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Canada’s RCMP announces that complaint data from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre will now appear online and be updated quarterlyFraud 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, fake check fraudand crypto scams
Want to see Taylor Swift? BBB warns that it got 21,000 complaints about ticket fraud last year, a big increase. Be VERY careful about where you buy tickets
Fraud News Around the world
- India: Five in New Delhi arrested for tech support scam that stole retirement funds from seniors in the US
- Boston: Man arrested for rental fraud; advertised apartments on Marketplace, collected deposits, didn’t own units
- Bank employee tracks checks from churches going into accounts opened with Romanian drivers licenses; crooks stole checks from church mailboxes; law enforcement then arrest and convict three
- UK Action Fraud warns of surge of emails supposedly from mortgage lenders offering lower rates; meant to get personal information
- Google warns of tech support scams advertising phone numbers for gmail customer support; but all gmail support is online only
- Scammers can break voiceprint authentication systems 99% of the time
- Nigerian banks have fired 15 people this year for aiding frauds
- Malaysia finds 2354 money mules accounts there in the last six months
- CFPB to return $3.5 million to victims who paid illegal fees to reduce student loans
- FTC resolves case against telemarketers of extended auto warranties; banned from telemarketing or offering warranties; took in $6.5 million
- FTC and Florida sending $540,000 to victims of interest rate reduction fraud using robocalls
- CFPB and OCC settle with Bank of America; allege double charging for late fees, failed to provide promised bonus points on credit cards, and opened credit card accounts for customers without permission; bank will pay $100 million in restitution and $150 million in fines
- FTC settles with bankrupt crypto platform Celcius; claims it told depositors their money was “safe” days before filing for bankruptcy
- North Carolina: Two more plead guilty to PPP fraud
- Boston: Think tank not for profit agrees to pay $500,000 for claiming it was a small business in order to get PPP loans
- How Pandemic relief aid was done with little security and may have cost $1 trillion to fraud
- New Orleans: Houston woman charged with PPP and EIDL fraud
- Los Angeles: Man gets more than six years prison for PPP fraud; spent much of it in Las Vegas; got $9 million
- Los Angeles: Woman who was in prison for murder gets 7 more years for unemployment benefit theft; got $1.5 million
- Los Angeles: Man indicted for running telemarketing operation claiming to sell or rent timeshares; operated ten years; took in $4.5 million
- Interpol arrests head of French speaking gang that hit financial institutions for $30 million; caught in the Ivory Coast; also did malware
- Maryland: Nigerian man gets 46 months prison for BEC fraud; got $1.5 million
- UK: Man (Nigerian?) gets six and a half years prison for BEC fraud involving take invoices; got £660,000
- North Carolina: Man who was romance scam victim gets 5 years prison for handling BEC fraud from homes sales; handled $2.8 million
- Attack on California pro bono law firm
- Hits biggest law firms in New York; discloses client data
- Attacks on hospitals this year are already close to total for 2023
- Hacker steals $10 million in Ethereum from Poly network
- Crypto hacks and rugs pulls result in $656 million losses in first half of 2023
- New York: Man arrested for theft of $9 million from crypto exchange
- California: Romanian man gets 240 days jail for skimming; including food stamp/EBT benefits
- Texas: Two Romanians arrested for ATM skimming
- Greece: Two Bulgarian men get ten years prison each for ATM skimming
- Southern California: Two convicted of skimming gas pumps; got $200,000
- Nigeria: Two convicted and jailed for romance fraud/crypto investments
- AARP podcast on romance scams; includes interview with Steve Baker
- New York: 68 year old romance fraud victim gets two years probation for laundering money from other romance scam victims, as well as for car wrap scheme and sales of nonexistent cars; had been warned three times by Postal Inspectors
- Reporter goes to Lago and tracks down Yahoo boy who ripped off his mother; inside Yahoo Boy world