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Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it. |
https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2024_IC3Report.pdf
..Last year saw a new record for losses reported to IC3, totaling a staggering $16.6 billion. Fraud
represented the bulk of reported losses in 2024, and ransomware was again the most pervasive
threat to critical infrastructure, with complaints rising 9% from 2023. As a group, those over the age
of 60 suffered the most losses and submitted the most complaints. ..
I just personally experienced a very different type of phishing scam I had never encountered previously, or even seen reported. I have been desperately searching for a replacement part for an older car. There is a website that said they had the part available from referenced suppliers that I could order on the site. It was the typical e commerce protocol where you add the item to your shopping cart and then proceed to checkout. Everything seemed legit to the point of checkout but, when the checkout process started they requested an email address and then a credit card to verify. As soon as they had the credit card, the screen went blank and changed to a small window with some vague reference to an internet subscription. It became apparent that I was no longer in a normal complete your purchase information environment but it was also not clear what was going on instead. I backed out of the site and immediately checked my credit card account to find a pending $39.95 charge for some vague unknown vendor. After wasting a couple of hours, disputing the charge to keep from posting with the credit card company, I also had to find the merchant to cancel a recurring monthly charge for a subscription to some vague internet connection service.
The really ominous thing about the scam is there is really no obvious warning of potential trouble until you hit the “checkout” button on the website shopping cart. Then you think you are providing the normal information to complete an internet sale but are instead being tricked into agreeing to being charged for a recurring subscription that had no relation to the original transaction. For someone who di not understand what occurred, they would have found recurring monthly charges for something they did not recognize. I am normally very cautious online, but this one was very cleverly engineered. I am just passing the experience along so others become aware of this type of scam.
I have to wonder though if we will get a 2025 Internet Crime Report from what’s left of the FBI.
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