Linkedin Scammers

We all have been through this. A message from a stranger on Linkedin, asking to get connected.

The root of these scams is often physically located in industrial-scale scam compounds operated in Southeast or South Asia. Often, the "foot soldiers" are migrant workers flown in from parts of Asia, and Africa. They pay hefty amounts - often their life savings or borrowing from others to promised jobs in a foreign country. When they land, they are effectively enslaved in armed, guarded places. They are forced to send fake messages, via phone text, WhatsApp, or social media like Linkedin. The "King-pin"s of this business are often big mafia or in some cases, nation-state actors that fund nuclear programs and wars in parts of the world.

Once they get someone to respond to these messages, the next step is "pig butchering", i.e. they "fatten" their victims - by gaining their trust and then they run away taking their money. The usual way to make money is by asking them to invest in some crypto that does not exist. US Inspector General Office issued a warning on this.

It is not just techies on Linkedin that gets hacked. The CEO of a rural bank in Kansas got into this by mistake - lost $47 million into this. FDIC took over the bank and he is serving a 24 year term in prison.

Sometimes, others get victimized. Wang Xing, a famous young actor in China, himself became a victim of a photo-shoot scam.

In this article, I share how to spot these obvious, glaring warning signals. No software tool, no Security framework - just plain reading and observation reveals the fake messages. In many ways. The scammers will remove their account the moment they realize you are not a victim.

I got this message today, not a typical dress for a CEO - however young she is. Also if you look closely the picture looks like AI generated.

There are so many red flags here I can go on and on. This Linkedin message to me looks too generic - it can be sent to 1000s of people - without any modification. And why on earth a CEO of a medical supply company - as you will see below want to gain "insights" from someone who works in Computer software and IT?

If I click on the profile for this person Emma, it says that she is CEO of a company based out of New York- https://scoyamedical.com/. From her profile page on LinkedIn - see the same image and a little bit about the company. If you read the "About" section, lots of "I" did this, I did that, etc. - a CEO should be proud of the entire company not just the owner - unless you are a one-person company.

On the first look, you will think this is a legitimate website. Flashy pictures, company name, etc. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see when the site was registered. A quick look at ICANN tells us it was late December 29, 2024!

A CEO, with only 48 connections on LinkedIn, wants to get in touch with me. And her company website is only 3 months old ! May be this is a new name or website but then you expect her to write that.

Now let us explore the website. By the time you are reading this article, chances are very high that they will remove the website. Ran a quick IP location, and the server is physically running in Kansas, Missouri, USA.

In the middle of their website page, they have their office location in World Trade Center, Manhattan, NY, and this message. They got you covered with "teletherapy". Wait what? Teletherapy for medical devices?

Further down the website there are pictures of the leaders of the company. AI created these 4 beautiful pictures if you look closely at the faces. Also, the names of Cole and Evadne are covered in another color. A real company will not obfuscate the names of leaders. All 4 pictures are in different backgrounds and no one has a company office or logo.

Finally at the bottom of the company page a contact info. With a free "Gmail" address. A 929 area code phone number. 929 is for NY city but if you call the number you hear nothing. No ring, no busy tone.

And the website says copyright 2017. However, the site was registered in December 2024. Hmmm.