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☆ The FCC just fined an international network of robocallers nearly $300 million for making 5 billion calls in a three month span
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The FCC just fined a group of scammers a record-breaking $299,970,000. The commission said the fraudsters made 5 billion auto warranty-related scam calls in three months. Two of the men charged, Roy M. Cox and Aaron Michael Jones, had already previously been banned from making telemarketing calls. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Additionally, Insider reported that the prevalence of COVID-related phone scams have risen in 2023, three years after the virus shut down the country.

Persons: Roy M, Cox, Aaron Michael Jones, Jones Organizations: FCC, Service, Federal Communications Commission, State of, Federal Trade Commission, Medicare, Medicaid Services Locations: Wall, Silicon, State, State of Texas

☆ 'It's a little frightening': Worldcoin surged 111% on its opening day. 2 experts explain why they would never scan their eyes in exchange for the crypto, and why they think the hype will fade.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

On opening day, the WLD token surged from $1.70 to $3.58, up by about 110.6%, according to CoinMarketCap data compiled by Bloomberg. Isaac Patka, a former electrical engineer in the semiconductor industry turned crypto developer in 2017, believes the hype will soon fade. People could be exploited by signing up to get their irises scanned and then sell their accounts for a little bit of money in exchange for giving up their identity, Patka added. Now, what I mean by that is, if you're using a blockchain, it gets written to the blockchain," Arone said. You also run the risk of changes to the system, Arone added.

Persons: Isaac Patka, Geoffrey Arone, Sam Altman, aren't, it's, Patka, Worldcoin, Shield3, Arone, there's Organizations: Bloomberg, Arrington Capital, Experian, Clear

☆ Congress hands the crypto industry two wins and a loss before August recess
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The House Financial Services Committee advanced a measure Thursday to establish a clear regulatory framework for the issuance of payment stablecoins. The bills' approvals, after a roughly 14-month debate between committee Republicans and Democrats, can be viewed as wins for the crypto industry, whose reputation on Capitol Hill was battered by the failure of crypto giant FTX last fall. Late Thursday night, the Senate passed a massive defense funding bill that included several measures from different bills the digital-assets industry has opposed. Warren also highlighted the National Defense Authorization Act rider this week by reintroducing her bill, the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act. The House crypto bills would likely garner enough support to pass in the Republican-controlled House, but struggle to gain traction in the Democratic-controlled Senate

Persons: Elizabeth Warren, Patrick McHenry, Jim Himes, Josh Gottheimer, Crypto, Sen, Warren, Democratic Sen, Joe Manchin, Roger Marshall of, Lindsey Graham of Organizations: Banking, Housing, Urban Affairs Committee, WASHINGTON — Lawmakers, Capitol, Financial Services Committee, Financial Services, Connecticut, Republicans, Democrats, Treasury Department, Treasury, Defense, Money, Democratic, Senate, Republican Locations: Massachusetts, Washington , DC, R, New Jersey, crypto's, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina

☆ Opinion | Why California and Florida Have Become Almost Uninsurable
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Wildfires in California and hurricanes in Florida produced lots of claims. The state Office of Insurance Regulation said last year that Florida accounted for 79 percent of the nation’s homeowners insurance lawsuits over claims filed while making up only 9 percent of the nation’s homeowners insurance claims. California is the only state that won’t allow insurers to use rising reinsurance costs to justify rate-hike requests. California’s FAIR Plan, short for Fair Access to Insurance Requirements, is backed by all the insurers licensed to operate in the state. If the FAIR Plan loses money, the state is entitled to assess the private insurers.

Persons: Nancy Watkins, It’s, Rex Frazier, ” Organizations: Howden Tiger, Howden Group Holdings, of Insurance, San, FAIR, Personal Insurance Federation of California Locations: California, Florida, London, Howden, San Francisco

Certain forms of identity theft, like synthetic identity theft or child identity theft, are harder to detect. You can also enroll in an identity theft protection service that can monitor the dark web for your information and provide identity theft insurance, usually up to $1 million. The best identity theft protection services will also provide you with personalized expert assistance if you experience more identity theft. While credit-related identity theft is more common, "identity theft can occur in other areas, including medical records, tax filings, social media accounts, employment history, and even criminal records," says Josh Amishav, founder and CEO of Breachsense, a data breach monitoring platform. Identity theft recovery frequently asked questionsCan you fully recover from identity theft?

