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 […]
The Dawn of Computer Fraud in the 1980’s
Back in the 1980’s computers were just beginning to emerge in all aspects of business. It was a transformative time and computer crime and fraud was not well understood but many believed that it would create a whole new world of fraud. At the time experts estimated that computer crime in the UK was a […]
Check Fraud Typology For Modern Aged Fraud Fighters
Check fraud can take many different shapes and forms and that is why there are 16 different types of fraud that commonly occur at banks. Check fraud has been around, since the dawn of checks. And that’s a long time. If you are interested to know it’s over 250 years ago in 1762 that checks […]
Should You Lie About Your Income on An Application?
The question was posed on Facebook and received an enormous response from posters who for the most part felt it was ok. Youtuber Brian Jung created an interesting video that asks the question, “Should You Lie On Your Credit Card Application?” Brian runs a popular Youtube channel and a blog that helps college students build […]
Tax Fraud Was Spiking This Year Even Before Stimulus
The IRS appears to be ground zero for identity theft in 2020 and it’s all being driven by fraudulent tax returns. The Treasury Department recently posted that $135 million in fraudulent refunds were identified for the first two months of 2020, compared to $15 million in the same period for 2019. That’s a whopping increase of 760% over 2019. […]
Landlords Resort to Fraud on To Snatch Stimulus Funds
People are posting horrifying stories on social media of how their landlords are using the IRS site GetMyPayment to find out if they have received their stimulus checks. The site allows consumers to type in their social security number and other identifying information to find out if their stimulus checks or payments have been sent. […]
You Can Learn A lot from This Dynamic Fraud Duo
I had a chance to listen to a great episode on the Online Fraudcast this weekend. The episode called “Coronavirus – Phishing for Victims” shines the spotlights on a host of scams and risk consumers are facing right now. Your stimulus checks are at risk of being hijacked if you have not received them by […]
Name Checking Dramatically Cuts Fraud at Lloyds
Last year, banks announced a new initiative to cut push payment fraud by re-validating the name on the account customers are transferring to before the transaction is completed. This year, Lloyds, the largest bank in the UK, was the first bank to implement name verification prior to sending payments. And the results worked beautifully. They […]
Car Dealers Using COVID-19 “Stimulus Checks” to Sell Cars
Some car dealers give the auto industry a bad name. And some dealers are doing just that in the midst one of the worst pandemics of our time. Car dealers have been using fake COVID-19 Stimulus checks and official-looking government envelopes to trick consumers into coming down to the dealerships. The envelopes and the checks, […]
$200 Billion Will Be Lost To Fraud With Stimulus
Fraud is always a problem when it comes to big government spending, but what about the $2 trillion coronavirus emergency relief plan? In this video, NBC news discusses how much could be lost with Neil Barofsky who was the Special Inspector General of TARP in 2008. He projects that upwards of $200 Billion will be […]
Fraudsters Set Their Sights on Small Business Loans
The $2 Trillion Dollar stimulus package has a treat for small businesses. It offers extraordinary loans for up to $10 million that will be forgiven as long as they promise not to lay employees off. It’s designed to protect millions of Americans that work for small businesses and to keep them employed for at least […]
Are The New Stimulus Checks A Fraudsters Delight?
Stimulus Checks. Everyone is anxiously awaiting them. And, if you are among the 264 million American’s that will receive one you might want to be on alert. Fraud experts are predicting that those $1,200 checks are a fraudsters delight – flooding bank accounts with potentially billions in dollars to steal. And with the IRS opening […]
A Perfect Storm is Brewing for Fraud and Scams
A perfect storm happens when a rare combination of events happens at the same time and aggravates the situation. The results are a disaster. And March 2020 appears to be that perfect storm for fraud. That perfect storm has 3 factors converging on the world at once 1) unprecedented global fear and panic, 2) a […]
Fake Check Scams Cost Consumers $1.2 Billion Yearly
Check fraud is on the rise. A new survey by the American Bankers Association (ABA) reports that attempted check fraud ballooned to $15.8 Billion in 2018 as reported by banks. But this number does not include fake check scams that impact consumers who deposit those checks into their bank accounts. Since banks hold customers responsible for counterfeit […]
Western Union Refunds $143 Million to Fraud Victims
It’s payback time! Western Union set up a fund to pay back victims of wire fraud that used their service to pay scammers. 109,000 wire fraud victims were collectively paid $143 Million dollars yesterday. That’s an average check size of $1,311 which is a pretty nice size. According to the US Department of Justice, victims […]