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Tech support frauds in India partner with Chinese groups to pick up and launder victim money.  How does this system work?  Interesting insights into those networks

Does prosecuting scammers work?  From time to time I hear people say that you can’t arrest yourself out of scams.  To the extent that such voices are saying that there are other things that can be done (education disruption, dealing with the avenues where scam money travels, etc.) that is doubles true. But I fear that at times this is just as excuse by law enforcement which does not have the resources, training, or internal support to take action.  In my experience, though, the frauds do keep a close eye on what enforcers are doing, and since they really don’t want to go to jail they avoid engaging in scams where there has been effective enforcement.  For example, after the Southern District of Illinois successfully extradited some scammers who ran call centers in Canada and convicted them in the US the number of fraud call centers in Canada plummeted.  And there are other types of frauds and scams that we have eliminated.   If burglaries were never prosecuted is there any doubt that they would skyrocket?  I doubt they would ever be eliminated, but they might be kept to manageable levels.  The crooked and greedy will ever be with us.  But we should all honor and encourage the law enforcement agencies that take the time and work to successfully send the crooks to the clink.  They are watching what we do.

Full report here

Scammers are NOT Robin Hood.  Fraudsters bring in a lot of money, and of course spend it in the area where they are located. Some may even contribute to local charities. But the data shows that the areas where scammers tend to locate also suffer more scams and fraud than other places.  For example, Florida has often topped the list of scam complaints per capita. Where crooks locate, spread, and teach others their methods local people suffer.

Full report here

FBI Internet Fraud Complaint Center warns of a sharp increase in complaints that begin with a tech support scam and then moves to a second stage where victims get calls impersonating banks or government agencies telling victims that there money is at risk and must be moved to a “safe” account

San Diego: Youtube scam baiter helps take down network of Chinese gang members, many here illegally,  who were helping and laundering money for call centers in India; gang handled $65 million; 28 charged and 25 arrested so far

Chinese money laundering gangs handle funds for drug cartels and for fraud gangs; handed $312 billion over four years says FinCEN

Full report here

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Interpol leads crackdown in Africa against scammers; 1209 arrested across Africa; $97.4 million seized; from crypto mining investment scams to inheritance frauds

New fraud technique called “Ghost-tapping:” crooks put stolen credit cards onto burner phones; link to Google Pay and Apple pay; can have mules buy goods at a physical location and just tap the card

FCC bars 1200 voice service providers from the US phone system in crackdown on illegal robocalls

CBS Interview with Apple Cofounder Steve Wozniak on online scams; how he sued Youtube for using clip of him to further bitcoin scam

Full report here

FBI warns the scams are now impersonating major law firms, producing fake legal documents, and falsely claim to be lawyers to further crypto romance frauds or claim that they can get lost money back

All 51 State Attorney Generals form group to combat robocalls

Let us know when scammers caught in the US are from other countries.  I have noticed that many people arrested in the US for fraud are really from other countries (such as Nigeria, India, Romania, or China) and may well be in the country illegally.  Many times press releases do not reveal these facts, even though they are is reported in their home country news media, such as in Nigeria or India. At times the origin of the person is revealed in the indictment or other legal papers.  These are just facts tying them to foreign gangs, and disguising their origins helps no one.

Full report here

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Man from Costa Rica gets 15 years prison for sweepstakes fraud; calls from Costa Rica claimed to be from government agencies; no one had won; collected over $4 million; operated more than 15 years

New FTC Data Spotlight that looks at business and government impersonation frauds that want you to turn over funds to keep them “safe”

• Reports by older adults losing $10,000 or more quadrupled since 2020
• Those who lost $100,000 or more increased sevenfold
• One third of the money lost was sent in crypto
• These scams also begin as tech support frauds
• $690 million reported lost to this type of scam last  year

Boston: Thirteen charged in grandparent scam that operated from a call center in the Dominican Republic; took in $5 millionForeign gangs operating in the US: Foreign fraud gangs have at least thousands of people physically in the US who help operate the frauds. Some make calls directly; others send mail or email and may help set up websites. And of course these US based helpers launder money, open bank accounts, recruit money mules or go to the homes of victims to pick up money (or hire Uber driver or other couriers).  Thus well over a hundred people from India have been convicted over this type of work.  And Romanians fly in, set up ATM skimmers, and fly out.  Many of these criminals are here illegally, either having crossed the border or overstaying tourist or student visas.  When caught taking part in frauds couldn’t/shouldn’t they be deported?

