An official in a small Michigan county has resigned after being tricked Attack.Phishing into wiring $ 50,000 to an overseas bank account . Shiawassee County apparently was the victim of a phishing scam Attack.Phishing . Financial administrator Patricia Fitnich believed she was replying to an email from another county official about paying a bill for research and development . The money was supposed to go to a bank in Texas , according to Commissioner Daniel McMaster , but actually was transferred to a South African bank . A county administrator , Michael Herendeen , confirmed to TV5 Fitnich had `` done a number of fine things '' over two years but she realized `` this was a major mistake . ''

MacEwan University said its IT systems are secure after the institution was defrauded Attack.Phishing of nearly $ 12 million in a phishing scam Attack.Phishing compounded by human error . The university learned it was the victim of an attack Attack.Phishing last Wednesday , Aug 23 after a series of fraudulent emails “ convinced university staff to change electronic banking information for one of the university ’ s major vendors. ” On Friday , Clark Builders — an Edmonton construction and contracting company — confirmed it was the vendor fraudsters posed as in the online attack . The fraud Attack.Phishing led university staff members to transfer $ 11.8 million to a bank account they believed belonged to the vendor , the university said . MacEwan University spokesperson David Beharry said three relatively low-level staff members were involved in the transfer . He said there was no process in place which required staff members to phone the vendor to confirm the request to change banking information , but that will change . “ We are looking at the levels of staffing it must go through for authorization before somebody changes that , ” he said . “ There is going to be a secondary and tertiary level of approval before this goes on . ”

Evaldas Rimasauskas , 49 who allegedly conned Attack.Phishing two of the world 's biggest companies was arrested on fraud charges GOOGLE and Facebook have admitted they were conned out Attack.Phishing of an alleged $ 100million ( £77million ) in a phishing scam Attack.Phishing . The two world 's biggest companies fell victim after a Lithuanian man allegedly tricked Attack.Phishing employees into wiring over the money to bank accounts that he controlled , Fortune reported on Thursday . Evaldas Rimasauskas , 48 , is accused of posing as Attack.Phishing an Asia-based manufacturer and deceived Attack.Phishing the internet giants from around 2013 until 2015 . He was arrested earlier this month in Lithuania at the request of US authorities The conman is said to have forged Attack.Phishing email addresses , invoices and corporate stamps to impersonate Attack.Phishing Quanta and trick Attack.Phishing them into paying for computer supplies . Rimasauskas , who is awaiting extradition proceedings , has denied the allegations . The US Department of Justice ( DOJ ) said last month : `` Fraudulent phishing emails were sent Attack.Phishing to employees and agents of the victim companies , which regularly conducted multi-million-dollar transactions with [ the Asian ] company . '' Both Facebook and Google have confirmed the fraud and said that they had been able to recoup funds . But they did n't reveal how much money it had transferred and recouped . A Google spokeswoman said : `` We detected this fraud against our vendor management team and promptly alerted the authorities . '' `` We recouped the funds and we ’ re pleased this matter is resolved . '' A spokeswoman for Facebook added : `` Facebook recovered the bulk of the funds shortly after the incident and has been cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation . '' Security experts said the recent cyber attack highlighted how sophisticated phishing scams Attack.Phishing are being used to fool Attack.Phishing even two of the biggest tech companies .

