Global internet freedom declined for a 12th consecutive year as more governments erected digital barriers designed to censor dissent and monitor users, according to a report released today by Freedom House. The study finds that more than three-quarters of the world’s internet users now live in countries where authorities punish people for exercising their right to free expression online. The sharpest drop in internet freedom took place in Russia, as the Kremlin intensified its efforts to stifle domestic opposition and muzzle independent media in the wake of its illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
The new report, Freedom on the Net 2022: Countering an Authoritarian Overhaul of the Internet, finds that the internet is more fragmented than ever, with a record number of governments imposing restrictions on what billions of people can access and share online—whether by blocking foreign websites, hoarding personal data, or increasing control over their countries’ technical infrastructure.
The moves by repressive leaders, both within their borders and on the international stage, seek to divide the open internet into a patchwork of repressive enclaves where they can advance their narrow interests and cement their hold on power…”
Wired: How investigators traced through the blockchain following bitcoin payments to take down a massive child porn web site and track down its customers; 337 people were eventually arrested around the world
New links!
Fraud Studies: Here are links to the studies I’ve written for the Better Business Bureau: 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, free trial offer frauds, job scams, online shopping fraud, and crypto scams
Fraud News Around the world
- Ohio: Nigerian man convicted of using identity and credit card information from the dark web to buy goods and gift cards, returning goods to stores for cash refunds
- Cambodia: Nigerian man arrested for defrauding woman on Facebook
- Ireland: Woman arrested for rental scam that operated on social media
- Zelle fraud at Wells Fargo is 2.5 times as high as it was in 2019
- Singapore police have arrested 21 for acting as money mules scams
- Ghana deports 16 Nigerians for internet fraud
- Rhode Island: Brooklyn man who sold $20 million in counterfeit military uniforms that were made in China gets 40 months prison
- Toronto: New charges laid against three previously arrested for crooked mover scam; fourth person arrested
- The ten most common cash app scams
- France: 31 arrested with help from Spain and Latvia for using tech to unlock and steal cars
- Louisville: Customs seizes over 1000 counterfeit drivers licenses; most from US, but also from Canada, Australia and the UK
- UK issues report on Action Fraud complaint system and plans to replace it; report itself here
- UK survey finds that people with mental health issues are twice as likely to be a scam victim
- China opens police station in Nigeria; meant to address problems of Chinese nationals living overseas responsible to scams against Chinese
- How to tell if a job offer to work from home is a scam
- Homeland Security issues report on the threat of deepfake identities
- Man sets NYC restaurant on fire over botched chicken order
- Homeowner shoots at naked man that broke into his house and tried to steal his cat
- FTC contests Walmart’s allegations in case over allowing MoneyGram fraud transfers
- WSJ: FTC senior staff have personal investments in tech stocks; many though don’t work on those issues
- CFPB issues report finding that some colleges steer students to student loans with higher fees; colleges may benefit financially
- FTC Commissioner Noah Phillips leaves, leaving an open seat on the Commission
- CFPB sues company that registers people for YMCA camps for cramming bills with junk memberships
- FTC settles with District of Columbia auto group over junk fees and discriminating against minorities in providing financing; to pay $3.3 million
- St Louis: Woman gets two years prison for PPP fraud; must repay $787,000
- Tennessee: Four sentenced for EIDL fraud
- Nevada: Man pleads guilty to PPP/EIDL fraud; got over $500,000; tried to get $5.7 million
- Oregon: Man pleads guilty to PPP fraud; got $77,000
- Boston: Man pleads guilty to identity theft and unemployment fraud; got $65,000
- DOJ announces set of indictments and sentences for PPP fraud
- Dutch police trick ransomware gang into giving them 150 decryption keys; offer them to the public for free
- Massive attack on Common Spirit healthcare affects 139 hospitals, more than 1,000 care centers, 150,000 employees, and 25,000 physicians
- Attack takes down Australian insurer Medibank
- Ohio: Nigerian man gets 60 months prison for laundering romance fraud money; took in $1.3 million
- Guyana: Man arrested for romance scam run on Facebook
- Cambodia: Nigerian man and his Cambodian wife arrested for running romance fraud
- Los Angeles: Man pleads guilty to romance fraud; got hundreds of thousands of dollars; claimed to be Navy Seal; got victims to “invest” in bitcoin
- London:Two men (Nigerians?) sentenced to more than four years prison for romance fraud; pretended to be a doctor; got £674,000
