Hello FraudFighters,

I published my first piece as a contributor to Forbes this week. I wrote about the rise of AI in deepfake attempts on liveness checks—something I have highlighted in my newsletter for months.

Here are the top fraud bites of the week!

• More Kia Problems - As of the Kia Boyz weren’t bad enough, researchers found another massive exploit in Kia’s software which allowed anyone with access to the dealer portal to remote control any Kia instantly. Check out the crazy demo showing how they did it.

• Insider Fraud at Citibank? An internal memo was circulating that Citibank sent to some employees warning them about fraud and unethical behavior. It appears the warning is directed to employees relating to how they source vendors.

• Lightning Fast Refunds - UK banks will only have five days to refund scam victims and cut checks up to $113,000 each. That is going to place a lot of strain on banks to weed out the first party fraudsters!

• Infiltrated - A CBS photographer went behind the scenes with romance scammers in Ghana to get a rare glimpse in how the scammers operate. They claim they are poor and need the money, so it’s justified 😠 

• Target Fights Return Fraud—Target is fed up with return fraud. They and other retailers have had so much fraud on returns that the retail giant updated their return policy to fight back on return fraud.

• Terrified of Deepfakes - South Korean woman are fleeing social media and removing their images in droves, fearful that their pictures will be used in deepfake porn.

• Visa’s Big Bet - Visa acquired Featurespace for nearly $1 billion as they race to become a dominant force in AI-based fraud detection.

• Corrupt Mayor - NYC Mayor Eric Adams was indicted for accepting bribes, free flights, hotel upgrades, and gifts.

Major “Trading” Fraud Ring Operating Out Of New York

Jonathan Awad of Baselayer warned fraud fighters of a major fraud ring operating out of New York right now. According to Awad, the MO of the group is to use company names like Dina Trading, Annie Trading, Gary Trading, Elias Trading, and Susan Trading and the group is very active and tied to over $85 million in confirmed fraud.

I checked with our own fraud team and corroborated the trend is actually occurring nationally with a bit of a twist. Fraudsters use the first name of the applicant and then append the word “Trading” or “Electrical” or “Trucking” or “Transportation” to create a fictitious employer or business on an application.

Lenders should keep an eye out for applications that fit this pattern.

“Docs 4 You” Sells KYC Packages “With A Twist” For Account Open Ups

Services to help fraudsters bypass KYC identity controls are sprouting up all over Telegram. One service called Docs 4 You, offers buyers the chance to create a completely brand new identity, and they appear to be offering up genuine drivers licenses and passports - not fakes.

What do they provide?

1. A Drivers License (front and back)

2. Selfie Videos

3. A Passport

So whats the twist? The docs appear to be real, not deepfakes, and not counterfeits.

The packages appear to be real peoples drivers license and faces and videos. It’s unclear if these documents and selfie videos are stolen or if people are actually selling their documents and selfie videos to be used in frauds.

It’s a wild world in identity deception right now.

Oh Boy. Deepfake AI Scams Using Your Friends Are Hitting Facebook

This is a bad sign. Deepfake AI is now infiltrating peoples Facebook networks and being used to scam.

Two Houston women were victims of a scam involving AI-generated deepfake videos of their friends. The scammers tricked them into sharing access codes, then posted fake sales on their Facebook pages and sent convincing AI videos to their contacts, requesting money. Some friends were fooled and sent hundreds of dollars for non-existent items.

Click to Watch 👇️ 

US Worst In World For Scam Risk, But #3 In Reimbursing Victims

Two separate reports on scams were released last week shedding light on the problem of scams across the world. In both cases, the US hit the top of the charts.

In an 83 page report “Its A Fraudsters World”, where scam risk was ranked globally, the US topped the list and it wasn’t even close. Your risk of getting scammed is double anywhere else in the world.

And if you want to get your money back, you’d be much more likely if you lived in the UK, or Australia where they refund more money. US Ranked #3 in reimbursements globally, while the lowest ranking country was Portugal where only

Click To Read 👇️ 

“Look Familiar?” - Myself and Millions Of People Are Receiving This Same Scary Email

The email arrived in my inbox with the subject line - “Look Familiar.” I clicked and read further.

There was a picture of my home with the line, “I know visiting your home would be a more effective way to reach you.” Okay, they had my attention with the picture of my home and that line! 😨 

The email was a blatant extortion attempt to obtain $2,000 in Bitcoin, but millions of Americans receive the same email with pictures of their homes.

Click To Read The Email 👇️ 

Get Your Million Dollar Fyre Festival Tickets Now

Would you spend $1 Mil on Fraud Festival 2.0, err I mean Fyre Festival 2.0? Tickets on sale now! Do you dare?

Click to Watch 👇️ 

@pyrtbilly

FYRE Update: First 1 Million Dollar Tickets are Live

Watch Out For The Dasterdly “Card Declined” Scam

The BBB is warning about a new scam that is gaining steam nationwide called the “Card Declined” scam.

It works like this 👉️ Fake look alike websites are setup to dupe customers into making online purchases with their credit cards. After they enter the card number, they get a “card declined” message and asked to enter another credit card. The customer doesn’t know it but their card is actually approved and the message is fake. So they pull out another card and then one gets approved.

When they get the bill - they get two charges and the fraudsters now have access to two of their cards instead of one.

He Ain’t So Rich, His Father Was Just A Massive Fraudster

From lavish parties to traveling the world on private jets and high-stakes gambling, you can’t help but see Dan Bilzerian’s ostentatious display of wealth all over Instagram. He allegedly pays 5-6 supermodels to hang out with him - he has that much money and started what he reported to be a top-rated pot company - Ignite.

This week, the SEC filed charges against his infamous father, Paul Bilzerian. The SEC said he was behind his son’s company, funneling millions into it secretly and running it himself.

Click to Read 👇️ 

WSJ: Fidelity Fraud Wave - They Will Report Fraudsters To Police

Fidelity now reports to the Wall Street Journal that they identified people trying to commit fraud on their checking accounts and plan to report them to police.

It’s a never-ending saga of the ridiculous check fraud wave. Banks, watch your hold strategies. These criminals are looking for any way to exploit the situation, whether at the ATM, through mobile deposit, or even in the branch.

Click to Read 👇️ 

Forbes: Rise of The AI Face Clones Will Trigger Identity Crisis

One person intently tracking AI exploits on the dark web is David Maimon, a professor at Georgia State University and the head of fraud insights at identity verification firm SentiLink.

He has seen a shift from using ultra-realistic masks, which were popular during the pandemic, to AI-generated deepfakes to bypass KYC liveness checks.”

Click To Read 👇️ 

Fraud Fighting Journalist Arrested In Cambodia

In what can only be described as retaliation of his coverage of human trafficking and online scams in Cambodia, Mech Dara was arrested at a military check point and has not been heard from since.

Mech Dara is a Cambodian journalist who has been active in reporting on human trafficking and online fraud in Cambodia, and in 2023 he won the US State Department Award for Reporting on Human Trafficking.

Click To Read 👇️ 

That’s a wrap for another weekly edition of FrankonFraud. I hope you have an amazing week ahead fighting fraud.

FrankonFraud