The filter scam that asks you to log in first
The filter is the packaging; the login is the product. Why a real effect never needs your social password on another website, and what to do in what order if you gave it.
Tag
#Impersonation
A deepfake call is no longer easy to spot
Faces and voices are synthesised live from material already public. The visual tells are disappearing — the behavioural ones are not, and neither is calling back on a number you already had.
The charity scam that follows every disaster
Fraudulent appeals attach themselves to real crises, so the news being true proves nothing. Four checks that take four minutes, and one that is conclusive on its own.
The install link that skips the store entirely
It removes review, developer identity and the ability to have a bad app disabled later — and the fraudulent version depends on you not knowing what was removed.
The support chat that opened by itself
Because you arrived rather than being contacted, every instinct about unsolicited approaches is disabled — and searching for a helpline is how most people get there.
Screen sharing is remote access with better manners
The request sounds smaller than what it grants — and one familiar-looking prompt turns being watched into being operated.
Checking an invoice before you pay it
It rides on a real transaction between two parties who genuinely owe each other money, with one field changed — which is why it survives the scrutiny that stops other frauds.
Checking who actually published an app
A clone can copy the name, the icon and the screenshots. It cannot copy four years of unrelated software published under the same account, which is why the developer link is worth more than the review score.
The investment group that added you without asking
Being added feels like nothing happened, which is the point. Inside is a room of scripted accounts, a small real payout to buy your belief, and a deadline to stop you checking.
The unpaid toll text, and every message shaped like it
Government impersonation is the fastest-growing category of scam report, and the toll message is its most successful form. The reason it works has nothing to do with tolls.