
Is Digital Advertising the ‘Mother of All Money Laundries?’
Online ad fraud cost global brands and media companies $42 billion in 2019. Losses are projected to approach $100 billion worldwide by 2023, according to UK-based consultants Juniper Research. The integrity of the digital advertising industry has never been more in doubt. Just as the U.S. Treasury singled out fraud as the leading predicate crime for money laundering in its 2018 National Money Laundering Risk Assessment, proceeds from ad fraud are also reintegrated and rinsed via non-transparent, $336-billion digital media supply chains.
RG Coins cryptocurrency exchange owner lands 10 years behind bars for money laundering
Rossen Iossifov was the Bulgarian owner of RG coins and has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was sentenced after his actions of laundering millions of dollars from defrauded victims. The stolen money was converted to cryptocurrency and moved through cryptocurrency exchanges to hide the source of the
A Massive Fraud Operation Stole Millions From Online Bank Accounts
IBM researchers claim that they have uncovered a widespread automated fraud operation that leveraged a network of mobile device emulators to stead millions of dollars from targeted bank accounts in just days. The scale of the operation is unprecedented. According to IBM, the cybercriminals behind the campaign used roughly 20
Army Investigative Unit Looks to Detect and Trace Cryptocurrency Transactions
The Army Contracting Command, a top Pentagon investigative unit, announced plans to tap into an existing cloud-based solution in order to quickly detect unlawful cryptocurrency transactions. The entity invited potential new partners to offer opinions on their capacity to supply a cryptocurrency investigation service, stating that the application must provide
Big BEC Bust Brings Down Dozens
Federal officials have arrested two dozen individuals as part of a business email compromise scheme that has cost victims $30 million in total. The individuals were arrested on charges related to fraud and money laundering schemes. Most of the individuals reside in Atlanta, Georgia, and are alleged to have committed
First 100,000 Victims of Western Union Fraud Scheme Receive $153m
Western Union set up a remission fund to compensate the victims of a money transfer scam that hit thousands of its customers. The company states on Tuesday that it had begun paying approximately $153 million in funds that were forfeited to the US government to roughly 100,000 victims across the
British Charity Loses Over $1m in Domain Spoofing Scam
A UK based community housing charity lost over $1million in a domain spoofing and contractor impersonation scam, announcing its loss on Tuesday of this week. The charity, Red Kite Community Housing, stated that it had been a victim to a scam in which cybercriminals posed as service providers to steal
The Chrome Web Store is currently facing a wave of fraudulent transactions
The Google security team has indefinitely blocked the publishing of any commercial Chrome extensions due to a recent surge in the number of paid extensions engaging in fraudulent transactions through the Chrome Web Store. The transactions began to spike earlier this month, and Google engineers described the influx as happening
Hackers allegedly emptied brokerage accounts with a simple email scam — here’s how to protect yourself
In November, prosecutors in New York stated that a Lithuanian man named Vytautas Parfionovas and an unknown co-conspirator emptied the brokerage accounts of several victims, ultimately stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars. The cybercrimes occurred over eight years, starting in 2011, and consisted of the two perpetrators tricking day traders
‘Government Imposter’ Scammers Pay $1.2 Million in FTC Settlement
A settlement with the Federal Trade Commission requires three companies controlled by Thomas Henry Fred Jr. to pay $1.2 million for their involvement in a government imposter scheme, as well as a ban on sending further unsolicited direct mail to businesses. The campaign involved mailing thousands of business letters meant