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- Wells Fargo Banker Stole $2.7 Million From Government 💰️
Wells Fargo Banker Stole $2.7 Million From Government 💰️
Frank McKenna
July 15, 2025
Hello đź‘‹
I learned something this week. A big red flag at the teller window is when someone is wearing a bluetooth earpiece and cashing checks. They’re getting coached. Two stories on that this week.
Let’s get to the fraud news this week.
Fraud News Roundup 🗞️
Death Master File - The SSA is backing off a strategy to mark living immigrants as deceased in the DMF (the fraud check database), meaning about 6,300 records will be removed. Read More
EWS Makes Play To Replace Checks - EWS wants Treasury to use its Zelle network for instant payments instead of the 36 million paper checks the Treasury still issues annually. Read More
Chase Open Banking Blitzkrieg - Chase is targeting Fintechs, sending them pricing sheets detailing the costs of connecting to customers’ banking data. This will upend everything! Read More
$2.7 Million Wells Fargo Fraud - A former Wells Fargo banker opened up fake business and personal accounts to process over $2.7 million in fraudulent government loans. Read More
Font Size 0 Scam - A dastardly new Gmail AI scam has been revealed where hackers can insert a hidden prompt with the font size set to 0 to make use email summaries turn into phishing attacks. Read More
3 Big Banks Sued For Fraud - A Pig Butchering victim has sued Citibank, EastWest, and Cathay after he lost $20 million. He says they assisted scammers by opening accounts and sending wires. Read More
CFPB Slashes Credit Invisible Estimates - The CFPB halved their estimates of credit invisibles in the US to 13 million people. I think its because of all those synthetic identities! Read More
Wells Fraud Scandal Study - A new study finds that the Wells Fargo fraud scandal of 2016 drove customers to Fintechs because they lost trust in banks. Read More
Biocatch Booming $$$- The fraud company reports it has hit over $160 million in ARR. Read More
Ghost Tap Fraud Spreads - Ghost Tap fraud, where fraudsters load your credit card data into their digital wallets, is spreading fast. Do you know how it works? Read More
DOGE Scammers - Scammers have a new tactic: impersonating DOGE employees and sending emails to people, claiming to send them “their refunds,” but it’s just a scheme to get their PII. Read More
McHire - Cybersecurity researchers discovered a vulnerability in McDonald’s hiring website that exposed the chats of 64 million applicants, who used a simple password, “123456”. Read More
Bait Trap - A company discovered a network of over 17,000 fake news sites that mimic large media outlets like CNN, BBC, and CNBC, that drive traffic to fake investment websites that steal PII and hijack crypto wallets. Read More
Chase Down His Money - A star NFL linebacker was contacted by a fraud analyst impersonator at Chase and instructed to transfer money out of his account to protect it. He lost $240K. Read More
Rubio AI - Marco Rubio deepfake voice clones were used to send text, Signal, and voice mail messages to foreign officials in an attempt to scam them. Read More
Digital Arrest Soar - This scam is soaring in India right now, as it becomes ground zero for this deadly scam, with over 17,000 cases reported in the first half of the year. Read More
Ever Heard Of Chinese Blessing Scams? - Chinese “Blessing Scams” are surging in Australia. They target elderly Chinese people and steal their money. Read More
Buckingham Palace Fraud - Monzo, a fintech company that issues orange debit cards to customers, was fined after regulators discovered significant weaknesses in its fraud controls. Fraudsters even used the Buckingham Palace address for fraudulent accounts. Read More
Data-Sniping Scam “Hello, I Want To Play A Game.”
Data-sniping scams are popping up everywhere, and this one is particularly frightening.
A victim received this message along with a photo of his car parked in front of a strip club. The most shocking part? It showed his real license plate.
“Hello, I want to play a game. YOU have been a bad little boy. Nobody has to see this picture. It would be a shame if it was sent to you know who…. Send $1,000 by midnight tonight, and it will go away quietly, and you will never hear from us again.”
The AMEX Scammer Who Makes 400 Fraud Impersonation Calls A Day
A scammer named "Michael" reveals how he makes 400 daily calls, buys personal data for $5 per record, and specifically targets AMEX holders because "you must have intellect to get credit to that level."
A reporter recorded their entire eye-opening conversation that reveals how impersonation scammers work.
Are Scam Losses Tax-Deductible? Not Anymore Sorry
An elderly grandma loses $50,000 to a scammer who promised her he would marry her to help him pay for emergency medical bills after an "oil rig" accident.
Her neighbor, a middle-aged father gets duped into transferring $300,000 to a fake cryptocurrency platform in a Pig Butchering scam.
Both victims lost their life savings, but only one of them gets to deduct those losses on their taxes.
Sound confusing? Thats because it is confusing but a recently released IRS memo is providing more clarification on exactly what you can, and cannot deduct.
Credit Union Fraud Ring Used 7,500 Identities And Wore Bluetooth Earpieces
It seems like Navy Fed might be one of the most targeted credit unions in the country right now. Another big case, and this one was clever and well-orchestrated.
A fraud ring collected a database of 7,500 stolen identities, recruited accomplices and then went to branches to do cash withdrawals, obtain cashiers checks and new debit cards.
When they got to the branch they had blue tooth earpieces where the ring leader would instruct them what to say.
I Met The Sextortion Scammers Destroying Lives For ÂŁ1 a Day
A British musician flew 3,000 miles to Nigeria to confront sextortion scammers that carry out their deadly scam for as little as 2,000 naira a day (about ÂŁ1).
"I don't give a f*** about what happens. I just want my money.", one scammer tells him, showing no remorse for his crimes.
The scammers follow a 20-minute script to trick boys into sending intimate photos which far too often results in the victims committing suicide to escape the situation.
Haotian AI Launches Powerful New And Free Face Swap Tool For Scammers
This week, Haotian AI announced the launch of a new free service on Telegram to help scammers swap faces on images using the same technology that they use for the Realtime deepfake videos.
The service already boasts over 21,000 active members and is quite popular. The channel is called The Crepy Bot and can be found here - https://t.me/ThecrepyBot
E-Verify Is Like Using A Pasta Drainer To Stop Identity Theft
E-Verify - the system employers use to verify that job seekers are legally allowed to work in the US - is proving to be woefully inadequate.
An article by the WSJ highlights that armed with a stolen identity, people can create a fake ID card because the system does not perform facial recognition.
Pig Butchering Bosses Essay Reveals Why It’s Ok To Scam Overseas
When China cracked down on scams during the pandemic, many scam bosses fled the mainland and set up their operations in Cambodia and Thailand.
I found an interesting essay on Telegram written by a scam boss who tries to convince people why its ok to scam other people, just not Chinese people.
The Scammers’ “Jury Duty” Script Revealed By Police
Jury Duty scams are popping up on everyone’s phones these days. Police in Minnesota have captured an actual Jury Duty script that scammers were using during their calls, and they are showing the public a behind-the-scenes look into how it works.
Belligerent Fraudster Is Wearing An Earpiece While He Scams The Bank
A suspect is arrested in a bank after presenting a fake ID to the teller. When police arrive, they suspect he is wearing an earpiece and communicating with the handler.
People communicating via Bluetooth has to be the new big red flag at teller windows now as they communicate with their handlers :đźš©
Thats all folks đź‘‹
If you have any stories or ideas to share, please send them to me.