Articles, analysis, and updates from Blackcat, grouped under Online Safety.
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Most scam advice focuses on spotting the fake: bad grammar, an odd link, a number you don’t recognise. That advice is getting less useful because the fakes keep improving. A caller can make your provider’s real support number appear on your screen, and a fraudulent text can land in the same thread as genuine messages.
Cashback on an Amazon order is not decided at Amazon’s checkout. It hinges on the rules of the cashback program linked to the card that paid:
Losing money to fraud is usually treated as a single event. For a large share of victims, it is the first of two. A recovery scam targets people who have already been defrauded, offering to trace and return the money in exchange for an upfront payment.
Every euro balance held in Europe works behind one of two legal mechanisms. Where the provider holds a banking licence, the balance falls under a deposit guarantee scheme. Where it holds an e-money licence, it falls under safeguarding rules instead.
A bank impersonation scam rarely opens with a stranger fishing for your details. It opens with someone who already has them: your name, the last four digits of your card, the town you live in, sometimes a purchase you made yesterday.
Digital payment fraud does not always begin with someone hacking into a bank account. It may begin with a convincing phone call, a password-reset message or an email containing new payment details. The payment system may work normally, but the user is tricked into sending money to the wrong person.