A so-called financial columnist was recently scammed out of $50k in one of those “shoe-box” scams. There are entire YouTube channels dedicated to exposing this problem. The scam involves elaborate coordination across countries and continents. The complexity probably rivals that of some illegal drug organizations.

More here: www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/vi…

3 things I’d like to add to this:

  1. I am NOT a financial nor a security expert. I am a person on the internet who merely has a passing interest in both subjects.

  2. Please be very selective in who you take advice from, especially if they claim to be a “journalist expert”. This is not meant to criticize journalists in general. Some of these people do amazing work, sometimes risking their lives. And many are indeed experts in money and finance. But it appears that, at least in this space, there is not enough accountability.

  3. Please check on your family members who might not be very, er, “tech savvy”. Particularly elderly relatives. Elderly people in English-speaking countries are particularly easy targets for these types of scams.

Jake Kepins has a great summary over on Threads about the “expert journalist” as well. Worth the read. https://www.threads.net/@left_of_the_jokers/post/C3k2LGxruik