Buckle up, because this story has grounds to be a wild ride. After once serving as an inspiration to users across social media, things have taken a turn as one content creator is being accused of stealing from her clients.

Crypto scammers certainly made 2021 their year. According to a new report from CNBC, the trifling thieves took a gobsmacking $14 billion (with a B!) from their unsuspecting victims last year. That’s a 79 percent jump from the amount of money they stole in 2020 — the year the pandemic began. Analysts for CNBC blame the rise of DeFi — decentralized finance — platforms for this record-breaking uptick in theft from crypto scammers. In a nutshell: more platforms equals more opportunities for wannabe scammers to rip you off. The outlet also referred to Chainanalysis’s annual CryptoCrime report (yes, this is a thing) to analyze the trends in thievery. “DeFi is one of the most exciting areas of the wider cryptocurrency ecosystem, presenting huge opportunities to entrepreneurs and cryptocurrency users alike,” Chainalysis wrote in its annual Crypto Crime report. “But DeFi is unlikely to realize its full potential if the same decentralization that makes it so dynamic also allows for widespread...

50 Cent claims his social accounts fell victim to a cryptocurrency scheme. Fox News reports the rapper’s X account had been hacked to promote a cryptocurrency token called $GUNIT. The token’s name suggests his former Hip-Hop group G-Unit. On Friday, June 21, 2024, the scammer allegedly wrote on 50 Cent’s account, “$GUNIT for winners only…” Complex reports 50 Cent’s Instagram account included screenshots of the $GUNIT crypto, which showed under $1 million in market value, and that number quickly increased. The message gained popularity, accumulating 57,000 likes on June 22 and drawing hundreds of users to the comments section, with some even making purchases. Despite this, 50 Cent stated he was not associated with the venture, and his accounts were later locked, Fox News notes. 50 Cent claims the hacker made $3 million within 30 minutes from the scam. It’s not possible to verify 50 Cent’s assertions, nor is there a way to confirm if the hacker earned the alleged $3 million. “My...

In 2016, Spike Lee called Chance the Rapper a fraud, according to XXL Magazine . Today, there’s someone out there that uses his name — and there’s no question that it’s a fraud. A new report released by CBS News revealed that a Chicago-area man has been using the rapper’s name to defraud unsuspecting women out of tens of thousands of dollars. The man, who is going by the pseudonym Jeffrey Washington, has been claiming that he’s working with CEDA (Community and Economic Development Association), together with Chance the Rapper, to help people “pay off financial obligations.” These financial obligations include mortgages, utility bills, and car insurance. But there’s just one problem with the scam: CEDA doesn’t cover what the scammer claims it covers. Instead, according to its official website, CEDA provides “heating and cooling assistance” to low-income residents of Chicago. And while the not-for-profit doesn’t provide mortgage assistance, it does provide assistance with affordable...

Let this be a lesson to beware of those Internet scams! According to Complex, social media scammers managed to rake in $770 million due to fraudulent behavior across the Internet in 2021. However, the amount only accounts for 25 percent of fraud that was actually reported last year.

Of all the buzzwords and concepts in the tech sector today, cryptocurrency is perhaps the most misunderstood. Although many people can’t tell the difference between digital currency and cryptocurrency (in a nutshell: all crypto is digital currency, but not all digital currency is crypto), even more people have huge misconceptions about cryptocurrency (no, it will not destabilize the American dollar — Wall Street’s habit of playing blackjack with our retirement funds is doing a great job of that on their own). And, of course not a day goes by when we’re not inundated with Direct Messages from Insta-scammers who swear we can get rich off of crypto if we just give them money (all while they’re conflating Forex and crypto, which is nothing if not hilarious). Fetty Wap, however, doesn’t have any of those problems. “Thankfully, my brother filled me in on the world of cryptocurrency,” he told AfroTech. “I had a lot of questions — like everyone, really — but fortunately, he was educated...

Everyday our inboxes are full of phishing emails. Most of the time, it’s very hard to figure out which emails are legitimate or not.  With that in mind, Google created a fun quiz to put your cybersecurity skills to the test and help individuals pinpoint scam emails in their inbox. Phishing is an attempt by scammers to trick you into giving up your personal information by pretending to be someone you know- usually through a legitimate-looking email message. These phishing emails consist of links to fake websites that request the input of personal information like credit card account numbers, pins and passwords. Scammers then take this data and use it to steal your identity. Understanding how incredibly good scammers are at creating legit looking messages, the quiz consist of 8 emails-that may or may not be real. During the quiz, you can hover over links to help you figure out if the email is fake or not. Don’t worry about getting the wrong answer, because after each question the quiz...

There are people who cannot afford to work a regular job, and the reasons might be a disability, old age or having to raise children. For these people, having a legitimate source of income while working from home is the ideal solution to their problem. It creates an opportunity to earn money while having time for family and other needs that might be just as important. The challenge is that looking to earn money in the comfort of your home opens you up to a lot of scammers, as it becomes more difficult to verify the authenticity of some ventures. That said, as with most projects, it could be a dream come true if you are careful and are willing to devote your time and energy to making sure things work out. Here are the best strategies to consider if you’re looking to earn money from home: Consulting If you have expertise in a field, one of the best ways to earn money from that would be to market yourself as a consultant and provide professional services or advice for a fee....