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Private health records of half a million Britons offered for sale on Chinese website

Technology minister tells Commons ‘de-identified’ information from UK Biobank advertised for sale on Alibaba

The confidential health records of half a million British volunteers have been offered for sale on Chinese website Alibaba, the UK government has confirmed.

The “de-identified” data, belonging to participants in the UK Biobank project, was found for sale on three separate listings last week. Ian Murray, the technology minister, told the Commons on Thursday that, after working with the Chinese government and Alibaba, the records had now been removed. It is not believed any sales were made.

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© Photograph: Dave Guttridge/UK Biobank/PA

© Photograph: Dave Guttridge/UK Biobank/PA

© Photograph: Dave Guttridge/UK Biobank/PA

Apple fixes iOS bug that kept deleted notifications, including chat previews

23 April 2026 at 12:27

Apple has released a software update that deals with an issue that could allow deleted notifications to be retrieved. Something that, in at least one reported case, was used by law enforcement during forensic analysis.

Apple fixed the issue in iOS and iPadOS versions 18.7.8 and 26.4.2 (check availability for your device at those links). The update deals with a singular security vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-28950.

Although the description is brief—“a logging issue was addressed with improved data redaction”—the impact points us in the right direction.

“Notifications marked for deletion could be unexpectedly retained on the device.”

This suggests that Apple’s bug was that iOS kept copies of notification content in an internal database for longer than intended, even after the messages “disappeared” or the app was uninstalled. In a case reported by 404 Media, law enforcement was able to recover those notifications using standard forensic tools once they had access to the unlocked device. The example in that reported case involved Signal.


Mobile protection, anywhere, anytime.


A response on X by Signal states:

“The FBI was able to forensically extract copies of incoming Signal messages from a defendant’s iPhone, even after the app was deleted, because copies of the content were saved in the device’s push notification database.”

Before we go into the update process, you may want to know that you can mute or hide notifications in Signal, which also protects them from prying eyes. In Signal, open your Settings and tap on Notifications. You can adjust several settings there. For example, I have mine set so I only see the name of the sender.

Install the update

For iOS and iPadOS users, you can check if you’re using the latest software version by going to Settings > General > Software Update. It’s also worth turning on Automatic Updates if you haven’t already. You can do that on the same screen.

Update settings on iPad
Update settings on iPad

Scammers know more about you than you think. 

Malwarebytes Mobile Security protects you from phishing, scam texts, malicious sites, and more. With real-time AI-powered Scam Guard built right in. 

Download for iOS → Download for Android → 

Apple fixes iOS bug that kept deleted notifications, including chat previews

23 April 2026 at 12:27

Apple has released a software update that deals with an issue that could allow deleted notifications to be retrieved. Something that, in at least one reported case, was used by law enforcement during forensic analysis.

Apple fixed the issue in iOS and iPadOS versions 18.7.8 and 26.4.2 (check availability for your device at those links). The update deals with a singular security vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-28950.

Although the description is brief—“a logging issue was addressed with improved data redaction”—the impact points us in the right direction.

“Notifications marked for deletion could be unexpectedly retained on the device.”

This suggests that Apple’s bug was that iOS kept copies of notification content in an internal database for longer than intended, even after the messages “disappeared” or the app was uninstalled. In a case reported by 404 Media, law enforcement was able to recover those notifications using standard forensic tools once they had access to the unlocked device. The example in that reported case involved Signal.


Mobile protection, anywhere, anytime.


A response on X by Signal states:

“The FBI was able to forensically extract copies of incoming Signal messages from a defendant’s iPhone, even after the app was deleted, because copies of the content were saved in the device’s push notification database.”

Before we go into the update process, you may want to know that you can mute or hide notifications in Signal, which also protects them from prying eyes. In Signal, open your Settings and tap on Notifications. You can adjust several settings there. For example, I have mine set so I only see the name of the sender.

Install the update

For iOS and iPadOS users, you can check if you’re using the latest software version by going to Settings > General > Software Update. It’s also worth turning on Automatic Updates if you haven’t already. You can do that on the same screen.

Update settings on iPad
Update settings on iPad

Scammers know more about you than you think. 

Malwarebytes Mobile Security protects you from phishing, scam texts, malicious sites, and more. With real-time AI-powered Scam Guard built right in. 

Download for iOS → Download for Android → 

Roblox clamps down on chats and age checks as legal pressure builds

23 April 2026 at 09:57

Roblox has long faced criticism over child safety on its platform. Now it has started settling with state attorneys over the issue, and the total is climbing fast.

On April 21, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced a $12.2 million settlement with the child-focused online gaming platform. The State of West Virginia also settled for $11 million the same day. Those came a week after Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford got the company to hand over $12 million.

Their problem with Roblox is clear from the settlement documents: they believe it hasn’t been adequately protecting children from predators on its platform.

What Roblox has to change

As part of Alabama’s settlement, Roblox must now run age checks on everyone via facial age estimation or a government ID starting May 1. That applies to both new and existing accounts. The company must now also monitor account behavior to catch users who lied about their age.

Adults and under-16s won’t be able to talk with each other at all unless they’re on a “trusted friend” list, added via QR code or a phone-contact import, and users that don’t undergo age verification can’t chat to anyone. 

Communication involving any minor cannot be encrypted, so law enforcement can read it during investigations. West Virginia’s settlement also insists that Roblox alert minors the first time they enter a private chat, so children understand how to communicate safely.

Roblox already stopped people from chatting without age verification as of January this year, but under new measures it will start restricting access to games for those that don’t undergo the process. Starting in June, the platform will split into three tiers: Roblox Kids for ages 5–8 will forbid any chats at all, and will only allow access to games labeled ‘minimal’ or ‘mild’ on its maturity scale. Those who don’t complete age verification will also have these restrictions. The other two account levels are Roblox Select for 9–15 year-olds, and standard accounts for those 16 and up.

Plenty more lawsuits to come

Three settlements in eight days totaling more than $35 million must hurt, but it’s just the beginning. Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Kentucky, and Tennessee are all pursuing similar claims: that Roblox exposed children to risk and then misled parents about its safeguards.

In February, LA County sued Roblox, accusing the platform of choosing profit over safety and leaving kids exposed to grooming and explicit content.

Roblox is also separately dealing with nearly 80 federal lawsuits filed by families in California alone. And Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has also issued legally-enforceable transparency notices to Roblox and other tech companies. These force them to detail what they’re doing to protect children. Those notices are backed by fines of A$825,000 a day (that’s about US$590,783) for non-compliance.

Where the money will go

The $12.2 million from Alabama’s settlement funds school resource officers through the state’s Safe School Initiative. Nevada’s is earmarked for the Boys & Girls Club and “nondigital activities,” plus a law-enforcement liaison and an online-safety awareness campaign. West Virginia will invest $500,000 in safety education workshops for parents and children, create a $1.5 million three-year public safety campaign, and spend $2.4 million on a dedicated internet safety specialist for six years.

