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No One Is Going To Answer Calls From The Fraud Department Anymore
Frank McKenna
March 20, 2023
Good Morning from FrankonFraud,
Thanks for subscribing to my weekly newsletter. I hope it helps you stay on top of fraud trends.
It was another eventful week in the world of fraud:
The FTC called Social Media platforms a GoldMine for Scammers and took the first steps to hold them accountable. A billionaire fraudster was arrested and then booby-trapped his $32 Million Penthouse, and scammers wasted no time trying to steal from desperate Silicon Valley Bank customers.
Here is a rundown of my top stories for the week 👇
Why No One Is Going To Want To Talk To The Fraud Dept Anymore
Scammers are going to make it impossible for fraud analysts and banks to reach customers to protect their accounts.
Tens of thousands of consumers are getting calls and texts from fake fraud departments, and it’s really starting to undermine the validation process banks use to verify activity with their customers.
When a consumer becomes a victim of these scams, they are much less likely to ever respond to the fraud dept ever again. This means that companies will need to re-invent how they validate activity and regain the trust of their customers.
This is turning into a very real problem! Check out the story of how these consumers were victimized by fraud department calls and their arduous journey to fix their accounts.
FTC Calls Social Media A “GoldMine For Scammers,” And They’re Taking Action
I’ve always called Facebook Marketplace a Devil's Den of Fraud. And other social media sites are no better.
But they don’t seem to care much because they are making so much money so they turn a blind eye.
Remember when Facebook ignored rampant fraud that was being committed against minors using the platform because they loved all the revenue it was generating?
Now, they will likely be held more responsible for aiding and abetting scammers.
How To Foil A Scheming Fraudster For $2
Check Washing is turning out to be the hottest fraud trend in the news, and tens and thousands of consumers are having checks they wrote and put in their mailbox turned into weapons of mass destruction of their bank accounts.
And banks are not always reimbursing because they can’t seem to recognize altered checks and assume the checks are valid because the “Signatures Match” the customer.
Check out this video which explains how a simple $2 pen can help consumers avoid thousands in losses.
A Swirling Storm Of Silicon Valley Bank Scams Emerge
Where there is chaos, there is fraud.
The Internet Storm Center reported that scammers are having a field day with Silicon Valley Bank customers last week.
The first clue came when a massive race to secure “SVB” related websites as the bank’s woes began.
Stripe is Using ChatGPT4 To Help Fight Fraud
Well, that was fast.
It was only a matter of time before fraud fighters began to leverage the hottest Ai tech out there - ChatGPT4.
This week, Stripe, the popular Fintech, announced that they were using Ai to help customers and flag fraudsters. Through a collaboration with OpenAI, they pooled 100 workers together to figure out how to use the technology, and one of the primary ways they settled on was fraud.
Raise Your Hand 🙋 If Your First Fraud Job Was Looking For Dots
It was my first day at the new job. The desk had a phone and an old computer. Tess - my co-worker and trainer, dropped a stack of paper on my desk and said, “Time to find some fraud!”
What she delivered to me were about 50 paper credit card applications that were sent to First Deposit from applicants all over the United States.
My job? Look for people that put a “dot” at the end of their signature.
Did Billionaire Fraudster Booby Trap His $32 Million Dollar New York Penthouse?
A 15-room Manhattan penthouse owned by a billionaire Chinese fraud suspect went up in flames on Wednesday, with firefighters being called as the FBI was hoping to raid the premises.
Guo Wengui was taken into custody on Wednesday on charges of running a $1 billion online scam.
They Call This Fraud Fighter “The Quiet Assassin” 🥷🏻
A mild-mannered man humbly goes about his work in the city's quiet streets in a small town in Iowa. He is not your typical vigilante nor a detective who craves the spotlight.
His name is Grant. And he’s this week’s featured fraud fighter. He’s also known as “The Quiet Fraud Assassin.” He does not brag. He does not boast. He gets down to business and quietly eliminates fraud, case by case.
Though he may not wear a cape or have any superpowers, his determination saves auto lenders millions of dollars each month. He works as a Senior Fraud Analyst in Point Predictive’s fraud team.
On a daily basis, he pours through millions of current and historic loans using artificial intelligence, fraud bots, and his investigative prowess to pick off synthetic id thieves, credit repair scammers, subleasers, credit washers, and every other type of shamster out there.
And he does so with precision and skilled accuracy - like an assassin.
Grant has worked for 18 years in the industry, and during that time, he has learned to take fraud personally.
Can any of you relate to this? Good fraud fighters usually have a letting someone get away with a scam.
I have a lot of respect for people that get up every day and bust their butts to make an honest living then you have the fraudsters. I take it personal when I find a fraudulent application as if it was happening to me. I hold grudges against liars whether it be on the golf course, office or in life which motivates me to stop these fraudsters in their tracks.
Thousands of quiet fraud assassins are out there - just doing their work and not making a big deal out of it. You probably know a few yourself.
I am glad to feature a guy like Grant because he’s like many of you in the industry.
Thanks for reading this week’s edition of FrankonFraud.
I hope you have an amazing and positive fraud-fighting-filled week.
Wheels up 🛫