5 cybersecurity scams to watch for in 2024
Stay informed on the latest trends in financial fraud — so that you can easily detect and help protect yourself from bad actors.
t’s easy to think you’ll never fall for a financial scam, but technological advancements are leading to increasingly sophisticated and convincing schemes. That’s why it’s critical to know how to protect yourself — and your assets — from these new threats.
Here are five emerging cybersecurity scams to know about and safeguard against in 2024. If you’re concerned about your online security or want help protecting yourself from fraudulent activity, contact your Ameriprise financial advisor.
Scam #1: Pig butchering
“Pig butchering” is a cryptocurrency investment scam that gets its namesake from the practice of fattening a pig before slaughter.1
In this scheme, the victim is the “pig” and the bad actor “fatten ups” the victim by first establishing a relationship (often over text message) that begins with a random interaction, such as a wrong number contact. Over time, the bad actors create rapport with the victim to establish trust. Eventually, they share information about a highly profitable investment opportunity, usually in cryptocurrency, with the goal of defrauding the victim.
In the scheme, the bad actor requests the victim to send funds to either a Bitcoin wallet or to a third-party account. Unbeknownst to the victim, the investment is a sham and the funds are transferred to the scammer. In some scenarios, the scammer will attempt to prove their legitimacy by sending screen shots of the supposed high-performing investment and may even release “returns” to the victim to convince them to invest more. Eventually, all communication from the scammer will stop, leaving the victim with a significant loss.
Scam #2: Financial institution impersonation
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