scam

Heavy gambling spam as UK industry locks down tv advertising

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There's a question mark over the sense of allowing tv advertising and - worse - actual gambling on TV. In the UK, it all goes back to Labour's Gordon Brown who decided that the UK's economy would be served by a massive relaxation of the laws on gambling, especially casinos. Suddenly, gambling was cool - after all "Cool Britannia" was Noo Labour's central policy, chummy first names and all.

The end result was an explosion of gambling of many kinds. And that meant competition in an expanding market. Late night, drunk or sexually frustrated TV watchers were offered a choice - soft (sometimes not so soft) porn, often masquerading as documentaries - and games in which telephone customers bet on televised casino games - or phoned a woman who appeared on their screen, her g-string being her...

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LinkedIn security scare

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"We discovered that our data source was modified by an unauthorized agent" says the e-mail that purports to be from LinkedIn. But it isn't. And there's even a little hint at the end to prove it.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

CoNet Section:

IT & Communications

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Another lying toad ..

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It's incredible how many spammers lie, even those who fill in a webform and have to pass bot-resistant tools to submit it. This one makes an amazing lie: that he found our own Group company details on Facebook. Well, we don't have any Facebook page so that's not true. It's for that old figment of the imagination, SEO services, including on Instagram which, also, we don't use. Even the completion of the formal parts of the form show dishonestly and a willingness to mislead. Not bright at all.

CoNet Section:

Marketing / Sales

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A classic webform spam scam.

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If it's got lies in it, it's got to be a fraud. And this one is stupid even by the low standards we often see.

CoNet Section:

IT & Communications

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Forgive our giggles.. this solicitation is so old hat it's a knotted handkerchief.

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We can barely contain the laughter. This scam e-mail is the same old same old but unlike so many, it's beautifully written. But what's not funny is that Microsoft and Google continue to facilitate fraudulent conduct.

FCRO Subsection:

The Phishermans's Tale

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email spam scam may take in the unaware

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The email below has come to our attention today. using a landing page at mybluemix[dot]com and a (perhaps spoofed) address at the domain masew.ml, the scam has characteristics that instantly give it away to the alert but will trap the unwary.

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Dramatic increase in losses by elderly to fraud

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A report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says that there has been an increase of 5% in the number of reports by the elderly of fraud committed against them. The total losses, however, increased by 22%. And they are not the only victims, the ACCC found.

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UK Financial Conduct Authority court case sets the scene for new African scam

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The advance fee, or 419, scam industry is always looking for new opportunities and the fraudsters like to use genuine background as the reason they make contact with potential victims. A case in the High Court of England and Wales has created the conditions that are ideal for fraudsters as a hook.

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Internet domain name fraud reaches brutal level

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The return, with increasing frequency, of internet domain name fraud, is usually at least accompanied by a form of what the fraudster hopes is a sufficient disclaimer to prevent prosecution. The latest iteration omits even that and resorts to blatant threats. Also, it seems that the criminals have obtained access to the domain sevenresortsnet.com to send mail and to present a landing page for those who click to respond to the demand.

CoNet Section:

IT & Communications

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Does the small print legitimise a fraud?

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Spammers have long been involved in directory fraud of one sort or another. Just as in the days of paper, letters are carefully phrased to make victims think they must make a payment. Then, hidden away at the bottom of the page is a note saying "this is not an invoice" and something along the lines of "you only have to pay if you want the service." These days, the spam-scammers also include something to tell you that they are complying with the USA's spam facilitation Act, mysteriously known as the Can Spam Act. And this one doesn't even tell victims what service they are supposedly subscribed to.

FCRO Subsection:

Financial Crime News

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Google's failure to join up data and actions shows fallacy of relying on AI

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Artificial Intelligence is the buzzword of the year, beating out even "blockchain" and "add oil." A company that claims to be at the front of the pack when it comes to AI is Google. But, as this case shows, it doesn't matter what your algorithms do if what they do isn't properly targeted and the correct action results. It also demonstrates why financial institutions should be very wary of relying on technology which is, at best immature and at worst experimental.

In the meantime, Google and Microsoft, let's bypass the intermediary and you can just send us the "($1,000,000.00) One Million United States Dollars" today. Thank you.

BIScom Subsection:

Management

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Thank you, Mr Oxford - and easynet.es.

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It's a spam, it uses Standard Chartered as a hook to entice victims to be defrauded, and it's hilariously awful. Note phone number +447452282904 and email address lrbernal@easynet.es and that the reply is to privacy e-mail service ProtonMail at taxmattersjon@protonmail.ch . But the most interesting thing is this: the e-mail provider easynet.es correctly identified this as spam, even as " advance fee fraud (Nigerian 419)" - then allowed it to pass. Is the provider complicit if anyone becomes a victim?

FCRO Subsection:

The Phishermans's Tale

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The only person more stupid than this scammer is anyone who falls for the con.

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It's that time again: PayPal spam-scam time. But even by the standards of badly constructed spam-scams, this one is bad. So bad it's funny and so bad that anyone who falls victim to it may just be too stupid to live. But the bigger danger is that it's not a phishing scam but a way of placing malware on victims' computers and if that happens they are being human not stupid.

FCRO Subsection:

Financial Crime News

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ASIC acts against misleading Initial Coin Offerings and crypto-asset funds targeted at retail investors

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ASIC has taken action to stop several proposed initial coin offerings or token-generation events (together, "ICO"s), targeting retail investors.

BIScom Subsection:

Cryptocurrencies and cryptoassets

FCRO Subsection:

The Phishermans's Tale

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