Cybercrime and Online Scams

The FBI is warning that scammers are stealing family photos from public social media accounts, digitally altering them, and using them as fake proof‑of‑life images in virtual kidnapping schemes that pressure victims into paying ransoms via urgent text messages. The bureau says criminals may send the doctored images in timed messages, spoof a loved one’s phone number, and threaten severe violence to short‑circuit rational thinking, and it urges Americans to lock down social media, avoid real‑time posts, create family codewords, and always try to contact the alleged victim before sending money.