Email is great for keeping in touch with friends and family and quickly conversing with colleagues but it ’ s not without its pitfalls . Scammers approach Attack.Phishing people via email to encourage them to hand over private or sensitive information about themselves or the company they work for . “ The most prevalent threats we see targeting consumers today are phishing attacks Attack.Phishing predominantly via email , where scammers try to trick Attack.Phishing people into sharing private information or access to money , ” Jessica Brookes , director of EMEA consumer at McAfee , told the Press Association . “ The first thing you should know about phishing Attack.Phishing is that it almost always involves a form of ‘ social engineering ’ , in which the scammer tries to manipulate Attack.Phishing you into trusting them for fraudulent purposes , often by pretending to be Attack.Phishing a legitimate person or business . Secondly , if an email doesn ’ t seem legitimate , it probably isn ’ t ; it ’ s always better to be safe than sorry. ” Here are four of the most popular scams circulating today : 1 ) The CEO Scam This scam Attack.Phishing appears as Attack.Phishing an email from a leader in your organisation , asking for highly sensitive information like company accounts or employee salaries . The hackers fake Attack.Phishing the boss ’ s email address so it looks like Attack.Phishing a legitimate internal company email . That ’ s what makes this scam so convincing – the lure is that you want to do your job and please your boss . But keep this scam in mind if you receive an email asking for confidential or highly sensitive information , and ask the apparent sender directly whether the request is real , before responding . 2 ) The Lucky Email How fortunate ! You ’ ve won a free gift , an exclusive service , or a great deal on a trip abroad . Just remember , whatever “ limited time offer ” you ’ re being sold , it ’ s probably a phishing scam Attack.Phishing designed to get you to give up your credit card number or identity information . The lure here is something free or exciting at what appears to be little or no cost to you . 3 ) The Urgent Email Attachment Phishing emails that try to trick Attack.Phishing you into downloading a dangerous attachment that can potentially infect your computer and steal your private information have been around for a long time . This is because they work . You ’ ve probably received emails asking you to download attachments confirming a package delivery , trip itinerary or prize . They might urge you to “ respond immediately ” . The lure Attack.Phishing here is offering you something you want , and invoking a sense of urgency to get you to click . 4 ) The Romance Scam This one can happen completely online , over the phone , or in person once initial contact is established . But the romance scam always starts with someone supposedly looking for love . The scammer often poses as Attack.Phishing a friend-of-a-friend via email and contacts you directly . But what starts as the promise of love or partnership , often leads to requests for money or pricey gifts . The scammer will sometimes spin a hardship story , saying they need to borrow money to come visit you or pay their phone bill so they can stay in touch . The lure here is simple – love and acceptance . Brookes added : “ It is everyone ’ s responsibility to be aware and educate each other – we need to share knowledge and collaborate to protect ourselves against the current threats we face as people living in a connected world . ”

The IRS , state tax agencies and the nation ’ s tax industry urge people to be on the lookout for new , sophisticated email phishing scams Attack.Phishing that could endanger their personal information and next year ’ s tax refund . The most common way for cybercriminals to steal Attack.Databreach bank account information , passwords , credit cards or social security numbers is to simply ask for them . Every day , people fall victim to phishing scams Attack.Phishing that cost them their time and their money . Those emails urgently warning users to update their online financial accounts—they ’ re fake . That email directing users to download a document from a cloud-storage provider ? Fake . Those other emails suggesting the recipients have a $ 64 tax refund waiting at the IRS or that the IRS needs information about insurance policies—also fake . So are many new and evolving variations of these schemes . The Internal Revenue Service , state tax agencies and the tax community are marking National Tax Security Awareness Week with a series of reminders to taxpayers and tax professionals . Phishing attacks Attack.Phishing use email or malicious websites to solicit personal , tax or financial information by posing as Attack.Phishing a trustworthy organization . Often , recipients are fooled Attack.Phishing into believing the phishing Attack.Phishing communication is from someone they trust . A scam artist may take advantage of knowledge gained from online research and earlier attempts to masquerade as Attack.Phishing a legitimate source , including presenting the look and feel of authentic communications , such as using an official logo . These targeted messages can trick Attack.Phishing even the most cautious person into taking action that may compromise sensitive data . The scams may contain emails with hyperlinks that take users to a fake site . Other versions contain PDF attachments that may download malware or viruses . Some phishing emails will appear to come from Attack.Phishing a business colleague , friend or relative . These emails might be an email account compromise . Criminals may have compromised Attack.Databreach your friend ’ s email account and begin using their email contacts to send Attack.Phishing phishing emails . Not all phishing attempts Attack.Phishing are emails , some are phone scams . One of the most common phone scams is the caller pretending to be Attack.Phishing from the IRS and threatening the taxpayer with a lawsuit or with arrest if payment is not made immediately , usually through a debit card . Phishing attacks Attack.Phishing , especially online phishing scams Attack.Phishing , are popular with criminals because there is no fool-proof technology to defend against them . Users are the main defense . When users see a phishing scam Attack.Phishing , they should ensure they don ’ t take the bait Attack.Phishing .

