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.
