Barbara Corcoran of ABC’s “Shark Tank” has lost nearly $400,000 in a phishing scam this week. Corcoran told “People” that she was tricked as a result of an email scheme sent to her team.
The high-powered businesswoman told People that she received a scam invoice approving a real estate renovation, but she didn’t think twice about verifying it because she invests in real estate. It was only until her bookkeeper caught Corcoran’s assistant’s email was misspelled by 1 letter and it was later found to be the address used by the scammer.
“I was upset at first, but then remembered it was only money,” Corcoran told the magazine.
Corcoran’s assistant Emily Burke told CNN Business that the “Shark Tank” star wouldn’t provide any additional comment “at the advisement of her attorneys until the authorities are done investigating.”
However, Corcoran tweeted: “Lesson learned: Be careful when you wire money!” with a link to a TMZ story.
In addition to being an investor and a judge on the hit ABC show, Corcoran formerly owned the global real estate agency that shares her name. She sold it for $66 million in 2001.
Corcoran fell for a phishing scam. It’s common, too: Nearly 30,000 people reported being a victim of that type of scam last year. Together they reported nearly $50 million in losses, according to the FBI’s 2018 Internet Crime Report.
Phishing attacks are common methods of stealing usernames, passwords and money. Hackers pretend to be a trustworthy source to convince you to share personal data. To be safe, it’s important to make sure the sender is authentic before clicking on a link. Google has rolled out security protections that warns people of potential unsafe emails.
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