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The banking industry is seeking help from the federal government and the social media industry to stop an escalating crisis that's costing Americans billions of dollars every year: online romance scams. These digital crimes have proliferated since the pandemic, as criminals pose as attractive partners and reach out to lonely Americans on social media. "We need the social media companies to shut down these people that are putting these out there. The romance scams are run by organized criminal gangs, often based in Southeast Asia, that set up phony social media avatars and use those to connect to potential American victims. Erin West, deputy district attorney in Santa Clara County, California, estimated that between $30 billion and $50 billion was lost to romance scams in 2022.
Persons: Paul Benda, Benda, I've, Scammers, We're, We've, Banks, Erin West, they'd, there's, Bria Cousins Organizations: American Bankers Association, CNBC Locations: Southeast Asia, Santa Clara County , California
In 2021, banks reported nearly 250,000 cases of check fraud nationwide, according to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a unit of the U.S. Treasury Department. By last year, that number exploded: nearly 460,000 check fraud cases were reported – an increase of 84%. "Check fraud, and perhaps fraud in general flourishes on Telegram mainly due to its unrestrictive nature," Noriega said. Even so, Q6 was able to find at least 30 channels on Telegram dedicated to providing the latest tips and techniques to commit bank fraud. "Telegram is unfortunately a source for all things check fraud," Noriega said.
U.S. banks flagged ransomware-related transactions adding up to more than $1 billion in 2021, the Treasury Department said, although risk experts said that barely scratches the surface of cybercrime’s true economic scale. In 2020, such transactions totaled $416 million across 487 reports. FinCEN is an arm of the Treasury that analyzes financial data to identify money laundering, terrorist financing and other crimes. Reports from the first six months of 2021 alone exceeded the total for all of 2020, FinCEN said, noting that around 75% of incidents in 2021 stemmed from Russia-based cyber actors. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ Pro Cybersecurity Cybersecurity news, analysis and insights from WSJ's global team of reporters and editors.
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