The Woz Gets Defrauded Out of His Bitcoin

Steve Wozniak had 7 bitcoin stolen from him through a credit card fraud scheme.  The co-founder of Apple computer explained how he lost the bitcoin to a clever fraudster that conned him out nearly $100,000 by paying him with a phony credit card and then canceling the payment when the bitcoins were transferred. He Wanted […]

Phishing Fraudsters Pretend To Be Phony Fraud Analyst

Fraudsters figured it out.  If you can’t beat em, join em.  Which is exactly what they are doing now, and scamming consumers for tens of millions of dollars each month. If you want to see how they are doing it.  Check out this story posted by a consumer that got scammed – I Got Phished. […]

Synthetic ID Fraud is Hot, But Think Bigger

As fraudsters become more sophisticated, more types of fraud are affecting auto finance. But rather than put the bulk of resources into emerging fraud types, auto lenders should develop a holistic approach to fighting fraud, experts say. “There is a tendency for lenders to react to the fraud of the moment,” which for now is […]

$1.8 Billion Dollar Internal Fraud Discovered at PNB

Do you think Internal Fraud is not a big deal at banks?  Most banks I know don’t think they will ever get hit.  But Punjab National Bank in India might change your mind. In the last week they discovered a $1.8 billion dollar fraud.  3 employees were arrested.  And the bank branch where the theft […]

Employee Reports Fake Accounts – No One Listens

Have you heard the phrase, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, did it actually make a sound ?”   It’s a mind bender but it makes you stop and think – was a sound made? I would change that phrase just a little bit and say, “If an employee reports […]

Digital Identity Companies Getting Gobbled Up

Digital Identity is red hot. And large companies are rushing to acquire technology companies that can bolster their defenses. In December 2016, American Express purchased InAuth, a mobile device authentication company, to provide the automated service on the Accertify platform. And just this week, Relx, the British publishing group turned analytics company bought ThreatMetrix for […]

Zelle Cracks Back on Fraudsters

American Banker had an interesting report on Zelle this week – Zelle Anti Fraud Effort Trips Up Customers. They report that the person-to-person payments service Zelle differentiates itself from rivals by promising users that transactions sent over its network will clear in near-real time. Yet in recent months, the service has faced a number of complaints […]

Auto Loan Synthetic Fraud Ring Busted

An elaborate multi-loan fraud case involving 22 borrowers was uncovered by Tinker Credit Union in Oklahoma after they analyzed their charge off’s and defaults and noticed an unusual pattern. 22 loan applicants advised the bank that they paid over $2,000 each to a person Paul Barry White – the ringleader of the scheme.   In exchange for […]

New Fingerprint Card Launched To Stop Fraud

Gemalto announced a new product that should take a bite out of fraud – a new contactless fingerprint card. While fingerprint cards were launched last year, this is the first biometric-powered credit card with a contactless technology.    The card will help stop fraud by ensuring that the only person that can use the card is […]

Visa’s Streamlined Disputes Will Reduce Friendly Fraud

It’s here.  Visa is throwing their antiquated chargeback system out the window and streamlining it to make chargebacks faster and easier to understand. In April, Visa will launch the Visa Claims Resolution Initiative which will simplify disputes from 22 separate rules into 4 dispute categories, and they will speed up the process by automatically determining […]

There Will Be Fraud (And 10 Other Predictions for 2018)

2018 will be a big year for fraud.   There will be fraud, lots and lots of fraud in 2018. If that comes as a shock to you. It probably shouldn’t.  Fraud has been on the rise for the last 25 years and it is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.  As a […]

This Nigerian Prince Wasn’t What People Expected

When you think of a Nigerian Prince, a lot of images come to mind but 67-year-old Michael Neu, is not one of them.  But apparently, he had scores of victims thinking he was a real Nigerian prince.  And a very rich and generous one at that. Slidell police this week arrested the aging “Nigerian Prince” and […]

Online Fraudsters Prefer These 7 Things

Online fraudsters are clever but their patterns of fraud are predictable and can be spotted easily if you know what to look for.   Feedzai, an innovative machine learning company,  does just that mining predictable online patterns of fraudsters that might not be visible to the naked eye. In a great report, you can find here.  […]

Counterfeit Card Fraud Drops 66%

Visa reports that counterfeit fraud is dropping like a rock. According to a recent press release, Visa reports that chip technology is the reason for the drop. One of the leading factors was that chip technology is extremely effective in reducing counterfeit fraud, which was the leading type of fraud in the U.S. at the […]

Shifting Sands – Fraud Report Reveals Changing Landscape

Idology,  an Identity Verification Company, has released their 5th Annual Fraud Report which reveals the shifting landscape of fraud over the past year. Like sand, fraud is always changing, always moving to the path of least resistance.  And that was even truer this year as fraudsters escalated the cat and mouse game with more data […]