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- I Just Learned That AI Knows Me Better Than My Friends
I Just Learned That AI Knows Me Better Than My Friends
Frank McKenna
October 23, 2023
Greetings from FrankonFraud,
Conference season is in full effect, so many fraud fighters are on the road this week and meeting up in person again.
Last week I learned something exciting about AI. Check out below for the surprising results after I sent my cloned voice some remarkable data scientists.
This week’s top stories 👇
Can AI crack the code on my cloned voice?
What do you wear to fraud conferences?
Revolut doubles its fraud team
A massive Korean fake identity work scheme
Half a million fraudsters breathe a sigh of relief
People are exploiting Southwest's pre-boarding
Ghost Hotels Emerge in Japan
Dude fakes 20 heart attacks for free food
FinCEN alerts banks on Hamas Red Flags
Oregon Benefits Program targeted by fraudsters
Prove becomes a Unicorn
Socure launches First Party Fraud Consortium
Let’s get to the top stories!
What Are You Wearing - Can You Spot These Characters At Money2020?
Money2020 and the conference season are in full effect and the question on everyone’s mind is of course 👉 “What to wear?”
This is more complex than it used to be in the new ultra-casual business world.
In the 1970’s, it was clear cut – you would find the brownest coat and widest and most colorful tie you could find and wear that.
But in 2023, you could wear anything. You could dress up, or roll out of bed and show up if you wanted to.
Can AI Defeat Voice Cloning? I Put The Data Scientist To The Test
About a month ago I did a test. I created a cloned voice and then tested if people could tell the clone from my real voice.
If you’re like most people, you probably picked the wrong voice. That shocked me. Even some of my very closest friends could not tell!
So I decided to see if AI could tell. I turned the voice recordings over to NICE Actimize data scientists to see what they could do.
Did You Know 1/3rd Of Revolut Employees Are Fraud Staff?
Check this out 👉 Revolut has 2,500 employees dedicated to fraud and scams.
2,500 fraud fighters working for a single company!
As fraud has skyrocketed across the UK, Revolut is throwing tens of millions of investments into people to counteract it.
Since 2021, they have received over 77,000 applications from people who want to join the team. And they doubled their staff in that time.
This goes to show that if you want to do business as an online bank in the new world you are going to have to invest massively to stay ahead of the curve.
Thousands Of North Korean Workers Used Fake ID’s To Get Remote Jobs In US. Funds Used to Buy Ballistic Missiles
This is about the worst case of remote work fraud I have ever seen.
Thousands of IT workers from North Korea have taken remote jobs with US companies and for years secretly sent millions of dollars of their wages to North Korea for use in its ballistic missiles.
FBI leaders say that the workers used fake identities to get jobs in the US while living in China and Russia while they pretended to be located within the US.
The workers used various techniques to make it look like they were working in the U.S., including paying Americans to use their home Wi-Fi connections.
The problem is so widespread that the FBI indicated if you hired remote IT workers, you likely hired one of these North Korean workers.
Imagine sitting on zoom calls with these people everyday not knowing what they are doing behind the scenes?
Fraudsters Set Sights on Oregon Paid Leave Benefits
It’s kind of ridiculous how quickly fraudsters jump on benefits programs these days.
Oregon has a cool new “paid leave” benefits program they launched less than four weeks ago letting employees take up to 12 weeks of paid leave for family, medical or “safe leave”.
And it didn’t take long for fraudsters to jump on the bandwagon. Evidently residents of the state are starting to receive ominous letters in the mail saying they’ve been approved for paid leave benefits that they never applied for.
Grand Theft Auto - Canada Sounds The $1 Billion Alarm
Auto Theft is poised to break all historic records in Canada this year. Insurance companies are projecting over $1 billion in losses from stolen cars in 2023 and sounding the alarm.
And that is a massive increase from a few short years ago. In 2018, losses totaled a mere $400 million in comparison.
And here in the US we are seeing the same thing. Check out this chart on the vehicle theft rate.
In Canada, they blame the rise on cars being exported internationally for sale. In the US, a TikTok challenge is the primary culprit.
