Phony Collectors Want Your Credit/Debit Card Information

About a week ago, I was made aware of a fraud group operating from a Tampa, Florida number, who were calling people and using some pretty heavy-handed tactics to collect (steal) money. Interestingly enough, the person that let me know about this had never done business with the company being impersonated.

Please note, there might be a reason for alarm even if you don't think you owe a debt and a collector calls. With more and more people becoming identity theft victims, a call from a collector could be the first notification a person gets that someone else is using their information. Of course, in this instance, since the calls were bogus, it was not the case. In fact, if you give these scammers any information they can use, you will likely become an identity theft victim yourself.

The person who provided me with this information also provided me with the number she was called from. I called the number and, after a slight delay, I got a person with a Indian accent, who identified himself as "William Scott" from ACS, Inc. Leading him on, I told him my wife was always getting us into trouble by borrowing money — and that we had received a message to call them. He asked me for my wife's name and I made one up. He then told me to wait a minute, while he looked up the file. After about a minute, he said he had located the file and that she owed $500.00, and said this was a "serious legal issue we needed to get cleared up right away." He even offered to settle for $300.00, if I paid that day with a debit/credit card.

During my conversation with William, I could hear the chatter of other calls being made. Listening carefully, I noted that all the people, "chattering" in the background seemed to have Southern Asian (probably Indian) accents. This leads me to believe that the call was being forwarded, possibly overseas. This is not hard to do and there are a lot of legitimate call centers where callers are forwarded from a local number, all over the world.

I gave him an e-mail address so he could send me a payment authorization form and he told me to fill it out, sign it and e-mail it back to him. About an hour later. I got the form coming from an e-mail address, acscorpusa@gmail.com. It asked for personal identifiers, the card number, billing address, zip code, expiration date and CVC number. There is very little doubt in my mind if I had sent the form back to him the account I gave them would have been promptly cleaned out.

I ran the number (813-434-4611) on a site called PhoneValidator.com, which tells you what company a number belongs to and if it is a cell phone or a landline. This number belongs to a PaeTec Communications in Tampa, Florida. PhoneValidator.com offers two additional tools after you run the number. One is primarily a paid search (how they make money), but they offer Google results, also. When I ran the Google results, it identified the same scam, I had run into. One site, 800notes.com, had quite a few comments about it.

The payment authorization letter listed a fax number of 646-786-4401. I ran that number and it went to a landline in New York. Again, I ran the Google results, which revealed more people getting faux collection calls. Besides the fax number on the authorization letter — designed to clean out a payment card — was another number (813-435-1963) to call them back. Although, it was another Tampa number, it went to different telecom outfit. By running the Google results, lo and behold, more complaints about phony collection calls were found, some of which stated that some pretty crude and disgusting comments were made by some of these fake collectors.

Based on the comments I found, it appeared that this activity had been going for a long time, and the Indian accents seems to be a common theme. I did report this to the authorities — but besides getting an initial call back — I haven't heard anything from them since then.

It is not uncommon for scammers to set up legitimate sounding numbers, either. As long as the bill gets paid, very little due diligence is conducted by telecom types to ensure a number actually belongs to what it says it does. Sometimes the numbers are paid for with stolen financial instruments, and it is not uncommon to call one back a week later and find it has been disconnected.

I did more research on this activity and discovered that the BBB had an interesting write-up about similar (if not the same) fraudulent collection activity. The report lists 67 complaints they had received. Another write-up in August of 2009 from the BBB suggested that the scammers had so much personal information about the victims — a data breach was suspected. In this case, it was reported that the people behind this had social security numbers, addresses and knew how to contact their victim's relatives. It also stated that people were being threatened with criminal prosecution, if they did not pay.

If you are called by a collector and you do not know anything about the debt they are talking about, you should always ask them to send you documentation proving that you owe the debt. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has information on their site on what your rights are and the specific laws that legitimate collection agencies have to follow. You can also file an online complaint (highly recommended if you suspect abuse) and even watch a video on how to do it properly. They also provide a number (1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261) if you want to speak with a live human being.

The phenomenon of fraud by telephone is becoming more and more common. Officially dubbed "vishing," which is phishing by telephone, the people behind it spoof financial institutions to gather personal and financial details to commit identity theft and financial crimes. Cheap long distance — enabled by VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) — and caller ID spoofing (which is legal) have made vishing pretty easy to accomplish.

If you get a phone call that doesn't make sense, take a deep breath and then make sure the person calling you is legitimate before proceeding!

0 comments

Are Anti-Aging Products Containing Resveratrol Scamming Innocent People?

Getting old happens to the best of us – and ever since Juan Ponce de Leon went to Florida in 1512 on a quest to find the fountain of youth – many have searched for a miracle that would stop, slow or reverse the aging process.

The marketing of Resveratrol is the latest chapter in this saga and has inspired some greedy and not very honest entities to hawk Resveratrol products over the Internet they claim are "guaranteed." The only guarantee with some of these products is that the person buying them might end up spending a lot of money for nothing.

The sad truth is that there are companies selling Resveratrol supplements that appear to be using deceptive marketing practices. If you see a come-on for Resveratrol, I would carefully consider, whether or not, it appears a little too be too good to be true and follow the principle of "caveat emptor" (buyer beware). Of course, it always pays to read the “fine print” (as you will see below), also.

Please note, I'm not here to dispute the possible health benefits of Resvervatrol or recommend if people should use it. The research on it is pretty exciting and I truly hope the results are positive.

There is research showing that Resveratrol has the ability to cure diseases caused by aging and increase life spans. 60 Minutes, Oprah and many other media sources have done stories on it – but although it is being studied seriously – it still hasn’t been approved by the FDA.

Unfortunately, seeming credible evidence is often twisted by greedy people with the intent of making a quick buck, who make it appear they are legitimate when they are not.

Horror stories are starting to pop in Internet forums from ordinary people – who buy Resveratrol and end up paying a lot more than they should have. Even worse, they might end up buying something that isn’t really Resveratrol. A lot of supplements are hawked via spam advertising, where the source might be slightly questionable. The latest estimates are that over 90 percent of all e-mail is spam. Spam is known to contain a lot of deceptive and outright criminal come-ons.

Of course, spam advertising isn't the only venue where Resveratrol is being marketed. Dr. Oz has talked about Resveratrol on Oprah and the article on this from Oprah.com has put in a disclaimer that Harpo productions is pursuing companies that are claiming an affiliation with Dr. Oz or Oprah. I even found an ad page from a "Dr. Os" (note the spelling difference), which is hawking Resveratrol. The page has a YouTube video with the real Dr. Oz talking about Resveratrol. Didn't go so far as to confirm it, but I would be careful about buying anything on this site, which offers up to two free bottles of Resveratrol.

Sadly enough the Oprah.com article – with the disclaimer – is buried by all the other sites using Dr. Oz and other assorted mainstream media stories about Resveratrol. If you want to see what I am talking about, a simple search for "Resveratrol" pulls up an amazing amount of Internet marketing selling Resveratrol. Some of the advertising has "warnings" that Resveratrol products might be harmful to someone's health or a scam. Most of these ads lead to the product the advertiser putting out the warning is selling.

The sheer volume of advertising on Resveratrol makes it hard for the average person to determine what is legitimate and what is not.

Besides the disclaimer being made by Oprah, there is some interesting buzz on her forums about a product called "Resveratrol Ultra.". Many of the people leaving comments on these forums have had their credit cards repetitively charged after signing up for a free trial of this particular product. The true cost is $87.13 for the free trial (if you don’t immediately return it) and they keep shipping you their product and charging you this amount, monthly.

