FCC reminds consumers to keep ahead of the latest quishing strategies

Quishing QR Code Scam

Scammers are increasingly using QR codes as consumers become comfortable with scanning QR codes can be found virtually everywhere, but while they boost convenience in an affordable way, quishing scams are becoming a growing problem. As is the case with virtually everything digital, scammers are abusing QR codes Scanning QR codes is a practice used for everything from reading a menu at a restaurant to paying a utility bill. That said, as they are also a simple way to share personal information, they have also been worked into scams –…

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Nothing Chats mobile app removed from Google Play Store because of huge privacy issues

Mobile app - Privacy issues

The developer has withdrawn its iMessage bridge application following discovery of widespread data concerns. The Nothing Chats iMessage compatible mobile app has been taken off the Google Play Store by Nothing and Sunbird because of widespread privacy concerns. The companies took the application down voluntarily, but only after the data usage behaviors were discovered. The mobile app was taken down after it was found out that Sunbird was logging and retaining user vCards, messages, and more. That said, that same user data was also downloadable by other parties. This led…

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Quishing trends take off as smartphone users increasingly scammed by QR code scans

Quishing - QR code scam alert

A new report suggests that the number of attacks using quick response barcodes is up 587 percent. Quishing, that is, the practice of launching a cybersecurity attack by way of a QR code scan, is a trend that is rising much more rapidly than many smartphone users realize, placing them at risk of falling victim to one of these scams. According to a recent report, the rise in instances from August to September 2023 alone was a staggering 587 percent. Researchers from Check Point’s Harmony Email team observed thousands of…

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Canadian government bans WeChat Chinese app from its devices

Chinese app ban - Image of Canadian federal government building

The country officially announced that the application is banned on all government gadgets. Canada’s federal government has announced that it is banning the popular Chinese app WeChat from all its devices. WeChat, often nicknamed the “everything app”, is like a combination of many other popular applications. The Chinese app is somewhat like a combination of Facebook, WhatsApp, Amazon and Tinder, all in one place. That said, there are some substantial concerns about the application among Western governments. Mainly, this has to do with the potential for the application to be…

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