While stories of individual people getting scammed on auction sites are legendary, individuals aren't only ones victimized on these sites. Large retailers and brand owners are victimized when their stolen or counterfeit merchandise is sold on these sites, also.
In response to this, two bills are being introduced to combat this problem in the halls of Congress.
The reason this has become a growing issue is that criminals can net 70 percent of the value of stolen merchandise on an auction site versus the going 30 percent received on street corners, flea markets and pawn shops. So far as all the knock-off (counterfeit) goods being sold on auction sites, it's hard to put a dollar loss to it, but many believe it's substantial.
According to the International Anticounterfeting Coalition, counterfeiting costs U.S. businesses $200 to $250 billion a year. Counterfeiting and e-fencing pose safety risks to the public-at-large, also. Outdated or merchandise that isn't what it is advertised to be could potentially poison people, or cause bodily harm when it doesn't work like it's supposed to.
Simply stated auction sites, provide an anonymous marketing environment to sell both stolen and counterfeit goods.
“By hiding behind the anonymity of the Internet, they can make more money with less risk of getting caught than selling to a stranger on a street corner who might turn out to be a police officer. This bill would lift that cloak and help law enforcement put on-line criminals where they belong – behind bars,” according to Joe LaRocca, the National Retail Federations Vice President of Loss Prevention.
To address this problem, a federal bill (H.R. 6713, the E-Fencing Enforcement Act of 2008) is being introduced by Representative Bobby Scott, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.
The bill will require on-line auction operators to maintain information about high-volume sellers and provide the information to a person with "standing" once a police report is filed. The definition of a person of standing would be a law enforcement officer or a representative from a company, who has an interest in the merchandise being illegally sold on an auction site.
This is the second bill introduced recently to combat organized retail crime, which costs retailers anywhere from $15 to 30 billion a year. On July 15th, H.R. 6491, the Organized Retail Crime Act of 2008, was introduced by Representative Brad Ellsworth, a former county sheriff, along Representative Jim Jordan, as the lead co-sponsor. The bill establishes that unless auction site owners can show specific steps to prove goods being sold were not being obtained by theft or fraud, they could be viewed as "facilitating" the activity. This bill will also require site operators to cooperate with the police and organizations with a stake in stopping the activity. In certain instances, it will also allow merchants to initiate civil actions over stolen merchandise being sold on an auction site.
In the past, auction operators have been criticized for not effectively cooperating with companies and law enforcement when they made an inquiry into suspected criminal activity on their sites. It has also been established that smaller (individual) victims and merchants often receive little to no assistance after being victimized in an Internet auction deal.
E-fencing, phishing, counterfeit goods and the use of fraudulent financial instruments to buy merchandise from unsuspecting customers have all victimized countless people and organizations on auction sites.
Criminals often lure people to do their dirty work, also. Recruits are normally harvested off the Internet, sometimes from job sites, and offered work to reship stolen merchandise and or launder money from fraudulent transactions. Much of this activity involves sending money, or hot merchandise across an International border --making it extremely difficult to track.
A lot of criminal activity is facilitated on auction sites by what is known as phishing. Phishing is where an account owner is tricked into giving up their account details, either via social engineering, or more and more often, after downloading some malicious sofware. The stolen account details are then used to take-over the account and use it for illicit purposes.
In fact, eBay and PayPal accounts are frequently the most phished brands out there.
Phishing, normally facilitated by spam e-mails, is another ever-growing criminal activity on the Internet. Recent studies by the Anti Phishing Working Group show that it is becoming more automated and malicious software (crimeware) used to automatically steal information is becoming more prevalent.
There is little doubt that a lot of the criminal activity on auction sites is sophisticated and reeks of organized crime.
For anyone investigating fraud on an auction site, the only way to effectively do so, is to have access to information quickly and with as little red tape as possible. A lot of these crimes cross over borders quickly and by the time and investigator gets what they need, the trail is often pretty cold.
When auction site owners -- who suffer no financial liability and collect a lot of revenue in fees from this activity -- don't cooperate or move too slowly, it only ensures that criminals will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Even the government has had their stolen inventory sold on eBay and Craigslist. In April, the GAO issued a report that military items, including F-14 components, were being sold on auction sites. In August of last year, a U.S. Attorney was quoted as saying that stamps being stolen from self service vending machines with cloned payment cards were being sold on auction sites. At the time, I ran a simple search query and found some pretty good deals on stamps. As of today, these great deals still exist. Many of them are being sold below cost and the last I checked the Postal Service still offers credit. Why would someone sell stamps below cost?
In my opinion, both of the bills don't only serve the large merchants out there, but have the potential to protect everybody from fraud on auction sites. While both of these bills are being driven by the National Retail Federation, I see a lot of benefits to passing them for everyone concerned with fraud on auction sites.
I highly recommend that these other people, join in with the NRF and the Congressmen involved, and support getting these bills passed.
Showing posts with label job scams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job scams. Show all posts
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
E-Gold Admits Being Guilty of Enabling Internet Criminal Activity
According to an article in UPI, the three principal executives of E-Gold Limited have pleaded guilty in a case brought against them by the Department of Justice.
The three executives in question, Dr. Douglas Jackson, principal director of E-Gold and CEO of Gold & Silver Reserve Incorporated, and two of his senior directors (Barry Downey and Reid Jackson) pleaded guilty to conspiring to engage in money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
The corporations involved (E-Gold and Silver Reserve) face a fine of $3.7 million and have already agreed to pay a judgment of $1.75 million. Jackson faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 and Downey and Reid face a maximum of 5 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Anonymous means of transmitting money are favorite ways for criminals to conduct illegal business and scam people. In the current case, the Department of Justice charged that the criminal activity included investment scams, credit card fraud, identity theft and even child exploitation.
They did mention that E-Gold assigned employees to monitor accounts for fraud, but the employees allegedly didn't have any previous experience in dealing with illegal activity.
Another article in PC World about this story pointed to a blog post, where Douglas Jackson announced some new security procedures to verify their customers and prevent fraud. No new accounts are being opened until they can find out an "interim means" of verifying who their customers actually are. Also mentioned in the blog post was that a systems design flaw made it difficult for them to get rid of a user, effectively. The logic behind this seems to be that if one account was blocked another one would be opened. Please note that with all kinds of free e-mail accounts -- which was the only requirement to open an E-Gold account -- it wouldn't be very hard for a criminal to simply move on to another e-mail address if they got caught committing fraud.
It will be interesting to see how they plan to verify customers over the Internet.
In 2006, BusinessWorld reported that the ShadowCrew -- a 4,000 strong credit card fraud and identity theft ring operating in carder forums on the Internet -- used E-Gold to launder some of their proceeds.
To anyone familiar with crime on the Internet, allegations of criminals using, or manipulating E-Gold (or other services like these) are nothing new. E-Gold gives their customers the ability to transfer the value of gold, electronically. To transfer E-Gold -- which has a cash value -- all anyone needs is an e-mail address, account number and password.
E-Gold type accounts are also prone to take-overs. This normally occurs when account numbers and passwords are stolen via what is known as phishing and the account is taken over by a fraudster. After a crook compromises the account in this manner, they simply transfer the gold, elsewhere. Phishing is accomplished using social engineering or sometimes with the help of malware (crimeware) that automatically steals all the information from a system using keylogging software.
Please note from what I've heard, people are never made whole (compensated) after this happens to them. Once the money is transferred, there is little or no recourse to be had by the account owner. Interestingly enough, E-Gold spins this as there are no chargebacks to worry about. Chargebacks occur when a financial institution discovers a financial instrument was used to commit fraud and the transaction is charged back to the merchant.
So far as the money laundering aspect, a anonymous service such as E-Gold can be used to move the proceeds of all sorts of crimes. People are known to be duped in job scams to launder money using a service like this. In cases like these, they are taking all the risks for a small portion of the rewards.
In most instances, anyone who gets involved in one of these scam activities is going to at the very least lose their shirt in the process. Of course, they can also get arrested.
The best thing to do is to be extremely careful when someone offers you riches, or "gold" over the Internet. There is a difference big between real gold and what is known as "fools gold."
The three executives in question, Dr. Douglas Jackson, principal director of E-Gold and CEO of Gold & Silver Reserve Incorporated, and two of his senior directors (Barry Downey and Reid Jackson) pleaded guilty to conspiring to engage in money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
The corporations involved (E-Gold and Silver Reserve) face a fine of $3.7 million and have already agreed to pay a judgment of $1.75 million. Jackson faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 and Downey and Reid face a maximum of 5 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Anonymous means of transmitting money are favorite ways for criminals to conduct illegal business and scam people. In the current case, the Department of Justice charged that the criminal activity included investment scams, credit card fraud, identity theft and even child exploitation.
They did mention that E-Gold assigned employees to monitor accounts for fraud, but the employees allegedly didn't have any previous experience in dealing with illegal activity.
