Pope Leo XIV
I am not a Catholic, but I know a great many people who are. My wife was brought up as one. As she says, you never quite recover.
But, Catholic or not, a new Pope, who leads one billion people, matters.
So does his choice of name. Cardinal Robert Prevost has chosen to be Pope Leo XIV. Everyone assumes that this means that he intends to be a successor to Pope Leo XIII.
Leo XIII was Pope from 1878 to 1903. His best-known legacy is a Papal encyclical of 1891, entitled Rerum novarum, which means "of revolutionary change".
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center releases data for 2024
- Losses reported are up 33% from 2023
- $16.6 billion in reported losses
- Sex extortion of boys greatly increased
- INCLUDES elder fraud report
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 Humor
- Maryland: Two men arrested in separate cases of tech support fraud; both went to victim’s homes to pick up money
- Texas: Illegal alien from India gets 46 months prison for laundering money for callers from India claiming to be law enforcement; took in at least $3.2 million
- Massachusetts: Three from China get prison for laundering money from romance and other frauds; getting gift cards, and using them to buy Apple product and sending those to China
- Kentucky: Mexican man gets 54 months prison for selling fake social security and other identity documents
- Nigerian Black Axe gang member charged with romance fraud granted bail
- Virginia: Woman who was a letter carrier gets two years prison for stealing mail
- Thailand: Chinese man arrested for selling counterfeit goods
- New York state: Two men (Indians?) arrested for tech support fraud when they went to victim’s home to get money
- Chicago: Customs seizes counterfeit watches and 10,000 fake driver’s licenses from China
- India: Mumbai police arrest three; bust call center offering nonexistent loans
- Nigeria and the UK sign memorandum of understanding to work together on cyber crime
- Miami: Nigerian man extradited from Spain gets 97 months prison for inheritance fraud involving letters to elderly persons
FTC and CFPB
- FTC resolves case against Workado over unsupported claims about its ability to detect AI use
- FTC resolves case against debt collector that sought payment for debts never owed; to be banned; took in $9.6 million
- FTC sends out $18 million in refunds from Publisher’s Clearinghouse action
Virus Benefit Theft
- West Virginia: Man pleads guilty to unemployment fraud
- Suburban Chicago policeman charged with PPP fraud
- Detroit: Man pleads guilty to ID theft to get covid unemployment; got $4 million
- Mississippi: Woman gets five years prison for PPP fraud; got $3.5 million
- Miami: Town mayoral candidate pleads guilty to PPP fraud
- North Carolina: Woman gets six months prison for PPP fraud; got $85,0000
- Philadelphia: Man pleads guilty to ID theft to get foodstamp and medicare benefits; got $1 million
- West Virginia: Woman pleads guilty to PPP fraud
- Miami: Man gets 15 years prison for PPP fraud
- Miami: Two illegal aliens from Venezuela charged with PPP fraud; got $438,000
- China repatriates 900 more from Myanmar scam compounds; has returned 55,000 so far; many arrested
- Myanmar deports 255 for involvement in scam centers
- Nigeria warns young people are being lured for jobs that turn out to be scam compounds across Africa
- Maryland: Man gets five years prison for laundering money for group that got tax refunds that were now legit; sent money to Nigeria
- Arizona: Man gets four years prison for stolen identity refund fraud; got more than $7 million
- Three US healthcare companies hit recently with ransomware
- Class action filed over attack on Maryland healthcare group that affected 900,000
- Apparent ransomware attack on Marks and Spencer in the UK
- Brooklyn: Ukrainian man extradited from Spain and charged over ransomware attacks
- Illinois: Attack shuts down computers for court, sheriffs office, in DuPage county
Romance Fraud and Sextortion
- FBI led operation in Nigeria against online sex extortion of young boys; 22 arrested; 20 US boys have committed suicide over this fraud
- UK: Romance fraud complaints up 20%
- UK survey finds 76% want dating sites to do more scam protection
- Australian grandmother in prison in Japan; was romance fraud victim tricked into carrying meth
- North Korean gang operating from Cambodia took in billions from crypto romance fraud; Treasury closes access to US financial system for it
- Korea: Police bust 11 who ran crypto romance fraud from Cambodia; took in $8.4 million