The BBB Scam Tracker is a robust interactive tool to track fraudulent activity in throughout North America. The data I viewed from Mexico seems to be minimal at this point, although this might be because Mexico was added after the United States and Canada.
The site collects data from users, who were the victims of a scam, or from smart people who figured out someone was trying to scam them.
The tool enables the user to search potential fraudulent activity by keyword, type of scam, location, and time frame. Please note that scams are most successful when they hit a new geographical area because the "word is not out yet." Because of this, scammers frequently travel and even rotate the particular scam in order to catch innocent people/businesses off guard. Just because the particular scam is not showing up in your geographical area doesn't mean that it won't knock on your doorstep tomorrow.
The scam activities tracked include home repair, tree trimming, tax, advance fee, job, lottery, collection, counterfeit checks, bogus credit cards, vishing, phishing, and identity theft. There is even an "other" category to cover anything that is a previously unknown activity. New scams are hatched all the time. The main thing all scams have in common is that they are "too good to be true."
The data collected is provided to the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, who in turns shares it with law enforcement,
Here is a link to the BBB Scam Tracker. Scammers count on people not taking the time to report their activity (assuming they do not fall for it). Reporting it is a good deed because it protects other people.
The BBB also has a video on YouTube on this tool, if you would like to watch it.
Showing posts with label fraud victims. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fraud victims. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 05, 2019
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
MyTruston points out the two most important TIPS to protect your identity this season!
Tom Fragala at MyTruston wrote an interesting post about the two most important things to do during the season to avoid having a grinch (identity thief) ruin it for you.
From the MyTruston blog:
MyTruston, the first identity service that doesn’t require that you compromise your personal information is growing, also. Yesterday, they announced a partnership with Trend Micro Systems, a leading provider of security software.
MyTruston is offering their identity theft service on a free 90 day trial if you purchase a gift card from Trend Micro Systems. The gift card also offers a nice discount on their much talked about software.
The nice thing about the free trial period is that you don’t have to worry about forgetting to cancel the deal and having your credit card “crammed” with recurring charges.
I'm frequently amazed at who some of the companies are that employ this marketing practice (cramming).
Another nice thing about the MyTruston service is that the prevention part of the service has always been free and you only pay for the recovery services.
If you were to shop around, I think you would find it is the best value in the growing field of paid identity theft protection services.
And when spending your hard earned money, it always pays to check around.
From the MyTruston blog:
There are a lot of lists about identity theft flying around this time of year. 12 tips of Christmas, top 10 ways to protect yourself from identity theft...that kind of thing.Can you guess what they are? In case you aren’t sure, I’ve provided a link so you can see if you were right.
Well, to save you time and keep things simple (less is better), I am going to boil it all down to two tips that most of you probably already do. But please, make sure you are diligent in keeping up on these.
MyTruston, the first identity service that doesn’t require that you compromise your personal information is growing, also. Yesterday, they announced a partnership with Trend Micro Systems, a leading provider of security software.
MyTruston is offering their identity theft service on a free 90 day trial if you purchase a gift card from Trend Micro Systems. The gift card also offers a nice discount on their much talked about software.
The nice thing about the free trial period is that you don’t have to worry about forgetting to cancel the deal and having your credit card “crammed” with recurring charges.
I'm frequently amazed at who some of the companies are that employ this marketing practice (cramming).
Another nice thing about the MyTruston service is that the prevention part of the service has always been free and you only pay for the recovery services.
If you were to shop around, I think you would find it is the best value in the growing field of paid identity theft protection services.
And when spending your hard earned money, it always pays to check around.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Payment card fraud victims being denied compensation
Apparently, fraudsters are now able to clone some payment cards, assign a new PIN -- and it appears that the customer's old PIN was used when the bank reviews the transactions.
Card Guide (UK) is reporting:
Card Guide story, here.
There have been many instances, where payment card thieves were able to get card details, along with the PIN numbers. It can happen to just about anyone, even when they are being careful.
If you have had a fraud claim denied because the bank claims you were careless, you might want to read about instances (substantiated), where PIN details were stolen using pretty sophisticated methods, here.
Of course, there are and always have been people, who try to claim fraud for their own financial advantage. Because of this, it seems some innocent people are getting their claims denied (my opinion).
Figuring out, who is guilty of this is getting harder all the time.
My guess is that with all the fraud involving payment cards, it's no longer an expense the banks can continue to write-off as a cost of doing business.
Banks denying claims because they say a customer compromised their own information is nothing new.
One example of how this happens can be seen on BankofAmericaSucks.com, here.
I guess all the zero liability ads we see all the time aren't exactly one-hundred accurate?
If you have wrongfully had a claim denied, I've seen individuals made whole by escalating the matter with the financial institution. In some instances, using a consumer advocate was necessary.
On a final note, in most businesses, the cost of fraud is passed off to everyone, when we pay more for goods and services. The truth is we are all held liable for the cost of fraud!
Card Guide (UK) is reporting:
The Chip and Pin technology that has been in use in the UK over recent years is supposed to be practically fraud proof, but this is not the case, as thieves can clone cards and put a new PIN number onto the card – this is known as a YES card.
However, it appears to the bank that the original card and PIN have been used, and therefore banks claim that either the customer carried out the transaction themselves or they gave their PIN number to someone or were careless with the security of their PIN.
Card Guide story, here.
There have been many instances, where payment card thieves were able to get card details, along with the PIN numbers. It can happen to just about anyone, even when they are being careful.
If you have had a fraud claim denied because the bank claims you were careless, you might want to read about instances (substantiated), where PIN details were stolen using pretty sophisticated methods, here.