Another article in PC World about this story pointed to a blog post, where Douglas Jackson announced some new security procedures to verify their customers and prevent fraud. No new accounts are being opened until they can find out an "interim means" of verifying who their customers actually are. Also mentioned in the blog post was that a systems design flaw made it difficult for them to get rid of a user, effectively. The logic behind this seems to be that if one account was blocked another one would be opened. Please note that with all kinds of free e-mail accounts -- which was the only requirement to open an E-Gold account -- it wouldn't be very hard for a criminal to simply move on to another e-mail address if they got caught committing fraud.
It will be interesting to see how they plan to verify customers over the Internet.
In 2006, BusinessWorld reported that the ShadowCrew -- a 4,000 strong credit card fraud and identity theft ring operating in carder forums on the Internet -- used E-Gold to launder some of their proceeds.
To anyone familiar with crime on the Internet, allegations of criminals using, or manipulating E-Gold (or other services like these) are nothing new. E-Gold gives their customers the ability to transfer the value of gold, electronically. To transfer E-Gold -- which has a cash value -- all anyone needs is an e-mail address, account number and password.
E-Gold type accounts are also prone to take-overs. This normally occurs when account numbers and passwords are stolen via what is known as phishing and the account is taken over by a fraudster. After a crook compromises the account in this manner, they simply transfer the gold, elsewhere. Phishing is accomplished using social engineering or sometimes with the help of malware (crimeware) that automatically steals all the information from a system using keylogging software.
Please note from what I've heard, people are never made whole (compensated) after this happens to them. Once the money is transferred, there is little or no recourse to be had by the account owner. Interestingly enough, E-Gold spins this as there are no chargebacks to worry about. Chargebacks occur when a financial institution discovers a financial instrument was used to commit fraud and the transaction is charged back to the merchant.
So far as the money laundering aspect, a anonymous service such as E-Gold can be used to move the proceeds of all sorts of crimes. People are known to be duped in job scams to launder money using a service like this. In cases like these, they are taking all the risks for a small portion of the rewards.
In most instances, anyone who gets involved in one of these scam activities is going to at the very least lose their shirt in the process. Of course, they can also get arrested.
The best thing to do is to be extremely careful when someone offers you riches, or "gold" over the Internet. There is a difference big between real gold and what is known as "fools gold."
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Too good to be true employment opportunities
Patrick Jordan (Sunbelt blog) did a nice post about a huge problem that frequently occurs on the dark-side of the Internet.
The problem, I'm referring to is people being recruited (some might say duped) to assume the risk involved in collecting the proceeds of Internet crime.
With all the fraud occuring on auction and e-commerce sites -- criminals need a way to move they money they are stealing. This activity is often referred to as money laundering.
They accomplish this with money transfer scams, which are sometimes referred to as job scams.
These scams are nothing more than a way to trick people into negotiating bogus financial instruments, or launder the proceeds of auction fraud!
We've all probably seen a spam e-mail, or two (I get several daily) with job offers that seem a little too good to be true. Most of these jobs seek a financial representative to handle payments for a foreign company. In reality -- the person is moving stolen money overseas -- where it disappears into thin air.
Besides being offered in spam e-mails, people are also recruited off job sites and sometimes even from the classifed sections of newspapers and magazines.
A sister scam to money transfer scams is referred to as a reshipping scam. The difference is in this job a person reships hot merchandise (normally from auction sites) to their bosses.
In most of these scams, they prefer you use Western Union or MoneyGram to send them their money. Once the money is picked any efforts to recover it will most likely be useless. Please note that there are many e-cash venues that are used, also.
While these jobs might have fancy titles, a lot of people refer to someone doing this as a "mule."
(courtesy of mattcoz at Flickr)
In Patrick's post, he reveals another twist to this activity, which are websites set-up to make these jobs appear to be legitimate.
Here is a screen shot (courtesy of the Sunbelt blog) of the site Patrick discovered:
He also lists some other sites to avoid from the same IP in his post, which can be seen, here.
Most of these scams are pretty easy to discover because they are offering too much money for too little work.
These job offers are nothing more than a way for criminals to get other people to take all the risk, while they reap the rewards of their illegal efforts!
Besides facing almost certain financial ruin, some of these employees are ending up living in new digs:
The problem, I'm referring to is people being recruited (some might say duped) to assume the risk involved in collecting the proceeds of Internet crime.
With all the fraud occuring on auction and e-commerce sites -- criminals need a way to move they money they are stealing. This activity is often referred to as money laundering.
They accomplish this with money transfer scams, which are sometimes referred to as job scams.
These scams are nothing more than a way to trick people into negotiating bogus financial instruments, or launder the proceeds of auction fraud!
We've all probably seen a spam e-mail, or two (I get several daily) with job offers that seem a little too good to be true. Most of these jobs seek a financial representative to handle payments for a foreign company. In reality -- the person is moving stolen money overseas -- where it disappears into thin air.
Besides being offered in spam e-mails, people are also recruited off job sites and sometimes even from the classifed sections of newspapers and magazines.
A sister scam to money transfer scams is referred to as a reshipping scam. The difference is in this job a person reships hot merchandise (normally from auction sites) to their bosses.
In most of these scams, they prefer you use Western Union or MoneyGram to send them their money. Once the money is picked any efforts to recover it will most likely be useless. Please note that there are many e-cash venues that are used, also.
While these jobs might have fancy titles, a lot of people refer to someone doing this as a "mule."
(courtesy of mattcoz at Flickr)
In Patrick's post, he reveals another twist to this activity, which are websites set-up to make these jobs appear to be legitimate.
Here is a screen shot (courtesy of the Sunbelt blog) of the site Patrick discovered:
He also lists some other sites to avoid from the same IP in his post, which can be seen, here.
Most of these scams are pretty easy to discover because they are offering too much money for too little work.
These job offers are nothing more than a way for criminals to get other people to take all the risk, while they reap the rewards of their illegal efforts!
Besides facing almost certain financial ruin, some of these employees are ending up living in new digs:
Saturday, October 20, 2007
USPIS Presents: Work@Home Scams: They Just Don't Pay!
The United States Postal Inspectors have produced a pretty telling video showing how Internet criminals lure people into taking jobs that will cause them financial and legal trouble.
The film entitled, Work@Home Scams: They Just Don't Pay shows what happens to people, who accept work-at-home jobs that aren't what they appear to be.
It also speaks to how this problem has grown from ads in the classified section of newspapers and magazines to being plastered all over the Internet.
A lot of us probably see spam e-mails offering these too good to be true jobs that don't make sense on a daily basis. You might also run into one of these scams on a job-site, such as Monster.com.
Another fact is that applying for one of these jobs can lead to giving up your personal information, which will later be used to steal your identity.
Please remember these scams still show up in the classified ads of newspapers and magazines, also.
Here is (what I consider) an interesting story about someone falling for one of these scams that should have known better (my opinion):
BBB Worker Takes Job Processing Fraudulent eBay Transactions
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Lawyers conned in job scam on CraigsList
Quite often, fraud victims don't want to go public with what happened to them. In my limited experience, this can be especially true -- when dealing with victims -- who hold prestigious credentials.
Fortunately, not all of them remain silent, and by speaking out, they protect others from becoming victims of the same thing that happened to them.
Here is a story by Arin Greenwood, an attorney -- who was the victim of what seems to be one of the more sophisticated job scams -- I've read about:
One of the speculations made from several of the people (who were scammed) was that this was part of an elaborate fraudulent investment scheme.
Arin Greenwood's story (courtesy of the Washington City Paper), here.
Michael Webster -- a noted attorney in Toronto, I've written about in the past -- writes about the importance of performing due diligence when making an investment. In this case, the people scammed certainly invested a lot of their expert time.
He has a very interesting and educational website that covers "due diligence," which I highly recommend reading.
Investment scams can be highly complex and the scammers can often appear to be pretty influential. Right now -- there is a lot of furor, over a person by the name of Norman Hsu -- who allegedly ran some pretty high dollar investment scams. The reason for all the furor is Mr. Hsu was making large political contributions to certain candidates.
Michael wrote an interesting article about the Norman Hsu phenomenon, here.
On a closing note, Arin should be commended for writing about what happened to her. Too many victims of fraud would prefer not to say anything about it -- and when they don't -- they make it easier for the fraudsters behind the schemes to continue victimizing people.
Awareness and communication are the probably the most effective tool against fraud.
Job scams are becoming more and more common, another good resource to learn more about this problem is at the World Privacy Forum's job scam page.
Fortunately, not all of them remain silent, and by speaking out, they protect others from becoming victims of the same thing that happened to them.
Here is a story by Arin Greenwood, an attorney -- who was the victim of what seems to be one of the more sophisticated job scams -- I've read about:
This is the story in which you learn how a graduate of Columbia Law School—that’s me—and almost 80 other people, who really should have known better, got suckered into giving away all our personal details as well as up to two months of our lives for “jobs” that never actually existed. And then you learn why it all happened the way it did.Apparently -- Arin wasn't the only highly educated person taken in on this pretty elaborate job scam, which originated, where a lot of job scams do -- on Craigslist:
How I Got Involved With The Scam
An intriguing Craigslist job ad turned up on June 21 of this year at a time when I was feeling particularly bleak. I had spent the better part of that morning losing at online Scrabble and wondering if I had enough money to get a small falafel for lunch.
