Remember life before social media? How quiet and content we seemed to be? How the only place we got our information was from the local news or cable outlet? Maybe a phone call, or via email? Today however, we seem to be inundated with information, with raw unfiltered data, left to our thoughts and perceptions […]
Category: Latest Fraud News
Over 60 % of fraud is data driven identity crime
CIFAS – the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service warns that six out of every ten frauds recorded to the CIFAS database in 2013 were dependent on the abuse of identity details. As previously revealed in this year’s Fraudscape report, the use of fictitious identities or the abuse of identity details to obtain a product or service […]
Holiday Extras investigates security breach
Holiday Extras is investigating how the email addresses of nearly 5,000 of its customers were wrongly shared online. It is contacting 4,852 customers to tell them about the security breach, which it blamed on a mistake by one of its marketing partners. In a note to its customers, Holiday Extras assured them that their payment […]
Property fraud victim criticises sentence
A man swindled out of almost £50,000 in a Spanish property fraud has criticised the length of the sentence given to the woman who stole his money. Chris Faloon handed over £48,000 as part-payment for an apartment that he thought he had bought. But when he went to inspect the property, the real owner was […]
Most wanted men in Cyprus revealed
A new search has been launched to find some of the UK’s most-wanted fugitives thought to be hiding in Cyprus. Christakis Philippou, 70, also known as Christakis Chrysostomou, is wanted by the Met Police after he was convicted of being involved in scams in which travel agency businesses were used to defraud 20,000 people Link […]
Heartbleed bug: which passwords should you change?
The Heartbleed bug is thought to have affected two thirds of web servers worldwide. A web encryption flaw known as the ‘Heartbleed’ bug has made headlines this week, after it emerged that attackers could exploit the flaw to steal passwords, credit card details, encryption keys and other sensitive data, without leaving any trace. Link to […]
70 arrested in action day tackling airline fraud
On 8 and 9 April 2014 law enforcement agencies from across the world, supported by the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) at Europol, joined forces with the airline, travel and credit card industries in the largest ever attack upon online fraud and illegal immigration. Rapid increases in Internet-facilitated crime have left millions of innocent people affected […]
Travel firm used as front to launder £84k
A travel agency and money transfer business was used as a front to launder more than £84,000 cash, which was found stuffed into Tesco carrier bags. Fly London Travel in Preston, owned by businessman Salauddin Patel, was under observation in May 2012, after officers from the Organised Crime Division monitored text messages they believed to […]
Agent convicted of fraud told to expect prison
A travel agent who stole thousands of pounds from the family-run business where she worked has been told to expect a prison sentence after being convicted by a jury. A jury of eight men and four women found Belinda Traves guilty of three counts of fraud and three of theft, totalling £13,302. Link to article
Call centre boss jailed over Microsoft PC virus scam
Trading standards staff in York have won a landmark case after successfully prosecuting the man behind a Microsoft computer scam which tricks customers into paying for free anti-virus software. Link to article
Help tackle cyber crime
The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) based in the City of London Police has today called upon advertisers and brand holders to continue to support its work to tackle Intellectual Property crime following the launch of its Infringing Website List (IWL). The IWL, the first of its kind to be developed, sets out to […]
Fight against credit card fraud
The Home Office today unveiled plans to fight criminal gangs responsible for steep rises in UK credit and debit card fraud. A new police unit will be launched on Monday as a two-year pilot scheme to focus on card counterfeiting, which has become the UK’s worst type of card fraud. Link to article
Banks should treat card fraud victims better
More than 1.5 million people have cash stolen from credit and debit cards every year, with one in ten wrongly denied a refund by banks. Thousands of victims of card fraud wrongly denied refunds could finally get their money back from banks that try to avoid paying compensation, it has emerged. Link to article
Tourist Scams
Few things are going to cause you stress on a trip abroad, like getting cheated, duped, taken advantage of or just plain screwed over. When we travel, we often let our guard down, because we’re curious about people in our host country, we want to be liked, and we want to believe that we’ll be […]
£150,000 paid to tour operator goes missing
Police are investigating the disappearance of around £150,000 paid by a school to a tour operator for a dream Caribbean sporting holiday for pupils that never materialised. Parents of children at Wrekin College, near Telford, Shropshire, had forked out thousands of pounds for the luxury sunshine break to Barbados on April 7. But they were […]
Fraud probe over collapsed golf tour firm
A criminal investigation is expected to be launched into a Yorkshire tour operator that took about £500,000 for overseas trips that it allegedly never booked. More than 200 people, including a number of charities, have been left out of pocket following the collapse of Augusta Golf Tours Ltd. Link to article
Cheap Flights Ticket – bogus websites
Welcome to Cheap Flights Ticket! Your online travel agency. As one of the world’s leading online travel companies, we make it easy to plan your next business or leisure trip. Explore our site, mobile apps, and Facebook page to discover destination ideas, get information about flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises and more, then book and […]
WestJet warns about ongoing phone scam
WestJet today issued another warning to Canadians to avoid sharing their credit card numbers and other private information with fraudsters posing as WestJet or WestJet Vacations. Link to article
Why So Many Retail Stores Get Hacked
When a big retailer gets hacked, it’s often quick to note that it has complied with cybersecurity rules set by the credit card industry. MasterCard (MA), Visa (V), and other card companies require retailers to pass an audit sanctioned by the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council, an industry group. Link to article
Mexico holiday swindle
A woman who tried to claim a refund on a £5,000 holiday she hadn’t finished paying escaped a prison sentence after she admitted fraud. Kimberley Hooper, 29, booked a holiday to Mexico through the travel agent Holidays Your Way Ltd in Cwmbran, where she worked as a telesales assistant. Link to article