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Guardia Civil/Handout via REUTERSMADRID, June 1 (Reuters) - Spanish police raided three clandestine tobacco factories early this year, seizing nearly 40 million euros ($44 million) worth of tobacco leaf and illicit cigarettes. This operation is one of dozens across the EU that regional policing and anti-fraud agencies say have driven seizures of illicit cigarettes to record levels. It may have been further accelerated by the war in Ukraine, which for years has been a production hub and transit route for illicit tobacco, OLAF added. TOBACCO INVESTIGATORSThe industry has responded by hiring investigators to research illicit operations and share intelligence with European authorities, executives at Japan Tobacco, BAT and Imperial Brands told Reuters. "A good many workers from Ukraine have been found in these illegal factories," Japan Tobacco's Byrne said about counterfeiting operations across the EU.

Persons: who'd, OLAF, Cyrille Olive, Philip Morris, Olive, Europol, Vincent Byrne, Byrne, Japan Tobacco's Winston, Alex McDonald, Ernesto Bianchi, McDonald, Japan Tobacco's Byrne, They're, they're, Richa Naidu, Emma Pinedo, Emilio Parodi, Matt Scuffham Organizations: Guardia Civil, REUTERS, Spanish, EU, BAT, Imperial Brands, Japan Tobacco, Philip Morris International, Reuters, Marlboro, America's Dunhill, Supplies, Investigators, Mobile, Thomson Locations: Seville, Spain, Guardia, REUTERS MADRID, Alfaro, Europe, Ukraine, British American, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Denmark, Czech Republic, Ireland, Japan, China, Asia, EU, Russia, Belarus, Roda de Ter, Barcelona, Spanish, Italy, Pomezia, Russian, Moldovan, London, Madrid, Milan

☆ Scammers are conning Trump supporters out of thousands with 'Trump Bucks' they claim can be exchanged for real cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump supporters are reportedly being scammed out of thousands of dollars on items like "Trump Bucks"Some of the supporters were convinced by fake videos of Trump and Elon Musk promoting the products. A new report from NBC News shows some people thought buying the memorabilia would make them rich. Several companies are allegedly using advertising tactics including creating AI-generated videos of Trump and other figures like Elon Musk to claim the worthless "Trump Bucks" will make them rich, according to a new report from NBC News. Some of the people who bought the Trump memorabilia have attempted to exchange it for real US dollars at banks, and told NBC News that bank employees are reporting it as a growing issue. One ad for the "Trump Bucks" — featuring a seemingly AI-generated voice identified as "John" — states "most people believe that the presidential election interfered with the course of history" and identifies Trump as "the great leader."

☆ Las Vegas resident charged in $45 million metaverse scam that touted trillion-dollar returns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Bryan Lee, a 57 year-old Las Vegas resident, was named in a superseding indictment over his involvement in an alleged investment fraud scheme called CoinDeal. Lee was charged with conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and criminal monetary transactions. Lee worked alongside three other individuals to convince investors that CoinDeal was a legitimate family of businesses working towards developing virtual reality products, federal prosecutors alleged. The SEC charged a Nevada man, Garry Davidson, who matches the description of Individual-1. He and his backers "targeted mostly unsophisticated investors," claiming that his technology would be sold for "trillions of dollars" to the fake billionaire-backed consortium, the SEC alleged.

☆ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is ready to tell Congress that the ChatGPT-led AI era he's ushered in needs rules — before it's too late
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sam Altman is ready to tell Congress that his AI invention ChatGPT needs to follow some rules. The OpenAI CEO is due to appear before Congress on Tuesday as concerns grow over AI risks. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is set to make his debut appearance before Congress to address growing concerns about the societal threats posed by a ChatGPT-led era of AI. The testimony comes at a crucial moment as the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT in November introduced the world to consumer-led AI. The spread of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT has caused concern among lawmakers about the potential harm they could cause.

☆ Crypto should be regulated as gambling, UK lawmakers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Bitcoin , ether and other cryptocurrencies should be regulated as gambling given they are potentially used by fraudsters and pose significant risks to consumers, a panel of UK lawmakers said in a report on Wednesday. Britain is planning its first rules for cryptoassets, which currently only comply with anti-money laundering safeguards. Around 10% of UK adults hold or have held cryptoassets, according to official figures. The European Union approved the world's first set of comprehensive rules for crypto markets on Tuesday. The underlying technology used by cryptoassets has the potential to improve efficiency in payments, the report said.