Stay alert

There’s a predictable rhythm to how big tech companies face down state attorneys general. First comes pushback, then rhetoric about shared values, and then they start handing over cash.

It is a step forward that Roblox is agreeing to new safeguards, but questions remain.

In its own lawsuit against Roblox launched last month, Nebraska complained that the company’s existing age-check technology was inadequate. From the complaint:

“Rather than meaningfully protecting children, the system has repeatedly misclassified users’ ages, placing adults in child chat groups and minors in adult categories, while age-verified accounts for young children have already been traded on third-party marketplaces, undermining any purported safety benefits.”

What happens when the age-estimation AI guesses wrong on a 14-year-old who looks 17, or when a “trusted friend” QR code gets passed around a group chat somewhere it shouldn’t?

The company’s Persona age-check tool has also turned out to do more than check ages: researchers say they found an exposed frontend showing the system was also running facial recognition against watchlists.

Settlements address past concerns, but they don’t guarantee future safety. Parents must still do the work to ensure that they know what their kids are signing up for and who else they might be playing with.

For more information about the safety of Roblox and other services, check out our research: How Safe are Kids Using Social Media?


CNET Editors' Choice Award 2026

“One of the best cybersecurity suites on the planet.” 

According to CNET. Read their review


Roblox clamps down on chats and age checks as legal pressure builds

23 April 2026 at 09:57

Roblox has long faced criticism over child safety on its platform. Now it has started settling with state attorneys over the issue, and the total is climbing fast.

On April 21, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced a $12.2 million settlement with the child-focused online gaming platform. The State of West Virginia also settled for $11 million the same day. Those came a week after Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford got the company to hand over $12 million.

Their problem with Roblox is clear from the settlement documents: they believe it hasn’t been adequately protecting children from predators on its platform.

What Roblox has to change

As part of Alabama’s settlement, Roblox must now run age checks on everyone via facial age estimation or a government ID starting May 1. That applies to both new and existing accounts. The company must now also monitor account behavior to catch users who lied about their age.

Adults and under-16s won’t be able to talk with each other at all unless they’re on a “trusted friend” list, added via QR code or a phone-contact import, and users that don’t undergo age verification can’t chat to anyone. 

Communication involving any minor cannot be encrypted, so law enforcement can read it during investigations. West Virginia’s settlement also insists that Roblox alert minors the first time they enter a private chat, so children understand how to communicate safely.

Roblox already stopped people from chatting without age verification as of January this year, but under new measures it will start restricting access to games for those that don’t undergo the process. Starting in June, the platform will split into three tiers: Roblox Kids for ages 5–8 will forbid any chats at all, and will only allow access to games labeled ‘minimal’ or ‘mild’ on its maturity scale. Those who don’t complete age verification will also have these restrictions. The other two account levels are Roblox Select for 9–15 year-olds, and standard accounts for those 16 and up.

Plenty more lawsuits to come

Three settlements in eight days totaling more than $35 million must hurt, but it’s just the beginning. Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Kentucky, and Tennessee are all pursuing similar claims: that Roblox exposed children to risk and then misled parents about its safeguards.

In February, LA County sued Roblox, accusing the platform of choosing profit over safety and leaving kids exposed to grooming and explicit content.

Roblox is also separately dealing with nearly 80 federal lawsuits filed by families in California alone. And Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has also issued legally-enforceable transparency notices to Roblox and other tech companies. These force them to detail what they’re doing to protect children. Those notices are backed by fines of A$825,000 a day (that’s about US$590,783) for non-compliance.

Where the money will go

The $12.2 million from Alabama’s settlement funds school resource officers through the state’s Safe School Initiative. Nevada’s is earmarked for the Boys & Girls Club and “nondigital activities,” plus a law-enforcement liaison and an online-safety awareness campaign. West Virginia will invest $500,000 in safety education workshops for parents and children, create a $1.5 million three-year public safety campaign, and spend $2.4 million on a dedicated internet safety specialist for six years.

Stay alert

There’s a predictable rhythm to how big tech companies face down state attorneys general. First comes pushback, then rhetoric about shared values, and then they start handing over cash.

It is a step forward that Roblox is agreeing to new safeguards, but questions remain.

In its own lawsuit against Roblox launched last month, Nebraska complained that the company’s existing age-check technology was inadequate. From the complaint:

“Rather than meaningfully protecting children, the system has repeatedly misclassified users’ ages, placing adults in child chat groups and minors in adult categories, while age-verified accounts for young children have already been traded on third-party marketplaces, undermining any purported safety benefits.”

What happens when the age-estimation AI guesses wrong on a 14-year-old who looks 17, or when a “trusted friend” QR code gets passed around a group chat somewhere it shouldn’t?

The company’s Persona age-check tool has also turned out to do more than check ages: researchers say they found an exposed frontend showing the system was also running facial recognition against watchlists.

Settlements address past concerns, but they don’t guarantee future safety. Parents must still do the work to ensure that they know what their kids are signing up for and who else they might be playing with.

For more information about the safety of Roblox and other services, check out our research: How Safe are Kids Using Social Media?


CNET Editors' Choice Award 2026

“One of the best cybersecurity suites on the planet.” 

According to CNET. Read their review


Researcher claims Claude Desktop installs “spyware” on macOS

22 April 2026 at 13:53

Security researcher Alexander Hanff wrote an article titled Anthropic secretly installs spyware when you install Claude Desktop.

Claims like that are bound to create two sides, so we searched for an official rebuttal by Anthropic. But we couldn’t find one. It would surprise me very much if they’d be unaware of the claim, since there’s been some noise about it.

Users on Mastodon, Reddit, and LinkedIn are confirming the researcher’s findings and discussing the subject, so it’s hard to imagine Anthropic missed it.

Let’s look at the claims first.

While looking into another matter, the researcher discovered a Native Messaging host manifest on his Mac that he did not knowingly install. On Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers, extensions can exchange messages with native applications if they register a native messaging host that can communicate with the extension. 

By testing on a clean machine, Hanff discovered that Installing Claude Desktop for macOS drops a Native Messaging host manifest into multiple Chromium profiles (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi, Opera, Chromium), even including for browsers that are not actually installed yet.

The Native Messaging host manifest tells a Chromium‑based browser which local executable to invoke when an extension calls a native host, and those hosts run outside the browser sandbox with current users  permissions. Hanff therefore describes this as a “backdoor.” The manifest pre‑authorizes three Chrome extension IDs, so any extension with those IDs can call the helper via connectNative, giving it access to browser automation features.

Another objection is that Claude makes simple deletion futile since the manifest will be recreated the next time the user launches Claude Desktop.

