Maumee Geeks

Scams on the internet aren’t new. But the tactics criminals use keep evolving.

And they’re catching out people and businesses every single day.

Want to hear the harsh truth? The difference between someone who falls for a scam and someone who doesn’t is often just a split second of trust in the wrong place.

Here are some of the most common scams doing the rounds right now, and what to watch for…

🎣 Phishing emails and texts:These are messages pretending to be from a bank, a supplier, or even someone you know. They’ll ask you to click a link or log in. Once you do, they steal your details.

💡 Advice: Never click links in unexpected messages. Go directly to the official website instead.

💻 Tech support cons:A caller says they’re from Microsoft or your internet provider and that your computer is infected. They ask for remote access or payment to “fix” it.

💡 Advice: Legitimate companies don’t cold call like this. Hang up and contact them directly through official numbers.

💸 “Easy money” scams:Think fake lotteries, bogus investments, or those infamous foreign prince emails. They promise big rewards if you pay a “small fee” first.

💡 Advice: If you didn’t enter a competition, you didn’t win. And anyone asking for upfront payment should set off alarm bells.

🛒 Online shopping and auction scams:Fraudsters hijack accounts with good reputations, sell fake goods, or convince you to use insecure payment methods like wire transfers.

💡 Advice: Always use trusted payment systems (like PayPal) and never ship goods before money is safely in your account.

🎭 Social media tricks:A message from a friend saying “Is this you?” or “I’m stuck abroad, please send money.” Or apps that look fun but hide malware.

💡 Advice: Verify through another channel (call or text) before acting, and research any new app before installing it.

Scammers prey on trust, urgency, and emotion. They don’t care who you are, they just want your money, your data, or access to your accounts.

🛡 The best defense? Slow down. Question everything. Educate your team. And make sure you’ve got strong security tools in place.

What’s the worst scam you’ve seen lately? Have you or your team ever had a close call?

Here’s a clever (and slightly scary) new twist on phishing attacks you might not have heard about yet… and it involves Google Gemini 🤖✉️

Gemini is Google’s AI assistant built into Gmail and other Workspace apps.

One of its neat features is that it can summarize incoming emails in a little pane on the right-hand side.

Sounds useful, right?

But we’re being warned that criminals can hijack Gemini’s summaries using a technique called prompt injection.

How does that work?:

😈 A scammer sends you an email that looks totally normal
😈 Hidden inside the email is extra text (using HTML and CSS to make it invisible, with white text, tiny font)
😈 You can’t see it… but Gemini can
😈 When you open Gemini’s summary pane, it obediently follows the hidden instructions and might show you a fake warning, like: “Your account is compromised. Call Google support immediately on this number”

Because that message is coming from your trusted Gemini assistant inside Gmail, you’re far more likely to believe it.

✨ And just like that, you’ve been phished ✨

Researchers demonstrated exactly this. And while there’s no evidence of real‑world attacks yet, Google has confirmed it’s a priority issue and is rolling out mitigations.

In the meantime, you can reduce the risk by making sure your email clients filter out hidden content. Or by scanning for suspicious urgency cues like phone numbers or “account locked” messages.

Most importantly, remind your team: AI summaries are helpful, but they’re not security alerts. Always double‑check before acting on anything unusual.

AI tools are amazing, right? But they can also introduce new risks we’re only just starting to understand.

🔎 Do you think your team would spot something like this? Or would a message from Gemini catch them off guard?

Can you believe it's been 16 years since the iPhone first went on sale?

That's right, on June 29th, 2007, people were camping out in front of Apple stores just to get their hands on this ground-breaking new device. One million phones were sold in just 74 days.

Now, it's hard to imagine a world without smartphones - but back in 2007, the iPhone was a game changer. Not only did it combine features like a phone, camera, and music player into one sleek device, but it also introduced the concept of a touchscreen interface and paved the way for mobile apps.

Let's be honest, we've all probably spent more time than we care to admit scrolling through Instagram or playing Candy Crush on our iPhones. But beyond the entertainment factor, the iPhone has had a huge impact on the world.

From changing the way we communicate with each other to revolutionizing industries like music, photography, and even healthcare, the iPhone has left an indelible mark on our society.

So as we celebrate the 16th anniversary of this iconic device, let's take a moment to appreciate just how far we've come - and also poke a little fun at those early iPhones with their tiny screens and limited features (remember when taking a selfie wasn't even an option?).

Here's to another 16 years of innovation, progress, and of course, memes.
Happy anniversary, iPhone!

15 Years Ago Today, the iPhone Went On Sale Fifteen years ago to this day, the iPhone, the revolutionary device presented to the world by the late Steve Jobs, officially went on sale. The...