Baker Fraud Report

Chainalysis issues 2024 crypto crime report

John Oliver HBO program on crypto romance scams and scam call centers in Myanmar; very good, complete, and includes humor. Runs 45 minutes

FTC warns never to move your money to another account to “save it,”  this is always a scam

BBB issues annual scam tracker risk report

• Those 18-24 lost the most money
• Contacts with scammers on social media were up to 64%
• Crypto romance scams also increase 

Tip of the week: We know that scammers pay to post sponsored links at the top of search results. So when the public uses Google to look for the phone numbers of social media, tech companies, and many other organizations they find  numbers posted by scammers and end up calling them.  So let’s all do a search for our own organization to be sure scammers aren’t using our names.

Full report here

House Judiciary Committee releases report detailing abuse of power at the FTC; assert culture of fear; abuse of power
 
Is this happening in the US as well? New text message scam seeking personal information claims to be Medicare Australia and threatens to suspend benefits: complaints spike to 1500

Full report here

Top Stories

FTC releases fraud data for 2023

• Complaint numbers up a bit; losses jump 21% to over $10 billion
• Most money lost to “investments,” meaning crypto romance fraud, at $4.6 billion; a 21% jump
• Next most complained of were government/business imposters
• Largest amount of money lost by bank to bank transfers
• Those 20-29 years old lost money in 44% of complaints; those over 70 only 25%, though older group lost larger amounts

Singapore police release 2023 fraud data; fraud up on Meta platforms, including Facebook and Instagram; job scams top the list

China-sponsored hacking group has been infiltrating US electric utilities and emergency management services

FinCEN sends alert to financial institutions warning of crypto romance “pig butchering” frauds

Pet scams are now using sponsored ads on Google to appear at the top of search results; 31% of recent complaints about pet scams identified this tactic; sites usually registered from Cameroon

International effort seizes the infrastructure of Russia-based Lockbit, one of the largest ransomware groups

Full report here

Identity Theft Assistance Center releases 2023 report, data breaches up 72% from 2022; affected 353 million individuals

FBI IC3 warns of sharp increase in tech support scams asking people to buy gold and other precious metals and send couriers to pick it up

UK reports fraud was down 13% last year, so it still the most reported type of crime; tech support and lottery fraud down

Europol: In extensive European effort police arrest 15 in major crackdown on Nigerian confraternities engaged in smuggling drugs, human trafficking and fraud

Huge amount of romance fraud enforcement this week.  As you can see below, a huge amount of great work has been done recently.  Why? Possibly it will promote education efforts around Valentine’s Day. But whatever the reason, these are welcome efforts.

full report here

Robocall deepfake of Joe Biden urges New Hampshire public not to vote in the Republican primary

Full report here

National Consumers’s League: Ten Resolutions on Fraud for this year

Technology used by scammers.  We all know that they can Spoof caller IDs, make fake web pages and passports, fake videos, and use ChatGPT and AI to aid their scams.  Here is a 30 minute presentation by Wayne May from Scamsurvivors explaining where scammers get these tools and how they use them.

How Walmart’s Financial Services Became a Fraud Magnet; use of money transfers and gift card fraud at stores cost victims millions

Full report here

New Facebook scam claims people can buy unclaimed bags from O’Hare for $10  And this is happening now all over the world.

Ireland: Enforcement operation against Nigerian organized crime gang Black Axe arrests 84 for fraud and 327 for acting as money mules

Full report here

CNN: An extensive look at crypto romance frauds operated from scam compounds in Myanmar

India arrests 36 at call center phoning those in the US, pretending to be Bank of America wanting to increase security measures, and having people buy gift cards

CNN: An extensive look at crypto romance frauds operated from scam compounds in Myanmar

Full Report here

Top Stories

Europol releases report on online fraud trends (does not contain any data on scope of fraud there)

Cyber Attack in Iran hit gas supply;  shuts down 70% of the countries gas stations

Canada: British Columbia forfeits $10 million from PacNet, which processed payments for sweepstakes fraud claiming victims had won money and had to return small sums to claim

Canada: York Regional police arrest six (Chinese?) for handling gift card payments after tech support frauds; all Home Depot cards; had $3 million

New Jersey: Man gets five years prison for laundering fraud money for Black Axe gang in South Africa; handled $525,000

Two men from Toronto arrested for altering gift cards in stores

Los Angeles: Four men indicted for crypto romance frauds; got $80 million

Full report here

EFCC in Nigeria says 7 out of 10 students there are involved in cyberfraud

Apple study says 2.6 billion personal records stolen in data breaches over the last two years, ransomware up 70% this year

Sacramento, California Sherriff’s department arrests 278 in one week for gift card scams at major retailers; replace gift cards on shelves with new ones after copying the PIN and covering scratch off

Full Report here