Hello FraudFighters,

Fraudsters never sleep, but with a weekly dose of FrankonFraud, neither will your defenses!

Let’s get to the top stories of the week.

• Walmart’s Fintech Mistake- A ProPublica report says Walmart bought a NeoBank in 2022, relaxed the fraud controls, outsourced the fraud team, and the fraud spiked.

• KYC Deepfaked! - A security researcher wrote about how he deep faked controls at some payment apps and micro apps using Elon Musk’s face. He shows how he did it here.

• ATO Trending: The New York Times reports that criminals have diverted nearly $33.5 million in benefits intended for about 21,000 beneficiaries by hacking into their SSA accounts.

• CPN Dental Deceit - A lady bought a premade CPN and got nabbed in the dentist's office, trying to use it to fix her choppers.

• Weekend at Bernie's - Two woman put their dead friend in the front seat of the car, went to the bank drive-through, and withdrew money from his account.

• FBI Bombshell - Astonishing $12.5 billion lost to cybercrime in 2023, more than tripling since 2020. Investment and Pig Butchering fraud are the root cause.

• Death Penalty - A Vietnamese real estate tycoon faces the death penalty in a staggering $12.5 billion fraud trial. The case, Vietnam's largest financial fraud on record, has sent shockwaves.

• Don’t F**k With Vegans- A Long Island bakery's "vegan" and "gluten-free" doughnuts were nothing more than repackaged Dunkin' delights. The scandal has left the vegan community in an uproar, wondering if they can ever trust a sprinkle again.

• Ghost Gun Fraud Gang - A massive ghost gun and unemployment fraud conspiracy orchestrated by government employees and a corrupt cop.

• Home Wrecker—A brazen thief in Detroit swiped 31 homes by filing false quitclaim deeds, gaining control of the houses, and selling them to unsuspecting buyers.

Synthetic Identities New Trend Is Premade CPN’s

The biggest scam on Telegram these days is the sale of “Premade CPNs.”

Let me tell you what it is if you have never heard of it. It’s a template fake credit profile created, aged 1-3 years with a generic name. And these premades are selling like hotcakes and getting people in big trouble.

Like this lady in Georgia who was arrested in the dental office chair while she tried to get her teeth fixed! 🪥 

Click to read

The Digital Drug Darkside – Doctor Identity Theft Soars

Drug dealers and addicts used to steal doctors' prescription tabs to get their drugs, but with the digitization of Escripts, they’re resorting to new methods, and that has spawned a new wave of identity theft of doctors.

To make matters worse, the hackers are using automated bots like TLO Lookups on Telegram to Dox almost any doctor in the country to fill out their phony prescriptions.

Click to read

Disgruntled Cybersecurity Workers Turning To Crime To Make Extra Money

Researchers from CIISec discovered a disturbing trend while monitoring dark web traffic - advertisements from seasoned cybersecurity experts offering their services for illegal activities.

From a Python developer willing to create hacking and phishing frameworks to fund their children's Christmas presents to a voice actor desperate for work and willing to conduct social engineering operations, the dark web is teeming with skilled individuals turning to cybercrime due to poor salaries and working conditions.

CIISec warns that if this problem is not addressed, the cybersecurity industry could lose as many as one in ten workers to the allure of cybercrime.

Click to Read

Synthetic Identity Hits $1 Billion In Canada

Five years ago, Synthetic Identity wasn’t even on the radar of Canadian police, but now it is one of the fastest-growing financial crimes. Police estimate that there are over 200,000 fake driver’s licenses being used by people using fake names.

One fake identity was created under the name “Server Froze” and the perpetrator managed to get bank accounts, credit cards and a drivers license under the synthetic identity.

Click to read

This Is A Site Where Pig Butcherers and Catfishers Get Their Faceless Model Pics

Gary Warner stumbled upon an interesting site revealing where scammers get their model shots of faceless women. The site, which you can view here, features high-end pictures of women designed to lure in unsuspecting victims.

The site is part of a service called "Avatar House," where criminals can buy pretty female photos to use in their scams.

FBI Reports - No End In Sight For Soaring Fraud Loss Growth

Another year of sobering fraud loss reports from the FBI, which just released its IC3 Annual Fraud Report. This chart puts it all in perspective and illustrates how big of an effect the pandemic had on transforming fraud. 👇️ 

Deeper in the report, they focus on Investment fraud, illustrating what a disaster Crypto has been for consumers as well. Just look at how fast it has grown!

Sneaky Drivers Using James Bond Techniques To Avoid Tolls

The Wall Street Journal reports sneaky drivers use James Bond-esque gadgets to hide their plates and skip out on tolls.

Police say these highway houdinis are costing them millions by using license electronic license plate flippers and other obstruction techniques as they approach the tolls.

Click through for the full scoop on their clever tricks and the crackdown to make these toll trolls pay their fair share.

Romance Scamming Former Chase Bank Employee Stole $1.8 Million

Prince Oduro had two jobs. By day, he worked for Chase Bank in Columbus, Ohio. By night, he was a romance scammer posing online as someone needing a medical operation or had access to a trove of gold and silver he needed to ship.

While at the bank, he stole the personal information of at least five customers and used the stolen information to open PayPal accounts in their names to launder money he received from romance scam victims.

He bragged in 2020 how he was untouchable while making $20k a month.

It’s A Fraud Weekend at Bernies IRL 😵 

Two ladies put Ashtabula, Ohio, on the map this week for their wild antics. When their friend, 80-year-old Douglas Layman, died at home, they put his body in the passenger seat and went to the bank drive-through to withdraw cash from his account.

They made sure to position his body so that it would be visible to the bank staff. After withdrawing the money, they dropped his body off at the hospital.

Click to Read

Well, that’s it for this week’s edition of the newsletter.

As always, trust your gut, and remember: if a deal seems too good to be true, it's probably a one-way ticket to Scamville! 🎟️ 

Thanks for following the newsletter and all the cons, scams, and flim-flams that happen each week.

FrankonFraud