SBA Bans the “F Word” on Applications for Loans
If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s a duck. But, if it walks, like a fraud, talks like a fraud – call it something else. But according to a Bloomberg report, that is what the SBA reportedly advised their investigators and processors responsible for reviewing and processing applications for Economic […]
Was The PPP A Fraudster Free for All This Year?
The Wall Street Journal reports this weekend that evidence of significant fraud against the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is mounting daily. Their reporting suggest that, “The federal government is swamped with reports of potential fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program, according to government officials and public data, casting a shadow on one of Washington’s signature […]
Uber Driver Taken on A Card Fraud Crime Spree
When Jahmari Britton hailed an Uber Car this week on his phone, the driver had no idea what he was in store for. You see Jahmari Britton had a trove of stolen credit cards that he wanted to use, but no car to get to the bank. So he called an Uber so he could […]
Donald Trump’s Identity Stolen for SBA Loan
How easy was it for fraudsters to get a fraudulent SBA loan? Very easy. In fact President Trump’s identity and address was stolen and used to obtain one. Bloomberg reported that someone posing as Trump submitted an online application using an address at the White House and collected a $5,000 SBA grant, according to one […]
Watchdog Identifies $78 Billion in Suspect EIDL Fraud
Hannibal Ware, the Inspector General of the Small Business Administration, released a report laying out allegations that the Economic Industry Disaster Loan program (EIDL) may have been over-run with fraud. For every $10 loaned through the program – $4 of that may be have been inappropriately given to fraudsters. $78 Billion Flagged For Potential Fraud […]
People Are Learning To Live The Unethical Life Online
Why do fraud and scam attempts keep going up year over year? Is organized crime becoming more prolific? Are there more dark web hackers coming online? Has technology made it easier to steal? Are people becoming less honest and exploiting the system with dishonest deeds? The answer to all of those questions, unfortunately, is Yes. […]
California Deep Freezes $8 Billion in EDD Debit Fraud
The sun is always shining in California but the state is going through a deep freeze thanks to tens and thousands of unemployment fraud scammers. The state has got rocked so hard with unemployment fraud claims, that they announced yesterday that they froze over 350,000 debit cards that contained patterns of suspicious fraud activity. The […]
Nuke Bizzle Raps About EDD Fraud, Gets Arrested
Fontrell Antonio Baines the 31-year-old rapper known as ‘Nuke Bizzle’ bragged about getting rich on fraudulent unemployment benefits. His rap titled “EDD” where he audaciously admits to defrauding the California Employment Development Department garnered over 500,000 views. And now he is in jail. Federal authorities charged him with fraudulently applying for more than $1.2 million […]
Shocking – 125 Wells Fargo Employees Fired For Fraud
Wells Fargo has fired 125 employees for committing fraud by applying for and receiving Economic Injury Disaster Loans while they were employed with the bank. They were fired by the company, “by making false representations in applying for coronavirus relief funds for themselves,” according to internal memos that were reviewed by Bloomberg. The bank was […]
Fifth Third Employees Charged with Internal Fraud
5 Fifth Third Employees were indicted this week on charges that they were involved in stealing sensitive customer information and selling it to outside fraud rings. The employees were recruited to the fraud scheme on Social Media, and they stole information on up to 100 customer accounts, but possibly more. Keyonte “Dom” Bronson one of […]
Big Internal Fraud Case At The Social Security Office
Internal fraud is a growing problem. And the Social Security Administration – the keeper of some of the most valuable data in the world like American’s social security numbers, income, and benefits – needs to be on high alert for it as well. This week, an employee of the organization – Ann Aroste– was sentenced […]
Fraudsters Set Their Sights on UK’s Bounce Back Loans
If you thought Stimulus Fraud fueled business loans were unique to the United States, think again. The Times reports today that the National Crime Agency has warned that emergency taxpayer-backed loans for small businesses are being targeted by criminals. Bounce Back loans are the UK’s equivalent to Paycheck Protection Loans here in the US and […]
30,000 Addresses Identified in Unemployment Fraud Ring
Unemployment fraud is still running red hot in California. And there may be no end in sight. This week, CBS13 out of Sacramento, received and analyzed data that appears to show just how widespread the fraud might be. There analysis concluded that more than 30,000 addresses that appear to have been used to apply for […]
Prominent Hawaiian CEO Caught for PPP Fraud
Hawaii is a beautiful place, and not where you would ever consider ground zero for one of the largest SBA loan frauds this year. But today, prominent CEO Martin Kao of Navatek was arrested and charged with fraud on millions in PPP loans. In total, Kao received approximately $12.8 million in PPP funds, over $2 […]
Chase Rolls Out Fraud Service for Small Businesses
The country’s largest lender and bank is rolling out services to help small businesses prevent fraud. And it can’t come a minute to soon. 81% of small businesses were victims of payments fraud last year, and COVID 19 is making the problem even worse in 2020. The FBI reported 24,000 BEC scams in 2019 with […]
Software Glitch Resulted In $500 Million in Missed Fraud
Washington State has been the target of fraudsters since March of 2020. Since then, 86,000 fraudulent claims have been made and experts estimate the state has lost over $1 billion in state funds. This week, sources revealed that a software flaw could have resulted in many of the fraudulent claims being paid. Benefit Checks Were […]
Beverly Hills Nabs 44 Unemployment Fraudsters
Since September 3rd, 2020, the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD) has arrested 44 individuals within the City of Beverly Hills responsible for EDD fraud and identity theft. Apparently the city is a hotbed of shopping on those stolen unemployment funds which can be loaded onto Debit Cards. A total of 129 fraudulent EDD credit cards […]
9 Charged in Elaborate Auto Loan Fraud Scheme
Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal today announced that nine individuals have been charged with conspiring to use stolen identities to obtain New Jersey digital driver’s licenses which they used to fraudulently purchase and finance motor vehicles and watercrafts worth more than $1.3 million at dealerships in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. They […]
SAR Filings for Business Loan Fraud Spike Upward
It’s commonly known that Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan fraud is a serious issue here in the United States. And new figures released by FinCEN seem to back that up. Banks filed 1,044 new SARS for “Business Loan Fraud” in July of 2020. That is about 8 times higher the average number of monthly reports […]
Name Match Fraud Check Trips Up Legit Payments
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. In June, the program officially rolled out under the name Confirmation of Payee (CoP). The new fraud control would allow customers to check that the name of […]
House Committee Finds $4 Billion in Suspect PPP Fraud
Where were the simple fraud checks on PPP Loans? Even members of Congress using simple queries on publically available data sets have been able to find billions in loans that were granted when they probably should not have been. Democrats of the Select Subcommittee on The Coronavirus Crisis released a report today that flags over […]