Where to drop off your mail-in ballots on Election Day Those who still have their mail-in ballots in Southwest Florida have two options on Election Day: vote in person or drop them off at a specified location.
WINK NEWS Lee County race for Sheriff It is now Election Day, and two candidates for the Lee County Sheriff are vying for the position.
WINK NEWS Floridians to vote on legalizing recreational marijuana With Election Day in full swing, WINK News is monitoring the results of the most controversial amendments on the ballot, including Florida’s Amendment 3.
Know where your voting precinct is in Southwest Florida Election Day is only one day away, so it is important to know where to go and if you qualify to vote in Southwest Florida.
WINK NEWS How Floridians are voting on Consitutional right to abortions As Election Day ramps up, WINK News is monitoring the results of the most controversial amendments on the ballot, including Florida’s Amendment 4.
Collier County commission race As the 2024 general election gets underway, WINK News is monitoring the election results in several local races, including the Collier County Commission race.
Cape Coral 5 seats in Cape Coral City Council to eb decided on Election Day The Cape Coral City Council election will be decided on Tuesday. Five seats are up for grabs.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers City Council race for 2 wards The 2024 elections are looking to be a tense battle that will have every American on the edge of their seats. In Southwest Florida, the feeling is no different.
Lee County Superintendent election; School Board District 7 Voters in Lee County are going to the polls to fill some crucial seats in the school district.
PUNTA GORDA The race for Punta Gorda City Council November 5 is election day, as politicians across the country compete for office, with Southwest Florida being no different.
Lee County commission race for districts 3 and 5 The 2024 elections include several local Southwest Florida races, among them are races for two districts on the Lee County Board of County Commissioners.
Election Day crowds expected despite record early voting Election Day is nearly upon us. At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the polls will be closed, and our team will bring you the results.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Voters in Downtown Fort Myers ready for 2024 Election A lot can change in four years. During the 2020 election, many voters masked up as they cast their ballots, and the pandemic was at the top of many voters’ minds.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda residents frustrated by hurricane debris delays Many people in parts of southwest Florida feel like they’ve dealt with more than their fair share of storm damage lately.
Miracle Moment: A rosy outlook following surprise diagnosis It’s time for Miracle Moment. Today, we meet a toddler diagnosed with a disease without known prevention or cure.
Where to drop off your mail-in ballots on Election Day Those who still have their mail-in ballots in Southwest Florida have two options on Election Day: vote in person or drop them off at a specified location.
WINK NEWS Lee County race for Sheriff It is now Election Day, and two candidates for the Lee County Sheriff are vying for the position.
WINK NEWS Floridians to vote on legalizing recreational marijuana With Election Day in full swing, WINK News is monitoring the results of the most controversial amendments on the ballot, including Florida’s Amendment 3.
Know where your voting precinct is in Southwest Florida Election Day is only one day away, so it is important to know where to go and if you qualify to vote in Southwest Florida.
WINK NEWS How Floridians are voting on Consitutional right to abortions As Election Day ramps up, WINK News is monitoring the results of the most controversial amendments on the ballot, including Florida’s Amendment 4.
Collier County commission race As the 2024 general election gets underway, WINK News is monitoring the election results in several local races, including the Collier County Commission race.
Cape Coral 5 seats in Cape Coral City Council to eb decided on Election Day The Cape Coral City Council election will be decided on Tuesday. Five seats are up for grabs.
FORT MYERS Fort Myers City Council race for 2 wards The 2024 elections are looking to be a tense battle that will have every American on the edge of their seats. In Southwest Florida, the feeling is no different.
Lee County Superintendent election; School Board District 7 Voters in Lee County are going to the polls to fill some crucial seats in the school district.
PUNTA GORDA The race for Punta Gorda City Council November 5 is election day, as politicians across the country compete for office, with Southwest Florida being no different.
Lee County commission race for districts 3 and 5 The 2024 elections include several local Southwest Florida races, among them are races for two districts on the Lee County Board of County Commissioners.
Election Day crowds expected despite record early voting Election Day is nearly upon us. At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the polls will be closed, and our team will bring you the results.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Voters in Downtown Fort Myers ready for 2024 Election A lot can change in four years. During the 2020 election, many voters masked up as they cast their ballots, and the pandemic was at the top of many voters’ minds.