☆ Financial fraudsters are targeting postal workers to steal their mailbox keys, so USPS is trying something new
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

USPS and the Postal Inspection Service announced it is cracking down on robberies and mail theft. Incident rates of attacks against mail workers and theft from blue collection boxes are on the rise. But less talked about is another issue: Thieves targeting postal workers themselves. Robbers specializing in financial fraud schemes are increasingly stealing mail straight from the hands of mail workers, or stealing their keys to mailboxes. So the United States Postal Service is implementing new policies and security efforts to curb the worsening problem.

☆ The case against serial liar George Santos is a slam dunk, legal experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Laura Italiano | Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

GOP Congressman George Santos pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 13 counts of campaign-related fraud. Its 20 pages present a "slam dunk" case, and paint Santos as "buffoonish," "delusional," and "The definition of a dumb criminal," they said. "He provided a trail that — I want to say FBI bloodhounds, but FBI cocker spaniels could follow," longtime Manhattan defense attorney Ron Kuby said. Santos' repeated, ongoing lies dragged him into the spotlight — now they could land him behind bars, experts noted. Santos "told a lot of lies on federal documents," another longtime Manhattan defense attorney, Arthur Aidala, said, describing the indictment allegations in a nut shell.

☆ The SEC just paid out nearly $279 million to a tipster in its largest-ever award. Here's an inside look at the crazy world of whistleblower lawsuits.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The regulator announced a nearly $279 million award to a whistleblower on May 5, more than double the previous record of $114 million awarded in October 2020. When whistleblower information leads to settlements, tipsters can earn between 10 and 30 percent of the financial penalties paid by wrongdoers. When whistleblower information leads to settlements, the tipsters can earn a percentage of the financial penalties paid by wrongdoers. The tipster's law firm, Kirby McInerney, worked with state authorities on the investigation after "Tooley's" lawsuit was filed. This means tax-fraud whistleblowers will increasingly look for ways to bring their tips to New York law enforcement to be more involved in the investigation process.

☆ We Build The Wall founder sentenced to 4 years in prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A third man involved in siphoning funds from the wall project, Colorado businessman Tim Shea, won't be sentenced until June. Kolfage, Badolato and Shea were not pardoned by Trump, leaving them to face the prospect of years in prison. As money poured into the cause, Kolfage and his partner, Shea, turned to Bannon and Badolato for help creating a nonprofit, We Build the Wall, Inc. "The fraudsters behind We Build The Wall injured the body politic," she said. Some sections of a border barrier were built by We Build the Wall on private lands, but the nonprofit is now defunct.

Phishing scams were up 61% in 2022, and the scammers' goal is to convince you to give them your information. A study from SlashNext even showed that in 2022, there were 255 million phishing scam attacks, a 61% increase compared to 2021. Fake bank emailsWhen you're scrolling through your inbox, you might occasionally get emails from your bank, open them up, and resolve what's inside. "These emails often contain a phishing link or attachment that, once clicked, can install malware on the user's device," he says. Real estate wire transferIf you're involved in real estate transactions, Sprung says there's a phishing scam happening in the industry that's worth paying attention to.

☆ A new wave of robocallers are trying to scam crypto users — here's how the scam works and how to stop it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Robocallers are beginning to target cryptocurrency investors, spoofing calls from Coinbase. These scams are particularly risky for crypto investors, as reclaiming lost assets is difficult. Doug Shadel, the managing director of Fraud Prevention Strategies who works alongside Nomorobo, told Insider he's noticed several different types of scams from robocallers trying to bilk crypto investors. He said cryptocurrency scams have often become like a new-age version of gift card scams. Staying secureInsider spoke to representatives from both hardware wallet Ledger and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase whose users were targeted by robocallers.