Full report here

Man from Costa Rica gets 15 years prison for sweepstakes fraud; calls from Costa Rica claimed to be from government agencies; no one had won; collected over $4 million; operated more than 15 years

New FTC Data Spotlight that looks at business and government impersonation frauds that want you to turn over funds to keep them “safe”

• Reports by older adults losing $10,000 or more quadrupled since 2020
• Those who lost $100,000 or more increased sevenfold
• One third of the money lost was sent in crypto
• These scams also begin as tech support frauds
• $690 million reported lost to this type of scam last  year

Part Nine on Fraud gangs:  We know that China has organized crime groups, despite its totalitarian ways.   Fentanyl precursors are made in China and then sold to Mexican drug cartels, for example.  And most of the counterfeit goods sold around the world come from China, and are massively sold on the internet.  In fact, the largest pool of fraud complaints to the BBB are about counterfeit or nonexistent goods sold this way.  China, or Chinese gangs, are mainly responsible for the massive scam compounds in Thailand, Cambodia, and the Philippines that kidnap young people and force them to scam. These compounds grew out of Chinese-led online gambling “casinos.”   Finally, there has been a noticeable trend in the use of Chinese couriers being used to pick up victims money for India-based tech support frauds.  Chinese people also are actively involved in gift card fraud.  And note that China seems to have devised ways to take and process credit cards (for sales of counterfeit goods online and for online gambling) despite efforts by MasterCard and Visa to fight this illegal use of their cards.

Full report here

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UK and Romania bust ATM skimming gang; 18 searches, 2 arrested to date

Amnesty International visits 53 scam compounds in Cambodia; issues report; kidnappings, beating

Part Nine on Fraud gangs:  Nigerian Black Axe.  This “confraternatity” seems to have emerged from Nigerian college campuses.  It goes not appear to be the only one that did.  And now Black Axe operates worldwide. For example, Black Axe has partnered with the Italian mafia to control prostitution in Italy.  The Black Axe has even had Facebook pages for chapters in major cities in (at least) North America, including Toronto, Houston, Atlanta and Washington DC.  Though we do not tend to think of violent crime being involved in frauds, Police agencies investigating the organization state that it does engage in violence.

And in addition to its work with a wide variety of fraud around the world, it is also engaged in international drug dealing, sometimes using romance scam victims, for example, to carry seriously illegal drugs from country to country.

Scammers operate as a network.  For example, just one Western Union location in London had thousands of complaints from victims who had been instructed to send their money to that location for a variety of scams. But how did the scammers know who was behind each transaction so that the proper fraudster could get paid?  And what if that location were stealing part of that money?  Of course there are scammers that rob each other. But since frauds cannot go to the police to enforce their agreements, it seems likely that Black Axe and other organized crime groups serve this function.    

Next up:  China

Full report here

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Wired: Social media influencer teaches Nigerian Yahoo boys their trade

Part eight on Fraud gangs:  Nigeria

Nigerian scammers seem responsible for a larger share of consumer fraud than any other group.   Nigeria is a former British colony, fairly well educated, and largely English-speaking.  It has a large population of 227 million and thus is quite a bit larger than Russia with 143 million.  Despite huge oil reserves, many people are relatively poor.  Thus there has been a huge Nigerian Diaspora around the world; very large numbers have emigrated to the US, Canada, Europe, Ireland, and Asia. The main law enforcement body in Nigerian, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (the EFCC) has told me that they believe there may be 250,000 Nigerians living in mainland China.

     Scammers from Nigeria, often known as Yahoo boys, are the primary operators of romance scams, but also operate a large number of other frauds, such as Sextortion scams targeting teenage boys, business email compromise fraud,  inheritance and lottery fraud, and the theft of government benefits, such as unemployment and PPP fraud.

     Often groups operate several different frauds simultaneously with partners around the world.  There is a strong fraud support network that they employ to provide internet support, move money, fake web sites; fake passports, etc.  These are just facts. There is no more reason to believe that all Nigerians are scammers than it would be to believe all Italians are part of the Mafia. 

Next week: The Black Axe

Full report here

GAO report finds organized fraud groups are targeting federal programs, and half of prosecution have been of fraud gangs

Man from Costa Rica gets more than 15 years prison for running lottery scams from call centers there that impersonated US government officials; made over $4 million

Part Seven on Fraud Gangs: Canada

At one point there were thousands of people in Canada operating fraud telemarketing operations against the US.  Due to great joint work between Canadian and US law enforcement much of this is now gone.  Note that it is very difficult to extradite from Canada.   But much fraud remains.    The main fraud coming out of Canada is grandparent fraud, traditionally centered in Quebec.  The head of a major group behind this fraud was recently arrested.  Police estimate that they took in $30 million.  The SQ in Quebec believe organized crime groups are also involved in grandparent fraud, though it not clear if  this is the Italian Mafia or the Nigerian Black Axe. The Toronto Police Service and the RCMP have also done great work on tracking the activities of the Black Axe across Canada.

Full report here