Hackers steal £47 million from UK tax office, the HMRC

Part III on Gangs:  Romania.  Alert readers will note that the majority of people arrested for ATM skimming are from Romania.  They fly in, spend several days collecting data and money, and fly out again.  This is clearly organized crime. And these groups have also been involved in “selling” cars, RV’s and farm equipment online –  that don’t exist. We have also seen Romanian gangs fly in and conduct burglaries in upscale areas.  And I’m sure there are more fraud activities by these gangs.
 

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

• Louisiana man pleads guilty to fraud in sales of durable medical equipment; billed Medicare for $3.8 million
• Cayman Islands: Fourth person arrested in probe of home rental fraud
• Hungary and Ukraine dismantle large call center targeting Europeans; 169 people worked there
• New York: Nigerian woman arrested for phishing fraud; created imitations of official US government sites; harvested credentials of employees trying to log in; stole government money
• Boston: Eight charged in scheme that stole tax refund checks; got $8.8 million in checks
• Canada’s Competition Bureau sues DoorDash, claims misleading prices advertised
• Houston: Nigerian man here illegally gets two years prison for work in ring that stole mail and got bank statements and credit card applications; took in $849,000; to be deported after jail time
• Chicago: Retired nun loses $400,000 to lottery fraud that claimed to be PCH
• Singapore: Man arrested for selling counterfeit goods online
• Hong Kong: Police arrest two for selling counterfeit cosmetics online

Humor 

• Hackers get into surveillance cameras at Filipino investment scam center and communicate with scammers
• TSA urges travelers to stop using Costco card in place of a Real ID

FTC and CFPB

• FTC settles with addiction treatment center that impersonated other centers; to pay $1.9 million in restitution

Virus Benefit Theft 

• Miami: Former prison guard and a state aviation employee get four months prison and probation for PPP fraud
• Miami: Six indicted for PPP fraud; got $34 million
• West Virginia: Woman pleads guilty to PPP fraud
• Houston: Supervisor of social security office pleads guilty to ID theft; worked with others to create fake claims; millions lost
• Denver: Man gets 46 months prison for PPP fraud; got nearly $1 million

IRS and tax fraud

• New York: Nigerian man gets more than five years prison for fraud that hacked into tax preparation businesses, stole personal information, and applied for fraudulent tax refunds
• Hackers steal £47 million from UK tax office, the HMRC

ATM Skimming

• Rhode Island: Romanian man illegally in the US gets 33 months prison; deportation after that
• New Zealand: Man gets six months jail for smuggling ATM skimming equipment into the country
• UK: Leicester police arrest two for ATM skimming
• New York: Final Romanian defendant (of five) sentenced to 33 months prison for ATM skimming; got over $1 million
• Wisconsin Dells police arrest two Romanian men for ATM skimming

Jamaica and Lottery Fraud

• Jamaica arrests two for lottery scamming; seize J$22 million

Romance Fraud and Sextortion 

• New Jersey: Couple plead guilty to romance fraud; sent funds to Ghana; handled $500,000 in victim funds
• Los Angeles: Five men, several of them Chinese, plead guilty to laundering money for Cambodia-based crypto romance fraud; handled at least $36.9 million
• Indonesia: Police in Bali arrest 38 who ran romance fraud targeting the US
• Philadelphia: Nigerian man gets five years prison for laundering money for extortion fraud where teen boy committed suicide; was extradited
• Thailand arrests 27 Vietnamese who were operating romance frauds in luxury villas