The Kingpin and over 70 scammer associates were arrested by Europol and police partners; the network used pleas of “fake relatives” to extort victims for over EUR 5 million in damages
Taol – A reprint from a Native People’s Conferrence
“Taol, or traditional talking circles, is a traditional Native American practice that SCARS uses to help traumatized crime victims recover,” according to what I presented in a recent conference.
“Taol is a safe space where victims can share their stories with others who have been through similar experiences. This can help victims to feel less alone and to begin to heal from their trauma.”
![2,700 Scam Slaves Rescued In The Philippines [VIDEO] - on ScamsNOW.com](https://scamsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/wirestory_de16f11954700ffd432377267f571892_16x9_16001-e1688069675647-669x272.jpg)
Philippine police backed by commandos staged a massive raid this week and said they rescued more than 2,700 scam slaves – workers from China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and more than a dozen other countries who were allegedly swindled into working for fraudulent online gaming sites and other cybercrime groups.
European Judiciary and law enforcement present the first overview of the results of EncroChat investigations!
The dismantling of the encrypted communications tool EncroChat, widely used by organized crime groups (OCGs), has so far led to 6 558 arrests worldwide. 197 of those arrested were High-Value Targets. This result is detailed in the first review of EncroChat, which was presented today by the French and Dutch judicial and law enforcement authorities in Lille.
The successful takedown of EncroChat followed the efforts of a joint investigation team (JIT) set up by both countries in 2020, supported by Eurojust and Europol. Since then, close to EUR 900 million in criminal Read More …
Stalking law was gutted by the Supreme Court when it ruled on Tuesday, June 27th, 2023, that in order to find someone guilty of making a “true threat” courts must first determine that the person recklessly disregarded the fact that their words might be perceived as threats.
Police in France and Belgium say they have arrested 19 members of gangs involved in this extortion scam who sent people fake court summonses that accused them of viewing images of children being sexually abused.
People who received the extortion messages were threatened with prosecution and tricked into paying thousands of Euros in supposed fines.
The large-scale law enforcement operation clamped down on a poly-criminal network abusing public offices in Calabria and engaged in numerous types of crime, including hacking and cybercrime, fraud, and money laundering.
43 members of the criminal network ‘Ndrangheta were arrested in the early hours of 27 June in a joint operation supported by Europol and Eurojust. Over 1 000 officers from Italian, German and Austrian law enforcement authorities cracked down on members of the Italian criminal network based in Crotone, a city in the Italian province of Calabria. Among the detainees from the criminal network, who are predominantly of Italian nationality and include German and Austrian nationals, is a High-Value Target believed to be a key player in this particular criminal structure. 16 companies, Read More …
SCARS introduces a new proposal for the banking industry to help stop Wire Transfer Fraud/Scams (Authorized Push Payment Fraud) at the point of contact.
Almost all deterrents and education programs have failed to stop victims from sending money to criminals. Something more is needed. In the UK the bank employees call the local police to talk with victims and this has proven very effective, but that will not work in the United States. This proposal, we believe, addresses all the issues in a process already compliant with U.S. law.
The Nigerian Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) Arrests 49 Internet Fraud Suspects in Ekiti, Oyo, Nigeria
In a typical week, the Nigerian EFCC is taking down 2-3 small-medium-sized gangs a week. Unfortunately, almost never large-scale organizations.
The Nigerian suspects were arrested at Ikere Road and Iworoko areas of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State following intelligence on their alleged cyber fraud activities in the State.
The Nigerian suspects are Adeyemi Joshua Adeniran, Ajaye Redmond Damilare, Nwaji Mathew, Jegede Boluwaji Victor, Oyetunji Sunday Wole, Damilola Awopetu Ayomide, Ajayi Temitope Ayomide, Babajide Adebisi Victor, Read More …
Businesses are aware they need to plan for their cybersecurity, but they don’t know they also need to plan for their failure!
All cybersecurity is ultimately dependent on people, and people fail.
In fact, people almost always fail – not every day, but eventually, someone will make a mistake. Cybersecurity must do the right things 100% of the time, but the bad guys only need one mistake.
Local police & sheriff departments are the first responders for their citizens, but in the war against cybercrime, most of them have thrown up their hands and told their citizens there is nothing they can do!
However, local police need financial support to get the tools, training, and even personnel needed to do the job well.
Why Organisations Should Avoid ‘Blame And Fear’, And Instead Use Technical Measures To Manage The Threat From Phishing Links.
Let’s start with a basic premise: several of the established tenets in security simply don’t work.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Patrice Runner, 57, a Canadian and French citizen, operated a mass-mailing Psychic fraud scheme from 1994 through November 2014.
As part of the scheme, Runner sent Psychic letters to millions of U.S. consumers, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable.
According to court documents, Emmanuel Samuel, 39, a Nigerian, was part of a group of fraudsters that sent personalized letters to elderly victims in the United States, falsely claiming that the sender was a representative of a bank in Spain and that the recipient was entitled to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance left for the recipient by a family member who had died years before in Portugal.
The Black Swan theory, popularized by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, describes unpredictable events with significant impacts, often rationalized after the fact.
It originated from the unexpected discovery of black swans challenging the belief that all swans were white. These events are rare, have profound effects, and are often rationalized with hindsight bias.
These influencers have exploited their followers, convincing them to part with their hard-earned savings for miracle cancer cures and other fraudulent products.
To avoid facial recognition and apply for loans on mobile banking applications, a fraudster “taped photos of his victims’ faces onto a DUMMY,” according to police.
INTERPOL HQ SINGAPORE: For the past several years, INTERPOL has been closely observing a growing crime phenomenon: large-scale human trafficking where victims are lured through fake job ads to online scam centres and forced to commit cyber-enabled financial crime on an industrial scale.
As a local police officer, you probably never considered this, but YOU CAN send a local victim’s complaint to police agencies in other countries on behalf of your local victims!
In the most explosive investigation of the year, 7NEWS Spotlight’s award-winning broadcaster Liam Bartlett busts open a billion-dollar British scammer crime cartel that is fleecing Australians of more than $4 million each and every week.
Sometimes blame is justified, sometimes there is cause, and it is very hard to remove it from your vocabulary – but it is always destructive.
I recently heard a cybersecurity training professional tell a story about motivating a corporate team to do better with cybersecurity. It was something to the effect that they needed to learn the material because “You don’t want to be the one that lets a breach happen!” That is blame!
Romance scammers tell all sorts of lies to steal your heart and money, and reports to the FTC show those lies are working. Last year’s romance scam numbers looked a lot like 2021 all over again, and it’s not a pretty picture. In 2022, nearly 70,000 people reported a romance scam and reported losses hit a staggering $1.3 billion.[1] The median reported loss: $4,400.[2]
Online social engineering relationship & other scams rely heavily on the technique of “Gaslighting” to hold and manipulate its victims.
That Is $6 Trillion Dollars A Year in costs just from cybercrime! It Will Soon Pass $8 Trillion (According To Some Estimates).
Cybercrime is costing more than the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of 8 of the top 10 economies in the world!
A commentary on the state of cybercrime/cybersecurity training and helping victims avoid scams/fraud/cybercrime.
Cybercrime training, also known as cybersecurity training, is a form of education that aims to teach individuals and organizations how to protect themselves against cyberattacks and other forms of online threats. But it mostly has failed.
