Addressing consumer fraud around the world. The Baker Fraud Report focuses on mass marketing fraud – where victims never meet the fraudster in person but communicate over the phone, though the mail, or on the internet.
Note of the week: I hope all will have a great time with your families and those you love as the US celebrates Thanksgiving.
BBB Studies. Here are links to the study topics of my studies: puppy fraud, romance fraud; BEC fraud, sweepstakes/lottery fraud, tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud, gift cards and job scams.
New study on how the pandemic has affected online fraud and policing in Europe
Europol releases 2021 organized crime threat assessment; cybercrime is flourishing
FBI says it has fixed error that allowed someone to send 100,000 emails from their system
BBB Studies. Here are links to the study topics of my studies: puppy fraud, romance fraud; BEC fraud, sweepstakes/lottery fraud, tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud, gift cards and job scams.
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FBI’s Internet crime complaint Center warns of bitcoin ATM’s
DOJ indicts two Ukrainians for ransomware; one arrested in Poland
Tip of the week: When you get dodgy emails, such as those telling you you’re being billed for an antivirus program you’ve never received, or those that come from a bank saying you need to reset your password, look carefully at the email address. This is harder to do when you’re using your phone. Most of the time the email address itself is odd, and it is clear that it is not coming from where it claims. This may seem simple and obvious, but educating people about this option might save people from being scammed.
Review and recommendation: I recently reread Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion wine. It is one summer’s experiences by a ten year old boy in Green Town, Illinois. The story on new tennis shoes alone is worth the reading. It will make you wriggle your toes. And not all is happy. It is a classic and I highly recommend it.
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FTC issues new policy statement on free trial offers/subscription traps that spells out needed disclosures; Statement itself here; one Commissoner dissents because of pending rulemaking on this subject
Article by DOJ on how they address money mules issues
Thought of the week: Now that scammers have earned millions (maybe billions) from applying online for unemployment benefits they are very likely to replicate that by using ID theft to steal other kinds of government benefits. See the article on Calgary police arresting scammers who applied for student loans.
Review and recommendation: Another Western, this one new, is Old Henry. It stars Tim Blake Nelson, who you may remember from Oh Brother Where Art Thou. It is fully in the tradition of the great old westerns, and has no politics
BBB Studies. Here are links to the study topics: puppy fraud, romance fraud; BEC fraud, sweepstakes/lottery fraud, tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud, gift cards and job scams.
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Worldwide survey of scams by country; overall victims losing $47.8 Billion
New FTC data spotlight looks at scammers impersonating Amazon; you get an email about a large order you supposedly placed, call scammers who move money from one account to another, claim they over refunded you and you need to return money; ask to remote into your PC; ask you to buy gift cards to “block” scammers. These are all tactics used by scammers in India with IRS or SSA scams.
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ScamAdviser releases worldwide survey on scams
Reviews and recommendations: One of our stops on vacation was Santiago de Compostela in Spain. This is the end of a pilgrimage trail on which people hike long distances. We saw hundreds of people cheerful arrive there every day. This trip is also the subject of an excellent 2010 movie starring Martin Sheen, and directed by his son Emilio Estevez.
Shipping container fraud: Believe it or not, crooks are now advertising shipping containers for sale. You know, the big metal boxes that carry goods on cargo ships. Some people use them as storage sheds. So Derek Smythe in South Africa, at AA419, tells the Fraud Report that the same scammers who engage in pet fraud (Cameroonians) have been increasingly “selling” and collecting money for containers that never arrive. This has been reported around the world, most recently in Canada. So far as I know this has not yet been on the radar in the U.S., but we need to be aware of it.
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ACCC reports Australia has seen an 89% increase in fraud this so far this year
People make good decisions. What we found doing advertising at the FTC is that given good information people make really good decisions when given accurate information. Thus when we made people end deceptive claims for products the products generally vanished from the shelves, even despite efforts to continue advertising them. In fact, the concept of trusting the people is central to the American experiment. There were those who thought that ordinary people could never be trusted to make decisions and those should be left to experts or aristocracy. So the American public is pretty bright, and I’d urge all my media friends to focus on facts and not put their thumb on the scale for any political point of view.
The Fraud Report is going on vacation; may not send it the next two weeks
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My new BBB in depth study on job scams
Atlanta: Nigerian scammer and partner who laundered stolen funds sentenced to prison
WSJ: T-Mobile hacker that stole data on 10 million talks to the Journal
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.
