Fraud Report November 30, 2023

Inside the crypto romance industry; billions stolen; suicides of victims; call centers where people are kidnapped

Need an expert witness for consumer protection or fraud issues?  Let me know.

Fraud Studies: Here are links to the studies I’ve written for the Better Business Bureau: puppy fraud, romance fraud; BEC fraud, sweepstakes/lottery fraudtech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud, gift cards,  free trial offer frauds,  job scams,  online shopping fraud,  fake check fraud and crypto scams

Fraud News Around the world

Humor

FTC and CFPB

Artificial Intelligence and deep fake fraud

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Virus Benefit Theft

Social media

Kidnapping and forced to scam

Business Email compromise fraud

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IRS and tax fraud

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Ransomware and data breaches

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency

ATM Skimming

Jamaica and Lottery Fraud

Romance Fraud and Sextortion

Fraud Report November 22, 2023

Better Bureau updates my 2021 study on gift card fraud

  • Complaints to the BBB are up 50% this year over last
  • Most involve online shopping schemes

McAfee releases first global scam message survey; finds people get an average of 12 fake messages every day by email, texts, or social media

  • Messages people are most likely to click to open:
  • You’ve won a prize!” – 25%
  • Fake missed delivery, or delivery problem, notification – 20%
  • Information about a purchase the recipient didn’t make – 22%
  • Sign in and location verification messages – 20%

Australia warns of fake online stores impersonating real ones; has found 2670 sites so far with bit losses

AI is definitely here: A friend of mine took some voice from a podcast I did, and a bit of video from an old press event, and came up with a video of me that has totally new statements from me that I never said.  See it here.  He used free software he found online.

CEO of largest US crypto exchange to step down, plead guilty, and to pay $4.3 billion over anti money laundering issues

Full report here

Fraud Report November 16, 2023

New study on online sextortion

  • This involves blackmail and money demands, unlike other conduct often referred to as sextortion
  • Victims most often meet on Facebook, perform sex acts before a camera, and then demand money or threaten to release video
  • Data drawn from Scamsurvivors.com site
  • Victims most often males in their 20’s
  • Most often originate from the Philippines, then Ivory Coast and Mali

Credit repair firms drive big increase in synthetic identity theft, provide consumers with fake social security numbers to challenge credit reports or get a new credit identity; losses of $20 billion
Payment App Zelle is now giving refunds to victims of imposter scamsProvides online form here to apply for refunds

Bob Sullivan podcast interview for AARP with a man who was kidnapped and forced to scam – and escaped

Minnesota: Jury finds three guilty in massive telemarketing fraud selling magazines; got $300 million

Say Yes Scams.  We’ve heard various concerns about phone scams that ask you to “say yes” or “can you hear me now.  There are a variety of theories about what scammers do with that information.  But one consumer group has looked hard for evidence that this tactic is actually used in scams – and has found none.  My own suspicion, only that, it that the computers used to make robocalls use this tactic to confirm that a real person it out there, and it not a fax or answering machine.

Need an expert witness for consumer protection or fraud issues?  Let me know.
Fraud Studies: Here are links to the studies I’ve written for the Better Business Bureau: puppy fraud, romance fraud; BEC fraud, sweepstakes/lottery fraudtech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud,gift cards,  free trial offer frauds,  job scams,  online shopping fraud,fake check fraud and crypto scams

Fraud News Around the world

Humor

FTC and CFPB

Virus Benefit Theft

Social media

Kidnapping and forced to scam

Business Email compromise fraud

IRS and tax fraud

Ransomware

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency

Jamaica and Lottery Fraud

Romance Fraud and Sextortion

Just for fun: Highwaymen, by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristoffeson and Willie Nelson

Fraud Report November 9, 2023

Top Stories

Florida: Two Nigerian men get 10 years and 7 years prison for inheritance fraud that sent letters supposedly from bank in Spain to older Americans claiming that they had an inheritance; demanded fees to get the money; laundered money through other victims; duo had been extradited from Spain

Enforcement efforts are working!  New FTC report shows robocalls complaints have fallen to a five year low

New BBB Scam Tracker report on frauds hitting younger consumers

  • Those 18-24 have highest median dollar losses than any other group
  • Top three frauds for this group are online shopping, job frauds, and crypto investments

WSJ:  Chinese criminals behind crypto romance frauds in SE Asia, and China is trying to crack down on it

Three extradited to the US from Morocco and Romania; had run reshipping scheme from Russia that used stolen credit card information to order goods online and be shipped within the US, and then had goods reshipped to Russia and Eastern Europe; at least $48 million involved

Review and recommendation:  I just finished Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk.  It is fascinating.  Creator of PayPal, Space X, Tesla, the Boring Company, and several other companies that would be great accomplishments standing alone.   Plus now Twitter.  And he’s not done yet.   Like Ford, Edison,  Rockefeller,  Carnegie and Vanderbilt he’s made a big improvement in everyday lives

Full report here

Baker Fraud Report November 2, 2023

Australia busts massive operation run by China that laundered fraud money from around the world; handles $229 million; seven arrested; $50 million in property seized

Quebec arrests 17 in $5 million real estate scheme; used ID theft to get mortgage loans on houses they didn’t own

Vermont: Woman from India who lived in Florida pleads not guilty when charged with tech support fraud where victims were contacted by email claiming to be from Geek Squad; moved money from victim’s savings accounts to checking, and claimed they had accidentally made too large a “refund” and victim to return “excess” to them; part of a larger group charged

Full Report here

Fraud Report October 20, 2023

Global scam study concludes 25% of people worldwide have been scam victims with losses of over $1 trillion

FTC issues new report to Congress on frauds against older victims

  • Investment frauds; tech support scams and business impersonation top the list

DOJ releases report on elder fraud to Congress

Tampa: Man extradited from Moldova and charged; sold computer passwords on the dark web; had at least 350,000

India undertakes national crackdown on tech support operations; raids 76 locations

India: Mumbai police raid call center defrauding Canadians by claiming they were law enforcement and need to keep victim money “safe;” five employees leap from top of one story building to escape and are injured; 17 arrested

Full report here

Fraud Report October 12, 2023

Top Stories

FTC releases study with data on scams that begin on social media

  • One quarter of victims reporting since 2021 say scam began on social media, with losses of $2.7 billion
  • More than any phone, email or any other method of contact
  • Younger people hit harder; 47% with victims 18-19; 38% of those 20-29
  • 44% of losses due to online shopping where goods were never delivered, mainly clothing and electronics
  • But 53% of the money lost was to investments; mainly crypto romance fraud

Full report here

Fraud Report September 21, 2023

North Carolina: Nigerian man found guilty after trial for scheme that contacts lawyers and asked to be represented; sent them a fake counterfeit check as payment, and then canceled and asked for a refund by bank transfer; got over $20 million
 
New Jersey: Two men from India get 41 months prison each for fraud that used robocalls from India to impersonate the Social Security Administration or the FBI and DEA; handled $1.2 million of victim money
 
New Facebook scam claims to be giving away laptop or Playstation, but asks for money to pay shipping; no product exists

Australia reports that scams calling Chinese speakers, claiming to be with the Chinese government, and threatening arrest or deportation, have recently doubled; demand victims pay a “fine.”

India busts eight tech support fraud call centers; arrest over 200

Full Report here