It’s important here to point out that his article is about Claude Desktop, the Electron-based macOS application with bundle identifier com.anthropic.claudefordesktop, distributed as Claude.app. It is not about Claude Code, Anthropic’s command line developer tool. Claude Code is autonomous (“agentic”), allowing you to hand over a task, and it handles the planning and execution until done. So, for Claude Code, it would absolutely make sense to enable communication with browsers, provided they are present on the target system.

So, we have an application that writes into other apps’ profile/support directories (the browsers’ configuration area) and can act as the user, with capabilities like using the logged‑in browser session, DOM inspection, data extraction, form filling, and session recording. This expands the attack surface of every machine this manifest is dropped on, without asking for consent. 

Anthropic’s own launch blog on “Claude for Chrome,” which discusses Anthropic’s internal red‑team experiments, explicitly mentions prompt injection as a key risk and reports attack success rates of 23.6% (no mitigations) and 11.2% (with mitigations). Hanff cites this to argue that a pre‑positioned bridge is a non‑trivial risk.

How bad is it?

Native Messaging is a standard Chromium mechanism. Nothing here is an unknown or exotic technique per se. Chrome’s own documentation explains that Native Messaging hosts run at user privilege and are invoked by browser extensions through a manifest file. And as the researcher pointed out, the bridge does nothing. But it could potentially be abused.

I don’t think it’s fair to say that Claude Desktop installs spyware, but it does open a system up by expanding the attack surface.

Anthropic already had a separate, documented Native Messaging manifest for Claude Code that users sometimes manually copied into other Chromium browsers; the new behavior is that Claude Desktop now drops a Claude‑Desktop‑related manifest into multiple browser paths automatically.

It requires a combination of extension and host. Only combined with a matching browser extension, this bridge enables the user-like capabilities we listed earlier.

What we don’t know yet

Anthropic hasn’t published a detailed technical privacy spec for the Claude Desktop–browser bridge, so we don’t know exactly what data flows when the Chrome integration is used, beyond the general capabilities described in their documentation (session access, DOM reading, etc.).

The detailed analysis and most replication so far are on macOS. We’re in the dark about behavior on Windows and Linux, and the same is true across different browser install paths. That behavior has also not been comprehensively documented in public write‑ups.

I did reach out to Anthropic asking for a response. If and when we get an official response from Anthropic, I’ll add it here, so stay tuned.

Conclusion

Anthropic likely wanted “Claude in Chrome”‑style capabilities across Chromium‑based browsers, but that doesn’t excuse doing it silently and preinstalling the manifest into profile directories for multiple browsers, including ones that are not yet installed.

There are better ways to implement changes like these, and users should at least be made aware of them so they can weigh the advantages against the potential risks.


Stop threats before they can do any harm.

Malwarebytes Browser Guard blocks phishing pages and malicious sites automatically. Free, one click to install. Add it to your browser →

Researcher claims Claude Desktop installs “spyware” on macOS

22 April 2026 at 13:53

Security researcher Alexander Hanff wrote an article titled Anthropic secretly installs spyware when you install Claude Desktop.

Claims like that are bound to create two sides, so we searched for an official rebuttal by Anthropic. But we couldn’t find one. It would surprise me very much if they’d be unaware of the claim, since there’s been some noise about it.

Users on Mastodon, Reddit, and LinkedIn are confirming the researcher’s findings and discussing the subject, so it’s hard to imagine Anthropic missed it.

Let’s look at the claims first.

While looking into another matter, the researcher discovered a Native Messaging host manifest on his Mac that he did not knowingly install. On Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers, extensions can exchange messages with native applications if they register a native messaging host that can communicate with the extension. 

By testing on a clean machine, Hanff discovered that Installing Claude Desktop for macOS drops a Native Messaging host manifest into multiple Chromium profiles (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi, Opera, Chromium), even including for browsers that are not actually installed yet.

The Native Messaging host manifest tells a Chromium‑based browser which local executable to invoke when an extension calls a native host, and those hosts run outside the browser sandbox with current users  permissions. Hanff therefore describes this as a “backdoor.” The manifest pre‑authorizes three Chrome extension IDs, so any extension with those IDs can call the helper via connectNative, giving it access to browser automation features.

Another objection is that Claude makes simple deletion futile since the manifest will be recreated the next time the user launches Claude Desktop.

It’s important here to point out that his article is about Claude Desktop, the Electron-based macOS application with bundle identifier com.anthropic.claudefordesktop, distributed as Claude.app. It is not about Claude Code, Anthropic’s command line developer tool. Claude Code is autonomous (“agentic”), allowing you to hand over a task, and it handles the planning and execution until done. So, for Claude Code, it would absolutely make sense to enable communication with browsers, provided they are present on the target system.

So, we have an application that writes into other apps’ profile/support directories (the browsers’ configuration area) and can act as the user, with capabilities like using the logged‑in browser session, DOM inspection, data extraction, form filling, and session recording. This expands the attack surface of every machine this manifest is dropped on, without asking for consent. 

Anthropic’s own launch blog on “Claude for Chrome,” which discusses Anthropic’s internal red‑team experiments, explicitly mentions prompt injection as a key risk and reports attack success rates of 23.6% (no mitigations) and 11.2% (with mitigations). Hanff cites this to argue that a pre‑positioned bridge is a non‑trivial risk.

How bad is it?

Native Messaging is a standard Chromium mechanism. Nothing here is an unknown or exotic technique per se. Chrome’s own documentation explains that Native Messaging hosts run at user privilege and are invoked by browser extensions through a manifest file. And as the researcher pointed out, the bridge does nothing. But it could potentially be abused.

I don’t think it’s fair to say that Claude Desktop installs spyware, but it does open a system up by expanding the attack surface.

Anthropic already had a separate, documented Native Messaging manifest for Claude Code that users sometimes manually copied into other Chromium browsers; the new behavior is that Claude Desktop now drops a Claude‑Desktop‑related manifest into multiple browser paths automatically.

It requires a combination of extension and host. Only combined with a matching browser extension, this bridge enables the user-like capabilities we listed earlier.

What we don’t know yet

Anthropic hasn’t published a detailed technical privacy spec for the Claude Desktop–browser bridge, so we don’t know exactly what data flows when the Chrome integration is used, beyond the general capabilities described in their documentation (session access, DOM reading, etc.).

The detailed analysis and most replication so far are on macOS. We’re in the dark about behavior on Windows and Linux, and the same is true across different browser install paths. That behavior has also not been comprehensively documented in public write‑ups.

I did reach out to Anthropic asking for a response. If and when we get an official response from Anthropic, I’ll add it here, so stay tuned.