I went to the Resveratrol Ultra site and it has a YouTube clip of the 60 minutes story. One thing I noticed is there is a disclaimer on the site, which states:

The 15 day Free Trial offer is designed to display the quality and effectiveness of Resveratrol Ultra. This gives you the opportunity to try this remarkable program for FREE (just pay shipping and handling) so you can come to a decision for yourself if this is the right product for you.

We want you to be pleased with our products. If it is not all you expected it to be, or you're unsatisfied in any way just return the unused portion 15 days from the date that the product was originally shipped to you for a refund. We are committed to providing superior products and service to our customers. If you are not completely satisfied, contact us and we will make it right for you. Guaranteed!

If you read the complaints this seems to allow them to start charging you $87.13 a month starting with the free offer unless you return the product in 15 days. Based on the comments in Oprah's forum and on a personal conversation I had with a victim -- good luck getting any cooperation from Resveratrol Ultra in getting a refund once this happens. Other complaints state it is even hard to get them to stop billing you $87.13 a month.

Of course, Oprah.com isn't the only place where the public is crying foul about a company selling a Resveratrol product. Complaintboard.com is warning people about Resveratrol complaints and there are also YouTube videos about the subject.

I did a search on mainstream drug store sites and found Resveratrol for about $7 to $12 a bottle. This seems to be a more sensible way to go than paying almost $100 a bottle if you choose to try Resveratrol before the FDA approves it. These places won’t keep charging your credit card, over and over again, either.

If anyone reading this has a complaint, the best place to report it would be the Federal Trade Commission. You can do so right on their site. I ran a search on the FTC site and so far there is nothing about Resveratrol companies, but if enough people complain to them, perhaps there will be.

Posting complaints in Internet forums is an honorable thing to do – but my guess is that if the FTC gets enough complaints they will look into it and go after the people doing it – a lot more, effectively!

To close this post, I would like to reach out to all the mainstream sources which have covered Resveratrol. Their stories are being used to market these products. It sure would be nice if they took the time to cover this aspect of the story more effectively. The few warnings out there about this are easily buried by all the people selling Resveratrol!

My inspiration to write this post came from a Nurse Carol, who spent a career working in Public Health and holds a Master's Degree. She fell for the free trial part of this and has gone through hours of pain and suffering trying to get her money back. Despite cancelling the product after realizing what it was all about, her credit card is still be billed by Resveratrol Ultra as I write this. Although Nurse Carol isn’t a celebrity like Doctor Oz, I can guarantee she recommends that anyone considering using Resveratrol exercise caution before handing over a method of payment.

0 comments

Trust Caller ID, Become a Crime Victim!

Fraud using the telephone is nothing new; it's probably been around as long as there have been telephones. After all, a telephone is merely a communication device and can be used to dupe someone into doing something they shouldn't have.

Saying that, telephone technology, which has grown rapidly in recent years, has given fraudsters a wide array of new tools to use to depart common people and even large businesses from their hard-earned money.

Take caller ID for instance, which is marketed as a means of protecting our privacy. When I say marketed, it's normally sold for a fee so we can see who is calling us. The irony of the situation is that for a fee, just about anyone can make the caller ID appear to whatever number they desire.

The ability to spoof (fake/impersonate) caller ID has been around for a few years. Collection agencies, private investigators and even law enforcement agencies use it to get people to answer their telephone. In these instances, they are normally paying the telecom company for the service. I guess this means the people selling caller ID and the ability to spoof it are making money on both sides of the fence.

While some might argue the semi-legitimate (?) uses are deceptive in themselves, I'm far more concerned when criminals or malicious beings use it to further one of their schemes.

For instance, caller ID spoofing has been used to dispatch a SWAT team to an unsuspecting person's house, and a Pennsylvania man made obscene phone calls to women and made the caller ID appear as if they were coming from within the house. It has also subjected a lot of people to abusive return phone calls when their number was spoofed and angry consumers wanted to complain.

Of even greater concern is when caller ID spoofing is used by "stalkers." In January, Alexis A. Moore did a very well researched post on her blog about this subject. Moore is a "crime victim advocate and expert in cyber stalking, identity theft, traditional stalking, domestic violence and privacy protection," according to her profile on Blogspot.

Before I move forward, please note that it seems to have worked on a 911 dispatch system. In this case, law enforcement – who is known to spoof their numbers – is being victimized by the same technology they use to cloak calls themselves. Please note that if anyone should be able to legally spoof calls, it’s probably law enforcement. Nonetheless, it is ironic.

More and more frequently, caller ID is being used by organized (and maybe some not so organized) criminals to commit fraud.

Last month, spoofing caller ID was reported to be used as a tool by an international credit card fraud ring that was broken up by the NYPD and the Queens District Attorney's office. The ring was using an easily purchased portable spoofing tool, known as a Spoof Card. Spoof Cards can be bought by anyone who has the money to buy them, right over the Internet! Besides spoofing a number, the cards can be used to disguise a person's voice and gender.

The ring, which was described as stretching from New York to Nigeria, obtained cards and activated them using a number they spoofed as legitimately belonging to the intended recipient of the card. Please note, most banks require you to activate a card from a known number when you receive it in the mail. I wonder how many of these same banks are using caller ID spoofing technology in their collections departments.

While the methods used by this group included counterfeiting, mail theft, taking over accounts and fraud applications to get the cards, using a Spoof Card was obviously a pretty successful tool used in furthering the fraud scheme. The victims were from all over North America and the cards were used worldwide. According to the authorities, the financial impact of this activity was estimated at $12 million in the past year alone.

While devices like Spoof Card are an issue, the problem doesn't stop there. Semi-legitimate (?) marketing firms, such as Voice Touch, Inc. and Network Foundations LLC – ones that the FTC shut down last month – were using robocalls with spoofed caller IDs. Of course, there were a lot of complaints that these warranties they were selling (provided by Transcontinental Warranty, Inc.) were virtually useless if you tried to use them, too.

Spoofing caller ID has led to a rash of vishing (phishing by telephone scams), also. Last year in November, I wrote about a call I was getting offering to lower my interest rate. The calls in question were robo-generated and the intent was to get you give up your credit card numbers to a scammer. As of this month, I received another one of these calls. Besides this particular scam, there have been numerous reports of financial institutions having their telephone numbers spoofed in vishing schemes.

Of course, Spoof Card isn't the only spoofing service out there. Some services offer software programs that can be used to spoof calls over a Web interface. One even calls itself PhoneGangster.com.

The services that allow it to be done over a Web interface enable the activity to be performed on a much larger scale. A simple Google search for "caller ID spoofing" brings up all kinds of Adsense ads selling a wide range of caller ID spoofing services. Of course, I shouldn't single out Google or Adsense; my guess is that any search on most commercial browsers will net the same type of advertising.

With VoIP technology in full vogue and services like Skype, the fraudulent use of caller id spoofing services now can feasibly be done across borders. This will make it much more difficult for law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute these cases.

In 2007, two bills were sent to the Senate to address caller ID spoofing. Neither was voted on and as a result no effective law has been put into place to address this issue. This year, Senator Bill Nelson (FL) and three co-sponsors introduced another bill (S.30) dubbed "The Truth in Caller ID Act."

In my humble opinion, the need for this legislation is pretty apparent. Laws are designed to protect people and it there are too many good reasons people need to be protected from caller ID spoofing!

