[Master "Scams" Thread] The SCAM Report [merged threads]

[Dashinka 24,478]

On 7/20/2024 at 1:27 PM, Family said:

British engineering giant Arup revealed as $25 million deepfake scam victim

 

 

Hong KongCNN — 

A British multinational design and engineering company behind world-famous buildings such as the Sydney Opera House has confirmed that it was the target of a deepfake scam that led to one of its Hong Kong employees paying out $25 million to fraudsters.

A spokesperson for London-based Arup told CNN on Friday that it notified Hong Kong police in January about the fraud incident, and confirmed that fake voices and images were used.

 

Hong Kong police said in February that during the elaborate scam the employee, a finance worker, was duped into attending a video call with people he believed were the chief financial officer and other members of staff, but all of whom turned out to be deepfake re-creations.

 

According to police, the worker had initially suspected he had received a phishing email from the company’s UK office, as it specified the need for a secret transaction to be carried out. However, the worker put aside his doubts after the video call because other people in attendance had looked and sounded just like colleagues he recognized.

 

 

He subsequently agreed to send a total of 200 million Hong Kong dollars — about $25.6 million. The amount was sent across 15 transactions, Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK reported, citing police.

“Deepfake” normally refers to fake videos that have been created using artificial intelligence (AI) and look extremely realistic.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/16/tech/arup-deepfake-scam-loss-hong-kong-intl-hnk/index.html

 

Wow, not a lot of safeguards in the company where one person can authorize transactions that large.

[Dashinka 24,478]

3 hours ago, Family said:

Investigations of College Admissions and Testing Bribery Scheme

 

 

Dozens of individuals involved in a nationwide conspiracy that facilitated cheating on college entrance exams and the admission of students to elite universities as purported athletic recruits were arrested by federal agents in multiple states and charged in documents unsealed on March 12, 2019, in federal court in Boston. Athletic coaches from Yale, Stanford, USC, Wake Forest and Georgetown, among others, are implicated, as well as parents and exam administrators. 

 

Individuals who have questions or inquiries about this case may send an email to the following address:  USAMA.VictimAssistance@usdoj.gov

 

Below is a list of the defendants. The charging documents are attached at the bottom of this page.

 

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme

Is this an actual current event?  Most informed people know about the elite cheating scandal from several years ago.  Additionally, this was not really a widespread scam event, but rather a cheating scandal which is very different.

Edited July 23 by Dashinka

[Dashinka 24,478]

This might be helpful.

 

The Latest Scams You Need to Be Aware of in 2024

6. Romance Scams

While romance scams aren't new, their popularity continues to rise. According to the FTC, people lost $1.3 billion to romance scams in 2022, with median losses of $4,400 per person.

Scammers often steal someone's identity or create fake profiles on dating and social media apps to meet victims. There's no surefire method to detect a fake, although scammers may use stock photos and make excuses for why they can't meet in person.

After gaining your trust, they may ask you to buy them something or send them money. Or, the person may "mistakenly" send you money and ask you to send it back or forward it to someone else. If your bank later determines that their payment was fraudulent, the sum of the payment will be subtracted from your account.

Many romance scams start with private messages on social media or dating apps. And they can target anyone—some scammers even seek to form platonic rather than romantic relationships.

7. Online Purchase Scams

Online purchase scams continue to be one of the riskiest types of scams, according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) 2022 Online Scams Report. The BBB found that people most commonly reported being victims after trying to buy a puppy online.

Some scammers set up fake e-commerce stores and buy ads for the website on social media. The FTC reported that 44% of social media scams from January to June 2023 were related to online shopping. Alternatively, scammers might list items for sale on online marketplaces, including social media website's marketplaces.

The scammers might take your money and never send anything in return. Or, they might be committing triangulation fraud and purchasing the item you bought with someone else's stolen credit card. You might not realize you were part of a scam unless you try to return the item or use a warranty.

Always look for red flags such as too-good-to-be-true prices, lack of details or high-pressure sales tactics. Paying with your credit card can also help you limit potential losses, as you can initiate a chargeback if you don't receive a product or service.

 

https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/the-latest-scams-you-need-to-aware-of/

 

[Family 3,988]

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

Is this an actual current event?  Most informed people know about the elite cheating scandal from several years ago.  Additionally, this was not really a widespread scam event, but rather a cheating scandal which is very different.

