A Portrait Of The Wall Street Journal's Tax Report Columnist Late In Her Career
Better Business Bureau releases 2021 risk report
- Crypto currency scams went up sharply; have higher average losses
- Online shopping number one topic of reports
- Job scams third
Victims lured into fake crypto investment websites by “friends” on Instagram are told that they must record a video promoting the investment in order to take out their “earnings.”
Russian sanctions may lead to cyberattacks on the west
Top 10 scams reported to Consumer Sentinel in 2021
San Diego: Two men plead guilty to RICO charges for grandparent scam operation
Review and recommendation: We just finished 1883, the miniseries about the Oregon Trail and the family that built the ranch in the series Yellowstone with Kevin Costner. It was pretty good, and it definitely shows the incredible hardships the early settlers endured to build this country. But it still isn’t as good as Lonsome Dove, the classic miniseries starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones (the book is even better, a classic).
BBB Studies. Here are links to the study topics of my studies: puppy fraud, romance fraud; BEC fraud, sweepstakes/lottery fraud, tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud, gift cards, job scams, and online shopping fraud.
Virus Scams
- At request of the FTC, Justice department sues herbal tea company that claimed it would prevent or cure Covid
- UK: Scam text messages cost Brits £531,000 in two months
Fraud News Around the world
- Maryland: Nigerian who was a former letter carrier gets four years prison for stealing mail, including credit cards; got $500,000
- New York: Nigerian pleads guilty to hacking payroll companies to steal paychecks
- Two men arrested in Pennsylvania for grandparent scam
- UK sees credit card fraud at a five year high
- Phishing scams hit an all time high in December 2021
- Oregon: Police discover warehouse containing goods of moving fraud victims
- New report on phishing incidents in 2021
- CTV: How crooked movers operate in Canada
- British Columbia RCMP arrests three for grandparent fraud
- Puppy scams increasing in South Africa
- FBI issues warning of scammers impersonating law enforcement and government officials
- Nigerian EFCC arrests 22 for romance fraud, BEC and other scams
- FBI warns that people are getting tax forms showing earnings they didn’t make; likely their names were used on online accounts without their knowledge
- Social Security warns of scammers on Slam the Scam day
Humor
- Florida man tries to get out of speeding ticket by blaming Putin
- Golf cart driver arrested for DUI says his Mom was too drunk to drive
- Louisiana deputy “pounced on” by squirrel during traffic stop
FTC and CFPB
- Tied Senate Committee advances nominees for FTC and CFPB seats
- FTC announces national consumer protection week of March 6
- DOJ files civil case on behalf of the FTC against Weight Watchers for collecting personal information from children
- Online stock trading site Raging Bull to pay $2.3 million over bogus earnings claims and hard to cancel subscriptions
Virus Benefit Theft
- New Jersey: Two men charged with PPP fraud; got $3.3 million
- District of Columbia: Former employee of archdiocese pleads guilty to PPP fraud; got $2.1 million
- Virginia: Man gets 30 months prison for unemployment benefit fraud; 30 people involved; got $500,000
- New York: Ophthalmologist gets 8 years prison for PPP fraud and fraudulent medical billing
- Michigan: Two men get 36 and 33 months prison for PPP fraud; got $1.5 million
- Report: Unions were not eligible for PPP loans, but got $36 million
- San Francisco: Woman pleads guilty to stealing identities to apply for 121 EIP loans; worked with son on death row
- New Orleans: Former Amtrak worker charged with PPP fraud; got $86,000
Ransomware
- Texas: Ukrainian man extradited from Poland and charged for ransomware attacks
- Ransomware group leaks huge amount of data from Samsung
- Hits gas station network in Romania
- Attack on Centralia College in Washington State
Data Breaches
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency
- US Secret Service sets up crypto hub with consumer information
- SEC sues siblings over crypto investment scam that involved multi-level marketing; made $124 million
- New York: Third founder of crypto exchange BitMEX pleads guilty to bank secrecy act violations
ATM skimming
- Virginia: Romanian gets 30 months prison for ATM skimming conspiracy
- Pakistan arrests three Brazilians for skimming
Jamaica and Lottery Fraud
Romance Fraud and Sextortion