They’re Here. Deepfake BEC Zoom Calls Are A Real Deal
Another deepfake BEC attack is raising concerns that a major threat is developing. This one uses Zoom calls to convince employees to send wire transfers. Last week, SCMP reported that a UK-based multinational company has fallen victim to a deepfake scam after a digitally recreated version of its chief financial officer fooled an employee at […]
CoffeeZilla – Rabbit Has No AI, It’s Hiding $30M Scam
Stephen Findeisen, better known as Coffeezilla, is an American YouTuber and crypto journalist. He is known primarily for his channel, which investigates and discusses online scams. And now, he is on to a doozy – Rabbit. He claims the AI embedded within the Lamb device doesn’t work as advertised. In fact, he determined that “Lamb” […]
Pig Butchered CEO Guilty. Was A “Master Manipulator”
In July last year, Heartland Tri-State Bank abruptly closed. While it was not clear then, it was soon revealed that the CEO, Shan Hanes, had fallen victim to a Pig Butchering scam and wired over $45 million in bank funds to fraudsters. This week, he pled guilty to the fraud and faces 30 years in […]
Digital Doppelganger Fraud Targeted Famous Artist
A strange tale of an even stranger deepfake is sending shockwaves through the artist community. When a well known artist past away, scammers realized they had an opportunity to make big money on people scrambling to buy his paintings. Scammers Targeted Fans of The Artist It began when well known artist Hank Pander passed away […]
Bank on Hailey ? – Talking Lone Wolf Fraud Fighters
Have you heard of the new fraud podcast that everyone is talking about? It’s called Banking On Fraudology, hosted by Hailey Windham. When she was a kid playing cops and robbers, Hailey Windham was always the cop. So when she took a job as a Bank Teller in 2014, it was only natural that she […]
Turo Fraud Scheme Allegedly Sent Jeeps To The Cartel
Federal authorities have charged a Houston man with orchestrating an elaborate car theft ring that exploited a popular vehicle sharing app and cost the company over $1.5 million in losses. Kenneth Dwayne Westbrook went by the Instagram handle “bossmann_boosie” He is accused of running a fraud scheme on Turo to deliver Jeeps to the cartel. […]
Pig Butchering Scammers Are Using AI Now To Fool Victims
Is that woman real, or is she AI? It was only a matter of time, but reportedly, pig butchering operations are now resorting to Artificial Intelligence deepfakes to fool their victims. Catfished, the YouTube channel that showcases new victims of romance scams each week, reported the development last week. For the first time in their […]
Regular People “Tap In” To Help Check Fraudsters In LA
A fraud gang out of Los Angeles just wanted people’s Debit Cards so they could deposit stolen checks and make off with the proceeds. People who participated in the scheme were regular people who just wanted to make a few bucks on the side. The scheme worked perfectly until the gang accidentally recruited an undercover […]
Fraudology: Innocent People Conned Into Being Fraudsters
If you don’t listen to Fraudology, you should. It is hosted by Karisse Hendrick, a fraud fighter with decades of experience advising hundreds of the biggest e-commerce companies on fraud, chargebacks, and other forms of abuse that impact a company’s bottom line. ?? I joined Karisse to talk about how innocent people are being conned […]
FTC Says BlueSnap Assisted Scammers For Years
Always listen to your Fraud Manager. One company, BlueSnap, learned that lesson the hard way. When their Director of Fraud warned the CEO in 2021 that a big customer was engaging in fraud, the CEO ignored him and said it was an important client they needed to take care of. The CEO prioritized company profits […]
Deepfake Clones Can’t Cry, But They May Very Soon
Something strange occurred to me the other day. I have read many articles about Voice Clone kidnapping scams. In each case, the victim (often a parent) claims that they received a deepfake call from their child who was crying. There is only one problem with that. I have never found a voice cloning service that […]
“Bombin & Billin” -What I Learned at Yahoo Boys School
The Yahoo Boys are notorious and growing like wildfire. With a poverty rate of 40% in Nigeria, the loosely formed scamming empire has no problem recruiting kids who want to make big money in scams. For recruitment, hundreds of “Yahoo Boy Universities” have sprung up everywhere. These are places where young people can work with […]
Toronto Police Announce Major Synthetic ID Sting
Toronto Police have announced a sweeping crackdown on Synthetic Identity after a financial institution warned them of the increasing threat in Canada two years ago. The operation called “Deja Vu” is a first of its kind in Canada and it specifically targeted criminals that use fictitious or stolen PII to create new identities. 680 Unique […]
The Fraud Case of Alice Fries Will Be Hard For Wells Fargo
Alice Fries, a long-time Wells Fargo customer, had $100,000 stolen from her account in October through an increasingly common imposter scam that exploits the bank’s “flawed two-factor authentication system.” That is according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles. Alice Fries is now suing Wells Fargo for the stolen money and damages caused by the […]
How A $25 Million Deepfake CFO Attack Occurred
A newly released video by SumSub brilliantly recreates one of the year’s most notorious deepfake AI cases. The notorious case began with an accounting clerk receiving a phishing email from the multinational company’s “CFO” and ended with the clerk sending five wire transfers to five different banks. Among the insights? The scammers interacted with the […]
BillPay ‘Saviors’ on Facebook: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Charles Wangler, a 45-year-old father of three, found himself in dire straits when he lost his job as a parts assembler in 2023. By early 2024, his savings had dwindled, and he could simply not afford life’s essentials, like his gas and electric bills. Charles grew increasingly desperate to find a way to keep his […]
How Noir’s Refunds Scammed Retailers Out Of Millions
Aiman Akram Kaif went by the handle @Dior on Telegram. Damion Wayne Scarlett was known as @Dash. Dhruv Gargi’s alias was @Panda. On the surface, they appeared to be regular users of the popular encrypted messaging app. However, according to a federal indictment, this trio and six others were key members of a fraud ring […]
Pig Butchering Scams Are Breaking Couples Apart
Pig Butchering. It’s a devastating crime. Researchers suggest it has caused victims to suffer $75 billion in financial losses. However, those financial losses may dwarf the other pain – heartache, divorce, and emotionally devastated families. Pig Butchering scams are ripping couples apart. It’s the sad reality of this horrible crime that is often left unreported. […]
eSIM Attacks Bring New SIM Swap Threats To Banking
Sim Swappers techniques are changing. In a troubling development, cybersecurity experts at FAC.C.T., a leading Russian cybercrime prevention firm, have uncovered a new attack vector targeted explicitly at those eSIMS vulnerabilities. Since the fall of 2023, Fraud Protection analysts from FACCT have recorded more than a hundred attempts to enter clients’ personal accounts in online […]
The Digital Drug Darkside – Doctor Identity Theft Soars
Criminals are using digital prescription sites to order mountains of oxycodone and other drugs for sale on the dark web. In a shocking revelation, 404 Media has uncovered a far-reaching scheme where criminals are infiltrating the digital prescription systems used by doctors to order controlled substances like oxycodone, adderall, and fentanyl. By stealing and then […]
Minting Money – Premade CPN’s Are The New Scam
“Premade CPNs” are a big money maker for scammers and synthetic identity thieves operating underground channels. The number of advertisements on social media has risen dramatically over the last 12 months. However, as some people find out after purchasing one, those premade CPNs can land them in hot water. Premade CPNs Are Designed To ByPass […]