I'm confused about who the news belongs to. I always have it in my head that if your name's in the news, then the news should be paying you. Because it's your news and they're taking it and selling it as their product. But then they always say that they're helping you, and that's true too, but still, if people didn't give the news their news, and if everybody kept their news to themselves, the news wouldn't have any news. So I guess you should pay each other. But I haven't figured it out fully yet.
— Andy Warhol
GAO issues new study of consumer fraud in the US
- Urges a government-wide strategy to fight them
- Suggest complaint databases be harmonized
- Find a way to measure how effective education efforts really are
- $470 million reported losses; five times that of 2020
- Top five text scams are:
- Fake package deliveries
- Phony job scams
- Fake fraud alerts
- Bogus claims of unpaid tolls
- As much a 98% of people open and read texts
DOJ announces new policy on crypto issues; will bring fraud cases but not actions designed to impose regulatory requirements
WSJ: Nine tips to Protect Yourself from Imposter Voice frauds
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
- UK: Police arrest four from Liverpool for bank and police impersonation fraud
- Long Island: Man arrested for rental fraud; took deposit on property he had no connection with
- Chicago: US Customs seizes 70 shipments of counterfeit human growth hormone coming from China
- Maryland: Man gets 114 months prison for large fraud that stole, altered, and deposited checks; used money mules on accounts
- BBC: UK sees huge rise in scams using QR codes
- Orlando: Two plead guilty to stealing money from mail boxes; used string and fished it out
- Wisconsin: Man from India arrested for tech support fraud; went to victim’s home to collect funds
- Social security accounts are being sold online
- Buffalo: Quebec man gets three years prison for grandparent fraud
- California: Man (Chinese?) arrested in Marin County for tech support fraud
- Florida: Michigan woman arrested for sale of nonexistent excavator on Facebook marketplace; may be money mule
- Australia fines maker of Glad bags $8 million over claims of ocean plastic recycling
- UK: Jail for man who made scam websites for more than 2000 fraudsters
- UK: Hackers take over social media of head of House of Commons to promote bogus crypto product
- UK warns of event ticket scams; victims reported £3.7 million lost last year
- Google removes 247 million scam ads; 2.9 million advertiser accounts in India
- India busts call center operating tech support scam targeting the US; arrest 13
- Senate confirms Mark Meador as new FTC Commissioner
- DOGE gets office at the FTC
- DC Circuit upholds, but narrows, preliminary injunction against shutting down the CFPB
- Brooklyn: Gang member pleads guilty to fraud in getting unemployment benefits; got $800,000
- Mississippi: Couple get long prison sentences for PPP fraud; got $3.3 million
- Florida: Couple get eight years and three years prison for PPP fraud; got $3.4 million
- San Diego: Restaurant owner get 42 months prison for PPP fraud; got $1.7 million
- UK: Man gets 20 months prison for bounce back covid loan fraud; got £150,000
- New Jersey: Israeli businessman pleads guilty to PPP fraud; got $3.2 million
- India rescues 32 from scam compounds in Myanmar
- India rescues 60 from scam compounds; arrests five others arrested who were recruiters
- A good look at how scam compounds operate
- 270 people who escaped scam compounds but still detained in Myanmar try mass escape from detention camp
- Philippines: Police arrest 86 foreigners at scam compound; to be deported
- South Africa: Nigerian man gets 20 years prison for BEC fraud against US property owners
- Romania, UK and France take down network of hundreds of money mules laundering money from BEC frauds; arrests in Romania and the UK
- Scammers are sending phishing text messages to those with crypto wallets on Binance exchange seeking information
- Pennsylvania man pleads guilty to not paying taxes on NFT income of $13 million
- Ransomware payments are down; experts opine on whether to try and negotiate ransom
- Hits US medical device manufacturer
- Large data breach West Sydney University in Australia
- China admits it has been behind attacks on US infrastructure
- Major ransomware attack on NASCAR
- Attack on global dialysis company disrupts operations
- Texas: Romanian man gets 15 years prison for ATM skimming
- Bakersfield: Three men (Romanian?) arrested for skimming EBT cards
- Nigeria: Man turns himself into police and confesses to engaging in romance fraud
- St. Louis: Nigerian man pleads guilty to romance fraud as well as fraudulent documents to get social security card and college admission