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Interpol announces Operation First Light in battle against phone and internet scammers

• Global effort
• More than 20,000 arrested
• $153 million seized
• Includes BEC and romance scams

Europol announces major effort against counterfeit medicine

• 27+ countries
• Seize €73 million worth of products
• 667 arrested
• 453 websites taken down

Virus benefit theft

• Maryland: Scammers use names of state governor, other top officials, to apply for unemployment benefits there
• New York: Three salon owners arrested for PPP fraud; tried to get $13 million
• Arkansas: Woman pleads guilty to PPP fraud; got $2 million
• Pasadena, California man arrested for fraud in unemployment benefits; used stolen money to buy a Maserati

FULL REPORT HERE

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Pet fraud in the UK has eight times the complaints as in 2019

Pittsburg: Cameroonian student who was living in Romania arrested and charged with pet scams against US victims

Virus benefit theft

• Virginia Beach man charged with PPP fraud; spent the money in Las Vegas
• Sunnyvale, California: Five arrested for fraud in getting virus unemployment
• Massachusetts recovers $242 million from fraud in virus unemployment benefits; four charged criminally
• California virus unemployment paid on Bank of America debit cards has cards hacked; crooks steal benefits
• California may have lost $2 billion to fraud in virus unemployment benefits
• New Jersey arrests man for theft of virus unemployment benefits
• Illinois: Two men charged with fraud for getting unemployment benefits while in prison
• California man pleads guilty to PPP fraud; took $655,000

Arkansas man gets two years prison for PPP fraud; sought $8 million

Full Report here

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BBB updates study on  pet frauds in the US and Canada

• Huge spike in BBB complaints this year; five fold increase from 2017
• Losses double from 2019
• Scammers now get money through Zelle, Cash App
• Very few prosecutions
• Use pandemic to explain why you can’t see in person
• Want money for “Covid compliant” crate for shipping

Europol and partners do major disruption effort against stolen credit cards; analyze 90,000 cards; stop fraud costing € 40 million

Texas: Owner of India call centers gets 20 years prison; impersonated IRS and US Immigration; responsible for $8.9 million in losses

Europol and 26 countries announce crack down on money mules; 4000 identified; 437 arrested; 227 of those were mule recruiters

US announces money mule crackdown; action taken against 2300 mules; at least 35 arrested; coordinated with European effort

Virus benefit theft

• California prison inmates take in hundreds of millions in bogus unemployment money, even those on death row 
• Canada sues four family members who worked for Ontario government and stole $11 million in virus relief money
• 11,000 must repay Pennsylvania unemployment benefits they were not entitled to
• Scotland over pays £15 million in virus benefits

Full report here

Virus benefit theft

• California: Two California brothers and their wives indicted for PPP fraud
• Houston, Texas:  Seven indicted for PPP fraud; at least 80 bogus loan applications
• Criminals using Zelle, Cash App, and Venmo to launder fraudulently obtained virus benefits
• Boston:  Nigerian pleads guilty for laundering money from virus unemployment fraud and romance scams
• Arizona thinks 3.5 million unemployment claims over virus are fraudulent
• New Jersey: Man arrested for PPP fraud; got nearly $2 million
• Illinois finds 212,000 cases of fraudulent unemployment claims

Full report here

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Interview with the man who wrote fraudulent sweepstakes mailing and why they worked

Why you should delete old online accounts you never use

DOJ indicts owners of India-based Voice over Internet phone provider that allowed tens of  millions of scam robocalls into the US

• Handled calls for IRS, Social Security, and loan scams
• Also injunction and court order against Florida server farm that worked with them
• Losses of at least $20 million

Virus benefit theft

• Tennessee: Woman gets 65 months prison for PPP fraud
• Detroit: Pizza company owner charged with PPP fraud; took in $931,000
• Georgia:  Six indicted for PPP fraud; took in $400,000
• 1/3 of virus unemployment applications in California may be fraudulent
• Florida high school basketball coach charged with $1 million PPP fraud
• Atlanta:  Woman charged with ID theft; got unemployment benefits from Arizona, Ohio, and Nevada

BBB studies: They can all be found here. There are links below to several topic areas, and there are also studies on puppy fraud, tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, apartment rental, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, and rental fraud

Full report here

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Minnesota: Three indictments in massive case against fraud in magazine sales to the elderly

• 60 defendants in 14 states and 2 Canadian provinces
• Ran 20 years, took in at least $300 million
• At least 150,000 victims
• Charge call center owners, telemarketers, lead brokers

Error last week: Correct link to State of Scams Report

Virus benefit theft

• Article on how DOJ is addressing PPP fraud
• 27 arrested so far for theft of unemployment benefits in Los Angeles
• Michigan: Man arrested for fraud in unemployment benefits
• 3.4 million cases of fraud in unemployment in Arizona
• Washington State: Man charged with $1.1 million in PPP fraud
• Los Angeles: Man arrested who got $1.9 million from PPP fraud
• Rhode Island man pleads guilty; got $4.9 million in PPP fraud
• California shuts down 350,000 accounts for fraud in unemployment benefits
• Mississippi: 70 year old woman arrested for receiving fraudulent unemployment benefits from Washington State  Mule?