While most pled guilty / cooperated with prosecution between 2019-2022 some have pending sentencing and appeals …one actually overturned conviction . A rose by any other name is still a rose😂

[Family 3,988]

3 hours ago, Dashinka said:

an actual current event? 

I see …and I suppose nothing more bigly than the current scam😂

 

All roads do lead to Rome..

 "It's a scam, just like everything he's ever been involved in is some sort of con,"
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/04/04/trump-media-stock-is-a-scam-barry-diller-says.html

[TBoneTX 45,244]

A posted video has been removed by a Moderator because of family-unfriendly language.

[Family 3,988]

FTC Action Leads to Permanent Ban for Scammers Who Charged Students Seeking Debt Relief with Junk Fees

Order requires defendants to turn over personal and business assets

 

 

A group of student loan debt relief scammers will be permanently banned from the debt relief industry and is required to turn over their assets as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

According to the FTC’s August 2023 complaint, since at least 2019, Express Enrollment LLC (also doing business as SLFD Processing), Intercontinental Solutions LLC (also doing business as Apex Doc Processing LLC), and their operators Marco Manzi, Ivan Esquivel, and Robert Kissinger falsely claimed to be affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education and used “Biden Loan Forgiveness” or some similar name, which consumers have understood to refer to the Biden-Harris Administration’s Student Loan Debt Relief Plan, to lure students into signing up for their phony student debt relief scheme. The FTC charged that the scheme’s operators collected approximately $8.8 million in junk fees in exchange for student loan debt relief services that did not exist. The defendants also used these misrepresentations to illegally obtain consumers’ bank account, debit card, or credit card information, and typically collect hundreds of dollars in unlawful advance fees—sometimes through remotely created checks in violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule, according to the FTC’s complaint.

 

A federal court temporarily halted the operations and froze the assets of Apex Processing Center and its owners after the FTC filed the complaint to end the deceptive practices.

The proposed stipulated orders, which must be approved by a federal judge before they can go into effect, will ban Express Enrollment LLC and Intercontinental Solutions LLC, Kissinger, and Esquivel from the debt relief industry. The orders will also prohibit them from making any misrepresentations about financial products or services and from using false statements to collect consumers’ financial information. The proposed orders also impose a monetary judgment of $7.4 million, which is largely suspended due to an inability to pay. The defendants are required to turn over personal and business assets. If any of the defendants are found to have materially misrepresented their finances, the full amount of the monetary judgment would become immediately due from that defendant.

 

Litigation continues against Manzi, the remaining defendant in the case.

The FTC has resources on how to avoid student loan debt relief scams at ftc.gov/StudentLoans. Consumers can get assistance with their student loans for free at StudentAid.gov.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/02/ftc-action-leads-permanent-ban-scammers-who-charged-students-seeking-debt-relief-junk-fees
 

[Family 3,988]

FTC and Justice Department to Host First Public Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing Meeting

 

The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice (DOJ) will virtually cohost the first public meeting of the Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing (Strike Force) on Thursday, August 1, 2024, to discuss Strike Force enforcement actions taken to lower prices for Americans.

 

The meeting will convene with an open-press session with remarks by FTC Chair Lina M. Khan, Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division Jonathan S. Kanter, and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Brian M. Boynton. Senior officials from other agencies will then offer remarks as well. The remainder of the meeting will move to a closed-door, private discussion of enforcement-related matters.

The Strike Force meeting’s open session will begin at 3:30pm ET. The agenda for the public portion of the event will be posted on the FTC’s website prior to the event. A link to view the open virtual meeting will be posted on the FTC’s website the day of the event.

 

 

In March 2024, at the sixth meeting of the White House Competition Council, President Biden announced the launch of the Strike Force to strengthen interagency efforts to root out and stop illegal corporate behavior that hikes prices on American families through anti-competitive, unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent business practices.

The Strike Force’s membership also includes the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Transportation, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Communications Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 
 

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/07/ftc-justice-department-host-first-public-strike-force-unfair-illegal-pricing-meeting

[Family 3,988]

 

[Family 3,988]

Nearly 4,000 arrested in global police crackdown on online scam networks

International law enforcement said on Thursday that it dismantled online scam networks in several countries, arresting over 3,900 suspects and seizing $257 million in illegally obtained assets. 

