The 8 Most Common Cash App Scams To Steal Your Money
Cash App is a wildly popular and convenient app. Everyone loves the convenience and speed of getting cash, but no one more than scammers and fraudsters. When you send cash via the Cash App, you can’t get your money back. And unlike PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard; if you buy something with your Cash App you […]
3 Nabbed In Massive Credit Repair Mortgage Fraud Scam
A trio is allegedly behind a massive fraud scheme that defrauded mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and the SBA. In what seems to be a nice trend in justice, the trio was arrested in connection with a scheme to file false identity theft claims to clean credit to help consumers buy homes they would not […]
The Story of the Very First Case of Credit Card Fraud
“What in tarnation happened to my credit card?” In 1899, the first use of credit cards emerged in the United States — for transportation companies that allowed passengers to ride private carriages on credit and then pay later. Well, it didn’t take long for a farmer to find out what can happen when someone steals your […]
History of Synthetic Identity – Who Discovered This Fraud?
Just about every week you might read an article on a new type of fraud called “Synthetic Identity”. It’s the hottest and one of the fastest growing types of fraud and it’s got the coolest name of any fraud type out there. But did you realize that Synthetic Identity is hardly new? It’s been […]
Fake Employment Service Can Help Loan Fraudsters
You can buy anything on the internet these days. And that includes everything you need to commit the perfect loan fraud. Whether it is generating a fake social security number at SSN Validator or pretending you are a very rich person by creating fake pay-stubs at Paystub Creator you can be anyone to anybody if […]
Credit Washer Erased Millions In Tradelines With Fraud
Like magic, she made people’s bad credit disappear. But was she a magician or something else? In a recent credit washing case out of Houston, Texas, it definitely was something else. And it may turn out to be one of the largest credit washing cases in history – at least in monetary damages. Over $3.3 […]
Is Credit Repair Fueling the Rise in Synthetic ID Fraud?
Doug wasn’t a very good credit risk. In fact, he defaulted on just about every credit card and loan he ever had. He was about as lousy as paying his bills as anyone out there and his credit score was below 500. But that didn’t stop him from walking into his local car dealership and buying […]
WhitePower Gangs Stole $1M In Forced Refund Fraud Case
More than two dozen people associated with criminal street gangs face a combined 86 years in prison after pleading guilty to a $1-million fraud scheme this last Friday. The street gangs were based in the Bay Area and operated between 2015 and 2018 and were members of the Bully Boys and CoCo Boys street gangs. […]
With Covid over, Fraudsters Finding New Soft Targets
The pandemic unleashed a wave of newbie fraudsters. The fact is government stimulus programs such as PPP, EIDL, and Unemployment prompted the creation of hundreds of thousands of new fraudsters and scammers (if not millions) in the last two years. We created financial pressure where they were desperate. We pushed trillions in stimulus money piles […]
Here Are 3 Qualities All Great Fraud Managers Have
My name is Frank McKenna. I am a fraud consultant here in San Diego California. I have had the chance to work with over 25 banks, lenders, and companies helping them build their fraud prevention strategies. I often get asked to help organizations assess their talent in the fraud group. Banks have a really difficult […]
5 Reasons Working In Anti Fraud Is The Best Job Ever
In 1990, I was fresh out of college working in a dead-end job as a customer service operator for a credit card company. My shift started at 5 am. Every morning at 4 am, I would pull myself out of bed, drive to that job, strap on that dreaded headset, and start answering calls. They […]
10 Fraud Worst Practices And How To Avoid Them
No one is perfect. Mistakes are hard to avoid and they can cost us a lot of money when we make them. But they don’t have to be. What if I told you that I could save you millions and millions of dollars by telling you 10 Mistakes that I see banks make in their fraud […]
Tell Me Which Generation of Fraud Fighter Are You?
In the last 50 years, technology and banking have changed so much. And during that time, fraud morphed and changed dramatically too. And that’s because banking has changed. It’s gotten so much more complex. In the 1970’s you had one option – your checkbook. Banking was boring. And well, fraud tended to be much easier […]
IRS Releases It’s Dirty Dozen Fraud Schemes For 2022
From the IRS, this week is some interesting news. The IRS wrapped up its annual “Dirty Dozen” scams list for the 2022 filing season this week, with a warning to taxpayers to avoid being misled into using bogus tax avoidance strategies. The IRS warned taxpayers to watch out for promoters peddling these schemes. As part […]
Aite Report – ID Theft Down But Not Out in 2021
Aite announced a new Impact Report commissioned by GIACT, a Refinitiv company, that details the impact of identity theft here in the US. The new report shows that while Identity Theft impacts 1 in 4 consumers, it actually decreased throughout last year as the pandemic began to subside. In 2021, the overall identity theft rate […]
Report – Auto Fraud Soars to New Record Losses
New reports are in showing auto fraud is at all-time high and some dealerships are reporting that 1 in every 3 financing deals that they receive are fraud. News station WCNC reported on the rise in auto loan fraud and cited the pandemic activation of fraudsters as leading to an increase in the loss rates […]
Is SSNValidator (The Site Fraudsters Use) Shut Down?
Sad news for CPN fraudsters today. SSN Validator, the site that all synthetic identity fraudsters love appears to be restricting access. So it’s not technically shut down, but for those chronic CPN creators it’s essentially not going to be an option anymore. SSN Validator Was Used By CPN Creators To Identity Non Issued SSN’s SSN […]
A Wave of Zelle Class Action Lawsuits Hitting Banks
A new wave of class action lawsuits is threatening to fundamentally change the way banks reimburse victims for scams. Wells Fargo, Capital One, Bank of America, Navy Fed, and TD Bank have all been hit with class-action lawsuits in the past 30 days. The lawsuits stem from customers that complain that the Zelle service is […]
Mythbusters Explains How Card Issuers Nixed Episode
Do card issuers have powerful control over the media when it comes to exposing security flaws? One trending video indicates that they might. Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters team regularly exposes flaws and myths using science and testing. One area that they tried to expose flaws was in the area of RFID but according to the Savage […]
Auto Fraud – The Story of A Would Be Straw Man
In the summer of 2013, I was an unemployed ex-con twice over, living next door to my mother-in-law in a house with no floors. Being June in Georgia, it was hotter than two hamsters farting in a wool sock. Work was rare. Even my dog looked disappointed in me. Something had to happen. Soon. So […]
Rise in Fraud Leads To “Open Season” On Mail Carriers
Fraud leads to violent crime, and that violent crime, in turn, leads to more fraud. And, that’s exactly what we are seeing with check fraud. Check fraud is soaring. Some banks report a more than 100% increase this year over last. But the recent rise in check fraud is fueling other crimes that pose a […]