PUNTA GORDA Punta Gorda residents frustrated by hurricane debris delays Many people in parts of southwest Florida feel like they’ve dealt with more than their fair share of storm damage lately.
Miracle Moment: A rosy outlook following surprise diagnosis It’s time for Miracle Moment. Today, we meet a toddler diagnosed with a disease without known prevention or cure.
Anyone can fall victim to cyber-attacks, including the government. The same Attorney General’s Office that aims to protect you from getting ripped off, with tips, lots of educational videos, even a cyber fraud unit working alongside other law enforcement agencies dedicated to solving cyber crimes, may have turned over close to $71,000 to an imposter. “Cyber crime is a growing threat and we’re fighting hard to take down those who use the internet to prey on Floridians,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a February 6th Consumer Alert video. It’s not quite the Nigerian Prince email scam the FBI has warned everyone about for years. But it does start with an email, and the 27-page court document says it ends with a suspect in Nigeria. This case gets messy, involving the AG’s office, a Sarasota law firm, a man in Nigeria and a Charlotte County woman. CREDIT: WINK News “The best way to fight cybercrime is to make sure Floridians have the knowledge and resources needed to avoid online schemes,” Moody said in her February 6th Consumer Alert video. According to court documents, the AG’s Office’s Senior Operations Manager got an email from the Robertson Law Firm asking the state to wire close to $71,000 for the firm’s work on a lawsuit. A week later, the money was sent. But a month after that, the law firm let the office know they never got the funds. A spokesperson later told me the Attorney General’s Office regularly spoke with an attorney from the firm on the phone and through his official, verified email account, not a spoofed account. While this case is still under investigation, court documents explain the law firm’s email was hacked and traced to a man all the way in Nigeria. “This attack can be very, very dangerous,” said Dr. Cheugyi Qu, a Computing and Software Engineering professor and Cybersecurity expert at FGCU. Dr. Qu explaining a “man-in-the-middle” attack, CREDIT: WINK News He described this as a “man-in-the-middle” attack. “Both our sides assume that we are talking with each other, but there’s like a man in the middle, mimicking the conversation,” Dr. Qu explained. “They want to get information from both sides.” Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators revealed in the court filing that the AG’s Office didn’t send the money to the suspect directly. They actually unknowingly sent the $71,000 to a bank account registered to a Charlotte County woman’s LLC, thinking it was the law firm’s account. It appears she’s a victim of a romance scam. Records show she met the man on an online dating site and he had her set up accounts to transfer money around, including cryptocurrency. “Hackers will use social engineering to attack you,” Dr. Qu added. “So they will use your emotions, they will use your, like, depression, background. They will try to use this kind of field to attack or to gather anything you have.” Related: Florida ranks top 5 for most dangerous places to online date; FGCU students react Now the Attorney General’s Office wants its money back. A spokesperson said the account has been frozen and they are in the process of forfeiture proceedings. The court documents show they’ve seized all of the suspect’s cryptocurrency and are asking the court to let them reclaim the roughly $71,000. CREDIT: WINK News Dr. Qu said the best way to make sure you don’t lose money like this is to call the person on the other end and confirm all information before sending over any funds. “We also call that zero trust,” Dr. Qu explained. “Zero trust means that you don’t trust anyone and don’t trust any action. So, although you have been cooperating with this guy for a long time, but if they have sensitive data they are asking from you, you need to double check their authentication.” WINK News Consumer Investigator Andryanna Sheppard asked the AG’s Office multiple times if they followed a similar policy or had a policy that required a superior to sign off on sending money. Even though they responded quickly to every other email she sent, they never responded to the three emails referencing this policy. But still they offer a few words of advice. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody in Consumer Alert video from February 6, 2024, CREDIT: WINK News “And now with higher concerns about online safety, we must remain proactive and prepared to guard against cybercrime,” Moody said in a video on Oct. 20, 2021. Sheppard spoke with the Robertson Law Firm but he said since this case was still under investigation, he didn’t want to comment just yet. FDLE also said this was an active investigation and would not be providing any other information.