Pittsburgh: Woman gets a year in prison for her work helping frauds in India call impersonating the IRS; she provided cell phones

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MP Peter Poulos apologises for spreading explicit photos of Robyn Preston posing as Penthouse ‘pet

All is well between two NSW MPs, despite revelations Peter Poulos shared explicit pictures of Robyn Preston modelling as a Penthouse “pet” with media outlets.

Top Stories  
 Pittsburgh: Woman gets a year in prison for her work helping frauds in India call impersonating the IRS; she provided cell phones 
 
New BEC gang dubbed Firebrick Ostrich uncovered; usually impersonates vendors instead of other employees; industrial scale operation
 
Las Vegas: Three indicted for scheme that mailed more than a million letters claiming the recipient had won a lottery and needed to send back a small amount to claim prize winnings; violated USPIS cease and desist order

World’s second largest chain of bitcoin ATM’s files for bankruptcy; operated mainly in the US and Brazil; lost much money to hackers

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

• US Department of Transportation under fire for issuing licenses to crooked moving companies
• RCMP, CAFC warn of big increase in Grandparent scams in Canada
• Toronto police arrest three who had lab making fake gift cards
• New study finds extroverts have a harder time spotting fake reviews
• Australia:  Workplace relations site must pay $3 million fine for suggesting that site is endorsed by the government in Google ads
• DOJ settles civil case for $5 million in international fraud case where defendants illegally debited bank accounts of victims, many for very small sums to escape notice

Humor 

• Suspect arrested after he fights deputies in a pool of cow dung
• Mafia boss found working as a pizza chef after 16 years on the run
• Quebec’s weather groundhog found dead on morning of groundhog’s day

FTC and CFPB  

• FTC releases new page with scam information in 12 languages
• Court dismisses CFPB case against Chicago mortgage company; agency had alleged redlining
• FTC settles with ZyCal pharmaceuticals over claim product could grow cartilage
• CFPB issues guidance warning of web sites claiming to shop for mortgages; those may not be impartial and get and sell your data

Virus Benefit Theft 

• Cincinnati: Man indicted for PPP fraud; claimed income though he was in prison at the time; got $40,700
• Virginia lost $1.6 billion to unemployment benefits with stolen identities
• Miami: Woman indicted for PPP and EIDL fraud; got $380,000
• Texas: 23 indicted for PPP fraud; also laundered money from victims of romance, BEC, and unemployment fraud; got $3.5 million
• Tennessee: Woman gets 78 months prison for PPP fraud
• Texas: Jury convicts man for PPP fraud; group tried to get $35 million; 15 others in scheme have pleaded guilty

Business Email compromise fraud 

• Colorado county loses most of $4 million water improvement grant to BEC fraud

IRS and tax fraud

• New Mexico: Former state tax official gets 94 months prison for ID theft in applying for tax refunds; got $1.2 million

Ransomware  

• Hits ION, London-based derivative trade software; banks try to respond
• Attack causes big problems for major Florida hospital
• Hits chip maker MKS
• French police arrest notorious Finnish hacker who also did ransomware scams

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency

• Crypto hacking sets new record of $3.8 billion; half of that by North Korea; mostly on DeFi protocols
• Class actions being filed across the US against celebrities who promoted crypto without disclosing that they had been paid; Justin Bieber, Larry David, Madonna, Jimmy Fallon and more

Jamaica and Lottery Fraud

• South Carolina: Two Jamaicans get more than five years prison each for lottery fraud

Romance Fraud and Sextortion

• UK bank finds that romance scams were up 91% during the pandemic