Conclusion

Anthropic likely wanted “Claude in Chrome”‑style capabilities across Chromium‑based browsers, but that doesn’t excuse doing it silently and preinstalling the manifest into profile directories for multiple browsers, including ones that are not yet installed.

There are better ways to implement changes like these, and users should at least be made aware of them so they can weigh the advantages against the potential risks.


Stop threats before they can do any harm.

Malwarebytes Browser Guard blocks phishing pages and malicious sites automatically. Free, one click to install. Add it to your browser →

Rental platform unnecessarily collected the data of millions of Australians, privacy commissioner finds

2Apply’s over-collection of personal information adds to the power of the real estate industry in the competitive rental market, Carly Kind says

An online rental platform has been urged to stop collecting users’ personal information after the Australian privacy commissioner found the gathering of “excessive” data compounded the vulnerability of tenants amid the housing crisis.

RentTech platforms are increasingly used by real estate agents in Australia for people applying for rental properties to submit applications and supporting documentation. The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has identified 57 different rent platforms operating in Australia.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Cavan Images/Alamy

© Photograph: Cavan Images/Alamy

© Photograph: Cavan Images/Alamy

‘Scattered Spider’ Member ‘Tylerb’ Pleads Guilty

21 April 2026 at 16:53

A 24-year-old British national and senior member of the cybercrime group “Scattered Spider” has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. Tyler Robert Buchanan admitted his role in a series of text-message phishing attacks in the summer of 2022 that allowed the group to hack into at least a dozen major technology companies and steal tens of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from investors.

Buchanan’s hacker handle “Tylerb” once graced a leaderboard in the English-language criminal hacking scene that tracked the most accomplished cyber thieves. Now in U.S. custody and awaiting sentencing, the Dundee, Scotland native is facing the possibility of more than 20 years in prison.

A screenshot of two photos of Buchanan that appeared in a Daily Mail story dated May 3, 2025.

Two photos published in a Daily Mail story dated May 3, 2025 show Buchanan as a child (left) and as an adult being detained by airport authorities in Spain. “M&S” in this screenshot refers to Marks & Spencer, a major U.K. retail chain that suffered a ransomware attack last year at the hands of Scattered Spider.

Scattered Spider is the name given to a prolific English-speaking cybercrime group known for using social engineering tactics to break into companies and steal data for ransom, often impersonating employees or contractors to deceive IT help desks into granting access.

As part of his guilty plea, Buchanan admitted conspiring with other Scattered Spider members to launch tens of thousands of SMS-based phishing attacks in 2022 that led to intrusions at a number of technology companies, including Twilio, LastPass, DoorDash, and Mailchimp.

The group then used data stolen in those breaches to carry out SIM-swapping attacks that siphoned funds from individual cryptocurrency investors. In an unauthorized SIM-swap, crooks transfer the target’s phone number to a device they control and intercept any text messages or phone calls to the victim’s device — such as one-time passcodes for authentication and password reset links sent via SMS. The U.S. Justice Department said Buchanan admitted to stealing at least $8 million in virtual currency from individual victims throughout the United States.

FBI investigators tied Buchanan to the 2022 SMS phishing attacks after discovering the same username and email address was used to register numerous phishing domains seen in the campaign. The domain registrar NameCheap found that less than a month before the phishing spree, the account that registered those domains logged in from an Internet address in the U.K. FBI investigators said the Scottish police told them the address was leased to Buchanan throughout 2022.

As first reported by KrebsOnSecurity, Buchanan fled the United Kingdom in February 2023, after a rival cybercrime gang hired thugs to invade his home, assault his mother, and threaten to burn him with a blowtorch unless he gave up the keys to his cryptocurrency wallet. That same year, U.K. investigators found a device at Buchanan’s Scotland residence that included data stolen from SMS phishing victims and seed phrases from cryptocurrency theft victims.

Buchanan was arrested by Spanish authorities in June 2024 while trying to board a flight to Italy. He was extradited to the United States and has remained in U.S. federal custody since April 2025.

Buchanan is the second known Scattered Spider member to plead guilty. Noah Michael Urban, 21, of Palm Coast, Fla., was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison last year and ordered to pay $13 million in restitution. Three other alleged co-conspirators — Ahmed Hossam Eldin Elbadawy, 24, a.k.a. “AD,” of College Station, Texas; Evans Onyeaka Osiebo, 21, of Dallas, Texas; and Joel Martin Evans, 26, a.k.a. “joeleoli,” of Jacksonville, North Carolina – still face criminal charges.

Two other alleged Scattered Spider members will soon be tried in the United Kingdom. Owen Flowers, 18, and Thalha Jubair, 20, are facing charges related to the hacking and extortion of several large U.K. retailers, the London transit system, and healthcare providers in the United States. Both have pleaded not guilty, and their trial is slated to begin in June.

Investigators say the Scattered Spider suspects are part of a sprawling cybercriminal community online known as “The Com,” wherein hackers from different cliques boast publicly on Telegram and Discord about high-profile cyber thefts that almost invariably begin with social engineering — tricking people over the phone, email or SMS into giving away credentials that allow remote access to corporate internal networks.

One of the more popular SIM-swapping channels on Telegram has long maintained a leaderboard of the most rapacious SIM-swappers, indexed by their supposed conquests in stealing cryptocurrency. That leaderboard previously listed Buchanan’s hacker alias Tylerb at #65 (out of 100 hackers), with Urban’s moniker “Sosa” coming in at #24.

Buchanan’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 21, 2026. According to the Justice Department, he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 22 years in federal prison. However, any sentence the judge hands down in this case may be significantly tempered by a number of mitigating factors in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, including the defendant’s age, criminal history, time already served in U.S. custody, and the degree to which they cooperated with federal authorities.

Real Apple notifications are being used to drive tech support scams

21 April 2026 at 14:59

Scammers have found a way to abuse legitimate Apple account notification emails to trick targets into calling fake tech support numbers.

According to a report from BleepingComputer, scammers create an Apple account and insert a phishing message into the personal information fields, then modify the account so that Apple sends a genuine security alert about the change to the target.

BleepingComputer was able to replicate the attack.

The attacker creates an Apple ID they control, then stuffs the phishing message into the personal information fields (first name, last name, possibly address), splitting it across fields because they will not fit into just one.

To launch the phish, the attacker changes something benign on their specially created Apple account, such as shipping information, which causes Apple’s systems to send a “Your Apple account was updated” security email.

While the original alert is addressed to the attacker’s iCloud email, they are then able to redistribute it to a wider victim list, for example through a mailing list.

In the copy the targets receive, the email headers still show a legitimate Apple sender, and the presence of the attacker’s iCloud address can even make it look like “someone else” has gained access to the account.

Reconstruction. Image courtesy of BleepingComputer

Because Apple includes those user-supplied fields in the security email, the phishing text is delivered inside a legitimate message sent from Apple’s own infrastructure.