☆ Meta's job cuts are gutting customer service, leaving influencers and businesses with nobody to call
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

As part of the company's two rounds of layoffs, equaling roughly 21,000 job cuts, Meta gutted wide swaths of its customer service operation, leaving influencers and businesses with nobody to contact about their accounts. CNBC spoke with influencers, small businesses and Meta account managers as well as a half-dozen former contractors and former Meta employees about the deterioration in customer service at the company since the job cuts began in November. Holliday said it appears that the only people who get customer service are those who represent a company that's spending heavily on advertising. However, some influencers say Facebook has had such poor customer service that there's no reason to pay for it. After all the problems she's experienced, Karlova questions whether Meta will be able to provide better customer service.

☆ Fintech has a fraud problem, and the onus is on you to figure it out
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Fintech's fraud misfortune. Which brings us to a story by Insider's Bianca Chan and Paige Hagy about concerns over the prevalence of fraud within consumer-facing fintechs in recent years. Click here to read more about fintech's fraud problem. We've also got the deck StellarFi, a fintech that helps users improve their credit score, used to raise $15 million. For more than 50 different decks used by fintechs to raise fresh funds, check out our library.

☆ It's becoming increasingly clear that fintech has a fraud problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Bianca Chan | Paige Hagy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

"With fast growth comes fast fraud," Frank McKenna, a longtime fraud expert who works with banks, lenders, and fintechs, told Insider. Cash App only requires a zip code, debit-card number, and either an email or phone number to create an account. Cash App's alleged fraud problem could also be the result of its large, active customer base, which numbers some 44 million, according to the company's 2022 annual report. The fact that Cash App offers peer-to-peer payments exacerbates the fraud issue, according to McKenna, the chief fraud strategist at Point Predictive, an anti-fraud software company. Digital-only bank Chime has had its own issues with fraud, Jason Mikula, a fintech analyst and consultant, told Insider.

☆ Bitcoin is poised to blow up Africa's $86 billion banking system
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +16 min

Then there's mobile money, which has been around since the early 2000s. Africa's mobile money transactions rose 39% to more than $700 billion in 2021, according to data from the GSM Association, a non-profit representing mobile network operators worldwide. That cash network was extraordinarily difficult and expensive to build, which is why there aren't a lot of direct competitors. Bitnob is SMS-based and piggybacks on the mobile money system, making it easier for people to send money directly into bank accounts and mobile money wallets in African countries. "We're able to settle into bank accounts or mobile money accounts, without the recipients having to interact with bitcoin themselves," Parah tells CNBC.

☆ The SEC just warned investors that crypto assets are at risk of 'significant' losses after $2 trillion in market value was already erased
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The SEC warned that cryptocurrencies could still spur significant losses for investors. The warnings comes more than a year after the cryptocurrency market erased $2 trillion in market value. "The only money you should put at risk with any speculative investment is money you can afford to lose entirely," the SEC warned. "Investments in crypto asset securities can be exceptionally volatile and speculative, and the platforms where investors buy, sell, borrow, or lend these securities may lack important protections for investors. The risk of loss for individual investors who participate in transactions involving crypto assets, including crypto asset securities, remains significant," the SEC warned.

☆ Scammers are creating fake “ChatGPT” and “Bing” crypto tokens—here’s how to protect yourself
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Scammers are trying to cash in on the hype surrounding popular artificial intelligence chatbots including OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Bing AI. A search on DEXTools, an interactive crypto trading platform that tracks prices, reveals about 287 tokens that mention "ChatGPT" in their name. They then promote the coin and convince investors to pour money into it in order to drive the price higher. The firm has identified at least one of those digital coins as having been created by a user notorious for "pump and dump" crypto schemes. Scam crypto tokens are commonly deployed on "permissionless blockchains" also known as public blockchains, says Chen Arad, chief operating officer at Solidus Labs, a cryptocurrency risk monitoring and market surveillance company.

A deeper look at the company's billing practices revealed what appeared to be Medicare fraud, Pérez Aybar said. Fraud flourishesThat's just one of thousands of examples of how Medicare fraud is flourishing — not only in south Florida, but across the country. Taxpayers are losing more than $100 billion a year to Medicare and Medicaid fraud, according to estimates from the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association. This convicted felon says Medicare and Medicaid fraud is "very easy" to get away with. The same pills could be sold and resold multiple times with different phony patients, billing Medicare each time.

