Walmart Executive Charged in Disgraceful PPP Loan Fraud
A project manager employed by a Walmart was charged in a complaint unsealed Wednesday for allegedly filing fraudulent bank loan applications seeking more than $8 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Loans. Benjamin Hayford, 32, of Centerton, Arkansas was was charged in a federal criminal complaint filed in the Northern District of Oklahoma with wire fraud, […]
FBI Reports On Tidal Wave of COVID19 Fraud Cases in 2020
Calvin Shivers, the Assistant Director of Investigations for the FBI, delivered a shocking report to Congress yesterday – reported fraud could reach the highest level in history due to the pandemic. The Internet Crime Center has already received almost as many fraud reports for 2020 (320,000), as they have for the entirety of 2019 (400,00). […]
2 Men Opened 7,000 Fraud Cards, Earn 790k In Points
Two guys got extra greedy and finally got nabbed for a sophisticated fraud scheme that netted them a total of 7,000 cards and a truckload of reward points. It was a cards for point scheme unlike any other and netted the pair over $8 million in points. Ahron Lev and Timothy Gibson were indicated with […]
Michigan Fraud Blocks 340k Unemployment Claims
In recent news, the state of Michigan has reportedly blocked 340,000 unemployment accounts while it investigates suspected fraud by imposters. A whopping 25% of all claims have been halted so the state can perform additional fraud checks on the identity of the people that have submitted claims. This comes on the heels of many other […]
Washington Unemployment Fraud Balloons to $1 Billion
Senator Ann Rivers was briefed today by ESD officials in Washington State who advised her that the unemployment fraud case involving Nigerian fraud rings was now approaching close to $1 billion dollars. The epic and largest case of unemployment fraud was originally suspected to be closer to $350 million, however, over the past week, it […]
Digging Into The Patterns of Unemployment Fraud In Data
It’s hard to piece together exactly what is happening with the rash of unemployment fraud claims. It’s all over the news. And just this week Washington State reported that their new unemployment filings dropped 68% when they implemented fraud controls. It’s hard to believe that fraud controls could have such an immediate and substantial impact […]
Guy Drops BackPack With 1 Million Stolen Identities In It
You can stuff a lot in a backpack these days. But you won’t believe this story. Authorities in Trussville Alabama are on the lookout for a man named Fred Collins Jr. Police officers were issuing a narcotics search warrant for a known drug location, when they spotted Fred Collins engaged in suspicious activity. While ordering […]
Not so fast. State Claws Back $300M From Fraudsters
Washington State has recovered over $300 million in funds that were stolen by fraudsters filing fraudulent unemployment claims. Employment Security Department Commissioner Suzi LeVine said that she could not yet reveal the precise amount that was paid in fraudulent claims, but said that the initial recovery — including $50 million set to be returned Thursday […]
Professional Refunders Are Fraud Hitmen For Hire
If you don’t have the nerve to lie to online merchants about a package you “never received” – don’t worry. Friendly fraud hitmen are standing by to serve you. For a small fee of course. Professional refunders are setting up shop and offering to help you get your money back for orders you placed online, […]
Rich Movie Exec Gets Fraud PPP Loan, Buys Mansion
A rich Hollywood executive has resorted to fraud to fund his lavish lifestyle leaving a trail of victims in his wake. Those victims include investment firms like Blackrock and US Taxpayers who footed the bill for sham Paycheck Protection loans that he received. Today. William Sadleir, the former chairman, and chief executive officer of Aviron […]
$20 Million Whopper of A PPP Fraud Discovered
The fraud perpetrated against the PPP loan programming is mounting daily. There have been 5 massive cases uncovered in the last 10 days. The DOJ announced today the arrest of MUGE MA, a/k/a “Hummer Mars,” a Chinese national residing in Manhattan, for a fraudulent scheme to obtain over $20 million in Government-guaranteed loans designed to […]
Ryanair Threatens Fraud Blacklisting for Chargebacks
The Daily Mirror reports that Ryanair is threatening to blacklist customers that use chargebacks to get refunds. The report says that the low-cost carrier has been caught telling customers that chargeback is a ‘fraudulent’ scheme, after warning them it could take up to a year for holiday refunds to be processed. Angry customers have been […]
“Scattered Canary” Named In Unemployment Fraud Scheme
Investigators are on the hunt for Nigerian fraudsters that have been targeting the nation’s unemployment offices. Based on an article that appeared today, researchers believe that they may have located one of the groups responsible. Investigators believe a Nigerian fraud ring called “Scattered Canary”, used the IRS and state unemployment websites to file hundreds of […]
Another $5M PPP Fraud. It Happens Every Day Now.
U.S. federal prosecutors charged a Texas man on Tuesday with fraudulently seeking $5 million in loans from an emergency program established to ease the economic strain caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Prosecutors allege in a criminal complaint that Samuel Yates, 32, of Maud, Texas, sought millions of dollars in Small Business Administration-guaranteed loans from two […]
Nigerian Fraud Rings Target Unemployment Offices
The New York Times reports that FBI investigators have found that Nigerian fraud rings are attacking unemployment offices around the country and siphoning hundreds of millions in fraudulent claims from state offices. Investigators characterize the attack as “immense” and “sophisticated” and report that the ring has already extracted millions in fraudulent claims. The attackers are […]
Wall Street Accused of Widespread Mortgage Fraud
A whistleblower has come forward, and he is dropping a bombshell on Wall Street. According to Pro-Publica, a whistleblower is claiming that Securities that contain loans for properties like hotels and office buildings have inflated profits. These grossly inflated properties and profits could lead to another mortgage market collapse as significant as the last great […]
Justice Dept Subpoenas Banks In Sweeping PPP Fraud Probe
Reuters reports that The U.S. Justice Department has sent grand jury subpoenas to big banks seeking records as part of a broader investigation into potential abuse of a $660 billion emergency loan program to help small businesses hurt by the novel coronavirus. The subpoenas appear to be targeted to large banks that have originated PPP […]
Feeding Frenzy – Another Day Another $10M PPP Fraud
Massive fraud attempts against the PPP loan program continue on a daily basis. This loan program has turned into a feeding frenzy for people looking to pull one over on government. Yesterday, an engineer was charged with filing bank loan applications fraudulently seeking more than $10 million dollars in forgivable loans guaranteed by the Small […]
Love & Hip Hop and Paycheck Protection Loan Fraud
A reality TV personality who stars in Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, has been arrested on federal bank fraud charges arising from a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan that he obtained in the name of Flame Trucking. Maurice Fayne, aka Arkansas Mo, 37, of Dacula, Georgia, was charged with bank fraud and made his initial […]
Fraud Fallout From PPP Loans. It’s Getting Bad.
When the government gives away $660 billion dollars in 30 days, you can expect some fraud fallout right? Well, that’s exactly what’s happened and what many predicted would be the case with the SBA’s PayCheck Protection Program. I had originally estimated 5% of the loan program would be subject to fraud, which would mean about […]
Are False Attestations Going to Be The Fraud of 2020?
What happens when you dangle trillions of dollars in front of people and ask them to line up if they need the money because they have been impacted by the Coronavirus economically? Everyone would line up right? But how many would be actually telling the truth? That is a very difficult question to answer. Attestations […]