Operators of some overseas scams will use American middle-men to collect money from victims before sending it on to the scammers. Federal prosecutors have accused one Florida man of being the cash conduit for a “lottery” scam being run out of Jamaica. [More]
Crime & Fraud
Former USPS Worker Joins Carrier Hall Of Shame With Mail Hoard Dating Back To 2000
By 2.23.17
We’ve all had a hard time keeping up at work at some point, maybe you get overwhelmed and things just pile up. But one former U.S. Postal Service worker admitted that he failed to deliver thousands of pieces of mail to residents over at least 14 years. [More]
Amazon Hasn’t Turned Over Echo Recordings Related To Murder Investigation
By 2.23.17
Nearly two months after police investigating a homicide in Arkansas served Amazon with search warrants, requesting any information that may have been stored on an Echo speaker located inside the suspect’s home. They wanted to know if the device’s “Alexa” virtual assistant had recorded any evidence of the murder, but Amazon has thus far refused to turn this information over to authorities. [More]
Feds Investigate Auto Lender For Its Use Of GPS Device To Remotely Disable Cars
By 2.22.17
Once upon a time, if you fell behind on your car loan, the repo guy came out in the middle of the night and took your collateral-on-wheels back. These days, there are small GPS devices that can remotely disable the ignition until the borrower pays up. However, one auto lender is currently facing a federal investigation for its use of this technology. [More]
Tech Industry Comes Out Against Possible DHS Collection Of Visitors’ Passwords
By 2.21.17
Earlier this month, newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told a Congressional committee that one of the possible forms of “extreme vetting” for visitors to the U.S. could include requiring them to hand over their login information for websites they visit. Today, a coalition made up of human rights organizations, consumer advocates, and the tech industry penned an open letter to Kelly, calling on DHS to not go down this path. [More]
Four Executives Fired Over Wells Fargo Fake Account Fiasco
By 2.21.17
The Wells Fargo fake account fiasco has already resulted in the “retirement” of the bank’s CEO, John Stumpf, and Carrie Tolstedt, Wells’ head of retail banking, for allowing employees to open millions of unauthorized accounts in customers’ names. But the bloodletting isn’t done yet, as Wells has dismissed four additional executives without the PR-friendly spin of “retirement.” [More]
Police Called To Same Chuck E. Cheese’s Twice In Two Months For Brawling Adults
By 2.21.17
Hey, remember back in December when adults sneaked booze into a Chuck E. Cheese’s and were arrested for attacking cops who came to deal with their illicit drinking? Another brawl broke out at the same restaurant yesterday, sending two guests to the hospital. [More]
Operator Of Foreclosure Rescue Scheme Sentenced To Four Years In Prison
By 2.17.17
During the housing crisis, consumers in danger of losing their homes were often approached by unscrupulous companies making false promises they could help consumers delay foreclosures or evictions. One such company brought in nearly $3 million, and now the man behind the scenes is headed to prison. [More]
Man Accused Of Planning To Put Bombs In Target Stores To Drive Down Company’s Stock
By 2.17.17
It’s not uncommon to hold a grudge against a company for one reason or another, but a Florida man allegedly took his beef a step further with a plot to set off homemade explosives in several Target stores on the East Coast. Why? Authorities say the man wanted to send Target’s stock into a tailspin. [More]
Court Grants Warrant For Samsung Vice Chair’s Arrest Related To Bribery Case
By 2.16.17
A month after Samsung’s vice chairman avoided arrest in connection with a South Korean bribery case, a court has approved a warrant for Jay Y. Lee’s arrest. [More]
Lawsuit Accuses Ticketmaster Of Hacking Rivals’ Databases To Steal Plans
By 2.16.17
It’s a pretty common rule, in the working world: When you leave one company and go to another, you generally lose access to internal, private documentation and plans the first company had. But a Ticketmaster rival claims that when one of their top executives left, not only did he keep documents he shouldn’t have, but also kept accessing his old company’s active databases to use their new records for Ticketmaster. [More]
Immigration Fraud Reports Increasing Amid Deportation Fears
By 2.15.17
Four months after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and a number of immigration advocates warned of a potential increase in immigration scams following the November election and the uncertain status of many consumers, the office says it has seen an uptick in fraudsters preying on immigrants uncertain about their status. [More]
Student Loan Debt Collector To Pay $700,000 For Unlawful Collection Practices
By 2.15.17
With more than 40 million consumers holding thousands of dollars in student loan debt, it’s no surprise that student loan debt collection is a growing business. Yet, these collectors must follow federal rules when it comes to enticing debtors to repay their obligations. Despite this, federal regulators say one company wasn’t following the rules, and must now pay $700,000. [More]
Here’s How Colombia Is Trying To Keep Cocaine Out Of Your Valentine’s Day Flowers
By 2.14.17
When you stick your face into a fresh bouquet of Valentine’s Day flowers and take a deep whiff, you’re not expecting to inhale a bunch of cocaine. That would be a huge problem, and one that flower exporters in South America are working hard to prevent in order to protect their business (and your noses). [More]
Hackers Use College’s Connected Vending Machines To Attack Network
By 2.14.17
What do you get when you combine Internet of Things devices, an overworked network, and an over abundance of seafood-related domain searches? A university attacked by its own malware-infected connected devices. [More]
Are Cardless ATMs Safe? $3,000 Goes Missing From Man’s Chase Account
By 2.13.17
Last year, Chase began installing cardless ATMs that allowed users to withdraw cash and perform other tasks by inputting a code sent to their banking app at the machine. While the system can be convenient and might relieve some of the worry of using ATMs compromised with a skimmer, the new machines pose other threats as one man learned when $3,000 disappeared from his account. [More]
Whistleblower Claims Major Baby Formula Company Used Defective Packaging
By 2.10.17
The business pages are lighting up this morning with the news that baby formula biggie Mead Johnson Nutrition — makers of Enfamil — is being bought by Reckitt Benckhiser (whose brands include baby-stopping Durex condoms) for $16.6 billion, but we’re more interested in a new whistleblower lawsuit from a former Mead Johnson executive who claims the company ignored concerns about defective packaging and fired her for trying to get the problem addressed. [More]
Two Women Charged With Filing More Than 850 Fraudulent Tax Returns Worth $2.78M
By 2.10.17
Every year you hear about identity thieves filing tax returns in other peoples’ names in order to snatch their refunds, but you may not realize what a big business this is for some crooks. Case in point: A pair of Illinois women who have pleaded guilty to filing more than 850 bogus returns worth nearly $2.8 million in refunds. [More]
