Baker Fraud Report

FBI’s Internet Fraud Complaint Center issues new report on crypto fraud

• Victims reported losses of $5.6 billion in crypto in 2023
• That’s a 45% increase over the 2022
• Investments, almost surely meaning crypto romance fraud, accounted for 71% of those losses
• But also large sums lost to tech support and romance scams
• Most of those complaints were from people over 60
• These complaints account for half of all reported money losses

FINcen releases in depth report on check fraud due to mail theft

• Studied February through August 2023
• Most common stolen checks are altered and deposited
• Second most common is checks used as templates for a counterfeit check
• Third was just signing and depositing checks
• Most fake checks deposited through ATM’s
• Here’s the study I did on fake check fraud

North Dakota: Nigerian man gets 142 months, over ten years prison, for scheme that hired a law firm with a fake check  and then “canceled” asking for money to be sent back by wire transfer

DOJ begins second phase of returning money to fraud victims who sent money through Western Union; $18.5 million is going to 3000 people

Full Report here

Top Stories

FTC reports US seniors lost $110 million to frauds where payment was made through Bitcoin ATM’s last year

• Volume of reported losses grew tenfold since 2020
• Reported losses $65 million first half of 2024
• Two thirds of losses by those over 60
• 88% of those who used Bitcoin ATM to send money to a scam involved tech support scams or impersonation of the government or a business
• Number of machines in the US went from 4250 in January 2020 to 32,000 in June 2024

FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center issues warning that North Korean hackers are actively reaching out to employees of crypto sites; very sophisticated; learn about victims on social media and target them; may impersonate real contacts; may build “relationships” over time before providing innocuous attachments that contain malware

Full Report here

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Santa Barbara woman whose packages were being stolen from her mailbox sends herself a package with an airtag; when it is stolen police track it and make two arrests  

Minnesota: Two men, one from Montreal, get 90 months and 120 months prison for scam telemarketing magazines to older victims; took in $300 million

How many fraud victims report to the law enforcement or the BBB? The FTC actually looked at this in a nationwide fraud survey, and found that less than 5% of them ever do.  Many are embarrassed, or don’t know where to report.  Victims are more likely to report some fraud than others.  Some don’t even realize that they have been defrauded.  But  this is important, since many of us received complaints and suspect, correctly, that these are just the top of the iceberg.

Review and Recommendation: Civilization, by Niall Ferguson. I’ve previously recommended his book Empire, on how the British Empire developed. In this one he expands on the subject of Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel to ask why after 1500 the other emerging empires in China, the mideast, and elsewhere didn’t emerge to change the world like Europe did. Very good, and I highly recommend it.

Full Report here

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Maryland: Police arrest man who told victim that needed to provide gold to protect savings; not clear how he was caught or exactly what scam was involved; county says a dozen people have recently lost money in gold in scams

Kansas: Bank CEO who looted bank of $47.1 million as crypto romance victim gets nearly 25 years prison; bank failed

Canada: Ottawa police warn of uptick in scams claiming to be from victim services; tell people they are ID theft victims and must transfer all their money to a “safe” account

There are no “Safe” Accounts:  A wide variety of scams, particularly those that impersonate law enforcement and banks, are claiming that your money is at risk of being stolen by bad actors or seized by a government and that you need to transfer your money to an account where it will be protected.  There is no such thing! Please warn people that anyone that wants you to turn over your money is a CROOK.

Full report here

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US arrests two Russians who were living in Miami and had claimed asylum; pair had run a site that acted as a forum on credit card fraud

Australia’s ACCC alleges that over half of the crypto ads on Facebook are scams or violate Meta policies

Gold – A new Trend. I am seeing more and more scammers who are asking victims to pay with gold.  And it appears that this tactic is being headed by scammers from India.  This is a huge red flag of fraud (no legitimate operation will ask for funds this way) and of course this makes it harder to follow the money.

Full report here

Philippine government orders 20,000 mostly Chinese to be deported after shutting down online gambling and scam center using kidnapped workers

Florida enacts new law against crooked movers; can’t use brokers; must give accurate estimates; half of complaints about movers involve Florida companies; not clear if there is a private right of action

Meta takes down tens of thousands of Facebook and Instagram sites in Nigeria that were used in extortion scams filming and blackmailing young men

Illinois: Owner of Florida telemarketing fraud operation that sold fake health insurance gets 25 years prison

UK shuts down platform that let scammers call impersonating banks; three arrested; at least 170,000 victims; 1.3 million calls; millions lost

Fraud Trend to note: It is becoming clear that groups from China are handling the money collection for scammers from India.  I’ve seen this in a number of recent cases, but it has not been commented or reported on so far.  Sometimes it involves gift cards; at other times it does not. Let me know if you have seen or know more about this.

Full report here

Crypto fraud coming from Nigeria is up 1000%; deepfake fraud coming from China up 964%

Full report here

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Massive data breach:  hackers get all data on almost all AT&T customers

Chainalysis releases in depth study of money laundering through crypto for fraud and other crimes

FTC, 26 other countries, release report on “dark patterns” of online subscription; find 81% do not have ability for consumers to turn off auto renewals

Interpol announces worldwide effort against Nigerian Black Axe organized crime group; 300 arrested; 720 bank accounts blocked

New trend?:  UK: Scammers try to blackmail Liverpool restaurant by threatening to post thousands of negative reviews unless they paid

Full Report here

Text message scams are exploding; 60 billion in June alone; that’s 60 per person in the US

US Treasury releases money laundering risk assessment

• Fraud is now top reason for laundering
• Crypto romance fraud most common
• Now tops BEC fraud

US arrests Chinese man who was administrator of world’s largest botnet; 19 million computers used to send spam, support PPP fraud etc

Full report here

Did you know that there is a 1906 federal law that exempts interstate movers from state consumer protection laws?  This should be fixed.  As I detailed in my study for the BBB there are criminal gangs that advertise cheaper prices for moving services online, but after they load the goods on a truck they demand a lot more money.  And if they arrive when they say that will, they often demand still more, and drive off if people refuse to pay.  This is a major problem.  The 1906 Carmack Amendment may have made sense at one time, but has clearly long outlived its usefulness.  For more on the history of this see here.

Interpol announces global fraud crackdown “First Light”

• Seize $257 million
• 61 countries involved
• 3950 arrested
• Scams included tech support, BEC, law enforcement impersonation

Spain and Portugal take joint action against phone fraud gang which called, pretending to be bank, and then appeared at homes demanding credit and ATM cards; sometimes threatened violence and robbed homes as well;  54 arrested

Bob Sullivan: Crooks are now appearing IN PERSON to pick up money from scam victims

India: Police raid call center claiming to be US Marshalls and telling people that their Social Security Number had been compromised; 77 arrested FTC brings new case against $200 million free trial offer fraud