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- Scam Van: Bangkok's Rolling Fraud Machine 🚐
Scam Van: Bangkok's Rolling Fraud Machine 🚐
Frank McKenna
November 26, 2024
Hello There, 👋
Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US. It’s a short week for many of us, but it also marks the beginning of the season when fraud and scams will kick into high gear. 🏃♂️
Let’s check out the top stories.
ICE Fraudster - A former ICE officer, Henry Yau, is charged with illegally accessing and sharing sensitive government databases to help friends get people deported. He made lots of money off the scam.
“Very Disturbing” - This deepfake AI video is being sent to recent immigrants in Canada to steal their money for services from attorneys.
Threads is The New Telegram - Security researchers have noticed a dramatic spike in Telegram fraud channels being deactivated, and they’ve tracked many of those moving to Threads.
Massive Macy’s Fraud Brewing? - Vague reports of an employee hiding $150 million in expenses have been reported at Macy’s which has caused them to delay their financial reporting.
Sherlock Holmes: A real estate agent unravels a wild identity theft scam after a single red flag makes him question the whole thing.
King of Fraud - Italy’s “King of Fraud,” Stefano Ramunni, was arrested near the Vatican after pretending to be part of the Pope’s diplomatic team. This guy is Italy’s very own Frank Abagnale and has a long litany of audacious scams over the years.
Too Perfect—He cloned his voice with AI; it was so good that even his wife couldn’t tell it was fake.
Popeye the Sailor—The FBI took down “Popeye Tools,” a famous site that allegedly sold over 250,000 credit card numbers and generated millions in fees.
Forbes Fraud Flag - Yet another Forbes 30 under 30 has been caught up in a massive fraud. A startup founder claimed the largest school districts in the country were using her AI Chatbots. It was all a fraud.
Microsoft Teams - Microsoft will soon let you clone your voice for Teams meetings.
Digital Kidnapping - Chinese gangsters are headed to India to perpetrate their perfected digital kidnapping scams, which are rampant in China. 11 Indians were arrested last week who are working for Chinese gangs.
Scammers Can Now Clone Your Personality In Less Than Two Hours
Your personality may not be as unique as you might think. In fact, scammers can now replicate your voice, image, and personality to create a replica that acts just like you.
In a landmark study, Stanford researchers created an artificial intelligence system that almost perfectly cloned people’s personalities. They did this for over 1,000 participants, and the AI was over 85% accurate in correctly predicting how the participants would answer questions.
This is going to send BEC and impersonation scams to the next level 🚀
Amazon Says Hacking Attempts Have Surged 650% In Last 6 Months Due To AI
Amazon’s Chief Information Security Officer, CJ Moses, says hacking attempts have surged dramatically in the last six months thanks to AI.
“On average, we’re seeing 750 million attempts per day. Previously, we’d see about 100 million hits per day, which has grown to 750 million over six or seven months.”
China “Wipes Out” Pig Butchering Scammers in Myanmar With Mass Arrest
I'm not sure if this is real, but new reports are surfacing from Thailand of a massive arrest of over 1,000 scammers in what is being reported as a wipe-out of all of the scam centers in Myanmar.
Shikoku Bank Makes Employees Sign Suicide Pledge If They Commit Fraud
A Japanese Bank promises that if any employee is found guilty of committing fraud, they will pay the money bank and the commit suicide. And they put the pledge right on their website to assure customers.
So far, the bank has zero internal fraud, so it works!
“Oracle Of Fintech” Was Just A Conman With Chip On His Shoulder
Sean Grusd was once bullied in school because of a medical condition and he was always chasing the success of his brother - a successful executive.
But in that chase he resorted to fraud- posing as a tech-savvy investment whiz with fabricated credentials from Harvard Law and UC Berkeley.
