AARP releases “Consumer fraud in America: The Black Experience”

• One in five have lost money
• More than half of victims have also been victims of another scam
• Most common are government imposters, lottery and work from home scams

The fastest growth in fraud is among those under 21 says new study

Tip of the week:  An alert reader reports that Marriott Reward points are being stolen and used.  This may be due to a series of data breaches the company experienced.  So this is a reminder to check your reward point accounts and frequent flyer miles from time to time so make sure someone hasn’t been stealing the awards you’ve earned.

Full Report here

UK fraud reporting system Action Fraud to be replaced; scams account for 42% of all crimes

FBI warns that grandparent scams now using couriers to pick up money from elderly victims; includes Uber and Lyft drivers

Solar Winds hackers got into email systems of federal prosecutors

Spanish-speakers most likely victims of grandparent scams says AARP

New Jersey: Two from India plead guilty; worked with scams impersonating Social Security and with tech support scams;  took in $618,000; used robocalls

Scammers are now using QR codes

Full report here

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Six Nigerians on FBI Most wanted list

In depth article on unemployment benefit theft in the U.S.

• May hit $440 billion
• Bots used to file for unemployment
• IP addresses from China, Nigeria and Russia
• Also Cuba, Eritrea, Fiji and Monaco

Study of complaints to CFPB about virtual wallets (PayPal, cash apps); finds they soared during the pandemic; how they work and protections they have (if any)

Why people can’t cut their losses; the sunk cost fallacy

Review and recommendation: High Noon, for which Gary Cooper won the best actor Oscar.  Excellent, and not a shoot ‘em up.  An honorable man faced with a town that won’t help.  Named one of the 25 best films ever made.

BBB Studies. Here are links to some of the study topics: puppy fraud, tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, apartment rental, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud and gift cards.

Full report here

Majority of counterfeit drugs seized by US Customs are for erectile dysfunction; massive worldwide problem; may be unsafe too

Ohio: Two from Romania indicted for fraud that advertised and took payment for cars, motorcycles and other goods online and never delivered; often pretended to be with eBay or Amazon; victim losses at least $9 million;  had network of people in the US laundering money

US says China was behind hack of Microsoft Exchange servers

Full report here

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New York: Long Island woman pleads guilty over sweepstakes mail scam where victims had to send money back; no one won; scam took in $30 million; most victims elderly

7 ½ years prison for Peruvian whose business called immigrants in the US, impersonated court officials/law enforcement, and threatened deportation; two coconspirators plead guilty  

23% of those in the US say they lost money to a phone scam in the last year

Fraud text messages supposedly from State agencies.  I’m in Illinois, and now get one of these almost every day, as do my neighbors.  Is it just the Land of Lincoln? I’ve not seen much on this topic, but it seems to be growing incredibly fast.

Full report here

News Nigeria: How Ray Hushpuppi became wealthy as a social influencer and how he laundered BEC funds

Singapore investigating 334 as money mules for BEC, romance, tech support and other scams

DOJ announces another $66 million in refund checks are going out to scam victims that sent money through Western Union

• To date more than $300 million has gone to 142,000 victims

Full report here

New FTC Chair Lina Khan names Chopra advisors Sam Levine acting head of consumer protection; Holly Vedova acting head of Bureau of Competition, and Erie Meyer as Chief Technologist  Dems now have 3-2 majority

Chinese propaganda app being used by romance scammers there; government censors reports on problem

New Google Pay app now lets people send money to India and Singapore through Western Union.  Are scammers close behind?

US, Europe, Canada jointly take down Double VPN network used by ransomware and phishing gangs; seize servers around the world

CBD products sold in the UK onn social media falsely claim celebrities such as Judi Dench endorse them; involve bogus free trial offers

Seattle:  Seven years prison for Ukrainian hacker extradited from Spain; stole millions of credit card numbers

UK Study find 96% of online scams reported to Action Fraud go unsolved; questions value of scambaiting; lauds Petscams.com

New fraud trend to watch out for:  The US government is now paying for the funeral expenses of those who died from the virus.  Not surprisingly, sources tell the Fraud Report that crooks are now applying for this money online and stealing funds.  And if the crooks are not in the U.S. they doubtless need mules to first collect the money.

