Feeding Our Future Scam & Suspicious Food Stamps Texts

    Feeding Our Future Scam & Suspicious Food Stamps Texts
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    This week we bring you news about one fraudulent charity that allegedly stole a quarter of a billion dollars from children in need and one potential food stamps phishing scam that you need to watch out for.

    Feeding Our Future Scam

    Headlines were made when an organization in Minnesota that claimed to improve people’s access to healthy food was exposed as a scam.

    To date, 49 people, including the organization’s founder, Aimee Bock, have been charged in connection with the scheme — which is alleged to have taken over $250 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program. This money was intended to help feed less fortunate children throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

    It is alleged that Bock and her coconspirators submitted massive amounts of false documentation, including fraudulent meal count sheets, false invoices, and attendance rosters filled in with fake names, and used the stolen money to purchase expensive jewelry, luxury cars, houses, and a coastal resort property abroad.

    Scam Alert_Aimee Bock Scam_Feeding Our Future Website_20220929
    The Feeding Our Future website

    The organization had also set up its website to receive donations through GoFundMe and PayPal — although fortunately both of these donation methods don’t currently work, as you can see from the screenshots below.

    Scam Alert_Aimee Bock Scam_Feeding Our Future PayPal_20220929
    PayPal
    Scam Alert_Aimee Bock Scam_Feeding Our Future GoFundMe_20220929
    GoFundMe

    To read the Department of Justice’s full post about this fraud scheme, click here.

    Food Stamps Potential Scam

    This week we detected a possible phishing scam looking to exploit people eligible to receive food stamps. The following suspicious text message was sent out to people across the U.S.:

    • Snap notice: you are still approved for $1,000 in monthly food stamp benefits! file by 9/21 to get your benefits: {URL}

    The message contains a link (removed in the example above) that leads to www.foodstampregisterusa[.]com. This is a newly registered website, having only come online on July 28th of this year.

    Scam Alert_Food Stamp_ Fake Registration Website_20220929
    www.foodstampregisterusa[.]com

    The website’s age, coupled with the suspicious message, are both indicators that this is a likely scam. If you come across this website or similar ones, it is advisable not to submit any personal information.

    Combat Scams With Trend Micro Check

    Trend Micro Check is a browser extension and mobile app for detecting scams, phishing attacks, malware, and dangerous links — and it’s FREE!

    After you’ve pinned the Trend Micro Check extension, it will block dangerous sites automatically! (Available on Safari, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge).

    TMC_CTA_Extension_2022

    You can also download the Trend Micro Check mobile app for 24/7 automatic scam and spam detection and filtering. (Available for Android and iOS).

    TMC_CTA_Mobile_2022

    Check out this page for more information on Trend Micro Check.

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    • By Trend Micro | October 31, 2022
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