Minnesota: Two men, one from Montreal, get 90 months and 120 months prison for scam telemarketing magazines to older victims; took in $300 million
How many fraud victims report to the law enforcement or the BBB? The FTC actually looked at this in a nationwide fraud survey, and found that less than 5% of them ever do. Many are embarrassed, or don’t know where to report. Victims are more likely to report some fraud than others. Some don’t even realize that they have been defrauded. But this is important, since many of us received complaints and suspect, correctly, that these are just the top of the iceberg.
Review and Recommendation: Civilization, by Niall Ferguson. I’ve previously recommended his book Empire, on how the British Empire developed. In this one he expands on the subject of Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel to ask why after 1500 the other emerging empires in China, the mideast, and elsewhere didn’t emerge to change the world like Europe did. Very good, and I highly recommend it.
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 fraud and crypto scams
Fraud News Around the world
Philippines busts Chinese-run scam center apparently running crypto romance scams; arrest 67 foreign nationals, many others
Thailand: Six South Koreans arrested in bust of investment scam call center
Singapore: Woman arrested for a series of rental scams
UK: At least six million people rip off stores at self-checkout
Scammers are creating stickers with fake QR codes to pay parking meters; crooks get and charge your credit card
SEC sues two in Texas, freeze assets, over $60 million Ponzi scheme
Australian billionaire Twiggy Forest sued Meta over allowing the use of his photo in crypto ads; court refused to invoke Communications Decency Act as shield, appeal now denied
UK: Gang of four Nigerians gets prison for forging over 2000 marriage certificates allowing Nigerians to live in the UK
Humor
- Jail inmate hit by bullet from nearby FBI target practice
- Dumb crook trying to rob bank trips over counter when he tries to jump it; loses belt and pants fall down
- FTC resolves case against Care.com; alleges it made deceptive claims about availability of jobs and salaries; made it hard to cancel; to pay $8.5 million
- FTC sends refunds to victims of Lanier Law, which claimed to lower mortgage payments
- FTC and FL AG sue company that offered investments in trucking companies; freeze assets and close it down
- East St. Louis: Three VA employees indicted for PPP fraud
- UK: A dozen men are convicted of fraud in seeking bounce back loans and other COVID relief
- New Jersey: Man indicted for PPP fraud that got “hundreds of thousands”
- Georgia: Woman gets 30 months for PPP fraud; final member of gang that got $1 million
- Puerto Rico: Gang of 32 indicted for PPP fraud; got nearly $1 million
- Miami: Deputy sheriff gets four months prison for PPP fraud
- Florida: Woman arrested for PPP fraud
- Los Angeles: Man gets 210 months prison for ID theft to get unemployment benefits; got $1.5 million
- North Carolina: US seizes $5 million in tether from crypto romance fraud
- India: Police arrest four, shut down fake crypto trading platform
- Singapore: China’s second richest man gets six years prison over $5 million crypto Ponzi scheme
- How Nigerians moved into online extortion by filming young men
- UK says it will extradite scammers who blackmail young men with online scams; has seen suicides
- Canada: Ontario Provincial Police make arrest for romance fraud
- BBC: Chinese scammers operating from the Isle of Man ran crypto investment scam against victims in China
- Nigeria arrests man for romance fraud who pretended to be US citizen
- Surge noted in crypto romance scammers getting victim approvals to access crypto wallets