Top Stories
BBB releases my new study on government imposter scams
- Claim to be calling from Social Security, IRS, US Marshalls about jury duty, etc. and threaten to arrest you
- Tens of thousands of complaints; $450 million lost 2105-2019
- Threaten immediate arrest; study details what happens in calls
- Want people to buy gift cards; changing now to want cash by mail
- Calls mainly from India; country can do much more to help
- DOJ efforts to block VoIP calls coming into the US effective; robocall complaints in the US are way down; no decrease in Canada
- 91 US prosecutions of those laundering money for this scam
Virus benefit theft
- US losses to fraud in unemployment may be $26 billion; amount usually paid out legitimately in a normal year
- Dozens in Chicago get virus unemployment relief cards in the mail they did not apply for; crooks apparently failed to get mail forwarded to them
- Illinois Attorney General himself receives benefit card he did not apply for
- 185,000 bogus unemployment benefits claims filed in Nevada
- People in Arkansas report getting unemployment benefits they didn’t apply for
- North Carolina suffering from fraudulent unemployment claims
- Unemployment fraud also a problem in California
- Rhode Island: Feds nab man who faked his death after being charged for fraud in getting virus small business loans
- Two in Tulsa arrested for fraudulent small business loans
- Guam: bogus unemployment claims delay getting money out to people that need it
- Florida man arrested for getting $3.9 million in bogus small business PPP loans; bought himself a Lamborghini
- National Consumer’s League warns of theft of unemployment benefits
Coronavirus
- Survey finds 27% of consumers worldwide have seen phishing attacks with a virus theme
- Over half of counterfeit virus goods coming from China
Quote: Dr. Robert Kirkpatrick: “Civilization is maintenance”
