Hello from FrankonFraud.

I hope you had a great week fighting fraud and stopped some bad guys from hurting good innocent people. That's why we love our jobs, right?

Well, it's been another eventful week in the world of fraud and scams. This week I learned of some crazy new software being sold online from fraud expert Mary Ann Miller.

The website called SimSwap gives fraudsters a scary powerful tool to intercept text messages, swap sim cards, turn off phones remotely, and even bypass fraud controls like 3D-Secure.

And it’s all available online – not even on the dark web anymore. The hacking software can be purchased for as little as $250 for a one-day trial or up to $8,000 for permanent access to all the bells and whistles.

SimSwap.Su Gives Fraudsters Scary, Powerful Tool

Criminal-minded hackers love this software. By gaining access to the SS7 Network, they can essentially engage in a variety of “Man in the Middle” attacks which give them scary and powerful capabilities.

Imagine one day looking down at your phone and seeing no service. You panic. Someone on the other side of the world has used this software to swap your SimCard to their phone, and now they are hacking into your bank account to do some heavy damage.

This is the reality now. This software puts the capability right in fraudsters hands.

Click this link or the image below for the full article.

2 Bank Employees Sent Screen Shots To Outside Fraudster

Another big case of internal fraud this week. It seems like there is one a week these days.

This time it involved employees of two banks - Citizens Bank and Santander - who were recruited into a fraud ring. They were paid to steal information of customers of the bank by providing screenshots of the customer's personal and banking information.

Those screenshots were used by a guy names Richard Kobi to create counterfeit checks. He recruited mules and walkers to deposit those checks into their bank accounts.

All told, it was a massive $330,000 fraud case

Click this link or the image below for the full article

She Was Wrongly Accused of Card Fraud. It Ruined Her Life

And here is a sad story of fraud that ruined a woman's life.

Sandra Wilson went to her local gas station to buy a pack of Cigarettes at her regular gas station one night. It’s something she had done hundreds of times before. She could even count the steps from her car to the gas station – 141 steps – since she had done it so many times.

But that fateful night would be far different than anything she had ever experienced. She was wrongly accused of stealing a credit card, arrested and charged.

It wasn't until a smart judge watched the surveillance video and said it was “Absurd, ridiculous and wrong” that the case was even brought to court. He immediately threw the case out of court.

Click this link or the image below for the full article

6 Fraud Mistakes Banks Make That They Always Regret Later

We can all learn from our past mistakes when fighting fraud.

After working with over 200 Banks, I start to see a lot of the same patterns repeating themselves over and over again. Some of those things are good, and some are bad, and still others are very very bad.

Here are some of the most common mistakes. If you are bank and you are thinking of doing any of these things, I strongly recommend that you evaluate what you are trying to accomplish because from my experience most of these things are dangerous pitfalls that can really cause some damage.

Click this link or the image below for the full article

Hyundai's And Kia's Are So Targeted By Theft, Insurance Companies Won't Write Policies On Them In Certain States

Did you see this surprising article this week?

Progressive and State Farm, two of America's largest auto insurers, are refusing to write policies in certain cities for some older Hyundai and Kia models that have been deemed too easy to steal.

Several reports say the companies have stopped offering insurance on these vehicles in cities that include Denver, Colorado, and St. Louis, Missouri.

It turns out some 2015 through 2019 Hyundai and Kia models are roughly twice as likely to be stolen as other vehicles of similar age, because many of them lack some of the basic auto theft prevention technology included in most other vehicles.

Click this link or the image below for the full article

As always, exciting things are happening in fraud. Every time you think you have the puzzle of fraud figured out, the scammers and hackers will come up with something completely new and different.

I guess that's why I love tracking all these stories and new trends, I am forever trying to figure it all out myself.

Remember, it's Identity Theft Awareness Week, this week - a chance to educate consumers on how to protect themselves from the scourge of identity theft.

Have a great week all you fraud fighters!

FrankonFraud