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A Timeshare Fraud Tragedy in Mexico And Other News
Frank McKenna
June 05, 2023
Hello from FrankonFraud,
I hope you are having an amazing start of the week and geared up to fight off the fraudsters and scammers.
I am off to the Auto Lending Fraud Roundtable in Plano, Texas, this week to meet with lenders and discuss the latest trends in auto fraud. We’ve got a packed house so I am excited to connect with all the lenders in person.
Last week was another busy week in fraud.
The IRS warned of Stimulus Fraud 2.0
Arizona introduced a plan to stop Deed Fraud
A tragedy in Mexico was linked to timeshare fraud
The FTC warned that Ai is Turbocharging scams
And Intel launched new FakeCatcher Tech
Let’s get to the top stories of the week.
Murdered Call Center Reps Linked To Cartel Run Fraud Operations in Mexico
Tragically, the grisly discovery of the remains of 45 young people in a ravine in Mexico appears to be linked to a call center being investigated for fraud.
Family members began reporting that seven employees working for a call center in Zapopan, Mexico had disappeared between May 20th and May 22nd and never returned home.
When they tried to call the employees, their cell phones had been turned off.
Mexican newspaper, El Universal, reported that the employees were said to have worked at a call center that may be linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and Timeshare fraud operations that was recently investigated by the US Treasury Department.
This is a tragic story and my heart goes out to their family and friends.
It’s Back! ERC Program Has Become Stimulus Fraud 2.0
You’ve probably heard the radio spot - “Your Business Could Receive A Credit for Up To $26,000 Per Employee”.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It turns out that many of those ads are from scammers looking to make a quick buck on fees they charge you to get a refund.
In fact, last month, the IRS warned that the Employee Retention Credit Program has become a magnet for double dipping, scams, and fraud.
The IRS has no idea how much fraud is happening and how many fraudulent returns have been filed, but it’s a lot, and they say businesses are unknowingly double-dipping if they have already received PPP loans from the government.
The IRS has a backlog of 800,000 applications, and they are ramping up their fraud scrutiny to root out all the fraud they are finding.
Stimulus fraud is the gift that keeps giving, I guess.
Can Email Alerts Stop Deed Fraud? Arizona Is About To Find Out.
How do you steal a home? It sounds impossible, right? But, fraudsters can do it by forging deed documents to transfer the ownership out of your name and recording that document with the county.
Americans reported about $400 million in losses from the scam last year alone.
In Maricopa County, they are introducing a novel program to send email alerts. With the new system, homeowners can opt to receive alerts whenever a document is recorded that mentions their name.
NetFlix’s Password Sharing Ban Is A Boom For Scammers Selling Hijacked Accounts
Fraud is a cat-and-mouse game, and Netflix’s recent ban on password sharing is creating a booming market for underground access to streaming their content.
According to CheckPoint Security, disgruntled users are pursuing offers for "full Netflix access" at steeply discounted rates on the dark web.
Most of these accounts are obtained from compromised credentials or breached accounts. So when you buy one of these accounts, you, the buyer, essentially become the hacker, logging into someone else’s account fraudulently!
And the cyber criminals don’t care. They get these accounts for free anyway, so it’s all pure profit to them.
How Intel Created Deepfake Detection Platform with FakeCatcher Tech
Intel has recently launched AI that promises to restore trust online and detect fakes with 96% accuracy.
With the frequency and scale of generative AI this might be coming right in time!
What In The Heck? Paystub Co Tells You How To Spot Fake Stubs.
A paystub generation company is offering a handy little video on how to spot fake paystubs. It seems odd that a company that helps customers generate paystubs online has a tutorial like this when they are providing people with a tool to create paystubs.
For example, I created this stub for Donald Duck on their site. How does it look?
I guess you have to see it to believe it!
That’s all the big news and trends I have for you this week, folks. I hope you have a great and positive fraud-fighting-filled week.
Keep up the great work wherever you are!