Kia and Hyundai thefts surged in cities nationwide this year after a popular TikTok challenge showed users how to steal the cars.
He Faked 20 Heart Attacks To Get Free Food
In 1998, my dad was checking out of a hotel in Oakland California, and asked for a discount on the bill. He always loved to wheel and deal on bills he owed.
The staff refused, saying they could not offer him that. All of a sudden he clutched his chest and began to feign a heart attack. I was horrified because I realized it was an act.
But, within several minutes, my dad received a 50% discount on his hotel bill. Mission accomplished.
Apparently faking heart attacks to avoid paying for things is a pretty common form of fraud though. In Spain, a guy faked 20 different heart attacks to avoid paying bills at fancy restaurants.
In his latest target, the shameless scammer visited the El Buen Comer in the historic district of Alicante, Spain for dinner and ordered a seafood paella and two whiskeys, which cost roughly $36.80.
When he finished his meal and drinks, the man attempted to leave but was stopped by restaurant staff who told him he had to pay.
He then flopped on the floor and began to pretend he was having a heart attack.
Half A Million Fraudsters Are Going To Get Away With It
After 3 million EIDL loans have gone into default, the US government has decided to cease trying to collect on those loans.
It just costs too much money to collect on those loans because so many of the deadbeat fraudsters who used fake identities simply cannot be located. Surprise, surprise.
The Inspector general now estimates that 455, 126 of those loans that were granted for under $100,000 are probably fraudulent so those fraudsters are going to get away with their crimes.
Does This Purdue Pharma Video Get You Piping Mad?
This may be one of the most damning videos that lead to the downfall of Purdue Pharma.
This 1998 video explains that there is almost zero risk of people becoming addicted to Oxycontin.
This video was created by the company so that doctors could show it to their patients to ease their minds. Is this fraud? Or just reckless behavior?
What Gives With This Scam That Seems To Only Happen On Southwest?
Have you flown Southwest and noticed the massive preboarding line? I have and can somewhat relate to Gary Leff’s expose on what he calls the dark side of pre-boarding.
With Southwest’s pick-your-own seat and honor system for preboarding those boarding passes that have the code “PRBD” are coveted by many.
But Leff complains the Southwest system is being abused and exploited and many people are exploiting it to get first dibs on the best seats in the plane.
The Ghost Hotel Scam Is Ruining People’s Vacations
Imagine planning your trip to Japan for months, meticulously planning, and picking the best hotel.
Then when you arrive, the hotel is a ghost and where your room should be is just an empty plot of land.
Recent reports from Japan reveal a disturbing trend of “fake hotels” appearing on popular travel websites, leaving guests shocked when they arrive. Fake photos are stolen from other hotels across Japan and then used to lure in unsuspecting travelers.
Another Fraud Unicorn Emerges - Prove
Another unicorn in the fraud space is joining the ranks of Socure, Forter, ID.me, Feedzai, Sift, and Riskified.
Prove which boasts over 1,000 customers raised $40 million and tips the scale at a valuation of over $1 billion and it represents a growing trend of fraud companies being highly valued.
With fraud skyrocketing all over the world, the fraud industry is now seen as an enabler of letting the world operate safely.
FinCEN Releases Hamas Terrorist Financing Alert
In 1997, the US designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. With the recent attack on Israel, the US is stepping up its efforts to stop illicit financing by US companies or organizations.
FinCEN released a list of 7 Red Flags that they are strongly urging banks to monitor.
Socure Launches First Party Fraud Consortium
Interesting news in First Party Fraud this week. Socure launched a collaborative consortium to tackle the $100 bIllion in losses they say are associated with First Party Fraud.
The consortium's founding members include many of the nation's largest digital banks and fintechs, including SoFi, Green Dot, Varo, Ingo, Dave and Public, amongst others, totaling over 50 million active accounts across the consortium at launch.
There is a Risk Insights WhitePaper that contains insights into Socure’s view on First Party fraud you can request by clicking on this link.
Thanks for catching up with The Newsletter. If you traveling to conferences, I hope you have an amazing and productive week.
Happy Fraud Hunting