Persons: you'll, David Burroughs, IdentityTheft.gov, You'll, Burroughs, you've, Equifax, Allen, Michael Bruemmer, haven't, Josh Amishav Organizations: FTC, Federal Trade Commission, Social, FBI, Social Security, Services, Social Security Administration Locations: AnnualCreditReport.com, Atlanta, Allen , TX, Chester ,

☆ Walmart shoppers may have used fake payment machines that look identical to the real thing — here's how to avoid 'skimmers'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Our experts answer readers' credit card questions and write unbiased product reviews (here's how we assess credit cards). Authorities have seized a batch of remarkably sophisticated credit card skimmers that fraudsters installed in Walmart stores in central New York and Maine. The skimming devices are designed to fit over the real payment terminal in order to capture customers' financial data during a transaction. One of the card skimming devices seized by law enforcement. The FBI estimates credit card skimming fraud costs consumers and financial institutions more than $1 billion per year, and recommends shoppers take precautions to avoid falling victim to the scam.

Persons: York State Police Major Vincent Lightcap, we're Organizations: Service, Privacy, Police, Authorities, Walmart, New York State Police, York State Police, YouTube, NewsChannel Locations: Wall, Silicon, New York, Maine, Oswego , New York

☆ The curious cases of the nonexistent silver coins, vanishing crypto, and stones in place of nickel – 3 bizarre investment frauds of 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Joseph Wilkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

As in previous years, the world of investments has continued to see several frauds and scandals come to light in 2023. Some of the more peculiar cases involved missing silver coins, untraceable crypto, and bags filled with stones instead of nickel. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalyis has sounded the alarm on a possible inside-job by members of staff – linking the disappearance of its founder with the missing coins. London Metal Exchange-approved contracts are regarded as the gold standard for metal investors and this mix-up called the security of the prestigious market into question. Read more: Over half a million silver coins just vanished – now the metals dealer behind the 'fraudulent' scheme must pay $146 million

Persons: Robert Leroy Higgins, Higgins, Multichain, Read Organizations: Service, Eagle, Asset, Depository Company, CFTC, JPMorgan, London Metal Exchange Locations: Wall, Silicon, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Transactions associated with sanctioned entities accounted for 44% of 2022's record-high $20.1 billion worth of crypto crime, Chainalysis said in January. Crypto payments to ransomware attackers hit $449.1 million in the first half of 2023, up $175.8 million from the same period last year, Chainalysis said. If this continues, ransomware attackers will have their second best year on record, the analysts added. "Big game hunting - that is, the targeting of large, deep-pocketed organizations by ransomware attackers - seems to have bounced back after a lull in 2022. At the same time, the number of successful small attacks has also grown," Chainalysis said.

Persons: Chainalysis, fraudsters, Elizabeth Howcroft, Sinead Cruise, Mark Potter Organizations: Thomson

Phillip alleged Barclays owed her a duty to ignore her instructions if the bank had reasonable grounds to suspect she was being defrauded. "Where the customer has authorised and instructed the bank to make a payment, the bank must carry out the instruction promptly," he said. "It is not for the bank to concern itself with the wisdom or risks of its customer's payment decisions." James Levy, a partner at law firm Ashurst, said the onus was on customers to ensure payment instructions were bona fide. The Supreme Court, however, allowed Philipp to pursue an alternative case against Barclays on the grounds that the bank breached its duty by failing to take adequate steps to recover the money transferred to the UAE.

Persons: Fiona Philipp, Phillip, George Leggatt, James Levy, Ashurst, Philipp, Sam Tobin, Kirstin Ridley, Louise Heavens, Barbara Lewis, Jane Merriman Organizations: Barclays, Wednesday, Court, United Arab Emirates, Payment Systems, Financial Services, UAE, Thomson Locations: fraudsters, UAE

☆ E-commerce experts say these 4 checkout mistakes may hurt your business' bottom line
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Insider Studios With Paypal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

But many customers still witness challenges during and after checkout, including false declines and fraud. Below are four common checkout mistakes that enterprise e-commerce businesses make and how to avoid them. If those thresholds are too conservative, they can lead to false declines; if they're too liberal, they become more vulnerable to fraud. E-commerce merchants lost an estimated $11.1 billion in false declines last year. The machine learning models can distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent transactions to reduce false declines.