☆ A couple in Canada were reportedly scammed out of $21,000 after getting a call from an AI-generated voice pretending to be their son
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A couple in Canada reportedly lost $21,000 from a scammer claiming to be a lawyer and their son. Benjamin Perkin told The Washington Post his parents thought the AI-generated voice was him. Perkin told the Post the voice was "close enough for my parents to truly believe they did speak with me." Scams involving AI technology predate the emergence of ChatGPT and other AI bots going viral right now. "AI tools that generate authentic-seeming videos, photos, audio, and text could supercharge this trend, allowing fraudsters greater reach and speed," she said.

☆ Global asset managers in China grapple with fraudulent investor schemes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Such scams have become so widespread that China's securities regulator issued a rare statement on Thursday cautioning investors against fund-raising schemes purporting to be from foreign asset managers. The online rackets add reputational risks for global asset managers already suffering from trademark disputes, geopolitical worries, and cut-throat competition in China. "Swindlers mushroom when the economy is bad," said an executive at a consultancy that serves global asset managers in China. "Cheaters and life-long learners ... some tech-savvy ones would even copy the programming of a foreign money manager's website," he said. Scams using Van Eck's brands first emerged in China's southern Guangdong and Southwestern Guangxi provinces, and later sprung up in central Sichuan province, the source said.

☆ The top US consumer watchdog is worried you're going to fall for AI scams or overblown marketing hype
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Tech companies and investors think generative AI will be an economic revolution. Investors say generative AI could save workers loads of unnecessary labor. While AI products may hold less promise than companies say, the FTC is worried they will make it easier to deceive voters and consumers. "We're also concerned with the risk that deepfakes and other AI-based synthetic media, which are becoming easier to create and disseminate, will be used for fraud," FTC spokesperson Juliana Gruenwald told Insider. If the FTC's instincts are right, today's generative AI may pose less economic disruption than deception.

☆ Odometer fraud is a $1 billion problem. Here's how it costs American drivers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Robert Ferris | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A type of motor vehicle crime that costs consumers in the U.S. about $1 billion a year is on the rise, according to data firm Carfax. Average used vehicle prices rose from about $20,000 in December 2019 to about $27,000 in December 2022, according to Cox Automotive. Supply chain disruptions and shortages in new vehicle inventory have pushed more customers to the used market, which in turn has pushed up prices. Those circumstances also are making used vehicles scarcer. "I can't tell you for sure, but I suspect with the recent surge in used car prices, that it's becoming a more enticing tactic for scammers," said Patrick Olsen, executive editor at Carfax.

☆ George Santos's elaborate lies has seen the Congressman compared with a 19th-century huckster. History bears that out.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Allegra Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

My obsession is summed up pretty well by a tweet from @blagojevism: "George Santos is essentially a 19th-century character. Media depicting these characters found inspiration from real life: in a time before digital records and facial recognition, opportunity was everywhere. George Santos's brand of full-throated scammery is particularly American, something that belongs to this country as much as Abraham Lincoln and apple pie. The phrase "and if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you" comes from his legendary real-life method. But Santos, so far, has avoided jail time, giving him at least one leg up over the Yellow Kid.

☆ Column: The devil's metal strikes again in Trafigura nickel fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Andy Home | Thomson Reuters | Senior Metals Columnist Who Previously Covered Industrial Metals Markets For Metals Week | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Appearances can be deceptive when it comes to nickel, as Trafigura has just found out half a millennium later. Just as it's impossible to say whether some of the recent price volatility on the LME nickel contract was down to Trafigura restructuring hedge positions. The problem is that LME nickel trading has been volatile and unpredictable ever since last year's meltdown. There is now also a growing crisis of confidence in the world of physical nickel trading. Nickel could really do with a reputational break but recent history suggests it's just a matter of time before the devil's metal strikes again.

Identity theft is often a crime of opportunity, so reducing risk goes a long way to protect against identity theft. How to reduce the risk of identity theftEva Velasquez, president of the Identity Theft Resource Center, says it's best to take multiple steps to secure your identity. Editor's Rating 4.6/5 A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star Editor's Rating 4.7/5 A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star Editor's Rating 4.8/5 A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star Learn more On Aura's website Learn more On IDShield's website Learn more On IdentityForce's website1. While this doesn't necessarily prevent identity theft, it does mitigate any potential damages as a result of identity theft. You can report identity theft over the phone; however, you will not receive an identity theft report.

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