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Warning Issued For Nationwide Automated 'Sextortion' Scam: Here's What To Know Warning Issued For Nationwide Automated 'Sextortion' Scam: Here's What To Know
Warning Issued For Nationwide Automated 'Sextortion' Scam: Here's What To Know Authorities are warning the public of a nationwide automated scam in which scammers use people’s email addresses to coerce payments by intimidating them with threats of embarrassment. Victims of the "sextortion" scheme, usually children and teens, are manipulated to photograph or video material for extortionists. "After receiving the sexually explicit content from the child, the offender threatens to release that compromising material unless the victim produces additional explicit material," said the FBI in issuing the warning to parents, educators, caregivers, and children. In a sepa…

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by Joe Lombardi
Business
Dow Drops 1,000 Points: US Stock Market In Free Fall, Wiping Away Trillions In Capital Dow Drops 1,000 Points: US Stock Market In Free Fall, Wiping Away Trillions In Capital
Dow Drops 1,000 Points: US Stock Market In Free Fall, Wiping Away Trillions In Capital Investors hoping the major dip in the stock market last week was just a blip were greeted with even more losses on Monday, Aug. 5, as fears of a recession and global turmoil sent stocks tumbling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,200 points at one point but closed 1,000 down. The S&P 500 dropped more than 3 percent and the Nasdaq fell 3.4 percent.  The massive sell-off began on Friday after a US jobs report showed that employer hiring in July had slowed more than analysts had predicted. Investors were already on edge over fears the US Federal Reserve had left interest ra…

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by Josh Lanier
News
Scammers Posing As Well-Known Businesses, Agencies: Here's What To Know, Feds Say Scammers Posing As Well-Known Businesses, Agencies: Here's What To Know, Feds Say
Scammers Posing As Well-Known Businesses, Agencies: Here's What To Know, Feds Say Federal authorities are sounding the alarm over scams that impersonate well-known businesses and government agencies.  In 2023, data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alone show more than 330,000 reports of business impersonation scams and nearly 160,000 reports of government impersonation scams. That amounts to nearly half the frauds reported directly to the agency, the FTC said. Combined, reported losses to these impersonation scams topped $1.1 billion for the year, more than three times what consumers reported in 2020. Reports show an increasingly blurred line between busine…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
Police Issue Alert For Eversource Scam Making Rounds In Region Police Issue Alert For Eversource Scam Making Rounds In Region
Police Issue Alert For Eversource Scam Making Rounds In Region Alarm bells are sounding for some police departments in the region as reports continue coming about an ongoing scam involving fraudsters posing as Eversource utility workers. In Western Massachusetts, the Springfield Police Department issued an alert for an ongoing scam involving multiple victims who have received phone calls from scammers claiming to be from Eversource. During the phone call, the scammers would proceed to inform their victims that they owed money and their electricity would be shut off if they didn’t pay immediately. In response, the victims were then directed to a bitcoi…

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by Zak Failla
News
COVID-19: Beware Of These Five New Scammer Tactics, Utility Companies Warn COVID-19: Beware Of These Five New Scammer Tactics, Utility Companies Warn
Covid-19: Beware Of These Five New Scammer Tactics, Utility Companies Warn With the United States crossing a grim milestone as the COVID-19 death toll topped 500,000, utility companies are cautioning about new scams that have arisen in the past year as opportunistic fraudsters look to take advantage of the pandemic. Utility companies across the country have issued alerts regarding new scams as they seek to allow their customers to protect themselves from scammers exploiting the COVID-19 outbreak. According to officials, one of the largest threats involves scammers aggressively threatening to disconnect service, claiming that bills are past due, unless a payment is…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Man Accused Of Converting Profits From Knock-Off 'Gucci' Into Bitcoin Is Indicted Man Accused Of Converting Profits From Knock-Off 'Gucci' Into Bitcoin Is Indicted
Man Accused Of Converting Profits From Knock-Off 'Gucci' Into Bitcoin Is Indicted A Central Mass man has been accused of using Bitcoin to launder profits from the sale of illegal items such as knock-off Gucci bags. On Thursday, March 4, Alan Joseph 32, of Fitchburg, was indicted by a grand jury on the charges of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and 4 counts of money laundering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts, said. From August 2020 to February 2021, Joseph allegedly engaged in 4 financial transactions in which he used money he thought had been obtained through the sale of contraband and turned it into Bitcoin as a way to make the source of…

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by Kristin Palpini