Persons: they're, Cindy Turner, Turner, Chargebacks, PayPal Braintree6, Experian, Cartes Organizations: Enterprise, PayPal, PayPal Braintree, Merchants, Insider Studios, Accounting, Deloitte, Novarica, Naked, LexisNexis, DE Locations: PayPal Braintree, Risk, chargebacks, . CA

New York CNN —The Small Business Administration distributed more than $200 billion in potentially fraudulent Covid-19 relief funds, according to a federal watchdog. At least 17% of the $1.2 trillion distributed by the SBA was wasted in fraud, the report found. Most of the fraud apparently happened through the EIDL funds, with the inspector general estimating more than $136 billion of fraudulent activity in that program. While the program successfully helped many companies pay workers during the pandemic, it was plagued by questionable lending and rampant fraud. To date, the agency has recovered nearly $30 billion in funds, according to the report.

Persons: Chris Steakhouse, Trump Organizations: New, New York CNN, Small Business Administration, SBA, Washington, PPP, Los Angeles Lakers Locations: New York

☆ US announces charges in $2.5 billion healthcare fraud takedown
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | Thomson Reuters | Sarah N. Lynch Is The Lead Reporter For Reuters Covering The U.S. Justice Department Out Of Washington | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Of the $2.5 billion in alleged fraudulent claims to Medicare, state Medicaid programs that serve the poor and supplemental Medicare insurance programs offered by private insurers, about $1.1 billion was actually paid out to the fraudsters, officials said. The charges, filed or unsealed from June 12 through to Wednesday, involved a series of cases comprising similar types of schemes. The claims get submitted to federal or state insurance programs for reimbursement. The types of medical services at the heart of such schemes usually involve those that pay the highest reimbursement rates. Past examples of such services targeted by fraudsters have included durable medical equipment, genetic testing and other lab diagnostic services.

Persons: Merrick Garland, telemarketers, fraudsters, Sarah N, Lynch, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S . Justice Department, Wednesday, Medicare, Department, Thomson Locations: New Jersey, Wisconsin

☆ AI Voice Generators Are Fueling a Terrifying New Phone Scam
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Eve Upton-Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

As soon as he heard his dad's voice, Eddie, a 19-year-old TikToker, knew something was up. But with AI, the voice on the other end of the phone can now sound eerily like the real deal. Plus, more people are making their real voice available to scammers: McAfee said 53% of adults shared their voice data online weekly. McAfee also found that over one-third of victims lost more than $1,000 in AI scams, with 7% losing more than $5,000. Then, the scammer can just type out whatever they want, and the AI voice will speak what is typed in real time.

Persons: Eddie Cumberbatch, Eddie, —, Eddie's, Eddie didn't, tricksters, scammers, McAfee, aren't, Richard Mendelstein, Stella, panicking, it's, Steve Grobman, Grobman, they've, Neil Gorsuch, Kamala Harris, Ally Armeson, cybercrime, Armeson, Eve Upton, Clark Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, People, FTC, McAfee, Google, Washington Post, Supreme, Cybercrime Support Locations: Chicago, Mexico City, Canadian

☆ EU proposes payments sector shake-up, legal backing for digital euro
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - The European Union on Wednesday proposed injecting more competition into the payments sector, giving legal backing to a digital euro, and preserving the role of cash as fewer people use coins and notes. EU states and the European Parliament have the final say on the package, with some changes likely. "We are going to clearly identify the obstacles that the fintechs should never have been encountering," an EU official said. Electronic payments in the EU has grown from 184.2 trillion euros ($201.7 trillion) in 2017 to 240 trillion euros in 2021, accelerated by COVID-19. The European Central Bank is due in October to decide whether to push ahead with a digital euro.

Persons: Huw Jones Organizations: European Union, Commission, Visa, Mastercard, COVID, EU, European Central Bank, Thomson Locations: U.S

☆ More than $200 billion in Covid loans potentially stolen by fraudsters, watchdog says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Fraudsters potentially stole more than $200 billion in federal loans intended to help small businesses struggling during the Covid pandemic, a government watchdog said on Tuesday. More than $136 billion from Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and $64 billion from the Paycheck Protection Program loans was potentially stolen, the inspector general found. In total, SBA disbursed $400 billion in EIDL funds and $800 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans during the life of the programs. These investigations have led to nearly $30 billion in stolen loans being seized or returned by federal law enforcement agencies. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provided low-interest, fixed-rate loans to help small businesses nd other organizations to help cover their operating expenses.