The right place to file a complaint about something like this is the Federal Trade Commission. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). There is also a link on the page to file a complaint on an overseas entity.

You can also write your representatives (elected officials) and encourage them to make 2009 the year that they finally pass some legislation on this issue.

0 comments

Craigslist Shuts Down Erotic Services Section

Craigslist has given in to the immense media attention regarding its "erotic services" ads and announced they are shutting the section down. In its place they are now adding an "adult" section, which appears to hawk the same type of personal adult services.

A lot of this occurred after it was discovered that a killer used Craigslist to stalk his victims, who were offering adult services. Since then the nasty subject of teenage prostitution on Craigslist has been covered in the mainstream press and the site has been referred to as an "online bordello."

Of course, Craiglist isn't the only place that advertises "adult services." They can be found in newspapers, alternative weekly rags, and a whole slew electronic venues besides Craigslist.

Craigslist announced the change on their blog and made some points in their defense. At the same time, they announced they will be charging for the ads in the new section and the proceeds will go to charity. All of the new ads will be reviewed by Craigslist employees before they are posted.

The post refers to statistics that the chances of a predator abusing their forum are less likely than a predator using print ads to commit a foul deed. Also pointed out was that Craigslist has safety features built into the site that most "classified advertising" venues don't have. These include blocking, screening, telephone verification, and a community flagging system. The company also claims they cooperate (at a high level) with law enforcement and that predators can be tracked electronically back to the computer they are using. Last but not least, they point to safety tips prominently posted on all forums. These safety tips run the gamut of illegal schemes commonly found on the Internet.

Investigations are normally confidential matters, but if someone was tracking a sexual predator some of these forums could provide real-time investigative capabilities to resolve the case. They could literally track everything to a particular location given the right circumstances and cooperation by the forum and the ISP. Quite often, the frustrations voiced by those tasked with investigating internet crime are that the site and or the ISP do not cooperate as much as they should. If these sites aren't going away, then maybe the solution is to make is easier to tag the offenders?

Craigslist claims they do cooperate with investigative inquiries, but thus far no one is publishing any of these stories. It does state that law enforcement personnel provided feedback on how to design their new "adult section." Again, I'm not sure, but I imagine they couldn't claim this unless there was some truth to it; there is probably an army of lawyers monitoring this situation.

I doubt a flurry of media attention directed at Craiglist is going to solve the "people abuse" problem caused by anonymous venues. The problem will merely move from one anonymous venue to another one. The key will be the ability of the people doing the abuse to remain anonymous, or at least think they are. When sites and ISPs cooperate, it really isn't hard to track a lot of these individuals.

Since none of these sites are going away anytime soon, perhaps the best solution is to make it easier for the authorities to obtain cooperation from them when abuse is suspected or occurred, which is exactly what Craigslist is claiming to do. But Craigslist is hardly the only place where people are victimized by those with sinister intent on the Internet or via advertising in the print media. We need to begin to take a realistic look at the entire issue.

0 comments

Scammers Exploiting MoneyGram Money Order Verification System

If you were scammed recently with a money order, the counterfeit might have been an instrument spoofing the MoneyGram brand. These money orders have been known to appear in all the too good to be true/don’t exactly make sense come-ons being passed by spam e-mails or via a direct solicitation in a chat room.

In case you are not familiar with all the variations of these come-ons, they include , but aren't limited to (new lures surface frequently), the secret shopper, romance, lottery, work-at-home and auction scams.

The common denominator in most of the scams is there will be a request to send the money you receive via wire transfer (if you don’t get caught), to the fraudster sending you this garbage for a small cut of the total amount. That is unless they are buying goods from you. In this case, the item you are selling is what they want.

In the past, a simple call to MoneyGram’s verification line (1-800-542-3490) normally was all that was needed to reveal the fact that the item was fraudulent. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. The criminals producing these instruments are now taking advantage of a flaw in the automated verification system, which is tricking people into believing that the money orders are good.

When a MoneyGram money order is called in for verification, the system prompts the user to enter all the particulars of the instrument, including the serial number and dollar amount. If the system doesn’t spot a discrepancy, it gives out a standard disclaimer stating there are no stops or holds on the item. If the system catches a discrepancy, it directs the caller to a live operator during their business hours.

In recent weeks, I’ve received reports of this being exploited in two ways. In the first instance – a legitimate money order is purchased for a small amount (normally $1.00) –then is chemically washed and altered to reflect a large dollar amount. It is then passed before it registers in the verification system – and since the system doesn’t recognize the dollar amount – it gives out the standard disclaimer that tells the caller there are no stops or holds on the item. According to the people, I’ve asked, money orders do not register in the system for anywhere between 24 and 96 hours after being issued by a MoneyGram agent.

In these instances, since the item was printed on actual paper, it contains all the known security features. These include a heat sensitive circle, which changes color when rubbed.

A second variation of this scam has also been seen. In this variation, the instrument is a copy of a money order purchased for a small dollar amount. These will pass muster in the system as described above, but the security features will not be present. In this second version of the scam, the dates were printed to make it appear as if the item had been purchased several weeks before the legitimate item actually was. I suspect this was to trick people, who had already discovered the "washed instrument" mutation of this scam.

When I first started getting reports on these variations of the scam, I thought it might be only targeting a limited geographical area. Normally when washing items occurs, this is the case. Since then, I've discovered this is happening throughout North America and the items are being shipped using overnight services, such as Federal Express and UPS.

I have also had reports that these are being passed not only via online come-ons, but also by professional groups who specialize in passing counterfeit instruments.

I went to the MoneyGram site to see if there were any warnings about this specific scam and found none. They do have a consumer protection area on their site, which refers to all the come-ons to trick people to cash these items. They also have information on how to verify their product in the FAQ area for customers on their site.

The sad fact is that money order companies do not take a loss on these instruments. When the items is discovered to be a fraud – they return it to the institution who cashed it and the institution goes after (if they can find them) – the person who cashed them. With any money order, it is nearly impossible to be made whole by the issuing company, itself. In fact, many experts will tell you that accepting a money order is more risky than accepting a personal check. If you listen to the disclaimer on the verification line it tells you exactly that.

So far as getting these instruments in too good to be true online scams – with the sour economy – I am seeing more and more people who really want to believe they have come into a financial windfall. When they fall for these scams – one thing is for certain – which are they are going to be held liable for cashing the items when the scam is discovered. This will certainly include being held financially liable, but can also mean facing criminal charges.

So far as counterfeit MoneyGram instruments – although a lot of them seem to be out there – they are not the only items being counterfeited. U.S. Postal Money Orders have been seen frequently in the past, too. Recently, the U.S. Postal Service redesigned their product and has a new page on their site to help consumers verify their product. Counterfeit cashier's checks, money orders, gift and travelers cheques are also known to be frequently counterfeited and used in these types of scams.

If you want to learn more about these scams, I recommend going to fakechecks.org, where you can see some highly visual demonstrations of these schemes. Another good resource on this subject – particularly if you are a victim – is FraudAid. The folks at FraudAid actually provide resources and advocate for people falling for these scams.

0 comments

Symantec Indian Call Center Employee Selling Credit Card Details (Shocking)!

A story of an undercover investigation by the BBC shows how dishonest employees at call centers — who collect plastic payment card details on clients — might be making a little extra pocket change by selling them.