This method, called call-back phishing, filters out suspicious users, so the scammers can focus on the people who fell for the first part.

The emails come from a legitimate source, sail through every security filter because of that, and look convincing enough to scare the receiver into thinking someone spent $899 from their PayPal account.

Phishing email screenshot, courtesy of BleepingComputer

But the structure of the email does not make sense.

“Dear User” is immediately followed by the scam message where your name should have been. The header says it’s about account information rather than a purchase. And the iCloud account does not belong to the recipient. So, once you know how it’s done, they’re not impossible to spot. Which is why we wrote this blog.

And when in doubt, you can always ask Malwarebytes Scam Guard.


Scam or legit? Scam Guard knows.


Is this a scam?
Asking Scam Guard

Scam Guard identified the screenshot as a scam and guides users through the next steps.

Scams like these work, because many users still view phone calls as more trustworthy than email, especially if the email itself passed all the usual technical authenticity checks and they initiated the call themselves.

How to stay safe

Tech support scammers will try to convince callers to install some kind of remote desktop application to steal data from your computer, or ask for financial details so they can steal your money.

To stay safe from these scammers:

  • Be wary of unexpected alerts about high‑value purchases you do not recognize. They are suspicious even if they come from a real domain.
  • Never call a number sent to you by unsolicited means or even found in sponsored search results.
  • Carefully read emails and text messages, even if they come form trustworthy addresses. Does the email make sense from a structural and linguistic point of view?
  • If someone claiming to be support for a legitimate company asks for remote access or payment details during a call, hang up and contact the company through official channels.
  • Use Malwarebytes Scam Guard to analyze any kind of message that alarms you or urges you to take immediate action.

Something feel off? Check it before you click.  

Malwarebytes Scam Guard helps you analyze suspicious links, texts, and screenshots instantly.  

Available with Malwarebytes Premium Security for all your devices, and in the Malwarebytes app for iOS and Android.  

Try it free → 

Real Apple notifications are being used to drive tech support scams

21 April 2026 at 14:59

Scammers have found a way to abuse legitimate Apple account notification emails to trick targets into calling fake tech support numbers.

According to a report from BleepingComputer, scammers create an Apple account and insert a phishing message into the personal information fields, then modify the account so that Apple sends a genuine security alert about the change to the target.

BleepingComputer was able to replicate the attack.

The attacker creates an Apple ID they control, then stuffs the phishing message into the personal information fields (first name, last name, possibly address), splitting it across fields because they will not fit into just one.

To launch the phish, the attacker changes something benign on their specially created Apple account, such as shipping information, which causes Apple’s systems to send a “Your Apple account was updated” security email.

While the original alert is addressed to the attacker’s iCloud email, they are then able to redistribute it to a wider victim list, for example through a mailing list.

In the copy the targets receive, the email headers still show a legitimate Apple sender, and the presence of the attacker’s iCloud address can even make it look like “someone else” has gained access to the account.

Reconstruction. Image courtesy of BleepingComputer

Because Apple includes those user-supplied fields in the security email, the phishing text is delivered inside a legitimate message sent from Apple’s own infrastructure.

This method, called call-back phishing, filters out suspicious users, so the scammers can focus on the people who fell for the first part.

The emails come from a legitimate source, sail through every security filter because of that, and look convincing enough to scare the receiver into thinking someone spent $899 from their PayPal account.

Phishing email screenshot, courtesy of BleepingComputer

But the structure of the email does not make sense.

“Dear User” is immediately followed by the scam message where your name should have been. The header says it’s about account information rather than a purchase. And the iCloud account does not belong to the recipient. So, once you know how it’s done, they’re not impossible to spot. Which is why we wrote this blog.

And when in doubt, you can always ask Malwarebytes Scam Guard.


Scam or legit? Scam Guard knows.


Is this a scam?
Asking Scam Guard

Scam Guard identified the screenshot as a scam and guides users through the next steps.

Scams like these work, because many users still view phone calls as more trustworthy than email, especially if the email itself passed all the usual technical authenticity checks and they initiated the call themselves.

How to stay safe

Tech support scammers will try to convince callers to install some kind of remote desktop application to steal data from your computer, or ask for financial details so they can steal your money.

To stay safe from these scammers:

  • Be wary of unexpected alerts about high‑value purchases you do not recognize. They are suspicious even if they come from a real domain.
  • Never call a number sent to you by unsolicited means or even found in sponsored search results.
  • Carefully read emails and text messages, even if they come form trustworthy addresses. Does the email make sense from a structural and linguistic point of view?
  • If someone claiming to be support for a legitimate company asks for remote access or payment details during a call, hang up and contact the company through official channels.
  • Use Malwarebytes Scam Guard to analyze any kind of message that alarms you or urges you to take immediate action.

Something feel off? Check it before you click.  

Malwarebytes Scam Guard helps you analyze suspicious links, texts, and screenshots instantly.  

Available with Malwarebytes Premium Security for all your devices, and in the Malwarebytes app for iOS and Android.  

Try it free → 

Android 17 ends all-or-nothing access to your contacts

21 April 2026 at 12:12

Some of the apps on your phone want your contacts. Most don’t need them all, but have been happily slurping up the lot for years. Google has decided to do something about that with the next version of Android.

Android 17 (currently in preview) is introducing a new Contact Picker that lets users grant apps access to specific contacts rather than the entire list.

Previously, any app that needed a single phone number had to request READ_CONTACTS. That’s a permission that handed over every name, email, and number. It’s the digital equivalent of handing someone your entire Rolodex because they asked for one business card.

An app that can harvest your entire contact list can map your social network, identify your family members, and potentially hand that data to whoever’s buying. So whenever you click “yes” to “show us all your contacts” it isn’t just your privacy you’re playing with.

From Android 17 onward, apps will need to be more specific about what contact data they access. Phone number? Fine. Email address? Sure. Your cousin’s mailing address? Not unless the app has a reason.

Google’s updated Play policy will require apps to use the Contact Picker or the Android Sharesheet as the main way to access contacts. READ_CONTACTS will be reserved for apps that genuinely can’t function without it. 

Location sharing gets the privacy treatment

Location permissions are also set to become more granular and privacy-friendly in Android 17.

Previously, apps could ask for your precise or general location, and you could allow it just once, any time you’re using the app, or not at all. The new button adds nuance by letting app developers ask for your location in the moment, tied to a specific action, like finding a local cafe.

There will also be a persistent indicator to let you know when an app is using your location, similar to the alerts for camera or microphone access. And you’ll be able to find out which apps are tracking you as well.

Google blocked 8.3 billion bad ads in 2025

The tighter permissions management in Android 17 is a big deal for privacy advocates, because overly broad access is how data brokers build detailed profiles about you.

