US Department of Justice: NFL Player Charged for Role in $24 Million COVID-Relief Fraud Scheme. “A National Football League (NFL) player has been charged for his alleged participation in a scheme to file fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $24 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.”
scams
Herald Scotland: Fraudsters exploit victims by hijacking Google’s search engine with fake financial and charity ads
Herald Scotland: Fraudsters exploit victims by hijacking Google’s search engine with fake financial and charity ads. “SCAMMERS are hijacking Google’s search engine to target victims with bogus financial and charity adverts, new research has found. Part of the racket was revealed after searches for terms such as ‘top Isa’, ‘best bonds’ and “best fixed rate bonds’. One victim lost £160,000 after clicking on a link for an investment scheme from a scammer posing as a respected firm.”
BBB Scam Alert: Photo sharing message phishes for your Google password (Better Business Bureau)
Better Business Bureau: BBB Scam Alert: Photo sharing message phishes for your Google password. “Don’t let your curiosity get the better of you. A new scam appears to be an email from Google, informing you that someone has shared a photo album with you. But it’s really a phishing scheme that’s after your password.”
Delhi Police Bust Jamtara Phishing Gang: Google-listed fake bank customer care toll-free number used to dupe people (DNA India)
DNA India: Delhi Police Bust Jamtara Phishing Gang: Google-listed fake bank customer care toll-free number used to dupe people. “The Delhi Police busted an online cyber phishing gang from Jamtara in Jharkhand. The gang used to phish off all the amount from people’s accounts after obtaining the registered phone number and bank details. The gang obtained the phone number and other details by registering a fake toll-free customer care number of banks or payment wallets on google phone listings.”
BBC: The ‘brushing’ scam that’s behind mystery parcels
BBC: The ‘brushing’ scam that’s behind mystery parcels. “If you’ve ever received a parcel from a shopping platform that you didn’t order, and nobody you know seems to have bought it for you, you might have been caught up in a ‘brushing’ scam.”
ProPublica: The FTC Is Investigating Intuit Over TurboTax Practices
ProPublica: The FTC Is Investigating Intuit Over TurboTax Practices. “The FTC probe, run out of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, centers on whether Intuit violated the law against unfair and deceptive practices in commerce. One focus of the investigation is whether TurboTax marketing misdirected customers who were eligible to file their taxes for free into paid products.”
BBC: Nigerian men arrested over German PPE ‘scam’
BBC: Nigerian men arrested over German PPE ‘scam’. “Two Nigerian men have been arrested for allegedly scamming a German state that tried to buy 2.3m euros (£2m) of personal protective equipment (PPE). Nigerian police say they cloned the website of a Dutch company to obtain an order from the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. When the PPE didn’t show up, a state government representative visited the company’s offices in the Netherlands.”
CNBC: Amazon is filled with fake reviews and it’s getting harder to spot them
CNBC: Amazon is filled with fake reviews and it’s getting harder to spot them. “From Facebook groups where bad actors solicit paid positive reviews to bots and click farms that upvote negative reviews to take out the competition, fake reviews are getting harder to spot. In July, UCLA and USC released a study that found more than 20 fake review related Facebook groups with an average of 16,000 members. In more than 560 postings each day, sellers offered a refund or payment for a positive review, usually around $6.
BuzzFeed News: Scammers Are Using Facebook To Prey On People In Kenya
BuzzFeed News: Scammers Are Using Facebook To Prey On People In Kenya. “Early last year, Elizabeth, a salon owner in Nairobi, needed business supplies but didn’t have enough money to buy them. She thought she had found an answer when she came across a sponsored post on Facebook from a page called KWFT Loans Kenya. ‘I saw the post had a sponsored sign and there was a Kenya Women Microfinance Bank logo. I thought to myself that this is probably the actual KWFT,’ she told BuzzFeed News, referring to the Kenya Women Microfinance Bank, a reputable microfinance institution that provides loans to women. It wasn’t KWFT.”
Ars Technica: Woz sues YouTube over “bitcoin giveaway” scam videos using his name
Ars Technica: Woz sues YouTube over “bitcoin giveaway” scam videos using his name. “Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has sued YouTube over the proliferation of ‘bitcoin giveaway’ scam videos on the YouTube platform. The videos falsely use the names of Wozniak and other celebrities—including Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin—to give the scams legitimacy.”
New York Times: How to Fight Health ‘Cures’ Online
New York Times: How to Fight Health ‘Cures’ Online. “Anne Borden King had already battled online health misinformation as a parent of a child with autism. Then, as a patient, she was barraged on Facebook by bogus cancer ‘cure’ advertisements after posting about her diagnosis. Borden, a co-founder of the Campaign Against Phony Autism Cures, talked to me about what we and Facebook can do to stamp out the worst kinds of junk health information that preys on people’s fears. It requires us to have some uncomfortable conversations, and for Facebook to fundamentally change how it works.”
Law360: DOJ Shuts Down Websites Shilling ‘False’ COVID-19 Vaccines
Law360: DOJ Shuts Down Websites Shilling ‘False’ COVID-19 Vaccines. “A Kentucky federal judge on Monday ordered the shutdown of a series of related websites and a Facebook page offering preregistration for a nonexistent COVID-19 vaccine in exchange for $100 worth of bitcoin after the Louisville man prosecutors claim is behind the scam agreed to a preliminary injunction.”
Security Magazine: FTC launches new online tool for exploring military consumer data
Security Magazine: FTC launches new online tool for exploring military consumer data. “The Federal Trade Commission launched a new tool that explores data about problems military consumers may experience in the marketplace. For the first time, data about reports the FTC has received from active duty service members and veterans will be available online in an interactive dashboard.”
CNN: Florida man and his sons charged with selling toxic chemical as a coronavirus cure to thousands
CNN: Florida man and his sons charged with selling toxic chemical as a coronavirus cure to thousands. “Three months after President Donald Trump suggested ingesting disinfectants as a treatment for coronavirus, a Florida man and his three sons are facing criminal charges for allegedly selling a toxic solution to tens of thousands of people as a cure for Covid-19.”
ProPublica: You Can Make Millions Selling Masks to the Government in Three Easy Steps
ProPublica: You Can Make Millions Selling Masks to the Government in Three Easy Steps. “Jason Cardiff didn’t want his new business to end up like his last one, an alleged pyramid scheme involving robocalling and selling unwitting customers bogus remedies to lose weight or quit smoking. One of his ventures, Prolongz, falsely claimed to offer men ‘increased ejaculation control.’ ‘I am not going to lose another company,’ Cardiff told his lawyer in an April 5 email, just before detailing a fantasy list of people he wanted to place on the board of his new venture, VPL Medical Inc.”
