Financial Crime News

The so-called 419 scam is not the only fraud that has a long history of coming out of Nigeria - and other countries. The old "we'll get your stuff past inspection" was a major money spinner but another, even more lucrative one, has just landed. We've not seen it for a very long time.

The criminals are increasing the pace - one scam after another from the same source. The tag, again, is Philip Schofield.

In Harris County, Texas, a lawyer who was disbarred in 2016, has become the focus of attention : the District Attorney, Kim Ogg, has issued an appeal for information that might identify victims of fraud by David A. Chaumette.

For the background to this story, see here: https://www.pleasebeinformed.c... and here: https://www.pleasebeinformed.c...

Now the fraudsters, or their associates, are back. And this time they have new telephone numbers.

You know that thing about airport security, where no one gets on a flight if they aren't who they say they are? And you know that the USA is so obsessed with airport security under its "war on terror" thing that all flights are locked down tighter than a tight thing?

It's not true and this document fraud shows how lax security really is in the US aviation industry. Remember this the next time some one questions a detail on your ticket at check-in. It's the old thing - the bigger the lie, the less people are likely to spot it.

Well, hello, Kate Winslett. We bet you just love this!

Fraudsters are like fishermen: they dangle a juicy titbit and expect you to snap it up and get hooked.

But often it's not actually a worm, it's fake meat, a plant-based concoction that has artificially induced flavours and aromas. It misrepresents itself by appearance.

That's what this scam is all about and only the names have been changed because J.K. Rowling is back in the news.

So, your EncroChat phone is dead. It's the the end of the world, though. While the UK's National Crime Agency and other law enforcement bodies around the world were able to attack the EncroChat system, disable its web presence and take control of its servers, and to make an extraordinary number of arrests and spectacular seizures of portable assets, the tech that the criminals relied on wasn't particularly clever and while it may have been proprietary, it was not unique. In the UK, the same mobile phone number is used by some selling both EncroChat and a rival system. Private bankers, lawyers and others have a problem that has, so far, not been talked about in the excitement of the initial arrests.

As spam-filters become more alert to spam-scams, many criminals have moved on from selling overpriced, poor quality or non-existent facemasks and the like.

Following the trend set by UK TV advertising where on-line gambling has reached near-epidemic proportions, there is an increased rash of gambling spams. But the most significant trend is to focus on the lifestyle changes faced by millions as they sit at home wondering what to do next.

One has to wonder just how stupid people must be to fall for the scams that some fraudster's perpetrate. Or to find themselves in a position where they suffer drive-by malware attacks. One of the interesting things that's happened since the CoVid-19 outbreak sent people scurrying home is just how many manual submissions we are receiving to enquiry forms. The vast majority are fraudulent or, at worst, using our platform for specifically prohibited purposes - which constitutes illegal access and it therefore a crime. So, what's going on?

As internet crime spikes with coronavirus related fraud, an oldie - the work for us and we'll pay you - fraud returns. The anatomy of this one is interesting.

Read this from the investigative reporting team at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Don't skip. And think while you read (or listen to the podcast if you prefer)

https://www.abc.net.au/radiona...

It's obviously fake. But anything that uses mail at AOL is bound to attract attention. And MoneyGram is used to further enhance the credibility of this fraud that uses the pressure points of IMF and offshore accounts, beneficiaries and.. oh, just read it.

Kenneth A. Blanco, Director, FinCEN (The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the USA's FIU and a division of the Department of the Treasury) sets out how Bank Secrecy Act data, including "convertible virtual currencies."

The USA's cyber-security agency, US-CERT, has issued an alert relating Dridex Malware which targets the financial sector. It follows work by various government departments including FinCEN.