Those profiles can then be used for aggressive or invasive advertising, including scams.


Mobile protection, anywhere, anytime.


Google timed these privacy announcements alongside its latest Ad Safety report, which says it blocked 8.3 billion policy-violating ads and suspended 24.9 million advertiser accounts in the last year. 

The 8.3 billion figure is up from 2024, when Google blocked 5.1 billion ads. The increase suggests that the problem is getting worse, or that Google is getting better at catching it. Scam ads are a big part of that. In 2024, Google blocked 415 million scam-related ads. In 2025, that number grew to 602 million. 

Lest we forget

We’ll give Google credit for trying to tackle this problem from both ends—limiting data collection and cracking down on the kinds of ads that use that data maliciously. But there’s still a sense that it’s not doing quite enough.

Yes, the Android 17 permission changes are good for users, but granular contact access should have been the default years ago. Apple has been doing it for 18 months in iOS 18, and even that was years too late, in our opinion.

And while Google says it caught over 99% of violations before users ever saw them, 1% of an insanely large number is still insanely large.

The ads that still get through are damaging. In December, we reported on sponsored search results pointing to malicious AI chats that instructed people to install infostealer malware. Why does Google run ads that look like search results? Because its business model is driven by advertising revenue. At least it’s making it easier to hide them now.

So we’ll give a cautious hand clap to Google. It’s moving in the right direction. But stories about how it knowingly giving kids’ data inappropriately to advertisers or misusing health data still give us pause.


Scammers know more about you than you think. 

Malwarebytes Mobile Security protects you from phishing, scam texts, malicious sites, and more. With real-time AI-powered Scam Guard built right in. 

Download for iOS → Download for Android → 

Android 17 ends all-or-nothing access to your contacts

21 April 2026 at 12:12

Some of the apps on your phone want your contacts. Most don’t need them all, but have been happily slurping up the lot for years. Google has decided to do something about that with the next version of Android.

Android 17 (currently in preview) is introducing a new Contact Picker that lets users grant apps access to specific contacts rather than the entire list.

Previously, any app that needed a single phone number had to request READ_CONTACTS. That’s a permission that handed over every name, email, and number. It’s the digital equivalent of handing someone your entire Rolodex because they asked for one business card.

An app that can harvest your entire contact list can map your social network, identify your family members, and potentially hand that data to whoever’s buying. So whenever you click “yes” to “show us all your contacts” it isn’t just your privacy you’re playing with.

From Android 17 onward, apps will need to be more specific about what contact data they access. Phone number? Fine. Email address? Sure. Your cousin’s mailing address? Not unless the app has a reason.

Google’s updated Play policy will require apps to use the Contact Picker or the Android Sharesheet as the main way to access contacts. READ_CONTACTS will be reserved for apps that genuinely can’t function without it. 

Location sharing gets the privacy treatment

Location permissions are also set to become more granular and privacy-friendly in Android 17.

Previously, apps could ask for your precise or general location, and you could allow it just once, any time you’re using the app, or not at all. The new button adds nuance by letting app developers ask for your location in the moment, tied to a specific action, like finding a local cafe.

There will also be a persistent indicator to let you know when an app is using your location, similar to the alerts for camera or microphone access. And you’ll be able to find out which apps are tracking you as well.

Google blocked 8.3 billion bad ads in 2025

The tighter permissions management in Android 17 is a big deal for privacy advocates, because overly broad access is how data brokers build detailed profiles about you.

Those profiles can then be used for aggressive or invasive advertising, including scams.


Mobile protection, anywhere, anytime.


Google timed these privacy announcements alongside its latest Ad Safety report, which says it blocked 8.3 billion policy-violating ads and suspended 24.9 million advertiser accounts in the last year. 

The 8.3 billion figure is up from 2024, when Google blocked 5.1 billion ads. The increase suggests that the problem is getting worse, or that Google is getting better at catching it. Scam ads are a big part of that. In 2024, Google blocked 415 million scam-related ads. In 2025, that number grew to 602 million. 

Lest we forget

We’ll give Google credit for trying to tackle this problem from both ends—limiting data collection and cracking down on the kinds of ads that use that data maliciously. But there’s still a sense that it’s not doing quite enough.

Yes, the Android 17 permission changes are good for users, but granular contact access should have been the default years ago. Apple has been doing it for 18 months in iOS 18, and even that was years too late, in our opinion.

And while Google says it caught over 99% of violations before users ever saw them, 1% of an insanely large number is still insanely large.

The ads that still get through are damaging. In December, we reported on sponsored search results pointing to malicious AI chats that instructed people to install infostealer malware. Why does Google run ads that look like search results? Because its business model is driven by advertising revenue. At least it’s making it easier to hide them now.

So we’ll give a cautious hand clap to Google. It’s moving in the right direction. But stories about how it knowingly giving kids’ data inappropriately to advertisers or misusing health data still give us pause.


Scammers know more about you than you think. 

Malwarebytes Mobile Security protects you from phishing, scam texts, malicious sites, and more. With real-time AI-powered Scam Guard built right in. 

Download for iOS → Download for Android → 

Heimdal Expands AI Strategy with AI Wingman and Third-Party AI Containment

21 April 2026 at 11:57

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, 21 April 2026 — Heimdal today unveiled the next phase of its AI strategy, expanding AI Wingman with three new layers – Assist, Triage and SOC – alongside the introduction of Third-Party AI Containment. Together, these capabilities build on Heimdal’s existing AI-powered protection and give organisations a clearer way to manage AI safely, speed […]

The post Heimdal Expands AI Strategy with AI Wingman and Third-Party AI Containment appeared first on Heimdal Security Blog.

AI SOC Live at Nasdaq: Real conversation about modern security operations

20 April 2026 at 18:58

The SOC is broken. Not because of a lack of talent or effort, but because human capacity does not scale. Alert volumes keep rising. Attacks move faster. And the operating model still assumes analysts will investigate most of what comes in, which means the vast majority of alerts never get looked at.

Our AI SOC Report 2026, based on analysis of 25 million alerts across our global customer base, put a sharp number on the problem. Over 60% of alerts are never reviewed by SOC and MDR teams. Nearly 1% of all incidents trace back to alerts classified at the lowest severity levels, signals most teams never touch. With average enterprises generating around 450,000 alerts annually, that equates to roughly one real threat per week hiding in the backlog, undetected.

That is not a tool problem. It is an operating model problem.

On April 27, we are bringing together the security leaders who are doing something about it.

Get your invite to AI SOC Live at the NASDAQ today.

What is AI SOC Live

AI SOC Live is a monthly, online event where security leaders discuss the latest issues facing the cyber industry. This month, AI SOC Live will be a full-day, invitation-only event at the Nasdaq in New York City. It is designed for CISOs, security directors, SOC managers, and MSSPs who are not just watching AI transform security operations from the sidelines, but are in the middle of it, making decisions about how their teams operate, what they invest in, and where the humans actually need to be.

