In the scam world, Ann’s experience, from the minute her accounts were hacked, through the phone call with the “help desk,” is called a Trojan horse. It’s a seemingly legitimate process that draws in an unsuspecting victim.
A key focus has been the rapid increase in what’s known as “neighbor spoofing.” These “neighbor-spoofing” calls commonly appear on a consumer’s caller ID with the same area code and local exchange as the consumer in order to increase the likelihood of the consumer to answer the call.
The scam caller falsely claims that the call originates from the Cosmetology Board and asks for credit card information in order to perform a mandated inspection. The Cosmetology Board does not charge a fee or require credit card information to perform an inspection.