Hello Fraud Fighters 👋
It’s been a tough year for nonprofits getting funding, including one of fraud fighters’ favorites— The Knoble.
If you love their mission as much as I do, check out this video from my friend Ian Mitchell.
Now, let’s get to the top stories!
Fraud News Roundup 🗞
Banks’ Biggest Churn Risk - A new comprehensive report on scam impacts shows that 1 in 5 customers will switch banks after getting scammed but theres a twist - 90% trust their bank more when the bank recovers the funds.
Scammers Will Get Caned - Scammers in Singapore will now face mandatory caning, consisting of 6 to 24 extremely painful lashes.
The Urgent Chase Call - An urgent call from Chase to Auto Lender Tricolor about “red flags everywhere” set in motion one of the biggest lender fraud implosions in history.
North Koreans Suck At Deepfakes - North Korean IT workers have the absolute worst deepfakes in the world as evidenced by the examples from two interviews this company posted on their blog. Even so, their horrible deepfakes keep working again and again!
They’re Kidnapping Ashes For Money - In China, the newest scam crime wave is kidnapping the ashes of rich and famous dead people for money.
The China Attack - Unit42 says 194,000 fraudulent websites including over 28,000 for the USPS alone is being used to deluge American’s will phishing that is fueling a dramatic rise in Ghost Tap fraud.
The Plot Thickens - Steve Ballmer, owner of the LA Clippers has been sued for fraud in funneling $28 million to Clipper star.
Trustworthy Firefighter? - This guy posed as a firefighter when he went into Regions Bank to commit fraud because it made him look more trustworthy.
Second Chase Fraudster Convicted - Oliver Amar was sentenced to 5 years in prison and will spend the rest of his life trying to pay off the $223 million in restitution he owes Chase.
Advia Credit Union Scam Story - A woman from Kalamazoo tells story how a woman with a “southern accent” contacted her from the credit unions fraud department - it was a scam.
Kill The Chicken To Scare The Monkey - As thousands of Chinese flock to Myanmar scam compounds, China begins to crack down on them - even sentencing big players to death.
The Dumbest Password Ever - Can you guess what it is? This famous museum in France used it.
70 Million Fake AI Products On TikTok - Fake AI products and brands are over-running the TikTok shop fooling people into buying products that don’t exist like handmade “Dog Slippers”.
Muddy Credit Union Insider Fraud - A 30-year veteran of the CU stole over $350,000 in cash deposits from members and another sent another $430,000 in deposits for member loan payments into her relatives accounts.
Her Tesla Asked Her 12 Year Old Son For Nudes - A mother is shocked when her Tesla’s AI started asking her son for nudes. Grok is completely unhinged.
Telco Deal Will Stop Spoofing - UK Telco companies signed a big deal which will eliminate spoofing and take a major bite out of scams.
LA Fraudsters “Living Like Kings” - Armenian fraudsters are stealing the identities of foreign celebrities, athletes and academics in a newly identified fraud trend by David Maimon.
Data Sniping Scams - We predicted scams would eventually go here. Very specific and loaded with personal information.
The Contagion Of Digital Arrest Scams Has Now Arrived In The US
As the digital arrest contagion has swept over India, there are now signs that it has hit the shores of the US. Just last week in Berkeley California, one of the first published cases came to light and its scary.
For 27 hours straight, a team of four scammers posing as Oakland police kept a Berkeley Teacher on the phone and isolated.
Over that time, they manipulated her into delivering nearly $70,000 and they claimed they could detect if she used any other devices or talked to anyone because they could see “data spikes” from her internet connection.
KYC Deepfake Factory Raided - They Were Using Deepfakes To Break Into Bank Accounts
This is the first of this kind I have ever seen. Thai Police raided a deepfake KYC factory where the criminals were stealing identities and creating deepfake liveness check videos to bypass banks’ KYC controls!
