access your account," he said.
Vishwanath and Schmieder said it's important to report a suspected hack or phishing scam and it's important to have your guard up.