The focus of the BBC story is centered on an Indian call center employee for Symantec Security Corporation stealing payment card information. It is also centered on UK customers, which is understandable given it is the BBC, but the reality is that information is stolen then sold from countries all over the world.

Payment card details are handled by telephone at call centers in a lot of places and the calls come from all over, too. A lot of companies have different tiers (levels of personnel) handling calls, depending on the difficulty or nature of the call. At a lot of major companies, these tiers are located in different centers, which are in different countries. Any call might start in one country and, given the nature of the call, it could be transferred to another center located in another country. Given this, payment card information can be sent and then illicitly recorded over a fairly wide geographical area.

Besides that, dishonest employees are caught on a regular basis in a lot of different places. They don't all necessarily reside in India and call centers there are not the only place payment card information can be compromised. In fact, payment card information can be compromised anywhere (not just call centers) where they are used at a point of sale.

Information crooks are recruited and some think even planted anywhere financial information can be stolen. Even if they are not, payment card details are being bartered in forums on the Internet. It probably wouldn't be very hard to find a place to sell credit/debit card information when all it takes to do it is a click of a mouse.

The BBC story, which aired on video, chronicles an investigative effort by their reporters on the streets of Delhi. In the segment, it shows reporters making contact with the underground broker, who offers them payment card details from "all over the world" for $10-$12, each. It then shows a buy being made and money changing hands.

When the information was checked, it revealed that only one in seven card numbers were actually usable. They were able to trace some of the good numbers to a call center handling Symantec (Norton) products. The story stated that there has only been one successful prosecution in India for this type of crime and that it netted a non-custodial sentence. It also stated that the laws regarding the protection of data are not as stringent as they are in some places. The story mentions that Symantec's official comment was that it was an isolated incident and that the employee was removed.

Since one to seven card details turned out to be real, I guess we can assume the underground broker wasn't being completely honest. I've also seen reports of credit card details being sold for a lot less and you don't have to travel to India to find them.

In November, Symantec — the point of compromise in the story — issued a report on the underground economy, which focused on this very subject. "Credit cards are also typically sold in bulk, with lot sizes from as few as 50 credit cards to as many as 2,000. Common bulk amounts and rates observed by Symantec during this reporting period were 50 credit cards for $40 ($0.80 each), 200 credit cards for $150 ($0.75 each), and 2,000 credit cards for $200 ($0.10 each)," according to the report.

If this report is anywhere near accurate and the BBC was buying card details at $10-$12 each — if only one to seven was good in the Delhi exchange — the BBC was getting ripped off!

According to the 68-page report by Symantec, these details can be bought anywhere that has an Internet connection. Counterfeit instruments (ready to use) are often sent through the mail, too. The information is sold via IRC (Internet relay chat) channels in forums designed to market stolen financial information. Although credit/debit card details seem to dominate the scene, a lot of other information is sold that can be used to commit financial crimes and identity theft in these forums, too.

If you don't want to believe the Symantec report, the FBI took down one of these forums not very long ago. This forum known as Dark Market was responsible for about $70 million in fraud, worldwide. My best guess is that the information in the report is pretty accurate.

Although dishonest insiders are the cause of a portion of it, we should remember that hackers breaking into business systems, phishing, malicious software and even the trash can be sources of stolen information. The places targeted for information can be merchants, restaurants, goverment organizations, charity organizations, universities, medical facilities or anywhere payment card information is used at a point of sale.

Keeping up with all the points of compromise is difficult, but one place that attempts to is the DataLossDB site. Please note that the unknown data breaches are the most lucrative for the criminals behind this activity. Once a breach is discovered, measures are enacted to disable the stolen data.

It can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to identify the point of compromise in most individual cases. The reason for this is there are too many different places where information might have been stolen from.

Maybe that's the problem, or we are storing and transmitting too much information all over the place? Since everyone is making money by transmitting information, I doubt this practice is going to stop anytime soon. So far as outsourcing, I doubt this is going to stop in the near term, either. Companies save a lot of payroll by outsourcing jobs. Payroll is a big expense for corporations and cutting payroll seems to be in vogue these days.

Nothing is going to change until laws are passed that force everyone making money from this information start doing the right things. This includes laws that prohibit people from being irresponsible (my opinion) to laws that punch the criminals stealing the information where it hurts.

Until then, the rest of us will have to batten down the hatches and weather the storm. I highly recommend making sure your information is protected as well as it can be (there are no guarantees) by protecting your own electronic transmissions. Monitoring financial activity — from your financial statements to information on your credit report and the Internet — is a good idea, too. Of course, while doing this, you need to ensure your electronic transmissions are protected by a reliable vendor and that you aren't paying for protection that you could get for free. Sadly enough, everyone claiming they can protect you isn't necessarily being completely honest, either.

0 comments

FTC Warns FreeCreditReport.com is NOT FREE

Identity theft is a serious subject, and according to recent reports, it's a growing problem. Because identity theft is out of control (personal opinion) and has victimized a lot of people, it's spawned a cottage industry that sells protection at a price. Critics, including the FTC, believe a lot of these identity theft companies are selling services that are supposed to be free.

If you've watched TV in the past year, you've probably seen the ads for FreeCreditReport.com. These ads have urban minstrels (guitar dudes) singing about the woes of people who have had their identities stolen or made poor credit choices. The idea is to get you to go to FreeCreditReport.com, which isn't exactly free. If you read the fine print when you sign up at this site for your free credit report, you are actually authorizing them to bill your credit/debit card $14.95 a month for eternity. This ads up to $179.40 a year.

That doesn't exactly sound like it's free, does it? You can cancel within the first seven days, but given their immense advertising budget, it appears not very many people do or seem to have a problem cancelling the service. Even worse, a lot of people who signed up for their service probably aren't even aware that they could have actually gotten their credit report for free elsewhere.

Under federal law, anyone is entitled to get their credit report for free. To bring attention to this, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has launched an awareness campaign entitled "FTC Releases Humorous Videos with a Serious Message About AnnualCreditReport.com."

AnnualCreditReport.com is the only source authorized to give out free credit reports under federal law. The law, which is part of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, guarantees anyone access to a free credit report from each of the big three credit reporting agencies — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — every twelve months.

The reason for this campaign was the large volume of complaints from consumers, who thought they were getting something for free, but were not. The FTC is warning the public not to be fooled by TV ads, e-mail offers, or ads on the Internet.

Please note that little to nothing is done to make sure these ads and or spam messages offering protection are legitimate. These ads and spam e-mails might actually come from fraudsters. Answering one of them might lead to a person having their identity stolen.

There are other reasons not to hand over your personal information to the wrong organization. We live in a world where hackers and identity thieves breach databases with an alarming frequency. If you are handing over personal information to one of these companies, they might be maintaining it in a database where it could be stolen. Also, there is no guarantee that your personal information isn't going to be stolen by a dishonest insider. Because information is often outsourced and electronically transmitted all over the world, a lot of people can end up having access to it. All it takes is one dishonest person to decide to steal it and sell it to someone else.

Information is worth a lot of money, and besides dishonest insiders, data brokers and the credit bureaus sell it all the time for marketing purposes. Having information in too many places is a common denominator in a lot of people who become an identity theft victim.

AnnualCreditReport.com is the only place to get a free credit report authorized by the government. I would trust my information with them a lot more than some of the places I see advertising identity theft protection.

Free reports can be requested online, by phone or by mail. To get your free credit report online go to AnnualCreditReport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or fill out the Annual Credit Report Request form and mail it to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. You have the option of requesting all three reports at once or you can order one report at a time. A lot of users of this service order one every few months to monitor their credit on a more frequent basis without having to pay for it.

