Have you ever received a demand letter from a group called Higbee & Associates? If yes, chances are that you might just have been targeted by "copyright trolls."
As the internet becomes more accessible to all, so does the rise of fraudulent schemes preying on people less knowledgeable about online scams. And the law firm of Higbee & Associates is one of them.
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What is Higbee & Associates?
Noted to be operating as early as 2020, Higbee & Associates became notorious online for sending email letters to people demanding a huge sum of money to drop their claims for a supposed copyright violation.
The group often depicts themselves as representatives of a major brand or company, demanding people to deliver at least $100,000 or risk facing a big lawsuit from the company they are supposedly commissioned.
The law firm does not make it clear what exactly is the violation and becomes confrontational when asked for further details.
To make things clear, there is no actual Higbee & Associates law firm existing in the US. The supposed firm cannot be found in The Legal 500 and American Bar Association directories.
Recent reports have noted that the name of a supposed law firm has once again started appearing in people's emails, once again targeting people online with their improved schemes and technology.
How to Avoid 'Copyright Trolls,' Email Scammers
The best way to prevent falling victim to this kind of online scam is to carefully inspect the trolls' demand letter.
Email scams often present themselves as formal as they could but will usually have some suspicious remarks indicative of the whole message being part of some elaborate scheme.
If a letter is demanding you to give a huge sum of money in such a short time or threatening with legal actions over such vague premise, it is most likely fake.
People can also reach out to the Federal Trade Commission and other related federal agencies to report the scamming attempt and possibly stop the group from targeting more vulnerable victims in the future.
The commission can be reached via its dedicated fraud scheme report webpage or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).
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Generative AI Expected to Further Power Online Scams
While these preventive measures still works, scammers are also notably becoming much smarter and subtle in their schemes.
The advent of generative AI has only further boosted their operations through automated email messages and supposed evidences generated from AI.
However, people can still check if such claims are indeed true by running the messages or any attached media to AI checkers to see if
Genuine and official companies often disclose that a message was generated by an AI, in contrast to scammers who will try to depict themselves as the real counterpart.