Full report here

NO FRAUD REPORT NEXT WEEK – ON VACATION

Top Stories

Minnesota: Three indictments in massive case against fraud in magazine sales to the elderly

• 60 defendants in 14 states and 2 Canadian provinces
• Ran 20 years, took in at least $300 million
• At least 150,000 victims
• Charge call center owners, telemarketers, lead brokers

Italy: 73 members of Nigerian Mafia group Vikings arrested for prostitution and drugs

Error last week: Correct link to State of Scams Report

Virus benefit theft

• Article on how DOJ is addressing PPP fraud
• 27 arrested so far for theft of unemployment benefits in Los Angeles
• Michigan: Man arrested for fraud in unemployment benefits
• 3.4 million cases of fraud in unemployment in Arizona
• Washington State: Man charged with $1.1 million in PPP fraud
• Los Angeles: Man arrested who got $1.9 million from PPP fraud
• Rhode Island man pleads guilty; got $4.9 million in PPP fraud
• California shuts down 350,000 accounts for fraud in unemployment benefits
• Mississippi: 70 year old woman arrested for receiving fraudulent unemployment benefits from Washington State  Mule

Full Report here

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Kentucky: Bulgarian who had bitcoin exchange convicted of laundering money for Romanian scam “selling” nonexistent cars; handled at least $4.9 million

BBB study looks closely at online purchasing fraud

• 64% of all complaints with money losses to BBB Scam Tracker are “online purchases:”
• 80% of victims in online purchase fraud lost money
• Victims found scam sellers on:  1. Facebook (30%); 2. Google (28%); 3. specific websites (17%); and 4. Instagram (9%)
• 54% said online shipment tracking info they got was fake
• Big increase since the pandemic began
• #1 complaint was about pets and pet supplies; #2 vehicles and parts
• Largest number of complaints from those 35-44
• 68.5% of complaints from women; Asians hit harder

Global State of Scams Study tries to collect worldwide data

• Looked at data for 31 countries; study has country by country breakdown
• Nearly all report strong growth in scams
• Rough estimate is that losses in 2019 were €36 billion ($42.25 billion)

FTC releases annual Do Not Call report for 9/19-9/20

• Robocalls DOWN
• Top robocall complaints: 1. Imposters; 2. Car warranties; 3. Lower credit card interest

FinCEN proposes requiring reporting of international transactions of $250, down from current $3000; domestic would not change

Virus benefit theft

• Louisiana arrests five for fraud in unemployment benefits
• Los Angeles arrests woman for fraud in getting unemployment benefits
• Wisconsin: Five charged with PPP fraud; got $1.1 million; three of defendants from Chicago
• Arrest and criminal charges in Florida against man who got $1.9 million in fraudulent PPP loans
• Virginia man pleads guilty to PPP fraud
• Seattle man pleads guilty to PPP fraud
• New Hampshire finds over 6000 cases of ID theft used to get unemployment benefits
• Charges against two in Detroit in fraud that got $2.5 million in unemployment benefits

Full report here

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Dutch group to host Global Online Fraud Summit on November 13; free online registration

FTC releases annual report to Congress on efforts to protect seniors

Lose most money to Romance scams; #2 gov’t imposters; #3 lottery scams

FTC data shows huge increase in scams starting on social media

• Losses in first half of 2020 nearly equal to all 2019
• Top losses are goods ordered online but never delivered
• 94% of scams starting with social media Facebook or Instagram
• Fivefold increase in pyramid and MLM complaints

Oh no! Paypal announces it will let people buy and sell bitcoin

US indicts six Russian military officers over malware, hacking, ransomware; caused at least $10 billion damage

Virus benefit theft

• Rhode Island: Four from Florida arrested for theft of virus benefits
• Well Fargo fires 100 who were involved in PPP fraud separately
• San Francisco man charged with theft of $22 million in PPP fraud
• The IRS has hundreds of investigations of virus relief scams
• Virginia man arrested for $2.5 million PPP fraud
• Memphis, Tennessee: Three charged with PPP fraud; got $1.1 million
• Rapper arrested after he posts video of his new song about illegally getting unemployment benefits; got $1.2 million
• UK launches new COVID fraud hotline to report
• Louisiana woman arrested for having California unemployment benefits of others

Tip of the week: How do we know how much fraud there is?

A 2004 FTC fraud survey, based on phone calls, found that only 8.4% of fraud victims ever complained to the BBB or law enforcement. (page ES-6).  Of course this means that over 90% do not.  Some people don’t even realize they’ve been ripped off, others are embarrassed.  Some may not know where to go. 

Full report here

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Agari issues new study on Business Email Compromise Fraud; scammers now located around the world, 25% operate within the US; 900 US mules identified

Microsoft gets court order shutting down Trickbot botnet in effort to limit ransomware attacks

Virus benefit theft

• Texas man charged with PPP fraud; took in at least $24 million; bought homes and a Bentley
• Worcester, Massachusetts:ID thieves used information from 550 city employees to file fraudulent applications for unemployment
• Los Angeles: Woman arrested for fraud in getting unemployment benefits; used identity theft; received $500,000

Tip of the week:How do we know how much fraud there is? 

• We don’t.It is hard to measure.In the US the FTC has done phone surveys several times to try and get a good measure, in 2004, 2007, and 2017.
• There are national databases that try to centralize complaints in Canada (the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre); the UK (Action Fraud); Australia (ScamWatch), and in the US the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Database and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.The FTC and IC3 once shared information, but unfortunately no longer do.
• I am not aware of any centralized database for European countries, or in South America, Africa, or Asia.I presume in these locations complaints go to local civil consumer protection authorities or local police.
• But 35 countries cooperate with complaints filed in many languages at econsumer.gov.
• If you know of another government database that centralizes scam complaints please let me know.

Full report here