If you see items on your report that are inaccurate, the FTC provides a tutorial on their site on how to dispute credit errors. If you think you have become an identity theft statistic, you may need to place a fraud alert on your credit report, close compromised accounts, file a complaint with the FTC, or file a police report. A tutorial is also provided to help consumers do this on FTC’s identity theft Web site.

Besides the FTC site on identity theft, I recommend the Identity Theft Resource Center and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse as excellent free resources to learn how to prevent identity theft and recover from it.

If you think you've been tricked to paying for a credit report, the FTC is asking that you let them know about it by filing a complaint. Additionally, if you receive any spam e-mails offering free credit reports, the FTC asks that you send them to spam@uce.gov.

Spam e-mails offering free credit reports can be phishing attempts, which are designed to trick you into giving up your personal information. They can also contain malicious software, which will steal all the information off your computer, automatically. Either way, answering one or even clicking on a link in one can make you an identity theft victim.

Credit reports don't necessarily catch all forms of identity theft. Sometimes different parts of people's identities are used to forge a synthetic one. This phenomenon has been dubbed synthetic identity theft. Quite often, because a lot of the information doesn't match, the credit bureaus don't pick it up.

Other examples where a credit bureau might not reveal identity theft are medical benefit fraud, employment fraud, government benefit fraud, some forms of check fraud and when it is used to commit crimes of other than a financial nature.

In the recent past, this has been discovered by many during tax season, when they get a bill for taxes that an identity thief never paid to the government. A lot of experts recommend that you watch your yearly Social Security statement carefully because of this. Identities are stolen to file fraudulent tax returns or used to obtain employment.

As a bonus, I am going to include what I consider an interesting post from Kelly Sonora over on the e-Justice blog. In this post, Kelly provides 25 tools that can be used to monitor information about yourself, see what is being said about your business, search for information about yourself and find public records that relate to your personal information. A prudent person can even set up alerts on some of these tools so they are automatically notified of any new information.

Please note, Kelly's blog post is not sanctioned by the FTC, but nonetheless, I think it's a neat set of tools that a lot of people might find useful.

As a final bonus — here is a parody (courtesy of the FTC) warning us all the the guitar dude's free credit report isn't free:

0 comments

Downadup/Conficker Worm Disables Computer Security

If you were a hacker or a e-scam artist with malicious intent, would it be valuable to disable a machine's security system? Most of them find it relatively easy to take command and control of unprotected machines, but fully patched and protected machines pose more of a challenge.

Since late last year, hackers have developed a new tool that attacks protected machines, known as the Downadup/Conficker worm. This worm is being called a complex piece of malicious code that is able jump network hurdles, hide in the shadows and even defend itself against security measures, according to a recent report by Symantec.

Symantec has documented its blog posts on this subject in this report, which are available on their site. They also have a blog post by Ben Nahorney that attempts to put this complex threat into terms that can be understood by the general public.

Just this month, Symantec identified the third version of Downadup/Conficker, which has an even more powerful punch designed to take down computer security systems. This version has been dubbed the W32.Downadup.C variant and is still under analysis. The payload from W32.Downadup.C is set is to be triggered on April 1st, and if it is, the damage from it could be huge. SC Magazine aptly summed this up in an article called, "No Joke — Conficker Worm set to explode on April Fool's Day."

Since Downadup/Conficker has the ability to replicate itself — even on USB drives and network shares — by cracking passwords, it can spread like wildfire and wreak havoc on systems.
The report concludes that this is only the beginning of the Downadup/Conficker threat. If you take the time to read through the report, it shows how this malware is evolving and changing to avoid attempts to stop the spread of it.

It is being reported that Downadup Conficker has enabled one of the largest botnets to be formed on the Internet because of the number of systems that aren't protected from it. Of course, it appears that once infected, the worm itself might prevent the patches from be downloaded on a machine.

Botnets generate all the spam we see in our in boxes and are the vehicle of most fraud, phishing and financial misdeeds seen on the Internet. They consist of infected computers that have been taken over and form a super computer capable of spreading a lot of garbage. Of course, becoming infected can also mean that all your personal and financial information will be data-mined and used by less than honest people to steal money or commit other types of crimes.

Information can be stolen to commit espionage or even provide a fake identities, which are then used to support other more serious criminal activity. Although a lot of espionage is industrial, it is on record already that Downadup/Conficker infected computers at the U.K. Ministry of Defence and the Houston Municipal Courts which suggest a more sinister intent than merely committing financial crimes.

Since the beginning of the year, there are different estimates of how many computers are infected, but all them seem to agree it's somewhere around nine million.

Microsoft has announced a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the authors of this code. It has also announced an industry-wide coalition to fix the threat that Downadup/Conficker poses. Included in this coalition are ICANN, NeuStar, Symantec, CNNIC, Afilias, Public Internet Registry, Global Domains International Inc., M1D Global, AOL, Verisign, F-Secure, ISC, researchers from Georgia Tech, the Shadowserver Foundation, Arbor Networks and Support Intelligence.

Microsoft also provides information on patches and the latest developments on Conficker/Downadup on its site. It also has another page where you can learn more about these types of threats and how to stay safe online.

0 comments

FTC Site Teaches Public How to Avoid Bad Deals

March 1st through the 7th is Consumer Awareness Week. This year, the Federal Trade Commission (along with an army of partners) are providing a user-friendly set of free e-tools designed to help the average "Joe or Jolene" safely navigate the murky waters they face in the current economic environment.

Besides teaching us how to make the most of our financial resources, the tools also teach how to avoid the underground army of not very honest people who are spreading more economic doom and gloom with too-good-to-be-true schemes designed to take advantage of the grim economic situation.

The Web site for the 11th annual National Consumer Protection Week is now up and running. Launched by the Federal Trade Commission and its NCPW (National Consumer Protection Week) Steering Committee partners, the site gives people free tools to make smart business decisions in today’s economy. The information on the site is designed to help the average person get the most value for their money, whether they are trying to improve their credit history, tell the difference between a real deal and a rip-off, or protect their mortgage from foreclosure or foreclosure rescue scams. It explains their rights under various laws and tells how to file a complaint or seek assistance from the appropriate government agency.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, scam artists, fraudsters, hackers and flim flam artists follow the headlines and use the current economic downturn to part people from their hard-earned (and ever-dwindling) financial resources. The NCPW Web site has tools (educational resources) to teach people how to recognize a ripoff, sniff out a scam and ensure they are getting value for their dollar in today's marketplace.

The site has tips on a wide range of topics from partner organizations. These tips include from how to get a free credit report to how to spot a telemarketing scam and how to deal with debt to how to deter and detect identity theft and from how to avoid home and auto repair scams. Also included is detailed information on how to file a complaint with the appropriate agency if you do run into an issue.

Of course, on a personal level, I always recommend reporting them if you spot a problem and are able to avoid becoming a statistic, also. This can prevent a less educated person from becoming a victim and is a good deed.




The FTC partners involved in providing this information include the AARP, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Consumer Federation of America, the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the Federal Citizen’s Information Center, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Association of Attorneys General, the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators, the National Consumers League, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Postal Service.

The FTC also just released the top complaints they received in 2008. For the ninth year in a row, identity theft came in at number one. 1,223,370 complaints were received in 2008. 313,982 (26%) were related to identity theft.

