Baker Fraud Report

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Interpol operation in Africa leads to arrests of 260 for romance fraud and sextortion

FTC settles case against Amazon over Prime subscriptions and making it hard to cancel; to pay $1 billion penalty and another $1.5 billion in refunds to victims

FTC explains who is eligible for refunds from Amazon Prime

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Brooklyn: DOJ indicts two members of the Jalisco drug cartel for operating call centers in Mexico reaching out to US owners of Mexican timeshares claiming they had a buyer; operated ten years; the  two are not yet in custody

Interpol operation involving 40 countries seizes $440 million from romance, BEC and other frauds

Nevada: Woman pleads guilty to scheme that mass mailed notices to victims telling them they had won and needed to send a small sum to claim prize; took in $15 million

Scams or Fraud – Is there a difference?  I’ve heard some people believe that  these terms have legal significance.  To prove fraud, of course, requires that the perpetrator did it intentionally, that it was not a mistake for example.  Normally that isn’t too hard to prove.  I suspect that the term “scams” developed as a shorthand and suggests that they have a lesser significance.  But for my purposes they are the same, and the term scams is not meant to downplay the seriousness of the activity.

Full report here

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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

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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