This lack of information was disquieting, but the Global Speculator team was reassuring: lawyers, researchers, writers, computer programmers, designers, administrators, executive assistants, and the one mathematician named Kermit, some of whom had been working since early June, when I first saw the Craigslist ad. And I trusted the wisdom of the group: There were almost 80 people working on this project. That is a lot of people, too many for everyone to be as silly and desperate as me. Surely someone in the group had a good reason to be there, and I thought I’d ride along on their coattails. Plus, one of my new co-workers was, it turned out, someone I’d worked with on Saipan, and I marveled at this reassuring coincidence; I knew this guy was smart, and if he was willing to believe that this was a legitimate enterprise then perhaps it really was. Unfortunately, I think he might have applied some of that reasoning to me.In the end, no one is really certain what the intent was in committing this scam. If anyone wants to speculate, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post.
One of the speculations made from several of the people (who were scammed) was that this was part of an elaborate fraudulent investment scheme.
Arin Greenwood's story (courtesy of the Washington City Paper), here.
Michael Webster -- a noted attorney in Toronto, I've written about in the past -- writes about the importance of performing due diligence when making an investment. In this case, the people scammed certainly invested a lot of their expert time.
He has a very interesting and educational website that covers "due diligence," which I highly recommend reading.
Investment scams can be highly complex and the scammers can often appear to be pretty influential. Right now -- there is a lot of furor, over a person by the name of Norman Hsu -- who allegedly ran some pretty high dollar investment scams. The reason for all the furor is Mr. Hsu was making large political contributions to certain candidates.
Michael wrote an interesting article about the Norman Hsu phenomenon, here.
On a closing note, Arin should be commended for writing about what happened to her. Too many victims of fraud would prefer not to say anything about it -- and when they don't -- they make it easier for the fraudsters behind the schemes to continue victimizing people.
Awareness and communication are the probably the most effective tool against fraud.
Job scams are becoming more and more common, another good resource to learn more about this problem is at the World Privacy Forum's job scam page.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Internet crime victims report counterfeit American Express gift cheques being sent to them!
Scam (too good to be true) lure courtesy of miriyaparino at Flickr.
Counterfeit checks like all the ones recently discovered by an International law enforcement team being sent from Nigeria aren't the only bogus financial instruments being sent all over the world.
In this recent effort against this activity, over 15,000 counterfeit instruments were discovered in a months time.
For the past couple of weeks, I've received a lot of e-mail and blog comments from people receiving counterfeit American Express gift cheques in the mail with instructions to cash them and wire the proceeds (minus a paltry commission) back to the sender (scammer).
The reason for all the e-mails and comments are because of previous posts, I've written about these counterfeit financial instruments.
Other than having their financial world ruined, there are reports of people getting arrested after trying to pass some of these instruments. One victim recently wrote me after discovering she had been scammed -- and told me that when she tried to report her problems to the authorities, they advised her to seek legal advice before proceeding -- or she might be charged with money laundering.
The American Express gift cheques can be verified by calling 1-800-525-7641.
Counterfeit MoneyGram and U.S. Postal money orders are still also being sent to people as payment for goods, or in too good to be true lures that are nothing more than a scam.
A lot of these bogus financial instuments come from work-at-home scams, secret shopper, romance, lottery and auction scams. New varieties of these scams appear from time to time, but the common denominator in any advance fee (419) scam is that it is too good to be true and it makes little, to no sense.
Another common denominator in most of these scams is that they will try to get you to wire money. Here is what I wrote about this in a previous post:
The fraudsters want you to cash these counterfeit gift cheques and send (normally wire) the money back to them. When they are discovered to be fraudulent -- you end up taking the "rap" for the scammer and they disappear in an "electronic mist."If you've received any of these items in the mail, I've compiled a lot of information on how to identify them and report them to the right people, here.
Another development being seen is that real scammers are getting their hands on these instruments, who have no intention of wiring any money, anywhere. In effect, they are scamming the scammers. This makes it a lot harder to figure out, whether or not, a person is a victim or a scammer. Maybe this is one of the reasons more people are getting arrested?
Of course, if the victim never wired the money, they are probably lining their own pockets (my opinion).
The bottom line is that falling, or getting involved in one of these scams can cause you a lot of financial pain and suffering and you might even get into worse trouble.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Monster.com might be sending you a letter that your information was compromised
Photo courtesy of shane_allen at Flickr
If you posted your information for a job on Monster.com, you might be getting a letter notifying you that your personal details have been compromised:
Joseph Menn, Los Angeles Times is reporting:
Monster.com said Thursday that 1.3 million users had personal information stolen by criminals who hacked into the job-placement website. The company said it would warn each of the victims by mail.
Monster parent Monster Worldwide Inc. said it identified the victims after analyzing the data found this week by computer security firm Symantec Corp., which had estimated that hundreds of thousands of people were at risk.
In this latest data breach, it is being reported that only names, addresses and e-mail addresses were stolen. This information will likely be used to lure potential job candidates into what are known as job scams.
In a job scam, a person is recruited into cashing bogus financial instruments, or laundering the proceeds of Internet crime. In most instances, these bogus employers will request a lot of personal and financial information (supposedly to vet the new employee)and this is probably where someone would put themselves at a real risk of becoming an identity theft victim.
The LA Times article also stated:
Also Thursday, some Monster users said they had received such e-mails as far back as February.
Since job scams are nothing new and Monster isn't the only site, where scammers gather information to lure people into doing their dirty work, it's very possible that the current data breach has nothing to do with the e-mails going as far back as February.
I've seen these types of e-mails going back a lot further that February.
Here is a previous post, I did with an emphasis on the social engineering aspects of job scams:
Internet criminals stealing information from job sites isn't anything new!
LA Times article, here.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Internet criminals stealing information from job sites isn't anything new!
The recent reports about 1.3 million Monster users having their information stolen from the job site has become somewhat of a major news story. While this seems shocking, the truth is that job sites have been targeted for the information they contain, or to recruit people to commit crimes (sometimes unknowingly) for quite awhile now.
Jim Finkle at Retuers (courtesy of the Washington Post) recently covered this story:
People can protect themselves by being aware of the social engineering aspects of these scams. The job offers are always too good to be true and normally don't make very much sense.
Most of them are ploys to either cash bogus financial instruments, or launder the proceeds of Internet crime. Another red flag is that the employee is solicited to wire money, normally across a International border.
The employee (victim) then ends up financially liable, and in some instances, can even end up facing criminal charges. In most areas, cashing bogus financial instruments and money laundering is considered a crime.
The scammers, who offer these jobs intend to get someone else to take all the risk for them, while they reap most of the financial rewards.
Monster isn't the only place, where this happens. The risk is there on just about any of the Internet job sites, including Craigslist.
If you use these sites, it's a good idea to verify, who you are talking to before accepting a job offer.
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has an excellent page about job scams on their website, here.
Because these fake employers gather their victims's personal and financial information, they are likely to become an identity theft victim, also.
The page on the Privacy Right Clearinghouse site gives good advice on how to deal with this, also.
The good news is these scams are pretty easy to spot and a little awareness can prevent them from happening altogether.
Reuters story (courtesy of the Washington Post), here.
Jim Finkle at Retuers (courtesy of the Washington Post) recently covered this story:
Monster.com waited five days to tell its users about a security breach that resulted in the theft of confidential information from some 1.3 million job seekers, a company executive told Reuters on Thursday.Symantec -- who broke the story has published some of the examples of the fake job offers being sent to people -- posting their resumes on Monster, here.
Hackers broke into the U.S. online recruitment site's password-protected resume library using credentials that Monster Worldwide Inc said were stolen from its clients, in one of the biggest Internet security breaches in recent memory.
They launched the attack using two servers at a Web-hosting company in Ukraine and a group of personal computers that the hackers controlled after infecting them with a malicious software program known as Infostealer.Monstres, said Patrick Manzo, vice president of compliance and fraud prevention for Monster, in a phone interview.
People can protect themselves by being aware of the social engineering aspects of these scams. The job offers are always too good to be true and normally don't make very much sense.
Most of them are ploys to either cash bogus financial instruments, or launder the proceeds of Internet crime. Another red flag is that the employee is solicited to wire money, normally across a International border.
The employee (victim) then ends up financially liable, and in some instances, can even end up facing criminal charges. In most areas, cashing bogus financial instruments and money laundering is considered a crime.
The scammers, who offer these jobs intend to get someone else to take all the risk for them, while they reap most of the financial rewards.
Monster isn't the only place, where this happens. The risk is there on just about any of the Internet job sites, including Craigslist.
If you use these sites, it's a good idea to verify, who you are talking to before accepting a job offer.
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has an excellent page about job scams on their website, here.
Because these fake employers gather their victims's personal and financial information, they are likely to become an identity theft victim, also.
The page on the Privacy Right Clearinghouse site gives good advice on how to deal with this, also.
