You may have received this text message or one very similar: “We’ve detected a $3.95 charge for your recent usage of the Florida Express Lanes. To avoid extra fees, please settle your balance today. Click here to make your payment…” The text message appears legitimate, as does the attached link. The message, however, is fraudulent…
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Unless you are operating an alternatively-powered vehicle, a visit to the gas station is likely on your weekly to-do list. As technology has made the process of filling and paying easier than in decades past, many fuel-station consumers have become so accustomed to the routine that they pay little attention to conditions around them. We…
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Nationwide, victims are reaching out to law enforcement agencies regarding horrific phone calls indicating that a member of the family has been abducted by a Mexican drug cartel. Calls may come from a VoIP source which digitizes audio and transmits it over the internet or may simply appear as a standard local or out-of-area phone…
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For those of us old enough to remember life before the internet, today’s access to information online is remarkable. However, like most other technologies, criminals and wrong-doers have found numerous ways to turn this extraordinary tool into something dark, devious and dangerous. Despite ongoing and endless warnings to parents and their children, minors continue to…
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The Federal Trade Commission works diligently, throughout the year, to both document consumer fraud incidents, as well as to notify law enforcement of current trends and activities. The information is stored in a secure database called the “Consumer Sentinel Network” and available to law enforcement agencies only. This information is extremely valuable and we pass…
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