Persons: Kevin Chambers, Hannibal, Mike, Ware, Michael Horowitz, Roy D, Dotson Jr, Bailey DeVries, DeVries, Trump, nonpayment Organizations: Department of Justice, Small Business Administration, United States Secret, Small, Administration, Injury, SBA Locations: Rayburn, Washington ,

Our experts choose the best products and services to help make smart decisions with your money (here's how). Fraudulent activity by scammers trying to get your personal information has increased significantly. Check washing, robo calls, and even student loan forgiveness scams can walk scammers right into your bank account. Student loan forgiveness scamHow it works: Under the Biden Administration, student loan forgiveness applications opened in 2022. Be skepticalRight now, money scams are at an all-time high.

Persons: —, scammers, they're, It's Organizations: Service, Biden Administration, Social, Department of Education, US Postal Service

WASHINGTON, June 27 (Reuters) - Over $200 billion from the U.S. government's COVID-19 relief programs were likely stolen, a federal watchdog said on Tuesday, adding that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) had weakened its controls in a rush to disburse the funds. The SBA disputed the more than $200 billion figure put forward by the watchdog and said the inspector general's approach had significantly overestimated fraud. The agency said its experts put the likely fraud estimate at $36 billion and added that over 86% of that likely fraud took place in 2020, when the administration for former President Donald Trump was in office. The fraud estimate put forward by the inspector general for the EIDL program stood at more than $136 billion while the PPP fraud estimate was $64 billion. Earlier this year, a separate watchdog report said the U.S. government likely awarded about $5.4 billion in COVID-19 aid to people with questionable Social Security numbers.

Persons: government's, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, General Merrick Garland, Kevin Chambers, fraudsters, Kanishka Singh, Aurora Ellis Organizations: U.S . Small Business Administration, SBA, Force, U.S . Justice Department, U.S . Labor Department, Social, Thomson Locations: United States, U.S, COVID, Washington

When possible, use a credit card instead of a debit card — you'll benefit from zero-liability protection. Credit card fraud is still a problem for one simple reason: It continues to work. Use your credit card — not your debit cardChase Sapphire Preferred® Card Apply now lock icon An icon in the shape of lock. Note that credit card lenders may use many different variations of credit score models when considering your application. Read more: The 5 biggest credit card scams going around right now — and how to protect yourselfFor example, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers the ability to use virtual numbers online.

Persons: —, It's, Jeff Bezos, We're, you'll, Read, Wells Fargo, Banks Organizations: Service, Information Services, Chase Travel, Chase, Sapphire, Hotel, FDIC, Electronic, Card, American Express, Citi

☆ Bitcoin briefly rises above $31,000 to highest level in more than a year to cap the week
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Bitcoin broke above $31,000 Friday, building on recent gains fueled by institutions' commitment to layering crypto into their businesses. At one point, it hit a peak of $31,412.72, its highest level since June 8, 2022. "The long-term conviction of these financial behemoths — which include some of the most trusted names in asset management and retail investing — boosted sentiment and investor confidence when both were relatively low," said Ryan Rasmussen, analyst at Bitwise Asset Management. "It's a sign that the days are numbered for bad actors like Binance and FTX and that the crypto ecosystem is maturing. That's a powerful catalyst for the industry, which has been plagued at various times by fraudsters and detractors."

Persons: Bitcoin, Ryan Rasmussen, fraudsters Organizations: Metrics, Bitwise Asset Management

☆ Cloning Scientist Hwang Woo-suk Gets a Second Chance. Should He? - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( David Cyranoski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Science is known for rigorous self-policing by the research community, yet it can feel like scientific fraud is rampant. The story of Hwang Woo-suk, a South Korean scientist who gained notoriety for claiming to clone human embryos, provides clues. After leaving the field in disgrace, Dr. Hwang has landed in clover, and now spends his days cloning beauty show and racing camels for United Arab Emirates royalty. Dr. Hwang burst into the spotlight in 2004 when he reported success in making an embryonic human clone and deriving stem cells from it. This was the proof-of-principle for the once-hyped “therapeutic cloning” — in which patients’ own cells, from the skin or other tissue, could be used to create embryonic stem cells with their genetic signature, which could then be used to treat diseases.