This event is a full day of sessions, panels, and conversations built around the people, processes, and technology required to run a world-class SOC in 2026.

Who you will hear from at AI SOC Live Nasdaq

The speaker lineup reflects how seriously we have curated this event.

Itai Tevet, CEO and Founder of Intezer, will open the day with a session on the new SOC operating model, what it means when AI executes investigation and humans supervise outcomes, and why that shift changes security results structurally, not incrementally.

Alon Cohen, Founder and Executive Chairman of both Intezer and CyberArk, will speak to the broader impact of AI on security, drawing on decades of experience building foundational security companies.

Pavi Ramamurthy, Global CISO & CIO at Blackhawk Network as well as a founding member of the Professional Association of CISOs, and a venture advisor at YL Ventures. She will be speaking about the role of humans in the SOC.

David Spark, Founder and Executive Producer of the CISO Series Podcast, will host a live recording of the show featuring Nick Vigier, CISO at Oscar Health, digging into AI SOC beyond the hype.

You will also hear from CISOs at WCG Clinical, and ION Group, alongside practitioners from Realm Security, Legato Security, Upwind Security, and Monad. Sessions cover cloud security for the AI era, the blueprint for AI SOC success, and what every CISO needs to manage not only their security, but their executive board as well. 

And Mitchem Boles, Field CISO at Intezer, and Marcus Mingo, Detection Engineer at Intezer, will be there all day, available for the kind of real, technical conversations that rarely happen at larger conferences. See the full list of speakers.

What the day looks like

The agenda moves quickly and stays practical.

The morning opens with sessions on the new operating model and AI’s impact on security, followed by a CISO panel on the role of humans in the SOC and a session from Realm Security on building a data-first AI SOC. After a working lunch with interactive product demos, the afternoon covers cloud security, a live CISO Series recording, and a panel on advancing SOC outcomes at the C-suite level.

The day closes with a photo opportunity in front of the iconic Nasdaq billboard, followed by a cocktail reception overlooking New York City.

Attendees also earn CPE credits through the event’s partnership with ISC2.

Why this conversation matters now

The 2026 data makes the stakes clear. Our report found that more than half of confirmed compromised endpoints had been marked as “mitigated” by the EDR vendor, meaning teams believed those machines were clean when they were not. 

The gap between what organizations believe is covered and what is actually investigated is where real risk lives. Closing that gap requires a different operating model, one where AI investigates every alert, including the low-severity signals that human teams deprioritize, and humans supervise outcomes instead of grinding through queues.

That is the conversation happening at AI SOC Live.

Who should attend

This event is designed for CISOs, VPs and Directors of Information Security, SOC managers, and MSSPs from large enterprises who are responsible for security strategy, risk decisions, and operational outcomes. Whether you are evaluating AI for the first time or scaling capabilities you already have deployed, the sessions and conversations are built for leaders making real decisions, not attendees collecting swag.

Space is limited and invitations are by request.

Request your invitation at intezer.com/ai-soc-live-nasdaq

 

The post AI SOC Live at Nasdaq: Real conversation about modern security operations appeared first on Intezer.

Mythos: An AI tool too powerful for public release

20 April 2026 at 15:54

Anthropic’s most capable model to date, Claude Mythos Preview  (aka Mythos), has been described as a “step change” in AI performance, especially on cybersecurity tasks.

Anthropic tried to keep Mythos a secret until a few weeks ago, when a data leak revealed the existence of what the company said was its most powerful artificial intelligence to date. The models is seen as both a powerful defensive tool, and, potentially, a serious offensive cyberweapon.

For that reason, the company is sharply limiting access and signaling it does not plan to release it broadly to the market right now. Its reported ability to autonomously find and even chain software vulnerabilities at scale sit at the core of both the hype and the danger.

Imagine a tool that can independently find new vulnerabilities in software, systems, and platforms, then turn them into exploits, even if that requires chaining them with other vulnerabilities.

In the wrong hands, that could be a major threat to our cyber safety. So Anthropic has limited access to a small number of organizations worldwide, including major tech firms and a select group of government or security bodies. The NSA is reportedly already using Mythos Preview, apparently to stress‑test and harden sensitive systems, despite the Pentagon labelling Anthropic as a supply chain risk.

Mythos can discover vulnerabilities across large codebases more quickly and reliably than existing tools, and can look for multiple flaws in one system and combine them into multi‑step exploit chains to complete a compromise (for example, going from a simple web bug to a full domain takeover). It would take a bug bounty hunter months to find another vulnerability, let alone one chainable with the one(s) already discovered. Accomplishing that before the first one would be highly unlikely.

In practical terms, that could mean faster attacks, more complex breaches, and less time for companies to fix weaknesses before they’re exploited.

Anthropic itself has highlighted that Mythos can work with minimal supervision for extended periods, meaning it could run systematic attack campaigns at a scale no human team could accomplish.

Anthropic flagged these security risks in an internal document:

  • AI lowers the skill floor for offensive operations. Less-skilled actors could get access to very effective tools, significantly increasing the number of advanced attacks.
  • Techniques like fuzzing, dictionary attacks, and other brute force methods become much more effective when sped up by automation. AI-assisted iteration can provide an attacker with a lot more tries before an attack gets noticed.

But the most concerning conclusion was that the offensive side is iterating faster in the current phase of AI development, and security teams are generally later adopters of AI tooling than their adversaries.

As we know, AI in cybersecurity works both ways. It helps us defend against new threats, but it can also be used to create them. Which is why, in the wrong hands, Mythos can turn out to be a formidable adversary.

The goal stays the same, but the way to get there is paved by tools like Mythos. From the attacker’s seat, nothing about the destination is new. The novelty is that Mythos now automates the map, the vehicle, and most of the driving.


We don’t just report on threats—we remove them

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.

Mythos: An AI tool too powerful for public release

20 April 2026 at 15:54

Anthropic’s most capable model to date, Claude Mythos Preview  (aka Mythos), has been described as a “step change” in AI performance, especially on cybersecurity tasks.

Anthropic tried to keep Mythos a secret until a few weeks ago, when a data leak revealed the existence of what the company said was its most powerful artificial intelligence to date. The models is seen as both a powerful defensive tool, and, potentially, a serious offensive cyberweapon.

For that reason, the company is sharply limiting access and signaling it does not plan to release it broadly to the market right now. Its reported ability to autonomously find and even chain software vulnerabilities at scale sit at the core of both the hype and the danger.

Imagine a tool that can independently find new vulnerabilities in software, systems, and platforms, then turn them into exploits, even if that requires chaining them with other vulnerabilities.