The good news is these scams are pretty easy to spot and a little awareness can prevent them from happening altogether.
Reuters story (courtesy of the Washington Post), here.
Monday, April 30, 2007
E Gold accused of being a money laundering vehicle for financial fraudsters and child pornographers
To anyone familiar with crime on the Internet, allegations of criminals using, or manipulating E Gold are nothing new. Like wire transfers, E-Gold gives their customers the ability to transfer the value of gold, electronically. To transfer the gold's value, all anyone needs is a e-mail address, account number and password.
Because of this, the accounts can be prone to phishing, and or crimeware (malware) attacks, using keylogging software. When this happens, the phishermen clean out the account and transfer it, elsewhere. E-Gold's terms of service stipulate that once a transfer is done, it cannot be reversed.
It should be noted that Internet criminals use wire transfer services (MoneyGram, Western Union) for the same reason -- they provide a lot of anonymity.
Apparently a task force from the Department of Justice has been looking into the money laundering angle, and is charging E Gold with several federal charges.
Here is a summary of the action against E Gold from the DOJ press release:
The basis of the DOJ charges are:
It appears a lot of different federal agencies worked on this investigation:
Full DOJ press release, here.
Besides allegedly being used to launder money, E Gold is often used in advance fee and auction scams, which trick people into sending their hard earned cash to fraudsters. I've written about the auction, secret shopper, romance, lottery and job variations of advance fee scams on this blog, frequently.
Like the problems with accounts being phished, or their value being drained because of crimeware, little can be done once the gold (converted to a monetary value) has been transferred.
When password details can be stolen, accounts can be taken over, also. This happens happens frequently on auction sites; when trusted accounts are compromised, then used for fraudulent purposes.
Wikipedia has an extensive article about Advance Fee (419), here.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out!
Because of this, the accounts can be prone to phishing, and or crimeware (malware) attacks, using keylogging software. When this happens, the phishermen clean out the account and transfer it, elsewhere. E-Gold's terms of service stipulate that once a transfer is done, it cannot be reversed.
It should be noted that Internet criminals use wire transfer services (MoneyGram, Western Union) for the same reason -- they provide a lot of anonymity.
Apparently a task force from the Department of Justice has been looking into the money laundering angle, and is charging E Gold with several federal charges.
Here is a summary of the action against E Gold from the DOJ press release:
A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. has indicted two companies operating a digital currency business and their owners on charges of money laundering, conspiracy, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeffrey A. Taylor announced today.
The basis of the DOJ charges are:
The indictment alleges that E Gold has been a highly favored method of payment by operators of investment scams, credit card and identity fraud, and sellers of online child pornography. The indictment alleges that the defendants conducted funds transfers on behalf of their customers, knowing that the funds involved were the proceeds of unlawful activity; namely child exploitation, credit card fraud, and wire (investment) fraud; and thereby violated federal money laundering statutes. The indictment further alleges that the defendants operated the E Gold operation without a license in the District of Columbia or any other state, or registering with the federal government, and thereby violated federal and state money transmitting laws. The indictment alleges that this conduct occurred at various times from 1999 through December 2005.
It appears a lot of different federal agencies worked on this investigation:
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service with the assistance of the IRS and the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Criminal Division. Assistance is also being provided by the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the Criminal Division.
Full DOJ press release, here.
Besides allegedly being used to launder money, E Gold is often used in advance fee and auction scams, which trick people into sending their hard earned cash to fraudsters. I've written about the auction, secret shopper, romance, lottery and job variations of advance fee scams on this blog, frequently.
Like the problems with accounts being phished, or their value being drained because of crimeware, little can be done once the gold (converted to a monetary value) has been transferred.
When password details can be stolen, accounts can be taken over, also. This happens happens frequently on auction sites; when trusted accounts are compromised, then used for fraudulent purposes.
Wikipedia has an extensive article about Advance Fee (419), here.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Counterfeit MoneyGram Money Orders being passed via Internet Scams
Recently, MoneyGram removed the Travelers Express name from their money order product. The new version is branded simply as MoneyGram, printed in Spanish (Espanol) in addition to English.
The old version with the Travelers Express name have been counterfeited and circulated via Internet scams for a couple of years. A lot of them had Walmart's logo printed on them. We've seen similar counterfeit American Express Gift Cheques and Postal Money Orders in recent years, also. Some of these items are still in circulation, including the older Travelers Express version.
The newer version (MoneyGram) printed in both Spanish and English are now being counterfeited and being circulated via Internet scams. The one I saw was accompanied by a letter from Walmart Financial Services.
Like other counterfeit financial instruments, we'll probably see these circulated via romance, auction, job, secret shopper and lottery scams. The common theme is that the scammer will always request that you send a portion of the money back to them (wire transfer is the preferred method).
In the case of auction scams, they may be used to buy expensive merchandise.
Cashing these items will leave you at a minimum, financially liable. I've also been told by readers that people are sometimes getting arrested for passing them!
The new version (recently seen) have receipts attached to them. Money Order companies often attach receipts to their products as a security feature. These receipts are used to obtain refunds, if a money order is lost, or stolen.
The counterfeiters have probably added this feature to instill a false sense of security.
Like their predecessors, these counterfeit Money Orders are (normally) easy identified by calling in and verifying their authenticity.
MoneyGram has an automated system to do this, which can be accessed by calling 1-800-542-3590. Live customer service help is available during normal business hours.
MoneyGram also has a page with a lot of relevant information on how to SAFELY negotiate these items, here.
Since this is something new, if anyone would like to help get the word out, please leave a comment on this post, or drop me a line at EdwardDickson@SBCGlobal.net.
The old version with the Travelers Express name have been counterfeited and circulated via Internet scams for a couple of years. A lot of them had Walmart's logo printed on them. We've seen similar counterfeit American Express Gift Cheques and Postal Money Orders in recent years, also. Some of these items are still in circulation, including the older Travelers Express version.
The newer version (MoneyGram) printed in both Spanish and English are now being counterfeited and being circulated via Internet scams. The one I saw was accompanied by a letter from Walmart Financial Services.
Like other counterfeit financial instruments, we'll probably see these circulated via romance, auction, job, secret shopper and lottery scams. The common theme is that the scammer will always request that you send a portion of the money back to them (wire transfer is the preferred method).
In the case of auction scams, they may be used to buy expensive merchandise.
Cashing these items will leave you at a minimum, financially liable. I've also been told by readers that people are sometimes getting arrested for passing them!
The new version (recently seen) have receipts attached to them. Money Order companies often attach receipts to their products as a security feature. These receipts are used to obtain refunds, if a money order is lost, or stolen.
The counterfeiters have probably added this feature to instill a false sense of security.
Like their predecessors, these counterfeit Money Orders are (normally) easy identified by calling in and verifying their authenticity.
MoneyGram has an automated system to do this, which can be accessed by calling 1-800-542-3590. Live customer service help is available during normal business hours.
MoneyGram also has a page with a lot of relevant information on how to SAFELY negotiate these items, here.
Since this is something new, if anyone would like to help get the word out, please leave a comment on this post, or drop me a line at EdwardDickson@SBCGlobal.net.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Google name used in Internet deployed Lottery Scam
If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't (especially on the Internet). A spam e-mail, I received today informed me that I've won Google's lottery and 500,000 euros.
Trusted names are used to provide a false sense of legitimacy. Since I myself am a Google fan (user), I decided to comment on this one.
When the (eventually unfortunate) winner answers one of these, they are asked to send (wire transfer is preferred) money to cover taxes and tariffs to get their prize released.
Frequently, the scammer will send a counterfeit check (normally official, or cashier type) for their intended victim (winner) to cash. Eventually, the counterfeit check is discovered and the lottery winner is left hold the bag. Besides, financial consequences, (if I am to believe people reading this blog), cashing these items can cause someone to get arrested, also.
Unfortunately, the crooks behind these scams are normally safe in another country and rarely (if ever) get caught.
For a more detailed explanation on how these scams work (the lottery variety is one mutation of them), I did a post:
Counterfeit Cashier's Checks Fuel Internet Crime
A lot of the spam deploying these scams is facilitated using botnets (groups of zombie computers) that were taken over after another unfortunate Internet user opened an attachment in a spam e-mail, they probably shouldn't have.
Here is a post, I did at the beginning of the year describing this problem (getting worse all the time):
2006 was the Year of Internet Crime - 2007 is predicted to be even worse
Here is the e-mail I received (complete with all the bad grammar and spelling mistakes). Bad grammar and spelling mistakes are common in these e-mail lures.
Another clue is always the instruction not to tell anyone they are a winner.
From:nelson@nelsonbeilean.orangehome.co.uk
Subject:ISP Nomination/Email Award.