Persons: Hwang Woo, suk, Hwang Organizations: South, United Arab, Netflix, YouTube Locations: South Korean, United Arab Emirates

☆ Canada freezes deportation of Indian students who used fraudulent university letters
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

OTTAWA, June 14 (Reuters) - Canada will freeze the planned deportation of dozens of students who entered the country using fraudulent university letters of acceptance, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said on Wednesday. Fraser spoke after the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported in March that several students from India had been served deportation papers for using forged documents to enter Canada in an alleged immigration scheme. Official data show there were more than 800,000 foreign students with active visas in Canada in 2022. Canada is a popular destination for international students since it is relatively easy to obtain a work permit. The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change has been supporting the students, saying they have spent years in Canada.

Persons: Sean Fraser, Fraser, fraudsters, Sarom Rho, David Ljunggren, Aurora Ellis Organizations: OTTAWA, Immigration, Canadian Broadcasting Corp, Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, CBC, Migrant Workers Alliance, Thomson Locations: Canada, India

☆ Don't send checks through the mail, the post office is warning. Criminals are stealing more than ever.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Reports of check fraud have steadily risen since 2020, with stimulus checks becoming a target. There were 680,000 reports of check fraud in the US in 2022, compared to 350,000 in 2021. Don't put checks in the mail, the US Postal Service is warning. The Postal Service investigated and Fischgrund has recovered about 70% of the revenue, but some of the cases haven't yet been resolved. Fischgrund said he'd never previously had an issue with check fraud in the nearly 10 years he has run his own business.

Persons: Banks, Eric Fischgrund, Fischgrund, he'd, Leonardo DiCaprio Organizations: Morning, US Postal Service, US Postal Inspection Service, Federal Reserve, US Mail, Network, PR, Postal Service Locations: United States, New York

☆ As chatter of a new bull market grows, there are reasons why it still doesn't feel that way
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A new bull market? The S & P 500 is trading Friday morning above its recent 52-week closing high of 4,305, which it hit on Aug. 16, 2022. These are the kind of stats that were discussed: While the S & P 500 is up 11.8% year to date, the equal-weight S & P 500 (RSP), which is the "average stock," is up a measly 2.9%. While the S & P 500 is 20% above its recent low, about one-third of the S & P 500 (about 160 stocks) remain 20% below their 52-week high. While we are all waiting for it to start to feel like a bull market, the market this week has begun to broaden out a bit.

Persons: I'm, Piper Sandler, Gary Gensler's, Bank of America's Savita Subramanian Organizations: Piper, Piper Sandler Global Exchange, SEC, Bank of America's

☆ SEC Chair Gensler says crypto frenzy is rife with 'hucksters, fraudsters, scam artists'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Speaking remotely at the Piper Sandler Global Exchange and FinTech Conference in New York City, Gensler said most crypto tokens are securities and come under the purview of the SEC. "The crypto securities markets should not be allowed to undermine the well-earned trust the public has in the capital markets," Gensler said. Thus, crypto security issuers need to register the offer and sale of their investment contracts with the SEC or meet the requirements for an exemption." "Given that most crypto tokens are subject to the securities laws, it follows that most crypto intermediaries have to comply with securities laws as well," he said. Gensler made no reference to allegations by Binance's lawyers that he offered to be an advisor to the crypto exchange in 2019.

Persons: Gary Gensler, Evelyn Hockstein, Piper Sandler, Gensler, Binance, Rich, Rich Repetto, Piper Organizations: . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Banking, Housing, Urban Affairs Committee, Capitol, Reuters, Securities, Exchange, Piper, Piper Sandler Global Exchange, FinTech Conference, Twitter, Massachusetts Institute, Technology's Sloan School of Management Locations: Washington, New York City

☆ UK's payments regulator lays down mandatory reimbursements in APP fraud victims
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 7 (Reuters) - Britain's Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) said on Wednesday it has made it mandatory for banks and payment firms to reimburse victims of online bank fraud within five days, in cases where users at a business send money to a bank account controlled by fraudsters. Thousands of people have seen their savings swept away in recent years by an unprecedented wave of fake online bank transactions hitting Britain, called authorised push payment (APP) fraud. The PSR said the new rules will be imposed on the Faster Payments system, where the vast majority of APP fraud has occurred so far, with the reimbursement requirements coming into force next year. The regulator also said that all payment firms will be incentivised to take action, with both sending and receiving firms equally splitting the reimbursement costs. The PSR last year said it planned to introduce new rules to tackle APP fraud once the parliament expands the powers of the regulator.

Persons: Aby Jose Koilparambil, Savio D'Souza, Nivedita Organizations: Systems, fraudsters, PSR, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

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