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.
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Is the term “scam” helpful? We often use the term scam as a synonym for fraud. “Fraud,” is, of course, a legal term. The authors of a new article suggest that for several reasons use of the term scam is inapposite. They contend that use of the term “scam” downplays the seriousness of the conduct, and can suggest that it is somewhat the fault of the victim. A thoughtful piece.
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FTC issues annual report to Congress on fraud against older people (60+)
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CFPB to furlough most employees at the end of the year and transfer remaining cases to DOJ
US forms scams task force to tackle organized crime and fraud from Southeast Asia
Fraud-related industries: The Southeast Asia scam compounds apparently began as online casinos. What do we know about organized crime involvement. Would there be many consumer complaints? And what of the pornography industry? We did a case while I was at the FTC against a porn company that asked for credit cards for a free trial, promising that credit cards would not be charged. We initially had only 16 complaints, but this grew into a huge multi-million dollar fraud, run by an organized crime family. People just rarely complained. I fear that these are areas of massive consumer fraud that we simply don’t hear about from victims. One thing they seem to have in common is that they have found a way to get access to the credit card system. Let me know if you can if my suspicions are correct – or not.
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Myanmar military demolishes 150 building in scam compound on the Thailand border
Password for the security camera system at the Louvre was “louvre”
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Google says its new AI powered defenses block 10 billion scam calls and texts on Android each month
China sentences five to death for operating scam compounds
Digital Arrest Scams. There is much angst in India about this type of fraud. But from reading articles about this, I’m not sure there is agreement about just what this consists of. It does seem to begin with a call from a law enforcement impersonator, claiming that the victim has been involved and threatening arrest. Beyond that I’m not sure if this is actually a different pitch than the scams we see that tell victims that they need to move their money to the caller to keep it “safe.” So it may be just a new term for a fraud that we already see. But I’m be interested in hearing from anyone that knows more than I.
Meta takes down 8 million scam accounts on Facebook and Instagram
Myanmar military arrests 2000 at scam compound call center
Canada set to set new national fraud strategy and to launch new financial crime agency
SpaceX says it has cut off 2500 Starlink devices at scam compounds in Myanmar
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Brooklyn: US indicts head of same Cambodian crypto romance call center
Excellent webinar on the work and role of Nigerian Black Axe Gang (60 minutes)
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Interpol operation in Africa leads to arrests of 260 for romance fraud and sextortion
