Perplexity Ai is “an answer engine that uses large language models to deliver accurate answers to complex questions. It is similar to the ChatGPT/Bing integration and provides answers through a chat-bot style interface. It has been designed to challenge existing search engines such as Google, and some users have suggested adding a “guard” layer between the language model and the user for security.”
FTC releases data on romance scam complaint trends
- Reported losses finally level off: 2019 -- $493M; 2020 -- 730M; 2021 --1.38B; 2022 -- $1.38B
- Extortion by asking for explicit photos and demanding money up eightfold since 2019; those 18-29 six times more likely to be victim of this tactic
- 58% of victims met scammer on social media
- Largest total losses though crypto; but more victims paid by gift cards, followed by bank wire transfers
Thought of the week -- Emotional damage by Fraud A couple of days ago a friend reminded me again of the real harm scammers inflict. It is easy to focus on the money lost, trends, and what is new. But the reality is that too much of the time people suffer loss of trust in themselves, depression, and especially with romance frauds, suicide.
Emails "from Comcast" claim huge savings. One regular reader of the BFR contacted me saying he got such an email, and when he called the salesman already had his name, account number, and the amount of his monthly bill. When he then called Comcast they said they had received "hundreds or thousands" of similar complaints but had not had a data breach. So be careful.
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
- Texas: Nigerian man extradited from Canada gets 87 months prison for laundering fraud money from grandparent, romance, inheritance, investment, and lottery scams; handled $3.9 million in victim money; ninth defendant prosecuted so far
- Avast study show big jump in spam emails claiming to be an invoice for an order from Geek Squad, etc.
- Guam: Nigerian man pleads guilty to inheritance scam
- Seattle: Man gets 20 months prison for bribing Amazon employees at Marketplace, getting competitors knocked off; clients reinstated
- Chicago: Customs seized $76,000 in counterfeit money and $465,000 in counterfeit goods coming from China at O’Hare last week
- List sellers/data brokers now selling information on people who are depressed or have health issues
- Ohio: Nigerian man gets 37 months prison for using stolen credit cards to buy retail goods and gift cards
- China says it will take civil action against internet sites that allow sales of counterfeit products
- Deputies stop car and driver cracks a beer
- Police arrest naked Georgia man who stole ambulance and was doing donuts in parking lot
- Catalytic converter stolen from Oscar Meyer weinermobile in Las Vegas
- WSJ OpEd by Christine Wilson: Why I’m resigning as an FTC Commission
- Biden nominates Commissioner Slaughter for a second term at the FTC
- WSJ editorial on the current course of the FTC
- State and federal governments lost $191 billion to virus unemployment fraud
- Maine: Man pleads guilty to PPP fraud; got $1 million
- Detroit: Man gets 8 years prison for unemployment and PPP fraud; got $2.2 million; also defrauded postal system by filing insurance claims for “lost” packages
- Former employee of Social Security pleads guilty to theft of unemployment benefits; stole identities to apply; got $288,000
- California: Man gets 51 months prison for PPP fraud; got more than $1 million
- New York: Texas man gets 42 months prison for PPP fraud; one of five in gang that tried to get $30 million
- Florida: Man pleads guilty to PPP fraud; got $910,000
- Study finds 25% of BEC emails are opened; 15% are replied to
- Nigerian man indicted for BEC on Kansas City University for $1.4 million
- Takes down systems of City of Oakland, California
- Hits A10, maker of hardware for network systems
- Attack on Southern California medical center; may affect 3.3 milli
- Oregon: Crypto money launderer from Russia extradited to the US from the Netherlands and pleads guilty; handled proceeds of Ryuk ransomware
- New York: Former Coinbase manager pleads guilty to insider trading of crypto
- Brampton, Ontario: Peel police arrest man who operated lottery scam by calling seniors across Canada, claiming they had won and needed to send money before they could get winnings
- Brooklyn: Jamaican man extradited from Panama and charged with lottery fraud; average age of victims was 81; often impersonated Publisher’s Clearinghouse
- Connecticut: Man indicted for lottery fraud; often impersonated PCH
- Florida: Woman arrested for PCH lottery fraud; personally picked up money from Florida victim
- New study on how scammers reach out to romance victims; study itself here
- Chicago: Nigerian man sentenced to more than 7 years prison for romance fraud; fled to Canada after being charged; sent $3.5 million to Nigeria; nine other defendants; eight have pled guilty
- London had 1000 romance fraud complaints in 2022; victims out £15 million
- Nigeria: Man gets five years prison for romance fraud where he claimed to be in US military
- New Jersey sends cease and desist letters to three crypto trading platforms used to scam romance scam victims with phony investments
- Australia says $40 million in reported losses to romance fraud in 2022
- Nigeria: Man gets two years prison for romance fraud
- FBI puts out wanted notice on Nigerian man who skipped bail and fled after being convicted of romance fraud in Atlanta