Through three fake investment funds he convinced victims to invest in nonexistent fintech companiea while spending their money on a lavish lifestyle that included multiple Teslas gifted to women he met online, Porsches, a $640,000 McLaren, luxury condos in Chicago and Montreal, and high-end artwork.
Even after pleading guilty, he continued his fraud con by fabricating documents about a nonexistent $100 million family trust in an attempt to convince victims he could repay them
Super Greedy - “This Is Us Applying For Free Money We Don’t Qualify For LOL”
Stephanie Reis was a famous newscaster in Arizona, and her husband, Nate, was a serial entrepreneur. When COVID hit, they juiced the PPP program for their businesses, filing fraudulent applications and emailing each other saying, “This is us applying for free money we don’t qualify for LOL”.
Then, they started a massively successful company called Blue Acorn, which, at the height of COVID, was rife with fraud and did little to prevent it.
Click to Read 👇️
Meta Torches 2 Million Pig Butchering Accounts On Platform
The scale of Pig Butchering is so massive that Meta advised that it has banned over two million accounts linked to scam centers in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines.
Former Chase Banker “Glitched” Three Credit Unions With Check Kiting Fraud
Have you heard of the Chase Glitch, where fraudsters deposited worthless checks into ATMs and extracted the money before the checks cleared?
Well, a former Chase Banker was doing that against several credit unions in Florida, and it may have extended well beyond credit unions based on recent bankruptcy filings by the perpetrators
Roving Scam Van SMS Blasted 1 Million Messages A Day To Nearby Cell Phones
Police in Bangkok busted some creative scammers who built a roving “Scam Van” to blast SMS phishing messages to anyone within 10,000 feet of the van.
With messages like "Your 9,268 points are about to expire! Hurry up and redeem your gift now," people who received them clicked the link, and the scammers stole their credit card information.
These Deepfakes From Haotian AI Are Scary Good
I swear no one’s deepfakes look quite as accurate or versatile as Haotian AI. Click here 👉️ for a primer on them.
This is scary since they are the providers to many of the Pig Butchering scam bosses emerging worldwide. Take a look at how good these are getting.
The “*72 Bank Scam” Is Sweeping The Nation
A source has reported that the *72 Bank Scam catches many bank customers off guard. When they think they are calling their bank, they speak to fraudsters. Banks are flooded with defrauded customers, and this scam has victimized them.
The scam relies on a clever call-forwarding technique that most bank customers know nothing about.
Read how Key Bank is warning its customers by clicking the button below.
Vigilante PPP Fraud Investigators Make Millions
A new side hustle is turning private citizens into full-blown PPP fraud hunters.
The False Claims Act lets private citizens sue people on behalf of the US Government if they suspect fraud against the US.
And it pays very well. For every dollar the US recovers in fraudulently obtained PPP loans, the hunters can make between 15% to 30% - up to millions of dollars.
13-Year-Old Kid Pulled Off Massive Scam On Livestream Then Flips Everyone Off
It’s a sign of the times. While his parents were probably sleeping next door, A 13-year-old kid was masterminding a rug-pull on a livestream, netting $30,000 in cash.
To pull off the scam, he created Quant Coin and began to pump it. “Just made 2k before school. Lock-in,” his post said, alongside a photo of himself holding up his phone to show off his gains. As the coin rose in value, he quickly sold everything he owned.
When he flipped off everyone he had scammed, the internet banded together and pushed the value of his coin to 71,000% and then doxxed him.
BRO LMFAOOOOO
— BEEZY (@BeezyScores)
4:03 AM • Nov 20, 2024
“Lady Mafia Scammer” Says She Could Sell Fire To The Devil
Sara King, a high-powered lawyer from the OC, scammed people out of $10 million and blew it all in Vegas in fantastic fashion last year.
Now, she is breaking her silence and exposing the seedy underworld of Orange County—dirty deals, high-stakes scams, and hustlers.
That’s a wrap for another weekly edition of FrankonFraud. I hope you have an amazing week ahead fighting fraud.