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Fraudster "Collabs" Are The Thing on Social Media 🤝
Frank McKenna
May 30, 2023
Greetings from FrankonFraud,
I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.
I had some time to research fraud trends over the weekend, and I noticed that all the scammers on Telegram are advertising “Collabs” for check fraud.
Whether you’re a mule, an insider at a bank, or a mail thief, everyone seems to want to work together to steal every penny they can from banks.
Let’s get to the top stories of the week.
Jackson F Wants To Sell You This $303,561 Check
Jackson F certainly isn’t his real name. Or maybe it is; who knows? 🤷
But one thing is for sure; he is the real deal when it comes to organizing check fraud collaborations. He runs a booming fraud channel on Telegram called “Scammers Empire,” boasting over 30,000 members that are intent on stealing every last penny they can from banks.
And he wants to sell you this check for $2,500.
Or, if you don’t have the cash on hand, he will set up a collab with you where he will send you the check. You deposit it into your account and share the proceeds - you keep $180,000 and send him along the difference. It’s a 60/40 split in your favor.
Check out how this new breed of check fraud and collaboration is surging online.
Telegram Check Fraudster Ran A $1.2 Million Fraud Collaboration
The intersection between violent crime, check fraud, and the role of social media was in clear view this week in the case of Meshach Samuels.
When Samuels was 18, he was accused of dragging a police officer half a block during a traffic stop and leaving the officer for dead when he fled. He was driving a 2014 Mercedes S 550 worth $115,000 at the time.
After getting out of jail, he turned to Stimulus fraud, where he would apply for fraudulent unemployment benefits. And when those funds dried up, he turned to, you guessed it - check fraud.
Samuels was able to create a network of collaborators through Telegram and may have even recruited bank tellers or “innys,” as they are referred to online.
Samuels and his accomplices would create fraudulent checks drawn on victim accounts, frequently using stolen information obtained from a bank teller and other sources.
Illegal Primary Tradelines Is The Next Shady Credit Repair Wave
It’s no secret that synthetic identities have relied on piggybacking to boost credit scores on their fake profiles.
But as banks have caught on and flagged suspicious use of authorized tradelines, the credit repair companies are shifting their scheme.
Now illegal primary tradelines are being sold by credit repair companies that have access to data furnishers.
Want a $100,000 paid-off auto to report to your credit report? They got that.
How about a $1 million mortgage? They got that too.
This scheme is running crazy.
Linkedin Post of The Week - Is Fraugster Closing?
Berlin-based fraud platform Fraugster has closed. That is according to a post by Neal Govender this week.
According to Govender, the company fought a “long & arduous battle to save the company from bankruptcy”.
The German-Israeli Ai company had raised $17 million in funding from 7 investors, according to Crunchbase.
We’re sorry to see a good company like Fraugster that brought a unique approach to fighting fraud go down. There is no official or public message about the company terminating their business, so this is just a Linkedin post from the former head of sales.
Ai Deep Fake Video Successfully Used To Scam A Victim in China
You would think a video chat with your friend would be a great way to verify the legitimacy of a big wire transfer to them. But this is 2023, and Ai scams are exploding all over the world - including in China, and nothing is at is appears.
Police say a fraudster used AI-powered face-swapping technology to scam a man out of $600,000
On April 20, a man surnamed Guo, a legal representative of a technology company in Fuzhou, Fujian province, received a video call via WeChat from a friend asking him for help.
Guo's "friend," said that he was bidding on a project in another city and wanted to use Guo's company's account to submit a bid of 4.3 million yuan. He promised to pay Guo back immediately.
The ruse was enough to convince Guo, and he sent two wire transfers to the scammer.
USPS Dealing with Skyrocketing Cases of Change-of-Address Fraud
The US postal service has reported a 167% increase in fraudulent change of address requests made by fraudsters trying to obtain people’s sensitive information and checks.
Part of the issue could be that the postal service lets customers err..fraudsters pay a $1.05 surcharge on their credit cards to prove their identity rather than presenting a real identification. 🧐
Due to the spike in fraudulent attempts, the postal service is implementing a new validation program that will involve texting online customers with one-time security passcodes before they can complete the change of address and sending activation letters to the new address.
Thank you for reading the weekly newsletter.
I hope you have a great and positive fraud-fighting week ahead.