No more hiding in the shadows as cyber gangs circle Australia
India busts call center targeting Americans, arrest 115 people. Callers claimed to be US Customs, and said packages addressed to them contained illegal substances; had victims buy gift cards, supposedly to cancel the shipment
Poland, with help from Europol and the FBI, shut down operation that provided scammers with bulletproof hosting that let them do cyber attacks; arrest five
Singapore police arrest ten who pushed apps on social media that allowed scammers to get access to bank accounts and steal money
Fake Check fraud up dramatically; crooks rob letter carriers, steal mail from boxes; thefts up 78% over the last year; FINcen says complaints to banks have nearly doubled over two years
Florida: Man gets 8 years prison for interstate moving fraud; used brokers, and raised price after loading
goods; must repay nearly $3 million; codefendant also goes to prison
Arizona: Nigerian man extradited from the UK gets 87 months prison; two other Nigerians extradited from
Spain plead guilty to scheme that mailed letters to elderly in the US claiming they were due an inheritance but first had to send money for various fees
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, fake check fraudand crypto scams
Fraud News Around the world
- Ireland arrests 34, including members of Black Axe, alleges gang was laundering money through five Irish companies
- FBI warns of increase in tech support scams that access bank accounts of previous victims, move money from checking to savings, then claim they have made a refund, but it was too large; ask victims to send them cash in a magazine to keep caller from being fired
- India: 22% of people on social media have purchased counterfeit goods touted by Influencers
- India busts call centre in Mumbai that advertised cheap flights to Canada on social media; then called victims offering lower fares, but no tickets issued
- Ireland arrests man for recruiting money mules for use by scammers
- Brazil saw a 65% jump in online frauds last year
- Driver of stolen truck involved in crash; then steals ambulance and causes more crashes
- Police nab Outlaw named Outlaw
- DOJ files FTC case against Experian for sending email marketing messages that you could not opt out of
- FTC is sending $10 million in refunds to victims of Belize real estate fraud
- Indiana: Nigerian Woman gets 5.5 years prison for conspiracy to get US unemployment benefits; group got $5.5 million
- San Diego: Man indicted for PPP fraud; got $4 million
- Florida: Former Miami corrections sergeant pleads guilty to PPP fraud
- Georgia: Woman gets four years prison for PPP fraud; got $3.6 million
- West Virginia: Man gets three years probation for PPP fraud; got $20,000
- Ohio: Bakery owner stole identity of dead baby to use for PPP loan application; gets six years prison
- Washington, DC: Restaurant owners plead guilty to PPP fraud; got $738,000
- Atlanta: Man charged with laundering stolen unemployment benefits and EIDL fraud
- Illinois: State Department of Human services fires or disciplines 47 for virus benefit theft
- Hackers get access to British voter registry
- MOVEit continues to crush; 670 organizations hit; lost info on 46 million
- FBI warns of sharp increase in scams claiming ability to recover stolen crypto, for a fee
- CFTC sues Fundz and four individuals for investment scheme involving crypto
- UK seizes £750,000 in crypto that had been stolen by hacker
- Michigan: Two Nigerian man extradited and face charges of extortion scheme that led to suicide of teen; pretended to be young women and captured footage of victim
- Ohio: Nigerian man gets five year prison for laundering romance fraud money; handled $2.3 million
- Ghana looks at the romance scammers operating there