FinancialCrimeRiskOfficers.com

As COVID-19 continues to impact heavily on social and business life across the region we have prepared this weekly summary of what the business situation is like across Asia generally. Our updates, provided by Peter Coleman of AEGIS INTERACTIF ASIA, will look at what business travel and activity is possible and what can be done on the ground in any countries that remain open for domestic business activity.

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?

This spear-phishing spam-scam is so amateur that some people might actually think it's real. It isn't.

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.

If one searches for Adrian Maxwell Ballintine, the first entry is from a source that the unaware would consider useful for Know Your Customer / CDD checking. It says "Founder of NewSat. Ltd, Adrian Maxwell Ballintine is currently Chief Executive Officer and Executive at this company."

There are records to set straight, not the least of which is the relevant criminal record.

In 1992, some "old masters" were stolen from Lincoln's Inn in London, one of the Inns of Court where barristers are made and Judges are born. It naturally aroused outrage in legal circles which, like Olympic rings, overlap with government.

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...

Greetings,

I hope my email will arrive to you at good time. My name is Sufian Allaw
from Damascus Syria. I was the former oil minister of Syria Republic.

Oh, good grief. Surely God doesn't have much to do with this idiot.

A deferred prosecution is a device used by prosecutors to allow suspected criminals to buy what amounts to a judicially approved arrangement to avoid prosecution so long as the accused meets certain conditions for a certain period of time. Critics (of which this newspaper is one) see it as a bribe; supporters see it as a way of compelling the accused to do whatever it is that the prosecuting authority wants. Developed in the USA, there is a global move towards adoption of this tactic. The former head of the UK's Serious Fraud Office was a fan; he's been replaced by an American who has been immersed in this system. How's it going?

The logic failures in some spam-scams are astounding. This one is so stupid that we just had to tell you about it.

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.

The UK's National Crime Agency is on a roll. It's taken a while for the successor to so many different organisations to get its act properly together, demonstrating the constant shuffling around of people and responsibilities detracts from their ability to do the job. The men and women of the NCA are a hard-working and bright bunch and recent results show that if they are left to their own devices, and given time to execute sensible plans, they do exactly as they are supposed to do: get convictions, often where they were apparently unlikely. One, yesterday, makes the point nicely.