Date:Wed, 4 Apr 2007 17:53:07 +0200 (CEST)
To:FROM: LOTTERY COORDINATOR,INT. PROMOTIONS AND PRICE AWARD DEPARTMENTGOOGLE. Bolos Avenue 12900 kd .RESULTS FOR CATEGORY "A" DRAWS
Congratulations to you as we bring to your notice, the results of the First Category draws of E-MAIL LOTTERY organised by GOOGLE INT. We are happy to inform you that you have emerged a winner under the First Category, which is part of our promotional draws. The draws were held on 30th of March 2007 and results are being officially announced today 4th of April 2007. Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 5,500,000 email addresses of individuals and companies from Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East, and Oceania as part of our International Promotions Program. Your e-mail address, attached to ticket number 675432890044/376, with serial number 2200-33 drew the lucky numbers 1-0-11-44-03-22 and consequently won in the First Category. You have therefore been awarded a lump sum pay out of One million (1,000,000.00) euros, which is the winning payout for Category A winners. This is from the total prize money from 1,500,000 euros shared among the 2 winners in this category. Your fund is now deposited with the paying Bank. In your best interest to avoid mix up of numbers and names of any kind, we request that you keep the entire details of your award strictly from public notice until the process of transferring your claims has been completed, and your funds remitted to your account. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants / non participants of this program. Please contact your claims agent immediately for due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice:To file for your claim, please contact the CLAIMS agent.
Mr.Windy Smith.Cable Trust AgencyEmail: *(e-mail
addresses and telephone numbers removed) Academias53,11269 Athens
Greece.
You are advised to contact the agents by Email address.
NOTE: For easy reference and identification, find below your reference and Batch numbers.
Remember to quote these numbers in every one of your
correspondence with your claims agent.
REFERENCE NO:GPINT/7980/4376/06 BATCH
NO: 33/904/G3K. Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for
being part of our promotions program.
Sincerely Yours,
Dr.
Nelson Beilean.
PROMOTIONS COORDINATOR.
Trusted names are used to provide a false sense of legitimacy. Since I myself am a Google fan (user), I decided to comment on this one.
When the (eventually unfortunate) winner answers one of these, they are asked to send (wire transfer is preferred) money to cover taxes and tariffs to get their prize released.
Frequently, the scammer will send a counterfeit check (normally official, or cashier type) for their intended victim (winner) to cash. Eventually, the counterfeit check is discovered and the lottery winner is left hold the bag. Besides, financial consequences, (if I am to believe people reading this blog), cashing these items can cause someone to get arrested, also.
Unfortunately, the crooks behind these scams are normally safe in another country and rarely (if ever) get caught.
For a more detailed explanation on how these scams work (the lottery variety is one mutation of them), I did a post:
Counterfeit Cashier's Checks Fuel Internet Crime
A lot of the spam deploying these scams is facilitated using botnets (groups of zombie computers) that were taken over after another unfortunate Internet user opened an attachment in a spam e-mail, they probably shouldn't have.
Here is a post, I did at the beginning of the year describing this problem (getting worse all the time):
2006 was the Year of Internet Crime - 2007 is predicted to be even worse
Here is the e-mail I received (complete with all the bad grammar and spelling mistakes). Bad grammar and spelling mistakes are common in these e-mail lures.
Another clue is always the instruction not to tell anyone they are a winner.
From:nelson@nelsonbeilean.orangehome.co.uk
Subject:ISP Nomination/Email Award.
Date:Wed, 4 Apr 2007 17:53:07 +0200 (CEST)
To:FROM: LOTTERY COORDINATOR,INT. PROMOTIONS AND PRICE AWARD DEPARTMENTGOOGLE. Bolos Avenue 12900 kd .RESULTS FOR CATEGORY "A" DRAWS
Congratulations to you as we bring to your notice, the results of the First Category draws of E-MAIL LOTTERY organised by GOOGLE INT. We are happy to inform you that you have emerged a winner under the First Category, which is part of our promotional draws. The draws were held on 30th of March 2007 and results are being officially announced today 4th of April 2007. Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 5,500,000 email addresses of individuals and companies from Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East, and Oceania as part of our International Promotions Program. Your e-mail address, attached to ticket number 675432890044/376, with serial number 2200-33 drew the lucky numbers 1-0-11-44-03-22 and consequently won in the First Category. You have therefore been awarded a lump sum pay out of One million (1,000,000.00) euros, which is the winning payout for Category A winners. This is from the total prize money from 1,500,000 euros shared among the 2 winners in this category. Your fund is now deposited with the paying Bank. In your best interest to avoid mix up of numbers and names of any kind, we request that you keep the entire details of your award strictly from public notice until the process of transferring your claims has been completed, and your funds remitted to your account. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants / non participants of this program. Please contact your claims agent immediately for due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice:To file for your claim, please contact the CLAIMS agent.
Mr.Windy Smith.Cable Trust AgencyEmail: *(e-mail
addresses and telephone numbers removed) Academias53,11269 Athens
Greece.
You are advised to contact the agents by Email address.
NOTE: For easy reference and identification, find below your reference and Batch numbers.
Remember to quote these numbers in every one of your
correspondence with your claims agent.
REFERENCE NO:GPINT/7980/4376/06 BATCH
NO: 33/904/G3K. Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for
being part of our promotions program.
Sincerely Yours,
Dr.
Nelson Beilean.
PROMOTIONS COORDINATOR.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Are Counterfeit Documents being Mass-Produced in Nigeria?
In the past several years, we've seen all sorts of counterfeit financial instruments (money orders, cashiers checks and now American Express gift cheques) being passed in Internet scams.
A recent TimesOnline story stated:
The TimesOnline article also mentions that the UK is a staging ground for a lot of the stolen merchandise, which are proceeds of auction fraud.
According to the article, the activity also enables the criminals to return (easily) should they get caught:
It's true that the article is about activity in the United Kingdom, but the problem isn't contained to the British Isles.
And Nigeria isn't the only place counterfeit documents are being made.
Asia has also been a reported "source" for a lot of counterfeiting. For instance, it's widely believed that North Korea has been flooding the world with "supernotes" (counterfeit $100 bills) that are almost impossible to tell from the real thing. Wikipedia article, here.
If you read through the article, it tells of ties to terrorist organizations and organized crime syndicates.
Nigeria might be a source of counterfeit documents, but they aren't the only one. The United States also is known to have a lot of counterfeit documents being produced, also.
If they didn't, it would be hard for the 14 to 20 million illegal immigrants to find jobs.
Swapmeetdave.com has an interesting page has an interesting page (with pictures) of a lot of the counterfeit items (from Nigeria), here.
A recent TimesOnline story stated:
Nigerians are forging passports and cheques on an industrial scale and that huge numbers of false documents are passing through provincial British airports.Story, here.
The face value of the fraudulent financial instruments discovered in "routine checks" amounted to millions of dollars, and the documents (non-financial) are probably used in "illegal immigration.
The TimesOnline article also mentions that the UK is a staging ground for a lot of the stolen merchandise, which are proceeds of auction fraud.
According to the article, the activity also enables the criminals to return (easily) should they get caught:
Suspected Nigerian fraudsters, who have been deported in exchange for charges against them being dropped, are re-entering Britain using forged travel documents and resuming their activities, according to the study.
Other suspects are absconding and disappearing because, unless they are accused of crimes involving more than £50,000, they are being released on bail.
I wonder how many of them get bailed out on a stolen identity, assume another one, and go right back into business?
We seem to see story after story about what a huge problem counterfeiting has become. One of the main reasons is that technology makes it easy to do, and if anyone is caught, the consequences are minimal.It's true that the article is about activity in the United Kingdom, but the problem isn't contained to the British Isles.
And Nigeria isn't the only place counterfeit documents are being made.
Asia has also been a reported "source" for a lot of counterfeiting. For instance, it's widely believed that North Korea has been flooding the world with "supernotes" (counterfeit $100 bills) that are almost impossible to tell from the real thing. Wikipedia article, here.
If you read through the article, it tells of ties to terrorist organizations and organized crime syndicates.
Nigeria might be a source of counterfeit documents, but they aren't the only one. The United States also is known to have a lot of counterfeit documents being produced, also.
If they didn't, it would be hard for the 14 to 20 million illegal immigrants to find jobs.
Swapmeetdave.com has an interesting page has an interesting page (with pictures) of a lot of the counterfeit items (from Nigeria), here.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
American Express Gift Cheques Being Circulated in Internet Scams
A couple of weeks ago, I updated an earlier post about counterfeit American Express Gift Cheques and asked my readers to help me discover exactly how these items were surfacing.
Prior to this, I knew they were showing up over a wide geographical area, but no one was "sharing" how they happened to get them.
One reader wrote in and said:
"I was almost duped into this. I responded to an ad on indeed.com. I was told that this person was an artist that needed a way of getting his money from clients in the US. This person was going to give me 10% of every artwork he sold. I bought in to this hook, line and sinker. However, when the payment came it was from Nigeria that made me suspicious. I checked online and verified these with American Express they asked me for all the information I had on the person I received these cheques from and had me write a series of numbers and letters on the back of the cheques and send them back to them. Thanks to your website I was able to prevent this from happening to me."
