Dog Lands His Owner in Jail for COVID Fraud Scheme
Elvin German is a dog lover, but his dog has now landed the guy in jail. The US Dept of Justice announced today, that he was arrested for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a COVID-19 unemployment benefit scheme that resulted in the loss of more than $1.4 million from the New […]
US Fraud Company Reaches Unicorn Status
Ring the bell, a fraud company started here in the US has reached Unicorn status. And this time, it’s investors putting another vote of confidence in the rising digital identity trust market. Socure, the leader in 100% digital identity trust, today announced a $100 million Series D round of funding led by Accel. This round brings […]
Call Center Reps Took ScreenShots In Fraud Scheme
A Camden County man and a Bronx, New York, man were charged for their participation in a scheme to steal bank customer identities and then use that information to steal more than $600,000, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced in a press release. Jamere Hill-Birdsong, 32, of Gloucester City, New Jersey, and Lamar Melhado, […]
AMEX Fraud Modelers Had A Tough 2020 With COVID
Here is a recommended reading tip for you. Emerging Tech Brew posted a fantastic article which provides a behind the scenes look at the American Express Credit Card Fraud Modeling Team as they grappled with COVID and the rapid changes in fraud patterns on the portfolio. As one of the humans behind American Express’s fraud […]
Gift Card Fraud Is Lucrative And Growing During Corona
I finished checking out my basket at the local grocery store last week and there was something taped next to the cash register that caught my eye. It was this warning from the FTC. This same warning is appearing at tens and thousands of grocery stores, Walmarts, Targets, and home improvement stores across the nation […]
Guess What? You Can Auto Decline A Loan For Fraud
I’m not normally one that likes to read legal articles, but I read a pretty good one this weekend. And it came from Sentilink. In this recent article, James Cook, with Sentilink tackled an issue that many lenders grapple with – can you auto decline an applicant based purely off suspected fraud – identity fraud […]
Download the Fraudsters Dictionary
When you peruse the dark web and forums like Telegram, you quickly learn that fraudsters and scammers have their own language. It can be confusing to say the least. Well one company – Nethone – has spent months researching and assembling the language of fraudsters in a book they call the “Fraudsters Dictionary” The Fraudsters […]
States Fail To Collaborate on Unemployment Fraud
In the fight against Unemployment Fraud, individual states are losing the battle. In an article in AP News, the Labor Department now believes that $63 Billion or more has been lost to fraudulent unemployment claims – a staggering number that exceeds most experts’ highest estimates. The wave of unemployment fraud has been reported by over […]
Fraud Doomsday & How The Fraud Analyst Could Save Us
Check this out. The Fraud Technology Podcast asked me to join them for a discussion on a potential Fraud Doomsday Scenario and to get my thoughts on how Fraud Analyst and Fraud Managers could save us from it. The Fraud Technology Podcast was created by two counter-fraud technology leaders, Will Megson and Matt Vega. Matt […]
These 10 Phishing Emails Fooled The Most People
If you get any email with these in the subject line – beware! These are the top 10 phishing emails that fooled the most people last year. Emails that contain this subject lines are more likely top result in clicks than any other subjects. #1 Phishing Email – “Subject: A Delivery Attempt Was Made” 21% […]
Talking Fraud With Karisse Hendrik on Fraudology
I had the time of my life getting interviewed by Karisse Hendrik on her popular podcast – Fraudology. For those of you that don’t know Karisse, she has worked with hundreds of e-commerce companies consulting with them on best practices for fraud avoidance with a specialty in chargeback optimization. A self-professed “Chargeback Nerd”, she runs […]
BofA Accused of Refusing Claims From Fraud Victims
This is an interesting report from CBS This Morning. California’s state unemployment agency is still struggling to deal with a crush of claims during the pandemic – and a staggering amount of fraud. But many unemployed Californians with legitimate claims of fraud told CBS News they question whether the bank that supplies the debit cards […]
LifeLock & Credit Freezes Won’t Stop This Fraud
The Identity Theft protection service industry will rake in $3.2 billion in revenue in the US alone this year. It’s a booming industry that consumers have flocked to, hoping to protect themselves from the nightmare of identity theft. But, as identity theft soars to its highest level in history, you would expect that these credit […]
Her Partner Took 2 Fraud Bounce Back Loans Then Left
A woman posted a heartbreaking request for help on Reddit. This week she pleaded for help on Reddits UK Personal Finance with a terrible situation regarding 2 bounce back loans. Bounce Back loans are the UK’s equivalent to Paycheck Protection Loans here in the US and they provide a 100% guarantee to lenders who offer low-interest […]
Santander Fraud Advisor Nabbed For Fraud Scheme
A fraud advisor for Santander that was entrusted with helping customers resolve their fraud and scam claims was arrested and jailed for fraud this week. Bilal Abbas, who worked for Santander, helped conmen outside of the bank buy luxury goods using stolen account details. He stole those details from Santander customers using the systems he […]
Every Family in Cali Could Pay $2.4K For EDD Fraud
The staggering levels of fraud against government CARES Act programs are going to cost taxpayers a lot of money. In California, unemployment fraud alone is estimated at close to $30 billion already and growing by the day. Close to 1 in 3 unemployment claims may contain fraud and more fraud may be rooted out in […]
California Turned Off Fraud Detection, Then Got Burned
Did California get too cheap on the fraud tools and get burned because of it? This story may be the best example of a pennywise and pound foolish fraud strategy that I have ever seen. In a recent article by KCRA, California’s EDD Department had a remarkably effective fraud detection system that could have prevented […]
They Lined Up For Help, But It Turned Out To Be Fraud
On any given day in November, you could pass by this tiny non-descript store located in a strip mall in Orange County California and see people lining up to get in. The business called Nguyen Social Services had just opened doors months earlier – in August- and was already doing a bustling business. Their shop, […]
TransUnion Finds Synthetic Fraud is Dropping
A Press Release by TransUnion finds instances of synthetic fraud and outstanding balances for suspected synthetic accounts at U.S. financial institutions have declined significantly after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. However, a new analysis by technology analyst firm Aite Group finds the cost of synthetic fraud […]
What Scam As A Service Learned from the Gold Rush
In 1848 with the gold rush just beginning a smart man named Sam Brannan opened up a mining supply store in Sutters Fort. He bought up every shovel, pick and pan in the area (investing about $70,000 at the time) and then sold that equipment to the flood of 49’ers that arrived to find gold. […]
2020 Fraud – Imposters, ID Thieves & Benefit Raiders
Identity thieves, imposters, and fraud rings hell-bent on raiding government programs ran amok in 2020 creating one of the worst years for fraud in history. The FTC released their Consumer Fraud Sentinel Report this month, and it shows how big of a role the pandemic had in shaping consumers’ experience with fraud in 2020. Overall, […]