Identity fraud is booming, with the number of reported cases up by nearly half in three years. The annual Face of Fraud Report published today maps identity fraud activity across Britain and the profiles of likely victims. Link to article
Month: February 2014
Counterfeit 2014 World Cup tickets
Fifa enforcement officers fear a repeat of 2010 World Cup in South Africa counterfeit ticket fiasco, as fans may fall victim to multi-million-pound black market fraud. In a case, which is just an example of the multi-million-pound fraud, agents working on behalf of Wembley-based Infinity Tours were found circulating brochures stating they could “supply match […]
BA issues warning over phishing emails
A warning has been issued by British Airways about a fake ‘phishing’ email purporting to come from the airline. A man from County Down in Northern Ireland received an email from BC.CustSrvcs@email.ba.com on Monday confirming an order for a flight from London on February 26 with a price of £490. Link to article
Air India lands in another ticket scam
Loss-making Air India has flown into another multi-crore scam involving its staff passing on free tickets meant for families of the airline’s employees, to unscrupulous travel agents for sale at commercial rates to air passengers. Air India’s vigilance department has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the fraud involving travel agents selling […]
Staff frauds on the rise
Economic crime continues to affect UK companies, with theft from employers on the rise, according to PwC’s Global Economic Crime Survey 2014. The number of frauds committed by staff, as opposed to those outside an organisation, has risen from 34% in 2011 to 41% in 2013. Link to article
Disneyland ticket scam
A Ceres couple were arrested Wednesday afternoon on suspicion of 41 crimes stemming from the sales of bogus Disneyland tickets. Jessica Melendez, 33, and Israel Vasquez, 32, are accused of buying two-day Disneyland passes from AAA, then selling photocopies of them to people looking for a deal on Craigslist. Link to article
BBC scam email
Your Email ID have won you 800,000 Pounds from BBC LOTTERY AWARD 2014 For claims send your details. Full Name:……. Full Address:……. Phone No:……. Age:……. NOTE: Send your information to this email: bbcpromotioncenter@null.net PROMOTION MANAGER NAME: DR. GEORGE WILLIAMS PHONE 0044 8719151700
Kidney disease scam
From: SIMON BEESLEY [mailto:] Sent: 21 February 2014 09:21 Subject: Please Be Of Help………….SIMON BEESLEY I really hope you get this fast. I could not inform anyone about My trip to Greece, Am in Greece to see my ill cousin she is suffering from Kidney disease and must undergo Kidney transplant to save her life […]
Fraudsters target Tesco Clubcard Vouchers
Tesco has suspended thousands of online accounts after cybercriminals targeted log-in credentials and Clubcard points. The deactivation comes after thousands of usernames and passwords – taken from non-Tesco websites – appeared on a text sharing website. Fraudsters then used that data to crack accounts at Tesco.com, relying on the fact that some people use the […]
Car insurance fraudsters cause 1,000 accidents a week
Insurance fraudsters have staged over 300,000 car accidents since 2008 in scams that affect more than 1,000 innocent motorists a week and push up premiums for all drivers. Link to article
Fake car insurance on Gumtree
Mohammed Samad Ali received an eight month custodial sentence, suspended for two years, and 200 hours unpaid work at the Old Bailey today (Thursday 13 February 2014) after he admitted posting five adverts offering cheap car insurance on the classifieds website in a bid to dupe drivers into paying for phoney policies. Link to article
The cost of online dating fraud
As the use of the internet for dating increases, so do the number of scams associated with it . . . and the amount of money lost. In the UK, this type of fraud is costing the victims a heart-breaking £24.5million per year, with over 2,800 people reporting online dating related crimes in 2013 alone. […]
Fraudsters jailed in cold calling scam
A judge has handed jail terms totalling almost 30 years to 14 people involved in a large scale cold calling telephone scam. Posing as Sky TV sales agents, the operation often targeted the elderly who “were pounced on in glee as easy marks” with sales patter which was “bullying and humiliating”. Link to article
Cyber crime prevention
UTTER the words “cyber crime” and many minds will conjure up an image of an awkward teenager, tapping away in their bedroom well into the early hours. But cyber crime can be much scarier than that. Threats today also come from criminal networks and foreign governments that deploy cyber weapons. Some of these assailants are […]
Police launch crackdown on fake retailers
The police are stepping up efforts to fight fraud involving criminals impersonating large UK food retailers. Link to article
Victim of fraud: how to reclaim your identity
Over four million people in the UK have been a victim of identity fraud, and the number of victims is rising faster than ever before: some 80,000 people had their identity stolen in the last year alone. The UK Fraud Prevention Service found that the average person loses £1,190 from the theft of their identity, […]
Hotel operator investigating data security breach
White Lodging Services Corp. is investigating a potential credit-card security breach. The hotel management company has 171 hotels in its portfolio, include 78 properties under Marriott International’s Courtyard and Residence Inn brands. White Lodging “has experienced unusual fraud patterns in connection with its systems that process credit card transactions at a number of hotels across […]
Fake vouchers and how to avoid fraud
Vouchers and coupons give customers key incentives to develop their interest in a brand but as the appeal of the marketing lever rises so do the stakes around misuse, counterfeiting and scams. Link to article
Hackers caught selling Target card data
Eastern European cyber criminals have been caught selling customer data stolen during a raid on US retailer Target, say security researchers at FireEye. The Target breach is believed to have occurred between 27 November and 15 December. It saw hackers break into Target’s systems and compromise over 40 million credit and debit card accounts. Link […]
Police ransomware warning
Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre has warned internet users to remain vigilant against the “exponential” growth in police ransomware, which tricks users into handing over cash to criminals. The scam uses malware that displays warnings on a user’s computer pretending to be from a law enforcement agency and claims that because the user has engaged in […]