Not surprisingly, with all the data breaches seen recently, credit card fraud was the most common form reported. This was followed by government documents/benefits fraud at 15%, employment fraud at 15%, phone or utilities fraud at 13%, bank fraud at 11% and loan fraud at 4%.

Other complaint categories included Third Party and Creditor Debt Collection, Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales, Internet Services, Foreign Money Offers and Counterfeit Check Scams, Credit Bureaus, Information Furnishers and Report Users, Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries, Television and Electronic Media, Banks and Lenders, Telecom Equipment and Mobile Services, Computer Equipment and Software, Business Opportunities, Employment Agencies and Work-at-Home, Internet Auction, Advance-Fee Loans and Credit Protection/Repair, Health Care, Auto Related Complaints, Travel, Vacations and Timeshare Plans, Credit Cards, Magazines and Buyers Clubs and Telephone Services.

Please note these are statistics where people were victimized. The information on the NCPW site is designed to keep people from becoming one (a statistic).

0 comments

The $9 Million Electronic Robbery at RBS WorldPay

With the Heartland Data Breach still fresh in the news, word of a $9 million heist using data from another payment card processor (RBS WorldPay) has hit the air waves. RBS WorldPay reported in December that their payroll card system was hacked and 1.5 million financial and 1.1 million personal records were compromised. Payroll cards are used by employers to pay their employees by loading their pay onto a debit card.

A Fox News investigation has now revealed that on November 8th, a coordinated attack netted $9 million using cloned cards in 49 cities, worldwide. The attack occurred all over the United States, Montreal, Moscow, and Hong Kong in about 30 minutes.

Another scary aspect to this attack was that the hacker was able to remove the daily withdrawal limits of the cloned cards. According to the Washington Post, 100 cards were used and fake deposits were used to refuel the balance on the cards. Large withdrawals were then made again and again on the cloned cards. Please note this represents that a very small percentage of the total cards compromised were used in scheme. No information was available on how they refueled the accounts.

I've seen accounts refueled using bogus checks, however in this instance, I would suspect it occurred in a more electronic manner. This leads me to believe we will see more disclosures regarding this case as time goes on.

According to official reports, there are no primary suspects in the case. Photographs of some of "lower level soldiers" used to withdraw the money have been released in the hope that (if caught) they will provide information on the people, who provided them with the cloned cards. Unfortunately, with the anonymous nature of the Internet, coupled with the fact that chat-rooms are often used to facilitate the distribution of stolen data, the lower level soldiers might not know the identities of the main players, themselves.



In the recent Heartland breach, it was disclosed that they met PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards). According to Visa's list of PCI DSS certified vendors, "RBS Lynk" (Royal Bank of Scotland) is certified. PCI DSS standards are the payment card industry's solution to protecting their data from being misused.

I also discovered that RBS World Pay and TrustWave put out a press release in 2007 announcing they were providing level 3 and level 4 merchants with a specialized data security service to identify their risks and vulnerabilities. The idea behind this service is to help these merchants become PCI DSS compliant.

Interestingly enough, TrustWave also certified Heartland in 2008, according to the article I read in Dark Reading.

PCI DSS has been criticized as being expensive for merchants and now we are seeing it compromised, too. The sad thing is that despite a lot of money being shelled out to become PCI DSS compliant, the people shelling it out seem to be just as vulnerable as they were before. In fact, someone might conclude that PCI DSS is giving everyone a faux sense of security (opinion).

As usual, in these cases, a class action law suit has been filed against RBS WorldPay. WorldPay has also announced the cardholders will not be held liable for the charges, according to the page on their site about this matter.

Thus far, according to all the sources I read, no identity theft has occurred. My guess is that because the 1.1 million people compromised are monitoring their credit, none will occur in the short-term. In most of the many breaches I've read about, very little of the information was used after the breach was disclosed. If you think about it, this makes sense because measures have been taken to make the information useless to criminals.

To close, I would like to add another thought. The fact that payroll information — which included personal information — was hacked might point to another example of how storing too much personal information in too many places is the root cause of the problem.

There has been a push to put everything from payroll to government benefits on payment cards. When this occurs, personal information as well as the financial data used to produce the debit card accounts is stored to process the transactions. Since employers (and the government) use vendors (card issuers) to accomplish this task, this means we have sensitive information being transferred to third parties. It wouldn't surprise me if these third parties transfer the information somewhere else when they outsource it, all over again.

Perhaps, what is needed is a common sense solution to the problem. As long as we keep sending information all over the place, it creates too many points where it can be compromised. The bottom line to all this is we appear to be making it too easy for criminals to take advantage of the situation.

The costs are getting out of control, too. Although I've never seen any information on how much of this is going on, the Washington Post quoted a source from the security industry (Ori Eisen, 41st Parameter) as stating $50 million was lost in one month in New York City alone last year.

I wonder if any of our bail-out (taxpayer) money is being used to cover these losses. Although, I can't say for sure, the people it was given to can't seem to say where it has gone, either. Granted, it might be a long shot, but the money had to be given to cover losses caused by people who were a little too greedy in the first place. We need to wake up and realize that there is no free lunch and the costs of all these types of scenarios are passed to all of us when history is written.

There is no such thing as zero fraud liability!

0 comments

Increase in Scams Attributed to Economy

I just finished reading an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal by M. P. McQueen, which suggests that the bear market is creating a bull market for fraudsters. According to the numerous experts cited in the article, the reason for this is economic gloom and doom with a healthy dose of anxiety.

This shouldn't be surprising because gloom, doom, and anxiety make effective social engineering tools that can be used to part people and businesses from their money.

The article references phishing expeditions that lead to fake Web sites — which often spoof a financial institution or government entity — and entice people into giving up enough of their personal details to drain their financial resources. It also mentions that some of these sites leave behind malicious software on a person's machine, which steal all these details automatically.
Also mentioned is the use of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), caller-ID spoofing and cell phone technology to mount texting and vishing attacks. Vishing is merely another method of tricking people to give up personal and financial information via the telephone. In these attacks, the caller ID is spoofed to make it appear as if it is coming from a legitimate institution.

Apparently telephone technology is being used to commit other types of crimes, too. Many of our 911 centers cannot identify spoofed calls coming from computers using VoIP technology. This has led to S.W.A.T. teams being tricked into deploying in full battle gear to residential neighborhoods when no emergency existed. Of course, businesses use the same technology to trick people who have caller ID into picking up their telephones. You can even buy a card to do this at will from any telephone right over the Web.

It sometimes amazes me how much irresponsible technology there is out there, which is being sold legally. There are even Web sites, with disclaimers, that specialize in making this technology available to the general public. Of course, there are also complete DIY (do-it-yourself) phishing kits being sold over the Internet. Some of these even come with tech support. The phishing kits are illegal, but can be found for sale in chat rooms if you know where to look for them. Sadly, the truth is that these chat rooms aren't very hard to find. The fine line between legitimate enterprise and scams is often a little blurry.

The WSJ article quotes a lot of experts, including Gartner, the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, who all seem to agree that scams are on the rise. An interesting phenomenon called out were small fraud charges being found on accounts. I guess taking small amounts, which might be mistaken for bank fees, is a good way to stay under the radar. A lot of people don't realize how many small fees are being charged to their account and it can be quite confusing at times. I guess the crooks are trying to make themselves look like bankers (speculation) and it's probably a good time for all of us to review our statements, carefully.

