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Watch out for scams involving discount utility services, million-dollar prizes and unemployment benefits

The latest identity theft schemes involve convincing victims to pay with gift cards to receive steep discounts on utility services, paying to claim a million-dollar prize and using stolen identities to file unemployment claims.

Written By: Robert E. Holtfreter, Ph.D., CFE

    • Fraud Prevention and Deterrence
    • Fraud Schemes
    • Identity Theft

Be alert to Medicare hospice fraud and new mobile job-offer cons, plus spot phishing scams

Creative scammers offer Medicare hospice services (to those who aren’t terminally ill). Beware of sophisticated job-offer frauds on mobile devices. And here’s how to spot pesky phishing scams.

Written By: Robert E. Holtfreter, Ph.D., CFE

    • Consumer Fraud and Scams
    • Cyberfraud
    • Identity Theft

National Public Data confirms 2.9 billion-record data breach and more

National Public Data confirms cybercriminals conducted massive data breach involving 2.9 billion records; Missouri woman is arrested for attempting to steal Graceland mansion; and Robert Telles is sentenced for the murder of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German.

Written By: Crystal Zuzek

    • Cyberfraud
    • Financial Transactions and Fraud Schemes
    • Identity Theft

Identity thieves steal PII with fake Google Authenticator ads, WhatsApp job scams and phony airline customer service reps

Identity thieves continue their quest for consumers’ personally identifiable information with three new scams. Beware fraudsters posing as airline customer service representatives on social media, mystery companies targeting job seekers on the WhatsApp instant messaging service and fake Google Authenticator ads masquerading as malware.

Written By: Robert E. Holtfreter, Ph.D., CFE

    • Fraud Prevention and Deterrence
    • Fraud Schemes
    • Identity Theft

Investigating the investigators, no profit in tragedy for identity thieves and more

Written By: Jennifer Liebman, CFE

    • Consumer Fraud and Scams
    • Government Fraud
    • Identity Theft

Toll-charge scam, five AI threats, CISA impersonation and reducing spam messages

Fraudsters pose as employees of toll road agencies and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to steal money and personal information from unsuspecting consumers. Also in this column, the author details how artificial intelligence is making it easier to commit cyberfraud, and how consumers can reduce the number of spam emails in their inboxes.

Written By: Robert E. Holtfreter, Ph.D., CFE

    • Consumer Fraud and Scams
    • Cyberfraud
    • Identity Theft

Fake tax refunds, business license scams and risky AI platforms

What makes fraudsters see dollar signs in their eyes? Personally identifiable information. Here are schemes designed to squeeze PII from victims via web links, the mail and insecure AI platforms.

Written By: Robert E. Holtfreter, Ph.D., CFE

    • Identity Theft

Identity thieves target social media influencers and college students in latest job scams

The FTC warns social media influencers and college students of job opportunities that are actually ploys to steal personal and financial information. Plus, identity thieves continue to scam people via work-from-home jobs and what you can do to avoid becoming a victim of these schemes.

Written By: Robert E. Holtfreter, Ph.D., CFE

    • Consumer Fraud and Scams
    • Identity Theft

Fraudsters steal pandemic cash in your name, infect business web gateways, and pilfer children’s health insurance money and PII

Fraudsters stole billions from U.S. federal COVID-19 loan programs. Now unsuspecting victims, who never applied for those loans, are receiving bills. Plus, business ‘NetScaler Gateways’ are attacked, and Medicaid children’s health insurance recipients are scammed.

Written By: Robert E. Holtfreter, Ph.D., CFE

    • Cyberfraud
    • Fraud Schemes
    • Identity Theft

All hoax and no cattle

Cody Easterday was a Washington state rancher and farmer with a sterling reputation. Then Tyson Foods discovered that for at least four years he sent fake invoices to that company, and another, for $244 million for the care and feeding of 265,000 head of cattle that didn’t exist. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and is serving an 11-year sentence in federal prison. Here’s an analysis of the fraud from a prosecutor, investigators and fraud examiners.

Written By: Dick Carozza, CFE

    • Asset Misappropriation
    • Criminology and Psychology
    • Fraud Investigation and Examination
    • Fraud Schemes
    • Identity Theft
    • Securities Fraud

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