Baker Fraud Report

Top Stories

Where are the Robocalls?  I don’t think I’ve gotten a robocall in several months.  That’s GREAT news.  Are yours down as well?  It may be that the telecoms really are working with law enforcement to shut these down. Remember that calls from outside the US must have a US-based service to transfer these voice over internet calls into the phone system. And they must have a way to display a Caller ID number, and usually must have a phone number for recipients to call back. Obviously this system should be something we can track.  So whoever is working on this, thank you and great work!  And maybe there could be more work done on spam text messages.

New BBB study looks at Artificial Intelligence used for customer service

• Businesses increasingly using it for chats, incoming calls
• Often unpopular with customers
• Complaints also note increase in scams using AI

Supreme Court rules President can remove FTC Commissioners at will; also affects other federal regulatory agencies

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International effort takes down disrupts three families of malware

• US, UK, Canada, Denmark, Germany Netherlands partner with Microsoft
• $47 million money identifed
• takes down 327 servers
• Malware, often targeting WordPress, resolved
• Also takes down botnet used by groups

ID Theft Resource Center releases 2026 report on trends

• Increase in scams taking over devices now 27% of reports
• Most common scam stealing identities are scams claiming a problem with your online account
• Second is job scams; lottery and prize scams third

DOJ charges 455 people, including 90 doctors, with healthcare fraud across the US that cost $6.5 billion

Full Report here

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International law enforcement effort shuts down crypto money laundering service that handled $390 million in funds from ransomware attacks; a Ukrainian and a Russian arrested in the country of Georgia

HHS releases federal action plan and campaign to protect older Americans

• Improve reporting;  better coordination; work better with banks, etc.
•  plan itself here

Treasury’s FINcen releases new guidance allows more and better sharing of information about Fraud and money laundering

Need an expert witness for consumer protection or fraud issues?  Let me know.

Full report here

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 Are we looking at fraud transactions correctly?  Most of us think of fraud as a one transaction event. Victim gets a call/text/email, get flustered, sends money to crooks and then later reports it. But many times, even most, victims really send money to the scammers several times before they end up reporting it. If I’m right, this matters for several reasons. First, of course, if the crooks are likely to return this is an opportunity for law enforcement to step in, especially if the scammer appears in person to collect funds.  And it reminds us when we receive complaints that the matter is not necessarily at an end and that victims need to be warned of that.

UN office of Drugs and Crime issues new Handbook on effective communications strategies for prevention of organized frauds

• Provide clear, specific and actionable alerts, avoiding vague or repetitive messages
• Use non-judgmental language to help victims feel supported

Canada: Durhan police take action against fraudsters that fly into the country, commit frauds, and then fly home right away; 46 arrested, most of them Romanians

Justice Department to strip US citizenship from those committing fraud

Full report here

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North Carolina: Nine years prison for man who sold contact information for seven million older people to Jamaican lottery fraud groups

New UK research study on the worldwide underground industry that seeks “returns” and refunds from online retailers

• Losses just in the US at least $1 billion/year
• This fraud is franchised to individuals, pay their tutors a percentage; scammers taught online
• Scammers have detailed knowledge of refund policies
• Often have business insiders help
• Many claim items not delivered, claim damaged, or return counterfeit goods

US House testimony by Erin West of Operation Shamrock on crypto romance frauds and SE Asian scam compounds; Chinese CCP tolerates and protects; US consumers lose least $10 billion a year and it is still exploding

New study looks at the use of AI in crypto romance frauds

• Interviewed 145 who worked at scam compounds
• Finds that 87% or workers at scam compounds do just the first steps at beginning contact with victims
• AI is routinely used in many parts of this fraud

Meta works with Starlink, DOJ, others to fight scam compounds; takes down 1.4 million fake ads; 63 arrested

Full report here

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San Diego: Man from China gets 12.5 years prison; ran a ring of couriers who collected $27 million from victims of tech support, government impersonation and refund frauds; changed money into crypto and sent it to India, keeping 18%

Rhode Island: Two executives of company that provided telco services to businesses in India they knew were tech support frauds plead guilty

Elderly California couple dead after wife sent large sums to fraudster pretending to be Tom Selleck; apparently husband killed her and then himself

Is that “local” business really where it says it is?  In the last issue I covered the FTC’s recent case against Premium Home Services, which ran google ads and offered plumbing, electrical, and other home repair services with “local” addresses and phones along with great (fake) reviews. But at least 10,000 victims found that calls really went to overseas call centers, who collected money and then tried, often unsuccessfully, to find someone who could appear and do the work. It is troubling that anyone would be able to game the online system this way, thought I fear that (at least) fake florists and locksmiths use the same tactics.  More law enforcement here – not to mention better work by Google – might be a real benefit to consumers

Review and Recommendation: I heartily recommend a series of fiction books by CJ Box that all involve Wyoming Fish and Game agent Joe Pickett.  They each have some sort of crime involving the state — though these are not typical mystery novels. And I think they are great for any sort of audience.

Full Report here

Vermont: Seven from Quebec indicted for grandparent fraud; went to victim homes to pick up “bail”

Full report here

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Nigerian law enforcement agency, the EFCC, says 60% of college students are involved in online fraud

Ohio: 25 convicted in BEC fraud run from Nigeria that stole $215 million and had 1000 victims

AI and ChatGPT can now create fake ID’s and other fake documents

Full Report here

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San Diego:  US works with Dubai and Chinese Ministry of Public Security to take down a set of crypto romance fraud call centers in Dubai

• 275 arrested
• Four wanted in San Diego arrested; one Burmese, three Indonesians

Washington: US Scam Center Strike Force announces major actions against Scam Compounds

• Shunda Compound in Burma operated doing crypto romance fraud
• Two Chinese men charged and arrest warrants issued
• $701 million in crypto seized
• Telegram channel used to recruit was seized
• 503 scam domains seized

New FTC Data Spotlight on Frauds that begin on Social Media

• Eight times higher than in 2020
• 30% of scammer contacts began on social media
• Reported losses from these $2.1 billion
• Online shopping was 40% of this
• Followed by crypto romance frauds and romance frauds

In joint action, Germany and Switzerland arrest 10 in raid on black axe gang for romance fraud and money laundering; includes Regional Head

Canada plans nationwide ban on Bitcoin ATM’s

Full report here

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Countries around the world join forces to take down a group responsible for denial of service attacks in which computers are directed to flood a target organization with phone or internet traffic to crash their systems and request funds to stop attack; servers seized, warning letters issued, and 4 arrested

New Jersey: Long time fugitive man from Germany gets 70 months prison for mass-mailings supposedly coming from psychics; scheme took in $14 million

WSJ: How Cambodia became Scambodia

• Scam compounds estimated to be 40% of GDP
• Estimates that they bring in $19 billion per year

India busts 52 bank workers across the country for assisting in cyber fraud; many of them set up fraudulent or mule accounts

SIM farms in the US, Europe, and elsewhere are rented out to send scam text messages

Scam messages claiming to offer safe passage through the Straits of Hormuz collect bitcoin from ships

Full report here