Several other readers wrote in and reported getting them as a result of being hired to process payments a.k.a. (also known as) a "job scam," or as an "overpayment scam" for something they were selling online. The goal in an "overpayment scam" is to have the amount "overpaid" wired to a far-away locale.
In every report, the reader had been asked to negotiate the items and wire the majority of it (minus a commission) to either Nigeria, or the United Kingdom. The return addresses (where they were being sent from) were from all over the United States and as stated above, Nigeria.
Interestingly enough, I haven't seen any warnings in the press, or from American Express about this.
The best way for someone to protect themselves is to verify them with American Express by calling their verification number at 1-800-221-7282. American Express claims that if you do this, they will either tell you the item is fraudulent, or reimburse you if they make a mistake.
If you spot any of this activity, I would report it to:
Internet Crime Complaint Center (FBI)
If it involves receiving these through the mail, you can also report it to the Postal Inspectors, here.
Besides counterfeit cashier's checks - which seem to change "affected financial institutions" daily - we have seen (mostly) counterfeit money orders (U.S. and Travelers MoneyGram) being used in Internet misdeeds in the past couple of years.
Here are some previous posts about similar, or the same activity:
Counterfeit American Express Gift Cheques
Counterfeit Cashier's Checks Fuel Internet Crime
Counterfeit Postal Money Orders Showing Up in IScams Again
Postal Money Order Romance Scam
Counterfeit Travelers Express (MoneyGram) Money Orders Showing Up ...
Prior to this, I knew they were showing up over a wide geographical area, but no one was "sharing" how they happened to get them.
One reader wrote in and said:
"I was almost duped into this. I responded to an ad on indeed.com. I was told that this person was an artist that needed a way of getting his money from clients in the US. This person was going to give me 10% of every artwork he sold. I bought in to this hook, line and sinker. However, when the payment came it was from Nigeria that made me suspicious. I checked online and verified these with American Express they asked me for all the information I had on the person I received these cheques from and had me write a series of numbers and letters on the back of the cheques and send them back to them. Thanks to your website I was able to prevent this from happening to me."
Several other readers wrote in and reported getting them as a result of being hired to process payments a.k.a. (also known as) a "job scam," or as an "overpayment scam" for something they were selling online. The goal in an "overpayment scam" is to have the amount "overpaid" wired to a far-away locale.
In every report, the reader had been asked to negotiate the items and wire the majority of it (minus a commission) to either Nigeria, or the United Kingdom. The return addresses (where they were being sent from) were from all over the United States and as stated above, Nigeria.
Interestingly enough, I haven't seen any warnings in the press, or from American Express about this.
The best way for someone to protect themselves is to verify them with American Express by calling their verification number at 1-800-221-7282. American Express claims that if you do this, they will either tell you the item is fraudulent, or reimburse you if they make a mistake.
If you spot any of this activity, I would report it to:
Internet Crime Complaint Center (FBI)
If it involves receiving these through the mail, you can also report it to the Postal Inspectors, here.
Besides counterfeit cashier's checks - which seem to change "affected financial institutions" daily - we have seen (mostly) counterfeit money orders (U.S. and Travelers MoneyGram) being used in Internet misdeeds in the past couple of years.
Here are some previous posts about similar, or the same activity:
Counterfeit American Express Gift Cheques
Counterfeit Cashier's Checks Fuel Internet Crime
Counterfeit Postal Money Orders Showing Up in IScams Again
Postal Money Order Romance Scam
Counterfeit Travelers Express (MoneyGram) Money Orders Showing Up ...
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Answer a "Too Good to be True" Work-at-Home Ad and Take the Rap for the Phishermen
Ryan Naraine of eWeek did an interesting story about how the phishermen launder their ill-gotten proceeds:
"The dramatic rise in phishing and identity theft attacks includes a well-organized offline component—the not-so-innocent "money mule" recruited by fraudsters to launder stolen money across the globe."
"The ads appear innocently on all the major employment listing sites, offering stay-at-home positions titled "shipping manager," "private financial receiver" or "sales representative."
eWeek story, here.
In the article, they responded to a Craiglist Ad - where after being prompted to submit personal and financial information to the Russian Mob - a base salary of $2000.00 a month was offered, plus $50.00 for each wire transfer and or shipment successfully received by them.
I agree with the article that people involved in this "aren't always so innocent," but since all the stolen money and merchandise will be sent to the new employee -- guess where law enforcement is going to trace it to?
Here is where anyone accepting these jobs could end up.
Also mentioned in the article was that prospective employees for these mobsters are required to submit a lot of personal and financial information about themselves to "hired." My guess is that this will be used to commit even more crimes without the knowledge of the employee (identity theft).
Trust me, Boris and his merry band of "Vlads" are expert at this.
Here is a story about a Better Business Worker caught up in one of these job scams:
BBB Worker Takes Job Processing Fraudulent eBay Transactions
"The dramatic rise in phishing and identity theft attacks includes a well-organized offline component—the not-so-innocent "money mule" recruited by fraudsters to launder stolen money across the globe."
"The ads appear innocently on all the major employment listing sites, offering stay-at-home positions titled "shipping manager," "private financial receiver" or "sales representative."
eWeek story, here.
In the article, they responded to a Craiglist Ad - where after being prompted to submit personal and financial information to the Russian Mob - a base salary of $2000.00 a month was offered, plus $50.00 for each wire transfer and or shipment successfully received by them.
I agree with the article that people involved in this "aren't always so innocent," but since all the stolen money and merchandise will be sent to the new employee -- guess where law enforcement is going to trace it to?
Here is where anyone accepting these jobs could end up.
Also mentioned in the article was that prospective employees for these mobsters are required to submit a lot of personal and financial information about themselves to "hired." My guess is that this will be used to commit even more crimes without the knowledge of the employee (identity theft).
Trust me, Boris and his merry band of "Vlads" are expert at this.
Here is a story about a Better Business Worker caught up in one of these job scams:
BBB Worker Takes Job Processing Fraudulent eBay Transactions
Friday, September 15, 2006
Counterfeit American Express Gift Cheques
Counterfeit American Express Gift Cheques might be the latest form of fraudulent financial instrument circulating via the Internet. The items seen thus far are for $500.00 - note the largest denomination issued legitimately is $100.00.
If you receive one of these items - it is recommended you verify it before negotiating it. For the information to do so - link here.
Counterfeit financial instruments being used in Internet scams are nothing new. Here are some previous posts, I've done on this sort of activity:
Counterfeit Cashier's Checks Fuel Internet Crime
Counterfeit Postal Money Orders Showing Up in IScams Again
Postal Money Order Romance Scam
Counterfeit Travelers Express (MoneyGram) Money Orders Showing Up ...
In most Internet scams involving counterfeited financial instruments - a person is duped into negotiating the item and wiring the money back to the sender (scammer). If someone asks you to cash an item and wire them money - take a deep breath - and just say "no thanks."
If you receive one of these items - it is recommended you verify it before negotiating it. For the information to do so - link here.
Counterfeit financial instruments being used in Internet scams are nothing new. Here are some previous posts, I've done on this sort of activity:
Counterfeit Cashier's Checks Fuel Internet Crime
Counterfeit Postal Money Orders Showing Up in IScams Again
Postal Money Order Romance Scam
Counterfeit Travelers Express (MoneyGram) Money Orders Showing Up ...
In most Internet scams involving counterfeited financial instruments - a person is duped into negotiating the item and wiring the money back to the sender (scammer). If someone asks you to cash an item and wire them money - take a deep breath - and just say "no thanks."
Monday, June 26, 2006
Check Cashing Jobs - A Quick Way to Drain Your Bank Account and Maybe Go to Jail
I got this e-mail today inviting me to make $5,000.00 a month (minimum) working a couple of hours a day. Of course, I need to use my own bank account - which will be drained of all it's funds - when the bank discovers the transactions are fraud. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.
Recently, I wrote about how banks often clear these checks - and even sometimes verify them as good - then take your money anyway. Of course, since in most of these instances, the money has been sent (normally wired somewhere); the person who negotiated the item is left holding the bag.
Welcome to the "Check Cashing Scam," that organized fraud gangs are using to recruit people to take all the risks - while they collect all the "real money" via Western Union, or MoneyGram.
In reality, the people who do this, are being conned into laundering fraudulent transactions - mostly from auction sites - such as eBay.
Recently, we saw Australian teenagers and a Better Business Worker get caught up in this scam. Please note that the some of the Australian teenagers are facing charges - which can be another "nasty" side-effect of getting involved in this activity.
Here is an example of one of the come-on letters (note the reference to identity theft at the bottom):
Dear Jobseeker,
This offer was sent to you in response to your resume on www.monster.com.
The job we are offering requires only two hours per day during which you will check your e-mail and go to your bank. You will be given a position of representative within our company which means that you will be a collaborator and not an actual employee. There is no experience required; only the knowledge of using an e-mail account and a bank account. It does not matter if you already have a job or not if you have two hours to spare each working day.
What is required of you in order to be eligible for this job:
- Honesty, responsibility and dedication to this new line of work;- An existing active bank account that you will use to cash money orders and checks (no information is required about your bank account);
- Access to the internet and a small amount of free time every day in order to check your e-mail twice per day (once in the morning and again in the evening).