Check it out! 👇
The AI Model That Scammed My Mom Is Looking For A New Job
I was scrolling through a popular HR Channel on Telegram that caters to the scam bosses looking for talent.
The channel is called Zhongshu HR Talent Reserve Limited Company, and hundreds of men and women post videos of themselves seeking to work as AI models for scam companies.
As I scrolled through the ads, one stood out. I recognized the woman immediately. It was an AI model that had been used to attempt to scam my mom in a Pig Butchering case two months earlier.
AfterPay Grapples With New BNPL “Double Sided” Fraud
AfterPay reports that fraudsters are using BNPL by posing as both shoppers and merchants. They setup up fake merchant accounts, then use stolen identities to make purchases themselves.
Porn Sites and Dating Apps Hid a Stealthy $300 Million Card Scam That Hit 4.3 Million Victims
German police busted three criminal networks that stole card data from 4.3 million people across 193 countries using a recurring credit card fraud scheme.
To drain the cards, they created 19 million fake subscriptions to porn and dating websites, charging small amounts like $50 a month with very vague descriptions so victims would not notice.
The most shocking thing is that six of the suspects worked as executives and compliance officers at 4 major German payment providers. They allowed criminals to access to payment networks in exchange for fees.
A Daring Escape From Scam Compound - They Used Weapons And Fire Extinguishers
As the Cambodian scam compounds melt down, workers are revolting en masse and launching daring, well-coordinated escapes.
Watch these Vietnamese scam workers pull off a daring escape using fire extinguishers as smoke bombs and drying poles as weapons to protect themselves from guards!
San Diego Barbershops “American Accents” Helping Indian Scammers
Just miles from my home, this San Diego barbershop ran a massive money-laundering operation, and even traveled to Thailand to learn inside tricks on how to scam the elderly.
Their advantage was that they had American Accents, so they were more believable.
Hong Kong $140 Million Internal Fraud Case May Be The Biggest In Countries History
13 bank employees across 10 banks in Hong Kong have been tied to a massive $140 million Covid loan fraud scheme.
The employees were paid a 6% cut of the loan proceeds which were often millions of dollars. The loans were given to 22 completely fake shell companies and orchestrated y middlemen who used to work in banking so they new how to game the system.
$200 Million Internal Fraud At NAB Involved Phantom Auto Loans For Ghost Cars
An NAB Bank Manager worked with a large fraud ring to approve loans for ghost cars loans, personal loans and even mortgages.
The most unusual part of the case? He was a model employee for 10 years before he turned to the dark side.
Scammers Lure Lost iPhone Owners With Realistic New Text
"We are pleased to inform you that your lost iPhone 14 128GB Midnight has been successfully located," reads a phishing text.
Scammers posing as Apple are targeting iPhone owners with lost phones with this new realistic text message. The messages appear legitimate, containing your phone's model and color, but link to phishing sites designed to steal Apple ID credentials. Criminals use this access to disable Activation Lock and resell stolen devices!
Meta Ignored 96% Of Scam Reports, Pocketed $16 Billion, Laid Off Fraud Staff
A Reuters report released last week found that 10% of Meta’s revenues - about $16 billion - is collected from scammers posting scam ads on the platform.
Of the 100,000 reports Meta receives from users reporting the scam advertisements, they ignored 96% of them while simultaneously laying off a big chunk of their Trust and Safety staff in 2023.
Meta expected to pay about $1 billion in fines for ignoring the scam ads, netting at least $15 billion in pure profit which they allegedly used to fund their AI innovations.
AI Lost Pet Scam - “Your Lost Pet Was Found, You Need To Pay Surgery Fees”
A cat owner received a call from fake "emergency veterinarians" claiming their missing pet needed expensive surgery after being hit by a car.
The scammers sent an AI-generated image showing the owner's actual cat in surgery and demanded immediate payment through Venmo or PayPal. T
The realistic photo included the cat's exact coloring but contained telltale AI errors like medical equipment in the wrong places and nonsensical use of instruments.
That’s all for this week