CPN’s, Synthetic ID’s,Gift Cards, Cars, and Motorcycles
As I have said time and time again, using a CPN is a crime and you can go to jail if you use one. Well, a Bonny and Clyde couple got greedy and used their CPN’s to steal cars, apply for credit cards, buy gift cards, and buy luxury motorcycles. They even tried to buy […]
Brett Johnson Turned Card Fraud Into An Empire
Brett Johnson is a good guy. He has turned his life around. And now he has dedicated his life to fighting fraud. But..if you had a credit card in the between 2002 and 2004 and your card information was stolen and used, there is a good chance that Brett Johnson and his ShadowCrew might have […]
Love the Beach and Fighting Fraud? Move to San Diego!
I originally posted this a couple of years ago, but I am so proud of this city and the buzzing anti-fraud community here, that I decided to repost it again. San Diego is an amazing place to live. With an average temperature of 71 degrees, 266 sunny days a year, and some of the most […]
10 Best Practices You Should Implement For Internal Fraud
Internal Fraud is something most banks hate to talk about but they all have experienced. Whether they know it or not, they have. I spent 2 years as an Internal Fraud Investigator with a major bank. My job was to develop policies and procedures for dealing with internal fraud and for monitoring home grown detection […]
Fraudulent Press Release Sends Stock Soaring
A fraudulent press release yesterday morning, sent a nearly bankrupt company’s stock soaring and left the CEO of that company scratching his head. What exactly happened here? Denbury Resources Inc. which trades under the stock symbol DNR, said Monday that the press release issued yesterday about a buyout proposal it received was “fraudulent,” and not issued by […]
9 Ways The IRS Improved Their Fraud Detection
The Treasury Inspector General published a new glowing report which details how the IRS has dramatically improved their fraud detection. They did by implementing a layered approach to using models, external databases, borrower validation, and good old fashioned collaboration. The report was created after an audit of the IRS was requested by officials due to […]
Sentilink Studies SSN Name Matching Validation Rates
The SSA rolled out there new Synthetic Identity Killer – eCBSV – which provides a lender verification if an individual’s SSN, name, and date of birth combination match Social Security records. Social Security needs the number holder’s written consent with a wet or electronic signature in order to disclose the SSN verification. The service, which […]
Punjab Bank Stung With 3rd Massive Loan Fraud
Indian banks can’t seem to shake their loan fraud problems and just this week it got even worse. Punjab National Bank (India’s second-largest state-owned bank) said late Thursday that a customer, the ailing property lender Dewan Housing Finance Corp., had defrauded it of the equivalent of $491 million. The bank, in a stock exchange filing advised that they […]
15 Billion Credentials Are For Sale On The Dark Web
A new study by a security research firm reveals that billions of credentials are for sale on the dark web accumulated from over 100,000 separate data breaches. I have read the study, and it is stellar. The study is chocked full of interesting statistics and trends on the dark web and provides stunning insight into […]
MA State Identifies Staggering Unemployment Fraud
The state of Massachusetts has been under siege by unemployment fraudsters and the numbers they are releasing are absolutely staggering. The state has recovered more than $158 million from fraudulent unemployment claims after identifying tens of thousands of incidents of fraud since the start of the COVID-19 crisis. The state has received more than 1.6 […]
How The FBI Nailed Nigerian Influencer For BEC Fraud
Inside details into the FBI’s investigation of Abbas Ramon Olorunwa also known as HushPuppi were released in a 28-page affidavit signed by Special Agent Andrew Innocenti late last week. The investigation reveals how the outsized Nigerian Instagram influencer conspired with other scammers all over the world to execute huge BEC attacks and redirecting hefty payments […]
6 Mistakes Banks Make That They Always Regret Later
After working with over 200 Banks, I start to see a lot of the same patterns repeating themselves over and over again. Some of those things are good, and some are bad, and still others are very very bad. Here are some of the most common mistakes. If you are bank and you are […]
Fraudster Sentenced To 21 Years for CPN Scheme
A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced today to 259 months in federal prison for overseeing a long-running $3.3 million credit card, loan and real estate fraud scheme using stolen identities, primarily that of children. The scheme involved using Credit Privacy Numbers (CPN’s) that were used to create synthetic identities with falsified information. Turhan Lemont […]
Mortgage Fraudster Switches To Auto Fraud After Prison
Who says fraudsters can’t change their ways? They can, and that is exactly what George Hajati, 41, of Cromwell did after he was released from prison in 2016. According to court documents and statements made in court, Hajati was convicted of federal conspiracy and fraud offenses related to a Hartford-area mortgage fraud scheme that defrauded […]
Is Fraud A Grind? Listen To These Guys Discuss The Issue
Is fraud a grind? According to these guys it’s a tough job that keeps them going from 7 in the morning to 7 at night. And at the end of the day, you might not make anything at all. Stealing ain’t easy.
Fed Releases Classifier To Help Improve Fraud Reporting
In simpler days, payment fraud used to be pretty straightforward. You had stolen or counterfeit checks and maybe the occasional wired fraud and that was the end of the story. But over time, that changed. More types of payment options became available – ACH, Zelle, Paypal, Venmo, Cash App, and more of those options became […]
Wave Of Unemployment Fraud Sweeps Over US States
Unemployment fraud is trending as the most systemic fraud of the moment. It continues growing each day, even while unemployment rates begin to dip as states end their lockdown. Each day, more and more states are finally discovering and alerting that they have fallen victim to international and domestic scammers. One by one, states are […]
DOJ Is Slamming Identity Thieves in Jail for 2 Years
Did you know that if you get caught speeding in a school zone, you’ll get a double or even triple fine? So if a speeding ticket would normally cost you $100, if you speed in the wrong place it could run you $200 or $300. It’s designed to make you think twice about speeding around […]
Forter Report – $24 Billion A Year in Refund Fraud
Professional Refunders are now exploiting the generous return policies of online merchants like never before and one company is trying to do something about it. Forter, a company that specializes in online fraud detection, has published a study and found that $24 Billion a year is lost to refunding fraud and abuse. I recently wrote […]
National Guard Called To Fight Unemployment Fraud
Washington State is buried in Unemployment Fraud, and their backlog of suspicious cases is growing by the day. So who do they call? The National Guard of course. The state Employment Security Department said it’s bringing in the National Guard to help clear the huge backlog unemployment claims. Specifically, the guardsmen will become Stand-In Fraud […]
Fraudsters Swipe Donald Trumps Black Card
Donald Trump’s invite only American Express Black Card was swiped and posted on the internet by fraudsters last weekend. According to the Credit Shifu, his credit card information was allegedly leaked online by the hacker group Anonymous. They question that claim however after investigating further. I caught wind of the crazy story from Karisse Hendrick , a popular […]