Security News > 2023 > February > Romance scam targets security researcher, hilarity ensues

In it, a pig butchering romance scammer targets her next victim: Sophos's lead threat researcher.

"I was approached by multiple, separate scam operations personally, each running different variations on pig butchering," Sophos's principal threat researcher Sean Gallagher wrote in a blog post today about one of these attempts.

"Starting with a 'Hallo,' the scammer engaged me in Twitter direct messages to determine if I was a suitable target for the scam," Gallagher wrote.

Apparently, even disclosing that he was a cybersecurity threat researcher who investigated scams wasn't enough to deter the con artist, who quickly turned the conversation to investing in the gold market.

Had Gallagher been an actual victim, he'd have wired cash to the scammers - an upfront "Earnings tax" - and presumably would never have heard from the scammers again.

The Sophos team also reported the scam to Japan's CERT - because the fake gold-trading brand mimicked a Japanese financial institution - along with Apple, Google, and "Others," according to the blog.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/02/14/romance_scam_sophos/