CASPER, Wyo. — On Thursday, the CyberWyoming Alliance announced information it has tracked related to common scams and phishing attacks in Wyoming. The organization tracked reported scams that occurred in 2021, providing the scam tracking analysis for the second year in a row.
“Most scams reported by Wyomingites are what the CyberWyoming Alliance labels the ‘fakes,’” the release states. “These include fake delivery notices on text or email impersonating UPS to a fake craft fair advertised by a scammer for the Gillette community.”
Fake notifications alerting users of well-known brands that their identification and passwords had been suspended, fake product offers and fake product sales were the most commonly reported scams in Wyoming in 2021.
“If you’ve ever felt that small sense of panic because you got an email from Amazon confirming a purchase for hundreds of dollars that you didn’t make, then you have received a fake product sale notification,” CyberWyoming President Laura Baker said.
The CyberWyoming Alliance noted that brand impersonation was common in 2021, with scammers most often impersonating Amazon, Microsoft, Norton (antivirus software), PayPal, and McAfee (antivirus software). Nationwide, Proofpoint’s State of the Phish 2021 report found that Amazon and Microsoft were the most commonly impersonated brands, according to the press release.
“It is important to note that it isn’t just the large, nationwide companies…