The operation, dubbed First Light, was conducted by police officers from 61 countries and targeted phishing, investment fraud, fake online shopping sites, romance scams, and impersonation scams, according to a statement by Interpol. 

In addition to arresting thousands of potential cybercriminals, the police also identified over 14,600 other possible suspects across all continents. 

During the searches, law enforcement seized suspects’ real estate, high-end vehicles, expensive jewelry, and many other high-value items and collections. They also froze 6,745 bank accounts used for transferring money obtained through illegal operations. 

In one case, the police intercepted $331,000 gleaned from a business email compromise fraud involving a Spanish victim who unknowingly transferred money to someone in Hong Kong. 

In another case, authorities in Australia successfully recovered $3.7 million on behalf of an impersonation scam victim after the funds were fraudulently transferred to bank accounts in Malaysia and Hong Kong. 

“By confiscating such large amounts of money, and disrupting the networks behind them, we not only safeguard our communities but also deal a significant blow to the transnational organized crime groups that pose such a serious threat to global security,” said Isaac Kehinde Oginni, the director of Interpol’s financial crime and anti-corruption center. 

The criminal networks identified during the operation were spread around the globe. In Namibia, for example, the police rescued 88 local youths who were forced into conducting scams as part of a sophisticated international crime network, according to Interpol. 

Law enforcement from Singapore, Hong Kong, and China prevented an attempted tech support scam, saving a 70-year-old victim from losing $281,200 worth of savings. 

“No country is immune to this type of crime, and combating it requires very strong international cooperation,” said Yong Wang from China’s Ministry of Public Security.

https://therecord.media/4000-arrested-in-global-cybercrime-scam-crackdown-interpol

[TBoneTX 45,244]

11 minutes ago, Family said:

seizing $257 million

Who receives or recoups these funds?

[Family 3,988]

2 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Who receives or recoups these funds?

If 61 countries executed the take down…I assume they divi the loot  evenly and then each has their own Bad Guys Seized Assets Acct …
 

[Family 3,988]

When a few idiots , skewer the rest. 
 

Biden admin freezes controversial migrant flight program after fraud revelations

 

 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to Fox News Digital that "out of an abundance of caution," it has temporarily paused the issuing of advance travel authorizations for the program — which allows up to 30,000 nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV) to travel into the U.S. each month and enter legally under the administration's use of parole if they meet certain conditions. 

A congressional source had told Fox News Digital the pause came in mid-July after an internal report unearthed large amounts of fraud in applications for those sponsoring the applicants. DHS said the pause was occurring as it reviewed sponsor applications. The focus is on issues with supporter filings, and not with the filings from the beneficiaries of the program themselves.

 

The program was initially announced for Venezuelans in October 2022, and allowed a limited number to fly or travel directly into the U.S. as long as they had not entered illegally, had a sponsor in the U.S., and passed certain biometric and biographical vetting. The program does not itself facilitate flights, and migrants are responsible for their own travel.

 

In January 2023, the administration announced that the program was expanding to include Haitians, Nicaraguans and Cubans and that the program would allow up to 30,000 people per month into the U.S. It allows for migrants to receive work permits and a two-year authorization to live in the U.S. and was announced alongside an expansion of Title 42 expulsions to include those nationalities.

A congressional source tells Fox News Digital that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stopped issuing travel authorizations to Venezuelans on July 6 and authorizations for the three remaining nationalities on July 18.

The internal report found that forms from those applying for the program included social security numbers, addresses and phone numbers being used hundreds of times in some cases.

 

Parts of the report shared with Fox News Digital by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a conservative immigration group, showed that 100,948 forms were filled out by 3,218 serial sponsors — those whose number appears on 20 or more forms.

 

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-admin-freezes-controversial-migrant-flight-program-after-fraud-revelations

[TBoneTX 45,244]

3 minutes ago, Family said:

has temporarily paused the issuing of advance travel authorizations for the program — which allows up to 30,000 nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV) to travel into the U.S. each month

Story already posted in master Illegals thread...

[Dashinka 24,478]

Maybe it would be better to put this in the Off Topic area to reach a wider audience since many stay away from CEHST.