Baker Fraud Report – News you can use
October 12, 2017
TOP STORIES
FBI’s “secret weapon” for helping romance fraud victims and seniors that keep sending money for Jamaica lottery frauds – Debbie Deem
Feds arrest lead seller William Nanry in New York
- Allege took personal information of people that had responded to sweepstakes mailings
- Primarily senior citizens
- Created “leads,” many of them counterfeit
- Sold these to telemarketers, presumably including Jamaicans and Costa Rica
- Indictment sealed
Tip of the week: How to tell who picked up the money sent through Western Union or MoneyGram.
If fraud victims call Western Union or MoneyGram the companies will tell them where the money was really picked up (probably not the address specified by the sender). Armed with that information police may be able to get surveillance tapes and information on the ID used by the fraudster
Equifax Data Breach Updates
- Pros and cons of freezing your credit in response to the Equifax breach
- Equifax now says lost data on 700,000 people in the UK
Pet Fraud
- North Carolina woman arrested for selling nonexistent puppies
- Washington Post on pet frauds and the BBB study
Malware
Researchers shut down malicious ads at Pornhub and Yahoo
- Millions affected
- Malicious ads showed screens asking people to click on an update program
- Firefox and Chrome users got “Urgent Update notice”
- Explorer or Edge users got a “Flash update”
- When people clicked on these, hidden malware clicked on ads the victim never saw
- Crooks got paid for the clicks made using victim computers
Fraud News From Around the World
- Joliet, Illinois family sues after scam tricks them into wiring the proceeds of house sale — $74,000 — to Canada
- BBC talks to ScamSurvivors; volunteer group that fights cybercrime and helps victims
- Police in Louisville, Kentucky arrest man who was mailing letters telling people they had won Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes; included counterfeit check and told them to overnight him money for expenses before they got their “winnings”
- Jamaican man swindled in job fraud; loses money he sent through Western Union and MoneyGram
- Nigerian fraud prosecutor in the UK convicted of slavery; had brought over girl from Nigeria and used her as a personal slave for 14 years
- EFCC in Nigeria arrests four; engaged in romance fraud; fake job offers and other cybercrimes, mainly against Americans
- Calls claiming to be from utility threatening to shut off power now hitting Anchorage, Alaska
- Chicago MoneyGram agent saves elderly woman from sending money in grandparent fraud
- Hackers steal $60 million from Taiwan Bank: used SWIFT wire transfer system; all but $500,000 recovered
- New Zealand police stop 1000 hard drives ordered from NZ companies; victims had responded to fake emails from NZ universities
- Frauds impersonate senior employees of the Atlantic Magazine; offer to hire and send fake checks to victims, who then send money along to supposed “vendor.”
- Man in Grand Rapids, Michigan indicted for stealing ID’s to get student loans and spending the funds
- Jail time for woman in Ohio; she and boyfriend sold horses online that they didn’t actually own or provide
- Organized crime laundering money through British Columbia casinos
FTC and CFPB
- CFPB issues final payday loan Rule: is this the end of payday loans?
- FTC sending $9.8 million in refunds checks to victims of “free trial offer” fraud that sold skin cream and weight loss products
- FTC provides list of its cybersecurity resources for small businesses
Ransomware
- Ransomware hits city of Englewood, Colorado
- Ransomware warning by Secret Service and Homeland Security investigations
- Dark web market for ransomware sales to frauds increases 2500% in a year
Romance Frauds
ATM Skimming
- Two Romanian men arrested for ATM skimming in New York City; alleged they took in at least $100,000
- Europe sees 300% increase in “black box” attacks on ATM – machine hooks up laptop or other device to ATM and take out all cash in the machine
Jamaican Lottery Fraud
- Jamaican Police arrest seven more people for lottery fraud
- Elderly man in wealthy Chicago suburb of Wilmette may have lost $100,000 to Jamaican lottery fraud
- Four of the seven Western Union outlets in Jamaica that had been suspended are now back open
- Florida lottery warns of frauds pretending to award winners of Mega Millions
Just for fun….
Flashback: Steve Martin does King Tut
Add to the News! Have you seen a recent prosecution or other fraud information that others should know about? Send it into the Baker Fraud Report at steve@bakerfraudreport.com
Know you saw something in the BFR but can’t find it? Previous issues can be found under “library” here.
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