The BBC recently uncovered that scammers are attempting to trick Attack.Phishing us through the abuse of multilingual character sets . By creating Attack.Phishing these lookalike sites with domain names that are almost identical to the URLs we know and trust , it ’ s made telling the difference between fake and genuine sites – and avoiding phishing scams Attack.Phishing – increasingly difficult . Research by security company Wandera revealed that people are three times more likely to fall for a phishing scam Attack.Phishing if it is on their phone . As a result , this new scam Attack.Phishing targets smartphone users , where the lookalike sites are harder to spot . A recent survey that tested the British public ’ s knowledge of scams and online security behaviours found 16 % of British adults have experienced online fraud . For phishing scams Attack.Phishing specifically , it ’ s one in ten of us . The most common age group to experience online fraud is 35 – 54 , with almost one-fifth ( 19 % ) of this demographic having fallen victim to a scam . CEO of Get Safe Online , Tony Neate , said : “ While online fraud is common , it becomes less so when you engage common sense . “ It is very easy to clone Attack.Phishing a real website and does not take a skilled developer long to produce a very professional-looking but malicious site , but if you know what to look for , it ’ s easy to stay safe. ” There are numerous ways to determine whether or not a received email is from a legitimate company trying to help , or a scammer looking to steal Attack.Databreach financial details . The initial sender is a good starting point . Take the time to look at the email address you ’ re being contacted by , not just the name . An unfamiliar address , or one that doesn ’ t correspond with the company , is a giveaway that it ’ s a fraudster . Then take a look at the greeting . If the email opens with ‘ Dear loyal customer ’ or ‘ Hello ( followed by your email address ) ’ then it ’ s another telltale sign . The real company would address you by your full name and make it personal to you . Careless slip-ups in the copy of the email are also giveaways . Does any of the grammar or spelling not sit quite right ? This is a big indicator that it ’ s a phishing scam Attack.Phishing . You wouldn ’ t expect poor language by someone from a legitimate company .

The BBC recently uncovered that scammers are attempting to trick Attack.Phishing us through the abuse of multilingual character sets . By creating Attack.Phishing these lookalike sites with domain names that are almost identical to the URLs we know and trust , it ’ s made telling the difference between fake and genuine sites – and avoiding phishing scams Attack.Phishing – increasingly difficult . Research by security company Wandera revealed that people are three times more likely to fall for a phishing scam Attack.Phishing if it is on their phone . As a result , this new scam Attack.Phishing targets smartphone users , where the lookalike sites are harder to spot . A recent survey that tested the British public ’ s knowledge of scams and online security behaviours found 16 % of British adults have experienced online fraud . For phishing scams Attack.Phishing specifically , it ’ s one in ten of us . The most common age group to experience online fraud is 35 – 54 , with almost one-fifth ( 19 % ) of this demographic having fallen victim to a scam . CEO of Get Safe Online , Tony Neate , said : “ While online fraud is common , it becomes less so when you engage common sense . “ It is very easy to clone Attack.Phishing a real website and does not take a skilled developer long to produce a very professional-looking but malicious site , but if you know what to look for , it ’ s easy to stay safe. ” There are numerous ways to determine whether or not a received email is from a legitimate company trying to help , or a scammer looking to steal Attack.Databreach financial details . The initial sender is a good starting point . Take the time to look at the email address you ’ re being contacted by , not just the name . An unfamiliar address , or one that doesn ’ t correspond with the company , is a giveaway that it ’ s a fraudster . Then take a look at the greeting . If the email opens with ‘ Dear loyal customer ’ or ‘ Hello ( followed by your email address ) ’ then it ’ s another telltale sign . The real company would address you by your full name and make it personal to you . Careless slip-ups in the copy of the email are also giveaways . Does any of the grammar or spelling not sit quite right ? This is a big indicator that it ’ s a phishing scam Attack.Phishing . You wouldn ’ t expect poor language by someone from a legitimate company .