What we offer during this job:
- Flexible working time: you chose what hours you want to work;- Working at home: you only need to check your e-mail and make trips to your bank;- Professional support via e-mail;- No selling involved no kit to buy, we will not charge you anything, and you will not handle any merchandise;
- Minimum pay: $5,500 (from commissions and a $900 monthly salary);- Commission: 10% off of every money order/check that you cash, instantly money in hand that you will deduct from the cashed amount. If you receive a check of $1,000.00 your net income is $100.00, our company supports any fees. You can receive a maximum of 3 checks/money orders per day which will earn you between $300 and $900 cash in hand each day.
If you are interested our staff will send detailed information about the contract which you must sign in order to get started. We reserve the right to keep you on probation for the first month, meaning that we will decide at the end of the first month whether you will be a permanent employee or not.
It is very important for us to know how willing you are to work for our company. Also, we are keen to know about your skills in contacting other people and above all we are looking for candidates that are ready to work and seek to self improve all the time. Our company just started this program and we need personnel loyal to our company and our program. We believe that we represent an excellent opportunity for everybody, a chance to start a new career without much knowledge but with great perspectives. Even if you are not willing to grow with our company this still remains an excellent opportunity for those who need a temporary or a secondary job.
We are confident that you will make the right decision and hope to hear from you soon.
IMPORTANT:
-You must be over 21 years old.-You need to live in U.S.A. (legal residents and immigrants can also apply) and have an active bank account.
If you meet these conditions please contact us by replying at this e-mail address to receive the contract and detailed information about this job.
We will never ask you for bank name, bank account number, routing number, credit card, passwords, ssn number etc. If anyone asks for those on our behalf please do not give out this info. This is to ensure that you will not be the victim of an identity theft case.
Thank you
Recently, I wrote about how banks often clear these checks - and even sometimes verify them as good - then take your money anyway. Of course, since in most of these instances, the money has been sent (normally wired somewhere); the person who negotiated the item is left holding the bag.
Welcome to the "Check Cashing Scam," that organized fraud gangs are using to recruit people to take all the risks - while they collect all the "real money" via Western Union, or MoneyGram.
In reality, the people who do this, are being conned into laundering fraudulent transactions - mostly from auction sites - such as eBay.
Recently, we saw Australian teenagers and a Better Business Worker get caught up in this scam. Please note that the some of the Australian teenagers are facing charges - which can be another "nasty" side-effect of getting involved in this activity.
Here is an example of one of the come-on letters (note the reference to identity theft at the bottom):
Dear Jobseeker,
This offer was sent to you in response to your resume on www.monster.com.
The job we are offering requires only two hours per day during which you will check your e-mail and go to your bank. You will be given a position of representative within our company which means that you will be a collaborator and not an actual employee. There is no experience required; only the knowledge of using an e-mail account and a bank account. It does not matter if you already have a job or not if you have two hours to spare each working day.
What is required of you in order to be eligible for this job:
- Honesty, responsibility and dedication to this new line of work;- An existing active bank account that you will use to cash money orders and checks (no information is required about your bank account);
- Access to the internet and a small amount of free time every day in order to check your e-mail twice per day (once in the morning and again in the evening).
What we offer during this job:
- Flexible working time: you chose what hours you want to work;- Working at home: you only need to check your e-mail and make trips to your bank;- Professional support via e-mail;- No selling involved no kit to buy, we will not charge you anything, and you will not handle any merchandise;
- Minimum pay: $5,500 (from commissions and a $900 monthly salary);- Commission: 10% off of every money order/check that you cash, instantly money in hand that you will deduct from the cashed amount. If you receive a check of $1,000.00 your net income is $100.00, our company supports any fees. You can receive a maximum of 3 checks/money orders per day which will earn you between $300 and $900 cash in hand each day.
If you are interested our staff will send detailed information about the contract which you must sign in order to get started. We reserve the right to keep you on probation for the first month, meaning that we will decide at the end of the first month whether you will be a permanent employee or not.
It is very important for us to know how willing you are to work for our company. Also, we are keen to know about your skills in contacting other people and above all we are looking for candidates that are ready to work and seek to self improve all the time. Our company just started this program and we need personnel loyal to our company and our program. We believe that we represent an excellent opportunity for everybody, a chance to start a new career without much knowledge but with great perspectives. Even if you are not willing to grow with our company this still remains an excellent opportunity for those who need a temporary or a secondary job.
We are confident that you will make the right decision and hope to hear from you soon.
IMPORTANT:
-You must be over 21 years old.-You need to live in U.S.A. (legal residents and immigrants can also apply) and have an active bank account.
If you meet these conditions please contact us by replying at this e-mail address to receive the contract and detailed information about this job.
We will never ask you for bank name, bank account number, routing number, credit card, passwords, ssn number etc. If anyone asks for those on our behalf please do not give out this info. This is to ensure that you will not be the victim of an identity theft case.
Thank you
Saturday, June 17, 2006
David Napstead, The Story of a Small-Time Con Man
Normally, I write about big name fraudsters, but there are a lot of small-time crooks out there committing fraud on a daily basis. When you add up the amount of misery caused by these fraudsters, they cause a lot of suffering to hard working people. My friend, Paul Young of Prying1 wrote me about one of them, David E. Napstead.
Napstead in the past has offered nonexistent cellular services to his unsuspecting victims. Like most of the flim-flam men out there, he has phony business cards and a cell phone to conduct business.
Please note, that setting up a phony website is also becoming very common.
A recent comment on Paul's blog indicated that Napstead had been arrested after setting up a phony "debt consolidation" business and bilking those who already were suffering financial difficulties.
Pardon my "French," but what a "dirt bag!" Napstead is no "Robin Hood."
For the full story from Prying1, link here.
If you have been the victim of Mr. Napstead and the crime is yet to be reported, the Las Vegas Police Department might be interested.
Fraud come-ons from people lacking morals surround us, daily. They are found posted on telephone poles, newspaper classifieds - and of course - on the Internet. Because of the "sheer volume" of scams that exist out there (sadly enough) law enforcement lacks the resources to bring a lot of these small-time criminals to justice.
When you are dealing with an "unknown operator" of a business, it pays to do your homework before giving them one "solitary penny."
Here are some resources to do your homework:
Consumer World: Consumer Agencies
Better Business Bureau: BBB.
Quite frequently, a common mistake made (when doing your homework) is that if no information comes up (negative or positive); someone assumes the entity they are "checking out" is legitimate.
If you can find no information - whatsoever - do as Paul suggests in the theme of Prying1: "Dig a a little deeper" before giving up any of your hard earned money.
Here is a previous post - I wrote - specifically on that thought:
BBB Worker Takes Job Processing Fraudulent eBay Transactions
Napstead in the past has offered nonexistent cellular services to his unsuspecting victims. Like most of the flim-flam men out there, he has phony business cards and a cell phone to conduct business.
Please note, that setting up a phony website is also becoming very common.
A recent comment on Paul's blog indicated that Napstead had been arrested after setting up a phony "debt consolidation" business and bilking those who already were suffering financial difficulties.
Pardon my "French," but what a "dirt bag!" Napstead is no "Robin Hood."
For the full story from Prying1, link here.
If you have been the victim of Mr. Napstead and the crime is yet to be reported, the Las Vegas Police Department might be interested.
Fraud come-ons from people lacking morals surround us, daily. They are found posted on telephone poles, newspaper classifieds - and of course - on the Internet. Because of the "sheer volume" of scams that exist out there (sadly enough) law enforcement lacks the resources to bring a lot of these small-time criminals to justice.
When you are dealing with an "unknown operator" of a business, it pays to do your homework before giving them one "solitary penny."
Here are some resources to do your homework:
Consumer World: Consumer Agencies
Better Business Bureau: BBB.
Quite frequently, a common mistake made (when doing your homework) is that if no information comes up (negative or positive); someone assumes the entity they are "checking out" is legitimate.
If you can find no information - whatsoever - do as Paul suggests in the theme of Prying1: "Dig a a little deeper" before giving up any of your hard earned money.
Here is a previous post - I wrote - specifically on that thought:
BBB Worker Takes Job Processing Fraudulent eBay Transactions
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Don't Trust a Bank to Tell You Whether a Check is Good, or Not
Just because someone at the bank tells you a check is good, it might not be the case. Here is a story written by Caroline Mayer of the Washington Post -- where someone selling a car on a auction site received a check for more than the amount of the purchase -- and was asked to wire the extra money back to the buyer.
The seller was suspicious and asked a teller at his bank (twice) to verify the check and was told it was good. Here is what happened next as Caroline Mayer reports:
Full story, link here.
This is a typical advance fee scam, where counterfeit checks, or money orders are used to dupe a seller.
So far, as the bank involved, I would recommend that they do a little "fraud awareness training" with their tellers to protect their customers from getting ripped off. Counterfeit checks often use good account numbers, which can be deceptive.