Of course, there are and always have been people, who try to claim fraud for their own financial advantage. Because of this, it seems some innocent people are getting their claims denied (my opinion).
Figuring out, who is guilty of this is getting harder all the time.
My guess is that with all the fraud involving payment cards, it's no longer an expense the banks can continue to write-off as a cost of doing business.
Banks denying claims because they say a customer compromised their own information is nothing new.
One example of how this happens can be seen on BankofAmericaSucks.com, here.
I guess all the zero liability ads we see all the time aren't exactly one-hundred accurate?
If you have wrongfully had a claim denied, I've seen individuals made whole by escalating the matter with the financial institution. In some instances, using a consumer advocate was necessary.
On a final note, in most businesses, the cost of fraud is passed off to everyone, when we pay more for goods and services. The truth is we are all held liable for the cost of fraud!
Friday, May 11, 2007
British citizens accused of child porn found to be fraud victims
Information (identity) theft sometimes leads to innocent people being charged with a crime. Recently, I've been reading about how British citizens were accused of viewing child pornography, when they were actually victims of credit card fraud.
The Guardian did an excellent article about this, explaining how the porn industry supplements it's income with payment (debit/credit) card fraud. This explains how innocent people, who are victims of credit card fraud, get accused of crimes they didn't commit:
The current arrests stem from a larger investigation, where a U.S. based child porn website (Landslide Inc.) was investigated, revealing 250,000 credit card numbers (used on the site), belonging to card holders, worldwide.
Copies of the hard drives were provided to British law enforcement. Subsequently, thousands of British citizens were investigated, as a result of having their credit card number show up as having paid for Landslide's seedy services.
The investigation began in 1999 and was conducted by the United States Postal Inspection Service and Dallas Police Department. It exposed how the Internet is used to commit this disgusting crime (child pornography), globally, with the click of a mouse.
The investigation tracked activity to 60 different countries. 120 people were eventually arrested in the United States. Pete Townsend, the Who's guitarist was arrested for viewing child porngraphy in this investigation, also.
54,348 of the credit card numbers discovered in the U.S. search warrant were identified as having been stolen from Levenger Incorporated, a luxury goods company. Of course, Levenger declined to comment on how the information was stolen.
The Guardian article makes a clear argument that many more of the numbers taken in the search warrant could have been stolen (in a lot of places) and used on the Landslide site.
The sheer amount of stolen information and fraudulent payment devices circulating via the Internet is victimizing innocent people, and more than likely giving guilty people, plausible deniability.
Not everyone caught in this was a victim of credit card fraud. Exploiting children is one of the most disgusting crimes I can think of. People, who exploit children, deserve to be punished, severely.
It's apparent that our inability to address the source(s) of crime on the Internet is having VERY severe consequences on the people, who are victimized by it.
Innocent, or guilty, 39 people have committed suicide over this. Wouldn't it be nice if some of these child pornographers/credit card fraudsters could be charged with murder, or at least manslaughter?
USPIS press release on Operation Avalanche, here.
Suspected crimes against children can be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, here.
Well researched article from the Guardian, here.
The Guardian did an excellent article about this, explaining how the porn industry supplements it's income with payment (debit/credit) card fraud. This explains how innocent people, who are victims of credit card fraud, get accused of crimes they didn't commit:
One method used from 1999 by criminals, including the Gambino mafia family in the US, was to offer free tours, or access for a credit card payment as small as $1.95, to adult sex sites. Customers had to provide name, address, card details, and email address and password. The criminals then reused the data or traded them online with other fraudsters.
Operating out of Indonesia, Russia or Brazil, many of the webmasters linked via Landslide appear to have obtained and swapped lists of stolen cards and charged them up through different portals, usually for amounts of less than $50 - small enough that unwary people might not spot them on a credit card statement.
The current arrests stem from a larger investigation, where a U.S. based child porn website (Landslide Inc.) was investigated, revealing 250,000 credit card numbers (used on the site), belonging to card holders, worldwide.
Copies of the hard drives were provided to British law enforcement. Subsequently, thousands of British citizens were investigated, as a result of having their credit card number show up as having paid for Landslide's seedy services.
The investigation began in 1999 and was conducted by the United States Postal Inspection Service and Dallas Police Department. It exposed how the Internet is used to commit this disgusting crime (child pornography), globally, with the click of a mouse.
The investigation tracked activity to 60 different countries. 120 people were eventually arrested in the United States. Pete Townsend, the Who's guitarist was arrested for viewing child porngraphy in this investigation, also.
54,348 of the credit card numbers discovered in the U.S. search warrant were identified as having been stolen from Levenger Incorporated, a luxury goods company. Of course, Levenger declined to comment on how the information was stolen.
The Guardian article makes a clear argument that many more of the numbers taken in the search warrant could have been stolen (in a lot of places) and used on the Landslide site.
The sheer amount of stolen information and fraudulent payment devices circulating via the Internet is victimizing innocent people, and more than likely giving guilty people, plausible deniability.
Not everyone caught in this was a victim of credit card fraud. Exploiting children is one of the most disgusting crimes I can think of. People, who exploit children, deserve to be punished, severely.
It's apparent that our inability to address the source(s) of crime on the Internet is having VERY severe consequences on the people, who are victimized by it.
Innocent, or guilty, 39 people have committed suicide over this. Wouldn't it be nice if some of these child pornographers/credit card fraudsters could be charged with murder, or at least manslaughter?
USPIS press release on Operation Avalanche, here.
Suspected crimes against children can be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, here.
Well researched article from the Guardian, here.
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