In the wrong hands, that could be a major threat to our cyber safety. So Anthropic has limited access to a small number of organizations worldwide, including major tech firms and a select group of government or security bodies. The NSA is reportedly already using Mythos Preview, apparently to stress‑test and harden sensitive systems, despite the Pentagon labelling Anthropic as a supply chain risk.

Mythos can discover vulnerabilities across large codebases more quickly and reliably than existing tools, and can look for multiple flaws in one system and combine them into multi‑step exploit chains to complete a compromise (for example, going from a simple web bug to a full domain takeover). It would take a bug bounty hunter months to find another vulnerability, let alone one chainable with the one(s) already discovered. Accomplishing that before the first one would be highly unlikely.

In practical terms, that could mean faster attacks, more complex breaches, and less time for companies to fix weaknesses before they’re exploited.

Anthropic itself has highlighted that Mythos can work with minimal supervision for extended periods, meaning it could run systematic attack campaigns at a scale no human team could accomplish.

Anthropic flagged these security risks in an internal document:

  • AI lowers the skill floor for offensive operations. Less-skilled actors could get access to very effective tools, significantly increasing the number of advanced attacks.
  • Techniques like fuzzing, dictionary attacks, and other brute force methods become much more effective when sped up by automation. AI-assisted iteration can provide an attacker with a lot more tries before an attack gets noticed.

But the most concerning conclusion was that the offensive side is iterating faster in the current phase of AI development, and security teams are generally later adopters of AI tooling than their adversaries.

As we know, AI in cybersecurity works both ways. It helps us defend against new threats, but it can also be used to create them. Which is why, in the wrong hands, Mythos can turn out to be a formidable adversary.

The goal stays the same, but the way to get there is paved by tools like Mythos. From the attacker’s seat, nothing about the destination is new. The novelty is that Mythos now automates the map, the vehicle, and most of the driving.


We don’t just report on threats—we remove them

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.

This old-school scam is still working

17 April 2026 at 16:34

When we read about this new malware tactic, or that novel social engineering approach, it’s easy to forget that there are scammers out there making a living from ancient methods.

Recently, one of our researchers received this variation on the good old Nigerian advance-fee scam.

screenshot of email

From: Mrs.Inga-Britt Ahlenius.
Internal Audit, Monitoring, Consulting and Investigations Division
UNITED NATIONS SCAM VICTIMS COMPENSATIONS PAYMENTS.

Attn; Dear Scam victim/Beneficiary;

United Nations have Approved to pay 150 scam victims $5,000,000.00 (FIVE MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLAR) each.

You are listed as one of the scammed victims to be paid this amount, get back to me as soon as possible for the immediate payments of your $5,000,000.00 compensation funds.

You can contact the paying bank United Bank For Africa (UBA) on the below information

Name: Dr. Kingsley Obiora
Email: kingsleyobiora@gmail.com
Whatsapp Number, +234 913 998 1014 Sincerely yours,
Mrs.Inga-Britt Ahlenius


Scam or legit? Scam Guard knows.


The scammers got a few details right. Anyone looking up the names in the email will find that they exist and are associated with the mentioned organizations.

IngaBritt Monica Stigsdotter Ahlenius is a Swedish auditor, public servant and former Under-Secretary-General for the United Nations.

The name “Inga‑Britt Ahlenius” has been reused across many such 419‑style advance‑fee scams, sometimes claiming she is a UN fund monitoring agent or under‑secretary general distributing tens of millions in “compensation” or “unclaimed funds.”

Kingsley Obiora is a Nigerian economist who served as the Deputy Governor of Economic Policy at the Central Bank of Nigeria from 2020 to 2023. Which lends a degree of credibility to the Nigerian country code (+234) in the number they want us to contact by WhatsApp.

So, we decided to put our “friend” Tess to work once again. Loyal readers will remember how Tess almost fell for a task scammer. So maybe she’s eligible for that five-million-dollar compensation.

Promising a $5M ATM card

They came right to the point. We’d have to pay a courier fee to get our $5 million dollar ATM card. And I’m pretty sure that if we agreed to pay that, additional costs would swiftly follow. Once you’ve invested a bit of money, you’re likely to keep going since you don’t want to lose what you’ve already paid.

So, I offered to pick up the ATM card in person. Always wanted to see Nigeria.

Offering my fake company ID card worked

For a while I thought they saw through my bluff. Maybe I shouldn’t have disclosed just yet that I work for Malwarebytes. But it quickly became clear they trusted me about as much as I trusted them.

Visiting address

I’ll play along as long as I can, but after giving me the physical address of the UBA bank in Lagos, Nigeria, they started to make it more difficult to pick up the ATM card in person.

Cancelled in a week

A week is not a long time to arrange a trip to Nigeria, so I tried to get an idea of how much the “courier” would set me back before they gave up on me.

$875 for the courier

I didn’t expect it to be that much, to be honest. Maybe they thought they could raise the price since I contemplated to pick it up in person. Or they just wanted to get rid of me. You’d expect them to charge maybe €75 for the courier and then come up with €200 for stamp duty and €600 for insurance later on.

Consequences are real

It’s easy to laugh at talk of five‑million‑dollar ATM cards, but campaigns like this still make money. Behind every “Dear Scam victim/Beneficiary” is someone who is lonely, in debt, or simply overwhelmed by official‑sounding language. Once they’ve paid the first “courier fee,” the sunk‑cost effect kicks in, and it becomes harder and harder to walk away.

This is especially true for people who have already been victims of scams, who are clearly the target here.

How to stay safe

Tess’ efforts have helped us highlight the red flags in this type of scam:

  • Receiving news of a huge payout out of the blue should definitely trigger the “too good to be true” alarm bells.
  • For important communications, free webmail and WhatsApp are rarely the official contact channels.
  • Scammers apply pressure to act quickly and ask you to pay a fee before you receive anything.
  • They often use vague job titles and ask you to keep things quiet.
  • Odd language and capitalization can be a clue, although AI is making these less common.

Any one of these signs is a reason to stop and delete the email. Together, they spell out a classic advance‑fee scam.

For Tess this was a safe experiment: no money lost, just a few evenings spent sparring with a “UN compensation officer” on WhatsApp. For the people these criminals really want to reach, the stakes are much higher.

If you, or someone you care about, ever receives a message promising life‑changing money in exchange for a small courier fee or processing charge, treat it as a warning sign, not a windfall.

Close the tab, delete the message, and, if in doubt, ask a trusted friend or advisor before you act.

The easiest way to recognize a golden‑oldie scam is still the simplest: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.


Something feel off? Check it before you click.  

Malwarebytes Scam Guard helps you analyze suspicious links, texts, and screenshots instantly.  

Available with Malwarebytes Premium Security for all your devices, and in the Malwarebytes app for iOS and Android.  

Try it free → 

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