Full report here

Consumer Survey on counterfeit goods

• 57% have unknowingly bought counterfeits
• 18% did so knowing they were counterfeits
• More bought on web sites than from Amazon, eBay

Review and recommendation:  Unsettled, What climate science tells us, what it doesn’t, and why it matters, by Steven E. Koonin, physicist at Caltech, Undersecretary of Science in the US Energy Department in the Obama Administration.  Everyone agrees that there is more Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it is tough to pierce the fog of politics and media to figure out what data we have about climate change, how reliable is it, what does that data mean?  This quite readable book should help every informed citizen get a better grasp on key issues such as how much of climate change is natural, how much is manmade, and what are our options for dealing with this?

BBB Studies. Here are links to some of the study topics: puppy fraud, tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, apartment rental, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud and gift cards.

Full report here

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Know a romance fraud victim who is still troubled after the scam?

Not for profit Cybercrime support network offering free online support group for romance fraud victims

• Ten week moderated program
• US victims only at this point
• Also has a closed Facebook page for victims

FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center releases report on fraud against older victims in 2020

• 28% of complaints by those over 60
• Losses of $1 billion; $300 million more than 2019
• Most losses by romance fraud victims

Extensive article on how Mexico fought a Romanian ATM skimming gang in Cancun; gang owned its own corporation and ATM machines

Worldwide online free trial offer/subscription trap scam traced to Montreal; hundreds of millions lost

Theft of log in information of 26 million for Amazon, Facebook, Apple

Joint effort by the US, Romania, Germany, the Netherlands takes down online fraud marketplace Slilpp; over a dozen arrested; over $200 million lost due to stolen credentials sold on the site 

Why Buffalo, New York, is the hub of crooked debt collectors; ties to the mafia 

Operator of business directory operation in Canada indicted in Canada; started ripping off Canadians after FTC case and then criminal charges/prison in the US

BBB Studies. Here are links to some of the study topics: puppy fraud, tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, apartment rental, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud and gift cards.

Full Report here

Top Stories

Better Business Bureau updates study on lottery/sweepstakes scams

• US Ambassador to Jamaica says US loses $500 million – $1 billion each year to Jamaican lottery scammers
• Complaint numbers down last year, but losses reported increase dramatically; may be 35% increase
• Scammers took advantage of the pandemic
• 72% of victims are over 55; scammers target older victims
• Looks at why victims keep sending money; it is not just the old and frail
• 60 second BBB PSA
• CBS aired a piece

800 arrested by FBI/ DEA Australia/ Europol in takedown of encrypted communications used by criminals

• Used by Italian OC; motorcycle gangs, drug gangs
• Used by 300 gangs
• 700 house searches
• Seize 8 tons cocaine; 22 tons cannabis
• FBI release on this effort

Robocalls are down in the US over the last year

Cleveland, Ohio:  Woman from Latvia charged with fraud for installing Trickbot malware used by ransomware fraudsters; infected tens of millions of computers

Australians lost a record $851 million to scams in 2020; largest losses investment scams; followed by romance fraud; BEC third 

US seizes most of the ransom paid by Colonial Pipeline

New York: Australian man pleads guilty over scheme to send text messages about celebrities, horoscopes, and charging millions in fees victims had not agreed to; forfeits over $10 million

Reviews and Recommendations:  Broken Windows, by James Q. Wilson.  The authors found that if one window is broken in a building the public concludes no one really cares, and the others are quickly shattered as well.   The same idea holds true for Disney World; when litter is quickly picked up, people litter far less. This also applies to crime; where minor crime issues are addressed there is far less overall crime.

. Here are links to some of the study topics: puppy fraud, tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, apartment rental, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud and gift cards.

Full Report here