Speaking of fees, which are used as revenue streams by a lot of businesses, the WSJ put out another article this entitled, "In the Fight Against Bill Creep, Every Extra Fee Is the Enemy." Besides being on the look out for cyber scammers, this article points out other reasons it is smart to review our financial statements with a keen eye these days.

Another notable trend in the past 12 months is executives being targeted. In this trend, specific people within organizations are being targeted and tricked into downloading malicious software on machines. In one of these scams last April, the targets were led to believe they were being subpoenaed to testify in federal court.

Last, but not least, the article points out that job scams are on the rise. It's a well established fact that job sites from Monster to Craigslist have scammers operating on them to recruit people to launder money, cash bogus financial instruments or give up all their personal and financial information. Adding fuel to this fire, it was disclosed recently that Monster.com had been hacked.

Capping off this interesting article — which is a pretty good recap of recent scam activity — is Pam Dixon of the World Privacy Forum pointing out that scammers have learned how to use "spell check." In the past, one of the best ways to identify a scam was it's lack of proper spelling and grammar. While the scammers might have have learned to use spell check, it might also point out that there are more and more people out of work (with better grammar skills), who are becoming scammers.

The WSJ quoted a lot of experts that agree with them that scam activity is on the rise. Another interesting read supporting this (not mentioned in their article) is the recent report that was commissioned by McAfee. This report points to all the unsecured data out there that is fueling the rise in cyber crime. They estimate, at this point, that the financial implications have reached $1 trillion. They also have some interesting information about social engineering and how it is being currently used to commit scams in the current economic environment in another set of articles on their main site.

In my opinion, it makes sense that scams of all kinds are on the rise. There is a lot of confusion going on and people are getting desperate. It might be desperation that is causing more people to get involved in scams on both sides of the fence. For the majority of us, who just want to ride these times out and survive the mayhem, the best thing to probably do is be extra diligent in our financial matters and use a little good old fashioned common sense.

Having dealt with a few scammers in my life, I've found that most of them aren't the most intelligent people around. The best thing to do is to think carefully before jumping in anything of a financial nature these days.

0 comments

Fraudulent Checks Too Profitable for Criminals

Fraudulent checks, bank drafts, money orders, travelers cheques and gift cheques seem to be showing up all over the place. While a portion of these are passed by professional criminals — who sometimes recruit people off the street to pass them — a lot of people are being tricked into cashing them because they believed a (too good to be true) money-making opportunity.

Unfortunately — with the current state of the economy — people seem to be falling for the too good to be true scam opportunities more and more frequently.

Even though the quality of these fraudulent instruments varies, many of these counterfeit items are now produced with magnetic ink that scans. High quality check stock complete with the latest security features can be purchased in office supply stores or on the Internet. This means they scan through most of the readers in point of sale systems at businesses. When used with a real account number, which is why counterfeiting works, these items can be difficult to detect as fraudulent.

The increase in counterfeiting isn't limited to checks. Complete sets of counterfeit documentation are being presented at banks to open new accounts. A small amount of money is put into the account so funds verify on an individual check and then an area is plastered with a lot of checks. Sometimes this is done over the weekend and the funds put in to verify the checks are removed the following Monday. The identities used to pass these checks are often stolen. Since the identities and checking accounts are changed frequently to avoid detection, it's difficult to tie all the activity back to one group or person.

Frequently, people who are down-and-out are recruited to pass these items after receiving a promise for a few quick bucks. If they are caught they are normally considered "expendable" by the people behind the schemes. Sometimes, they even do this using their own identities.

It should also be noted that the groups opening fraudulent accounts and counterfeiting checks also set up phony numbers and even business addresses that get listed in 411 and on information sites fairly easily. Most people would be amazed at how easily they accomplish this because little to no verification is done by the companies listing these numbers. This is also done in a lot of the Internet-related scams and it is not uncommon for them to list a number to a financial institution that isn't real. When they set up these numbers, while the scam is active, they have people answering the lines. Often, if you listen carefully, it's pretty obvious that it is not a legitimate business and sometimes calls are forwarded to cell phones.

Another growing phenomenon is that fewer and fewer banks verify funds when businesses try to find out if a check being presented is good. In this instance, privacy laws and fear of litigation probably have enabled the problem to get worse. A lot of businesses use computerized check verification services, but when stolen identities are used, the checks pass through these systems fairly easily. Even worse, after the check is determined bad and the data goes in the system, innocent people are pegged as passing bad checks.

These checks often returned by the bank for “non-sufficient funds" because they aren't aware the account was set-up with fake information. Eventually the account is closed by the bank, but by this time the damage is done. Since banks frequently don't investigate thoroughly enough to determine the account was set up with fake (often stolen) information, it is never identified as fraud. The exception might be when the bank takes a loss, but more frequently they pass the losses to the entity cashing the check.

It's almost impossible to get anyone prosecuted criminally for non-sufficient funds/account closed cases, which means there is little fear of getting caught in this type of scam. Privacy laws also make it difficult for anyone outside the bank to investigate individual cases. In most cases, law enforcement needs a subpoena, which take time and effort to obtain. Given the resources available at most white collar crime units and the amount of fraud, it often seems like the system is ripe for manipulation by criminals.

Technology and the anonymous nature of the Internet have made check fraud grow substantially. All the necessary software/hardware needed is available right for sale at merchants that sell software and office supplies and on the Internet, itself.

There are also Web sites that appear to be dedicated to providing all the materials to commit fraud despite disclaimers that the items are for educational purposes only. One example, of one of these sites is called HackersHomePage. If you take the time to look at this site — you will see that the the items for sale on this site might enable someone to commit a lot more than simple check fraud.

Another growing phenomenon over the past several years has been the sheer number of counterfeit instruments being passed for a “too good to be true” money making scheme. These schemes, which normally don’t make sense, normally involve secret shopper job opportunities, offers to become a financial representative, auction deals and of course, winning a sweepstakes or lottery.

These scams lure people via spam e-mails, which are sent by the millions, daily. Once someone makes contact with the unknowing victim, they are shipped bogus financial instruments to cash. Along with the bogus financial instrument to be cashed there is a letter instructing the victim to wire the bulk of the money (normally over a border) back to the location of the scammer. Another twist in these money making schemes is to buy small and expensive items, normally electronics or jewelry, and ship them (again) normally overseas. A lot of eBay and Craigslist sellers get taken by these schemes.

From the botnets spewing the spam e-mails out in the millions to the counterfeit checks being sent by the parcelful all over the world, there is little doubt that some pretty organized criminals are behind this activity.

In 2007, an International Task Force monitored the mail in Africa, Europe and North America and intercepted billions of dollars worth (face-value) of counterfeit checks.

The coordination across International borders in these scams is pretty amazing. In any individual scam, the e-mail can come from one country, the checks from another and the request to wire the money to a third.


(Picture of checks intercepted in the mail)

There is also a trend where opportunists receive these items, cash them and keep all the money for themselves. If caught, they pretend to be a victim. If no attempt is made to wire the money to an exotic locale, they are probably in the scheme for their own personal gain. It isn't hard to look in just about any inbox or spam folder, reply to the right e-mail and have all kinds of bogus financial instruments shipped whatever address a person wants.

The first step to recognizing these scams is to understand how they work. Most if not all of the reasons these checks are being presented aren't going to make sense to a reasonable person. The cliche is that they are too good to be true and they normally are.

The best places for potential individual victims to learn how not to be taken are FakeChecks.org and OnlineOnGuard.gov.

A good resource for businesses and other public entities to learn about check fraud is the National Check Fraud Center.

