Top Stories
- Apple keeps 30% of gift card sales, which it could return to victims
- Losses from use of iTunes cards reported to FTC is $93.5 million from 2015-2019
- iTunes 23.7% of all gift card complaints to the FTC
- iTunes cards can’t be used to buy physical goods, only music, videos, etc.
- Those using iTunes cards have to have an Apple ID, and thus Apple can track who ultimately got the gift card and look for fraud patterns
Virus benefit theft
- Theft of virus relief benefits also hitting South Africa, the UK, other countries
- Maryland loses $501 million to virus unemployment fraud
- People in Chicago getting unemployment money they didn’t apply for
- Arkansas: woman arrested who fraudulently got $2 million in small business virus loans
- Detroit: Woman who worked for the State of Michigan indicted; worked to help others who filed bogus unemployment claims; $2 million lost
- Los Angeles: Man arrested for fraud in getting $8.5 million in small business relief loans; gambled much of it away at Las Vegas casino
Coronavirus
- Hackers tied to Russian intelligence trying to steal vaccine research
- FTC and Missouri AG warn of hearing aid companies sending mailers claiming people can use stimulus payments for these
- CFPB complaints up 50% during pandemic
- FTC testifies before Senate on efforts to fight virus scams
Reviews and Recommendations: I highly recommend J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy, about growing up in a fractured lower middle class family in the Midwest. At some level we all know that people come from all sorts of backgrounds but it is easy to overlook what we used to call the working class and that they have many problems as well.
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, and rental fraud
Fraud News From Around the World
- FinCEN alert on twitter scam involving Biden and others
- Australia arrests eighth person in effort against group doing romance, BEC, and other frauds
- T-Mobile and Sprint announce new steps to fight robocalls
- Nigeria: Yahoo boys arrested after dancing on their Mercedes Benz’s and throwing money to crowd celebrating successful scam
- UK recovers $1 million from British-Indian woman and her Nigerian partner in fraud case
- Nigerian man arrested at request of FBI for internet fraud; also nab his Mom and girlfriend
- Head of EFCC in Nigeria arrested and suspended from job; suspected of stealing seized funds
- Kansas City: Joel Tucker pleads guilty to tax evasion, payday loan efforts through and Indian tribe, and selling bogus “debt” to debt collectors; must repay $8 million
- Two Ukrainians arrested for smuggling and selling counterfeit cancer and hepatitis drugs
- Australia warns of rise in government impersonation scams
- Court in Australia fines business $600,000 for using fake reviews
- Oakland: Man gets four months prison for selling counterfeit electronics “from” Apple, HP, etc. that he got from China
- Judge approves $22.5 million class action settlement with Bumble over its auto-renewal policy
Humor
- Pizza store owner throws pie at robber and foils theft
- Man on drugs arrested after biting seagull that was trying to steal his Bic Mac
FTC and CFPB
- FTC and Florida AG shut down Florida-based call center that claimed it could reduce credit card interest rates
- FTC sends over $ 1 million in refunds to small business victims of labor law poster scam
- Los Angeles: FTC wins court case against student loan debt relief scam; court orders payment of $27.6 million restitution to victims
Business email compromise fraud (read BBB study)
Social Media
Data Breaches
Ransomware
- Attack on French telephone company
- Ransomware group shuts down 18,000 computers at Argentinian phone company/ISP; demand $7.5 million
- Hits Maryland nursing homes with 50,000 residents
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency
IRS and tax frauds
- Audit gives IRS, TIGTA high marks for battle against stolen identity refund fraud
- Rochester, New York: Jamaican woman who pleaded guilty to stolen identity refund fraud failed to appear at sentencing; nabbed and rearrested
- Calgary, Alberta: Man charged with stolen identity refund fraud against Canadian Revenue Agency
- Ohio: Three men arrested for stolen identity refund fraud
ATM skimming
- Salt Lake City, Utah: Romanian pleads guilty to ATM skimming; took in at least $214,000
- Romanian arrested after extensive ATM skimming; previous fraud in Australia
Jamaica and Lottery Fraud (read BBB lottery fraud study)
Romance Fraud and Sextortion (read BBB romance fraud study)
Chicago: Two Nigerians and a third person arrested for romance, inheritance and other frauds in suburbs Criminal complain here