In my experience, the best way to verify a check is to contact the issuer of the item. If the check is counterfeit, or a forgery, laws in most areas allow it to be charged back for a year, or more.
And that is a long time to wait!
The seller was suspicious and asked a teller at his bank (twice) to verify the check and was told it was good. Here is what happened next as Caroline Mayer reports:
"Four days later, as he reviewed his account online, he discovered the check was not good. Even worse, the bank was demanding that he repay the $5,000."
"Had I made the deposit and not tried to make sure it was legitimate, I should have full obligation to make good on it," said Schaefer, 34, a facilities manager in Brattleboro, Vt. "But I checked with the bank twice, and now I find out they have no accountability."
"Schaefer is one of thousands of consumers who have been victimized by an increasingly common check scam that relies on the vagaries of the banking system to take advantage of unsuspecting consumers."
"Federal rules require banks to release funds from a consumer's deposit quickly, usually within one to five business days, depending on the kind of check. However, it can take weeks before a bank discovers a check is fraudulent."
Full story, link here.
This is a typical advance fee scam, where counterfeit checks, or money orders are used to dupe a seller.
So far, as the bank involved, I would recommend that they do a little "fraud awareness training" with their tellers to protect their customers from getting ripped off. Counterfeit checks often use good account numbers, which can be deceptive.
In my experience, the best way to verify a check is to contact the issuer of the item. If the check is counterfeit, or a forgery, laws in most areas allow it to be charged back for a year, or more.
And that is a long time to wait!
Cyber Gangs Luring Children to Launder Money
In Australia, a Triad (Chinese Organized Crime Gang) with ties to Malaysia and Russia recruited children to launder money, stolen as a result of "phishing" schemes. Teenagers and a few "20 something" types were recruited to receive the stolen funds in their own bank accounts. They would then turn over the money (minus a commission) to low level members of the gang, who would wire the money overseas.
Unfortunately, it appears from the article I read in the Sydney Herald by Frank Walker that no one at the higher echelons of the gang was apprehended.
For the full story from the Sydney Herald, link here.
Please note that the Australian authorities are prosecuting the individuals involved.
Criminal gangs involved in cyber-crime recruit people to launder the money from financial crimes all the time, and it doesn't only happen in Australia. In fact, evidence shows it is a worldwide issue that is getting worse all the time.
I recently wrote a post about a BBB (Better Business Bureau) employee, who was recruited to do pretty much the same thing:
BBB Worker Takes Job Processing Fraudulent eBay Transactions
Cyber crooks recruit people in chat rooms and even surf jobs sites like Monster.com looking for what they consider "dupes" to take all the "risks" for them. It appears (from this story) that they aren't above using our children to commit their "foul deeds."
Before accepting any job offers from an unknown source on the Internet, it's smart to do your homework. This is especially true, if you are asked to use your own financial resources to negotiate any financial transaction. Furthermore, if any of the above factors "ring true" and you are asked to "wire" money run away from the deal as fast as you can.
Here is a pretty good resource to educate yourself (and others) on Job Scams:
World Privacy Forum
Unfortunately, it appears from the article I read in the Sydney Herald by Frank Walker that no one at the higher echelons of the gang was apprehended.
For the full story from the Sydney Herald, link here.
Please note that the Australian authorities are prosecuting the individuals involved.
Criminal gangs involved in cyber-crime recruit people to launder the money from financial crimes all the time, and it doesn't only happen in Australia. In fact, evidence shows it is a worldwide issue that is getting worse all the time.
I recently wrote a post about a BBB (Better Business Bureau) employee, who was recruited to do pretty much the same thing:
BBB Worker Takes Job Processing Fraudulent eBay Transactions
Cyber crooks recruit people in chat rooms and even surf jobs sites like Monster.com looking for what they consider "dupes" to take all the "risks" for them. It appears (from this story) that they aren't above using our children to commit their "foul deeds."
Before accepting any job offers from an unknown source on the Internet, it's smart to do your homework. This is especially true, if you are asked to use your own financial resources to negotiate any financial transaction. Furthermore, if any of the above factors "ring true" and you are asked to "wire" money run away from the deal as fast as you can.
Here is a pretty good resource to educate yourself (and others) on Job Scams:
World Privacy Forum
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Is the Latest Congressional Scandal a Nigerian Fraud
The AP is now reporting the possible involvement of Nigerian Vice President Abubakar Atiku in the bribery scandal involving Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana.
To try to get some commentary on this, I went to Congressman Jefferson's site. The only thing I found "interesting" was a message to the "Katrina Victims." Unfortunately, Katrina has now - ALSO - proven to be a fraud-ridden event.
Now the AP is briefly mentioning that the Vice President of Nigeria was the intended recipient of the bribe and the African Press is discussing it in more detail.
As reported by the AP:
For the full story from the AP, courtesy of W-TOL in Toledo, Ohio, link here.
Nigeria has received a lot of bad press for being the "point of origin" for fraud schemes that have victimized people worldwide. In the past few years, President Olusegun Obasanjo has come down hard on fraud and with the help of his EFCC (Economic Financial Crimes Commission) prosecuted a lot of high profile cases, which were well publicized.
Here is a description of Nigerian fraud that I wrote in an earlier post:
"Nigeria is one of main sources for all sorts of Advance fee fraud (419) fraud scams. The Advance Fee scam is where a ruse is used to get a victim to send them money (nowadays normally wire-transfer) in anticipation of riches (or sometimes love) to come. The best known is the "Nigerian Letter," but the activity has mutated into romance, lottery, auction, check cashing, work at home and reshipping scams."
As reported by the AP:
While the name of the intended recipient of the $100,000 is blacked out, other details in the affidavit indicate he is Abubakar Atiku, Nigeria's vice president. He owns a home in Potomac, Maryland, that authorities have searched as part of the Jefferson investigation.
For the full story from the AP, courtesy of W-TOL in Toledo, Ohio, link here.
Nigeria has received a lot of bad press for being the "point of origin" for fraud schemes that have victimized people worldwide. In the past few years, President Olusegun Obasanjo has come down hard on fraud and with the help of his EFCC (Economic Financial Crimes Commission) prosecuted a lot of high profile cases, which were well publicized.
Here is a description of Nigerian fraud that I wrote in an earlier post:
"Nigeria is one of main sources for all sorts of Advance fee fraud (419) fraud scams. The Advance Fee scam is where a ruse is used to get a victim to send them money (nowadays normally wire-transfer) in anticipation of riches (or sometimes love) to come. The best known is the "Nigerian Letter," but the activity has mutated into romance, lottery, auction, check cashing, work at home and reshipping scams."
While the fraud that is exported from Nigeria is what we read about all the time, there is considerable evidence that fraud in Nigeria (at least historically) exists at all levels. The current President (Obasanjo) has led a very public campaign against corruption within Nigeria and is credited with making great strides in this area.
It will be interesting to see if the EFCC investigates the Vice President. AllAfrica.com is reporting the story, which quotes Atiku as saying Jefferson was name dropping and obviously committing a 419 (Nigerian Penal Code for Advance Fee) scam. In all fairness, most of the money was still in Congressman Jefferson's freezer, and he did indicate to the "informant" that the money had reached the intended recipient.
It will be interesting to see if the EFCC investigates the Vice President. AllAfrica.com is reporting the story, which quotes Atiku as saying Jefferson was name dropping and obviously committing a 419 (Nigerian Penal Code for Advance Fee) scam. In all fairness, most of the money was still in Congressman Jefferson's freezer, and he did indicate to the "informant" that the money had reached the intended recipient.
Please note that other fraudsters impersonating Nigerian fraud is nothing new. In the past, I've seen other groups do scams - which were made to look as if they came from Nigeria.
However, BiafraNigerianWorld.com wrote an article about the "mysterious" mansion in Potomac, and it's (legal) owner, Jennifer Douglas. According to BiAfra Nigerian World, the mansion was purchased after Atiku became Vice-President and Jennifer Douglas - who they describe as one of Atiku's many wives - is a student with no verifable income. Their article states that Ms. Douglas has left the United States and returned to Nigeria. The AP article states that this mansion, if they are one and the same, belongs to Atiku and makes no mention of Ms. Douglas.
BiAfra Nigerian World has a link to Maryland Property records showing Jennifer Douglas as the owner.
Another item mentioned in all the artices was a telecommunications deal with Nigeria, where the owner of the U.S. company in question has already pled guilty to giving Congressman Jefferson $400,000.00 to seal deals with Nigeria and "other African countries.
Link to the story from BiafraNigerianWorld.com, here.
The AP doesn't seem to come to any conclusions and the FBI isn't commenting yet, which could mean the matter is still under investigation.
The FBI recently added a page to their website, where the public can report government fraud.
Considering the recent activity with Tom Delay, Randy (Duke) Cunningham and now this investigation, they seem to be pretty busy in this arena.
Here are some previous posts, I've done on Nigerian Fraud:
419 From the Other Side of the Fence
Hard Drives for Nigeria
Nigerian Vice President Abubakar Atiku
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