Top Stories
Interpol effort against Black Axe and other African gangs results on 103 arrests; froze over €2 million; action in 21 countries
HBO to air show by whistleblowers who worked at telemarketing fraud room claiming to raise money for bogus charities
India: Call center busted that targeted US victims; advertised loans but required fees in advance and payment by gift cards; 18 arrested
Ways to approach fraud There are a very limited number of ways to address mass marketing fraud, and the different tactics ought to be complementary. It would be useful to determine what “mix” works best with each type of fraud. These are:
- Ignore it and blame victims for being dumb;
- Enforcement, including international criminal cases that put people in jail;
- Consumer education; and
- Disruption, such as shutting down web pages and the money pathways scammers use to collect funds from victims
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
- Japan’s police propose terminating ATM cards of people over 65 that have not been used in a year to fight scams
- Utah: California man gets a year in jail for telemarketing fraud selling government grants and business opportunities; last of six sentenced
- Fake ChatGPT apps are common in app stores
- FCC issues $300 million fine against robocall operation the made 5 billion calls; two ringleaders were subject to court orders prohibiting any telemarketing
- UK: Man (Nigerian?) gets seven months prison for impersonating a police officer claiming that he needed victim money to help catch fraudsters
- Arbitrator finds that truck driver who drank nine beers before crash has a disability and must be rehired
- Georgia murder suspect nabbed after he left phone with his photo on it at restaurant where he had “dined and dashed”
- Louisiana: Man pleads guilty to PPP fraud; got $20,000
- Georgia AG indicts six former state employees for covid unemployment fraud
- Louisiana: Baton Rouge man gets 18 months prison for PPP fraud; got $340,000
- Michigan: Man pleads guilty to PPP fraud; got $851,000
- Long Island: Massachusetts man arrested for BEC fraud against law firm
- Washington: Nigerian man pleads guilty to stealing $1.25 million from BEC fraud against Boston investment firm
- Knocks out computers in Philadelphia hospital system
- Attack on Colorado Dept. of Higher Education
- Global ransomware at an all time high
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency
- New York: Man admits hacking Bitfinex and stealing $4.5 billion in bitcoin
- SEC gets TRO and asset freeze against Utah-based investment fraud involving mining that got $49 million
- UK National Crime Agency creates new crypto division
- India: Two arrested for crypto Ponzi scheme
- North Carolina: Jamaican man pleads guilty to lottery fraud conspiracy
- Jamaica: Jamaican soldier returning from the US with $J6.2 million arrested for lottery fraud
- Ohio: Nigerian man gets five years prison for laundering money from romance scam victims; got $2 million
- Los Angeles: Man (Nigerian?) who was ringleader of romance scam money laundering gets nearly six years prison; handled $1 million; at least one victim committed suicide