Christina Newhall – Scambook Blog

Photo of hands dispensing foaming hand soap

Is Antibacterial Soap Dangerous? FDA Launches Investigation

December 18, 2013

Article, Consumer, Health and Fitness Programs

Is antibacterial soap dangerous? The FDA has recently launched an investigation into this product most of us have in our homes. They're wondering if antibacterial soap benefits our health, if it's worth the cos...

1 Easy Tip for Creating A Super-Secure Password You Can Actually Remember

Christina Newhall

December 12, 2013

Article, Technology

2

Recently, hackers stole nearly 2 million passwords for Facebook, Gmail, Twitter and other popular sites. The data breach places users at risk of identity theft, computer viruses and other types of digital fraud...

Identity Theft Alert: JP Morgan Chase Bank Suffers Massive UCard Customer Privacy Breach

Christina Newhall

December 11, 2013

Article, Financial Services, Money

1

As we’ve discussed many times before on this blog, data breaches are a big deal. If your private information is leaked, you could suffer the effects of fraud and identity theft for years to come. And, unfort...

Hackers Steal Nearly 2 Million Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Yahoo! Passwords

Christina Newhall

December 6, 2013

Article, Technology

Do you use Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, Yahoo! or YouTube? Hackers have stolen the usernames and passwords from approximately 2 million users of these incredibly popular sites. The hackers used a keylogging vir...

Slow Black Friday Sales Mean Opportunity for Smart Shoppers

Christina Newhall

December 4, 2013

Article, Consumer

Love it or hate it, Black Friday is a phenomenon that’s hard to ignore in the American retail landscape. Once Thanksgiving is over, it’s time to think about Christmas shopping – though, of course, in recent yea...

Photo of a Cash Advance payday loan store

Cash Advance PayDay Loans Target Military Families

Christina Newhall

November 27, 2013

Article, Money

If you’re not familiar with the controversy over payday loans, let me sum it up this way: their opponents call the practice “predatory lending” for a reason. Double-digit or even triple-digit interest rates mea...

The Big Secret Internet Scammers Don’t Want You to Know

Christina Newhall

November 22, 2013

Article, General Consumer, Scam Alerts

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice shame on me – so the saying goes. And when it comes to phishing and telemarketing scams, it seems that those fooled once may have unintentionally put themselves on a sh...

Color photo of an IRS Form 1040 being filled out

IRS Issues $4 Billion in Tax Refunds to Scammers & Identity Thieves

Christina Newhall

November 19, 2013

Article, Money

Tax season is stressful and tedious. Honestly, there are only two things that really keep U.S. taxpayers filling out the mountains of numbered forms and itemizing receipts each year. First: the fear of an audit...

3 New Anti-Scam Tips for Donating to Philippines Typhoon Relief Aid Charity

Christina Newhall

November 15, 2013

Article, Consumer

Do you want to donate to a Philippines Typhoon relief aid charity? If news of the destruction rendered by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines has moved you to help, you’re not alone. Money is certainly desperatel...

Are Herbal Supplements a Scam? New DNA Evidence Exposes Natural Pills

Christina Newhall

November 13, 2013

Article, Consumer, Featured, General Consumer, Health and Fitness Programs

At Scambook, we like to encourage a healthy degree of skepticism when it comes to herbal supplements, natural remedies, and unconventional cures. Companies selling "all natural" herbal supplements and diet pill...

a well stocked wine cellar ready for seasonal celebrations

Vintage Wine Goes Sour: French Police Bust Huge Counterfeit Wine Operation

Christina Newhall

November 11, 2013

Article, Lifestyle

French police have broken up a major counterfeiting ring. But the criminals weren’t passing off fake bank notes or bearer bonds -- they were selling counterfeit bottles of wine. The scheme involved fake bott...

Bottles for Snake Oil and Other Dubious Cures

How Those “One Weird Trick” Belly Fat Ads Scam You

Christina Newhall

November 11, 2013

Article, Consumer, General Consumer

1

Anyone who spends time on the Internet has seen these too-good-to-be-true ads: Get "this one weird trick" to reduce belly fat, cure diabetes or ADHD, or lower your utility bills with a secret tip "they" don't w...

Identity Theft Alert: Adobe Privacy Breach was 3 Times Worse than Estimated

Christina Newhall

November 4, 2013

Article, Technology

A few weeks ago, Adobe – the company behind Photoshop, Acrobat, Illustrator, and other Creative Cloud software solutions – announced that it had been the target of a large-scale private data breach. According t...

How To Get Free Stuff without Signing Up for Spam or Telemarketing Calls

Christina Newhall

October 29, 2013

Article, Consumer, General Consumer

Want to get awesome free stuff online? Sure, who doesn't? Of course, there's no shortage of "free stuff" scams aimed at taking advantage of this natural desire. Other times, free giveaways are just a ploy to co...

Hackers Use Scandalous Webcam Footage to Blackmail Teen into Robbing Parents

Christina Newhall

October 25, 2013

Article, Technology

Computer viruses called Trojan horses can harm more than just your computer. They can also destroy your personal life. When 17-year-old Hector Hernandez's computer was infected with a Trojan horse, it enable...

Identity Thieves Try to Steal Credit Card Data from Florida Nordstrom Customers

Christina Newhall

October 24, 2013

Article, Consumer, General Consumer

If you’re a Nordstrom shopper from Aventura, Florida, you might want to check your credit card statements for unauthorized charges or other signs of identity theft. Six men allegedly collaborated on a scheme...

Scammers Impersonate Virginia Police Chief in IRS Back-Taxes Fraud

Christina Newhall

October 21, 2013

Article, Scam Alerts

No one likes paying taxes, but the only thing worse than paying taxes is getting caught not paying taxes. Many consumers fear being audited by the IRS, and recently, scammers have been using those fears to prey...

Work From Home Scam: Identity Thieves Promise Jobs with Google or Facebook to Steal Credit Card Info

Christina Newhall

October 16, 2013

Article, Scam Alerts, Work at Home Programs

4

Scammers are using well-known Internet brands like Google, Facebook and Yahoo to trick people into purchasing “work from home kits” and then ripping off victims’ credit cards, bank accounts, or stealing their p...

Twitter IPO Drives Confused Investors to Defunct Penny Stock: Was It a Scam?

Christina Newhall

October 9, 2013

Article, Listing Fraud, Money

Twitter’s filing for an IPO last week was the most exciting thing to happen to social media stocks since Facebook. The popular social media platform announced it would be using the ticker symbol TWTR (makes ...

Fake Sallie Mae Instagram Scam Using Student Loan Forgiveness to Steal Private Info

Christina Newhall

October 7, 2013

Article, General Consumer, Scam Alerts

1

If last week’s government shutdown weren’t bad enough news for consumers, fraudulent accounts for student loan giant Sallie Mae have started popping up on Instagram. The fake Sallie Mae accounts claim they’re o...

Weird News: County Fair Carnival Worker Jailed for Hello Kitty Fraud

Christina Newhall

October 4, 2013

Article, Scam Alerts

As the season of state and county fairs draws to a close, the rides are being towed away, racing pigs are resting up for next year, and a 65-year-old carnival worker is in handcuffs for accepting bribes for gia...

Author Christina Newhall