In closing, the sour economy is probably fueling an increase in all kinds of fraud. The bottom line is that individuals and businesses are being ruined by it. When it comes to businesses, any dollar lost to fraud normally equates to a dollar off the bottom line. So far as the individuals being victimized, cashing these items can lead to being financially ruined and even arrested.

The best defense against becoming a victim is to know how these scams work. After all, very few people become victims when they know they are being ripped-off!

0 comments

Most Internet Scams Start with Spam

I'm sure we've all noticed spam levels are slightly down, or that our spam filters seem to be working a little better. Nevertheless, spam continues to get through filters and for the next few weeks, a lot of it will have a holiday theme. Due to the sour economic situation, it's also likely going to take advantage of financial fears or the promise of a rescue from an already bad situation.

Since most unfortunate situations involving fraud, phishing, and financial misdeeds on the Internet start with a spam e-mail, it pays to use a little common sense and caution before falling for a too good to be true, or sometimes scary e-mail from an unknown source.

Last week, Symantec issued its December 2008 State of Spam Report. It predicts that although spam volumes are down after a lot of providers blocked access to sites hosted by McColo.com, we will likely see them rise again. Spam levels dropped a reported 65 percent after this happened. "McColo.com was allegedly hosting a significant number of botnet command-and-control systems'" according to the report. The bad news is that the report indicates the bad guys are moving elsewhere and that a number of them are hosting their efforts from IP addresses in (where else) China.

Getting back to the holiday season, the report notes that spammers are mimicking marketing come-ons from legitimate retailers offering holiday shopping deals. This makes it hard to distinguish exactly who is behind the e-mail. Sometimes the line between legitimate and illegitimate becomes a little blurry, which is something spammers have always taken advantage of.

The report also reveals a lot of links leading to malware infected sites in spam e-mails are using political themes to draw in their victims. Items related to Barack Obama are especially popular with spammers and scammers. In another twist to using Obama's good name, one spam campaign offered a Barack Obama coin, "a piece of history for only $9.95 plus shipping." This was an attempt to steal debit and credit card information.

Hot news stories were also used as lures to download malicious software. In particular, the recent Mumbai terrorist attacks pointed to links designed to infect machines. Ironically, a lot of this malware is designed to turn a computer into what is referred to as a "zombie," which when used in a botnet is used to send out even more spam.

While we haven't seen the holiday season pass, spammers of the scammer type are already using the IRS name to steal personal and financial information. The pre-tax season phishing scheme mentioned in the Symantec Report involved a come-on designed to snare people by telling them they had a tax refund or economic stimulus payment due to them. The link in these e-mails went to fake IRS site(s) — complete with offical logos — designed to steal personal and financial information.

The IRS isn't alone when it comes to having their good name spoofed. Just this week the FBI reported that their name was being used (yet again) in a campaign involving a typical Nigerian 419 scam. If an intended victim got leery after initially responding — they were threatened with "official consequences" should they fail to turn over the required personal and financial information.

Fear or scaring a victim into submitting to a scam is nothing new. In fact, some of it is now being referred to as Scareware. Scareware most frequently surfaces as a fake message claiming your computer is infected. In then offers to fix the problem for a nominal amount of money. My guess is that malware might actually be downloaded on a system by clicking on one of these come-ons.

Since it's hard to pay in cash over the Internet, anyone who pays on this form of extortion might have their method of payment stolen, also. Symantec recently released another report showing how many personal and financial details are for sale (super-cheap) on the Internet.

Alex Eckelberry of Sunbelt Software and the popular Sunbelt Blog just posted a visual presentation of scareware examples on his Flickr account.

There is little doubt that spam and its intended purposes have made the electronic world somewhat of a "virtual minefield" at times. It pays to make your computer bullet-proof by using good state of the art software from a legitimate vendor, but even if you are protected in this manner, you also need to protect yourself from social engineering schemes designed to lure a person into doing something they are going to regret later.

The Anti Phishing Working Group offers sage advice (from a variety of reputable sources) to the average person on how to avoid becoming a victim. Interestingly enough, they also recently released a report that is rather ominous stating the the number of crimeware spreading URLs are at an all-time high. Crimeware is another name for malware when it has a pure criminal intent.

To close this post, I'll point to a amusing video Symantec did on the 12 Days of Christmas Spam. It's probably best to end on a lighter note on what has become a serious problem.

0 comments

How to Legally Buy Hot Merchandise

(Courtesy of PropertyRoom.com)

Auction sites like eBay and Craigslist are frequently criticized for the amount of stolen and counterfeit items being sold on their sites. Even worse, stories about their customers being scammed have become Internet folklore.

Now there is a site that openly advertises that it is selling stolen merchandise. Even better, when you buy hot merchandise off this site, you need not worry about the authorities showing up at your door in the wee hours of the morning with a search warrant. The reason for this is that the site is stocked by over 1500 Police Departments and is run by former law enforcement types.

The site, PropertyRoom.com is an e-version of the more traditional auctions held by Police departments to get rid of unclaimed stolen property. "With distribution and service centers nationwide, PropertyRoom.com specializes in the auction of stolen, seized, found and surplus goods and vehicles. Serving over 1,100 law enforcement agencies nationwide, we offer a fraud-free marketplace with superior customer support." according to the "about us" page on the site.

I decided to surf the site and it contains a wide array of goodies at cheaper prices than what I've seen being fenced (speculative) on other Internet auction sites. For instance, desktop computers being auctioned were being bid at well under $100, laptops were showing bids of $100 to $400 and iPods were being bid anywhere from about $16 to $150. Of course computers aren't the only items available on the site, which hawks all kinds of electronics, watches, jewelry, tools, cameras, cars and a host of other high theft items.

It is well known that criminals like to steal high value items that are easy to transport. They also tend to go after items that are popular and easy to sell (fence). If you are looking for popular items, this site is a good place to buy them at an almost too good to be true price, legally.

PropertyRoom.com also is in the fund raising business and will help charitable organizations raise money. All the costs of putting on the event are covered by PropertyRoom.com. I should also mention that some of the proceeds of the sales on the site help fund law enforcement agencies, who like the rest of us, are dealing with ever-dwindling financial resources.

They also maintain the only nationwide registry available to the general public for recovering lost or stolen goods. This service is completely free. You can register items that were stolen already, or your high value items that might be stolen at a later date. If they receive an item that matches what you have registered — your property will be returned to you. Try doing this at any of the other auction sites!

The Internet has opened new avenues for criminals to fence stolen merchandise. This has made it easier to sell stolen merchandise and there are many who believe that it contributes to the problem. The most recent survey by the National Retail Federation estimates that Organized

Retail Crime is a $30 billion a year issue. Their most most recent Organized Crime Survey showed that e-fencing on traditional auction sites has grown by six percent. In response to this, they are even pushing bills in Congress to force the auction sites to allow more access to law enforcement and retailers, who are attempting to shut down this activity.

Even the government has found some of their stolen merchandise available for sale on eBay and Craigslist.

Please remember this doesn't even take into account the billions of dollars of property stolen from ordinary people. It also doesn't take into account the ordinary people who are scammed on auction sites, either. I wouldn't worry about getting scammed on PropertyRoom.com — I'm pretty sure they cooperate with law enforcement to the fullest extent.

We all know money is tight this Christmas season and there are a lot of people trying to stretch their limited resources. PropertyRoom.com is a place where you can do it and be certain that you are not contributing to a growing problem.

0 comments