Hey Fraud News Junkies,

Where did 2024 go? What’s in store for 2025? My fraud compadres and I (Mary Ann and Karisse) are collecting our predictions for next year. It will be another exciting year in fraud. Where do you think we are headed?

Let’s check out the top stories this week!

• 13 Fraud Experts- Mitek surveyed fraud experts across the industry and these are their predictions about what we can expect in 2025.

• The Big 14 - The DOJ charged 14 North Koreans with a wide array of crimes for getting IT jobs in the US and funneling $88 million back to their country. The US is offering up to $5 million reward for information about other conspirators.

• Black Friday Canada - While fraud was down in the US, fraudsters shifted to Canada, where fraud rates skyrocketed 51% in Canada, according to TransUnion.

• 10,000 Bank Customers - Spanish police smashed a phishing operation that conducted a massive impersonation scam operation that drained the accounts of over 10,000 bank customers.

• Another Fintech Money Launderer - Stenn, the fintech that HSBC investigated, has been reportedly connected to a money laundering scheme that led to its demise. In recent weeks, this is the fourth Fintech to go out of business for money laundering.

• “You Don’t Have To Be Dying” - Hospice fraud is booming this year. Scammers are robocalling seniors, claiming they’ll set them up with services like free cooking, cleaning, and home health care and say they don’t have to be dying to get it. Then, they bill Medicare for millions.

• How to Stop Refund Fraud - An interesting blog by a fraud fighter who describes a multi-layered strategy for stopping refund fraud.

• Real Estate Agent Deepfakes - The Washington Post reports that scammers are using AI to clone real estate agents' and closing agents' voices and emails to induce homeowners to wire funds to them.

• No Fraud Intended - Macy’s now says the $151 million accounting cover-up was merely a rogue accounting employee who tried to cover an accounting error, there was no personal gain involved.

• Bitcoin Boom Is Scam Heaven - Bloomberg reports on the influx of scams happening globally as Bitcoin’s meteoric rise continues.

• HSBC Australia - The bank was sued for “widespread fraud failings”, most of which occurred between Oct 2023 and March 2024.

AI Deepfake Extortion Attacks Could Become A CEO Nightmare Scenario

As we try to figure out how AI will be used for nefarious purposes, a new scam is emerging in China and Singapore - deepfake extortion attacks against high-ranking officials.

In recent weeks, hundreds of government officials have been targeted by emails with deepfake videos showing them in compromising situations and demanding USD 50K in crypto.

Click to Read 👇️ 

AI Scams Are Set To Surge In 2025, Here Is What You Need To Know

While 2024 provided us with rare glimpses of deepfakes, voice clones, and AI-generated phishing scams, it was merely “training wheels” for fraudsters as they tested the waters.

It’s 2025 which is now poised to become the year AI scams become a dominant force in draining fintech and bank accounts.

Click To Read 👇️ 

800 Arrested In Massive Nigerian Pig Butchering Scam Compound

148 Chinese foreigners were among 800 arrested in Lagos, Nigeria, for running a romance crypto scam operation. It is reported that the Chinese were teaching the Nigerians the art of pig butchering scams, which is why they were in Lagos.

It is the single most significant arrest of its kind, and they cleared out seven floors of scammers who were targeting US, Canadian, Mexican, and European victims.

Click to Read 👇️ 

Two More TD Insiders Linked To Fraud And Money Laundering Operation

TD’s woes continue this week as two more employees have been linked to a huge insider fraud and money laundering case. Officials now say five insiders are involved, and there could be more.

One employee, Vargas, accepted bribes to open accounts for straw owners linked to drug trafficking organizations. The other employee, Ayala, then used his access to issue debit cards for those accounts.

How deep does this go at TD?

Click to Read 👇️ 

Inside Job - A Bank Robbery That Was Nothing More Than Marvelous Acting

Justin Flounoury arrived at his Verizon job one morning with crutches, complaining that he might need to leave work early. His brother, Jenel, a teller at Energy Credit Union in Boston, also did something unusual that morning - he put too much cash in the vault, over $200,000, which was against bank policy.

Police say what followed was an Inside Job.

Click to Read 👇️ 

Irony Alert: A Prolific Fraudster Named “Honesty”

You can’t make this stuff up. A man named Marco Raquan Honesty was anything but honest. According to federal prosecutors he orchestrated an array of fraud schemes that attempted to steal over $850,000.

He did it all. PPP Fraud, Check Fraud, Bank Impersonation, Account Takeover.

Honestly, he could be headed to jail for a long time!

Click to Read 👇️ 

Solid Opened Up 29,000 Anonymous Debit Card Crypto Accounts

As reported by Jason Mikula, a startup named “Zelf” was tricked by a company they worked with named “Solid” that they could open up anonymous debit card crypto accounts. That’s pretty ludicrous, right?

Zelf is now suing them after they were shut down.

He Left A Trail of Fraud and Rape Across the World, Faked His Death

A celebrated advocate for foster children, Nicholas Alahverdian, crafted an elaborate facade that crumbled down in 2022.

After staging his death from cancer and being memorialized on Rhode Island's statehouse floor, he emerged in Scotland with a fake British accent and a new fake identity.

After a global manhunt, his fingerprints finally exposed the truth: he was running from multiple rape allegations spanning Utah to Montreal while leaving a trail of fraud in his wake.

Click to Read 👇️ 

Professional Refunding Fraud In India

Refunding fraud is now a global problem. In what is being called the “Mother Of All Refunding Scams,” two e-commerce Giants, Myantra and Meesho, reported over USD 6 Million in orchestrated refund fraud on close to 6,000 orders.

The refunding scammers would place bulk orders for merchandise and falsely claim partial deliveries or product discrepancies. The scam's brilliance lay in its simplicity: order ten items, claim to receive five, and pocket both the merchandise and the refund.

Click to Read 👇️ 

How Nigerian Scammers Fake “Sick in Hospital” Pictures With Crazy AI

One of the most common ruses Nigerian scammers rely on is the “sick in the hospital” scheme. They send pictures to the victim to elicit sympathy and extract tens and thousands in payments for “surgeries” and other treatments.

Check out how these scammers use turnkey AI to make those pictures look real.

Click to Watch 👇️ 

This Guy Can Take Any Influencers Video and Turn It Into A Deepfake Scam

Check out how good this deepfake is. He can turn any influencer’s original video into a deepfake scam.

Click To Watch 👇️ 

Convicted Fraudster: I Only Clicked A Button And Got A $455,000 PPP Loan

Diamond Blue Smith of the group Pretty Ricky explains how strange it was for him to be convicted of PPP fraud.

He said the only thing he did was click a button, and some business associates of his did all of the rest.

What do you think? Should he have been convicted?

Thanks for reading down to the end of the newsletter. You really must be a fraud news junkie.

I hope you have a fantastic week, and don’t forget to finish your Christmas shopping. 🎅 

FrankonFraud