Archive for October, 2009
McScam: Fast Food Customers Fleeced
Australia’s Daily Telegraph reported on October 21 that McDonald’s – the largest fast food chain in the country – will overhaul security on its EFTPOS machines after customers were stripped of $A4 million. Criminals had snatched the devices at McDonald’s outlets across the Western Australian state capital of Perth, a city of more than one million people, and replaced them with bogus card-skimming versions. This allowed them to fleece at least 3,500 customers. If you’re running a retail business make sure you not only have the appropriate security protocols in place but that you’re also in contact with a team of experienced forensic investigators who can ensure that your protective walls are not breached.
Police in Australia have recently warned retailers to be vigilant in maintaining their EFTPOS security systems. A top fraud squad officer in Western Australia has explained that the McDonald’s scam occurred when legitimate EFTPOS PIN pads were replaced by fake ones that transmitted PINs to the criminals. “It doesn’t take much time to switch these pads over,” he said. “Perhaps 15 to 20 seconds. It’s plug in and play.”
The most likely scenario in the scam is that McDonald’s staff were distracted while serving customers, with the bogus devices probably substituted at that time. A police taskforce has been established to specifically target the McDonald’s crime and it has warned retailers across the nation, especially in the largest state of New South Wales, to learn from the Perth experience and keep their terminals under constant and close scrutiny. No arrests have so far been made.
FBI Operation Catches Online Bank Fraudsters
In what the FBI is calling Operation Phish Phry, it has arrested 53 people on charges of conducting a vast financial fraud based on phishing. Numerous Internet users have been tricked into revealing vital information, according to an 86-page indictment filed in the US District Court in Los Angeles. The New York Times reported on October 7 that the arrests took place in Southern California, Nevada and North Carolina, while the authorities in Egypt have sought to arrest 47 people whom the FBI says were co-conspirators.
The FBI has revealed that this is the largest number of defendants ever charged in a cybercrime case, and that they had stolen at least $US2 million from 2007 until last month. The scams victimised people with accounts at Bank of America and Wells Fargo, two of the largest banks in the United States. The online component of the fraud was perpetrated in Egypt, with the defendants there sending mass email messages that appeared to be authentic communications from the banks. The people who clicked on these messages were sent to fake websites made to look identical to the real banking sites. There they were asked to enter personal information like their bank account numbers, passwords, social security numbers and drivers’ license numbers.
The co-conspirators in the US took over from there, transferring funds into their own accounts and remitting some money back to their accomplices in Egypt. The FBI has said that it was a very well organised crime and that everyone involved got paid. Now the 53 named in the indictment might also get 20 years in prison.
Saab, US Company Accused of Bribery in South Korea
The Korea Times in Seoul reported on October 6 that an investigation into bribery cases involving foreign defence firms is widening as more evidence of illegal lobbying activities emerges. The move comes as the country’s authorities conduct a probe into the Swedish defence and aerospace firm, Saab, whose Seoul office has been raided on suspicion of paying for military secrets that might help it win lucrative contracts. Publicity like this hardly enhances a company’s reputation, particularly if the firm concerned and its employees happen to be innocent. But if you’re running a company and suspect that something devious might be afoot, then call in a team of professional investigators, especially in computer forensics, without delay. An experienced group will be able to match up such things as budgets, expenditures and communication patterns and forewarn you of danger areas inside your operations.
The Saab case comes at a time when South Korea plans to create a new strike force of up to 100 fighter aircraft by 2020, so competition with other manufacturers like Boeing and Lockheed Martin is intense. While the new aircraft, known as the KF-X, will be produced by South Korea and is being touted as “home-grown”, it will require foreign involvement in its development and production.
Pivotal to this case is a private South Korean defence think tank, the Security Management Institute, which plays an advisory role to the country’s National Assembly. Seoul authorities claim that they became aware earlier this year that classified information on the KF-X program had been leaked to the Swedish firm, after which they raided both Saab’s office and that of the Institute. Documents and computer files were seized in a bid to uncover the alleged connection. Bank accounts of Saab employees and officials at the Institute were also traced. Saab has acknowledged that it did make a payment to the Institute to sponsor a seminar last March, but that this simply related to a Swedish trade fair attended by its chief executive.
‘Canadian Madoff’ sentenced to jail for 200 fraud charges
This week in a Montreal Court saw former Norbourg CEO Vincent Lacroix sentenced to 13 years in jail after he recently plead guilty to nearly 200 fraud charges in relation to the financial collapse of the Norbourg Group. The charges included multiple counts of fraud, conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to commit forgery, fabricating documents and money laundering and relate to the 2005 implosion of the investment firm.
Vincent Lacroix was the CEO of the now-bankrupt Norbourg Group which swindled thousands of Quebecers out of their personal investments in one of the most high-profile white collar crime cases in Canadian history was sentenced to 13 years in prison yesterday. He was charged with the fraud after more than CAN$100 million [US$97 million] was illicitly removed from his investment firm, most of it money contributed by over 9,000 personal investors.
Prior to his September 2009 guilty plea, Lacroix was on parole having served part of an earlier 12 year sentence for other facets of the fraud. Lacroix had been successfully convicted during a civil suit on 51 Quebec Securities Act violations brought by Autorite des marches financiers and financed by dues from Quebec’s investment representatives.
A criminal trial will proceed featuring five other managers and employees of the Norbourg Group which authorities allege assisted Lacroix with the fraud and disappearance of the investment funds. The trial has a keen political element as oneof the defendants, Jean Renaud aged 40, was formerly a high-level bureaucrat in Quebec’s Finance Department before he was arrested in relation to this case.
Japanese Banks Call Gangs to Account
If your company is about to go into business in Japan it will pay to know where gangs – referred to as yakuza – fit into the scene. In more ways than one, Japan has the most overt, upfront gangs in the world. They hold annual general meetings and are sometimes seen on TV. But there’s also an ugly side, of extortion and financial crime. And it can be on a huge scale. If you’re not sure what’s going on, call in a computer forensics team that can X-Ray your company’s operations to detect any unwanted dimensions.
To help clean up the country’s act, the Japanese Bankers Association recently decided to instruct its 187 member banks not to allow gang members to open accounts, in an attempt to counter crime syndicates’ money laundering activities. As reported by The Yomiuri Shimbun, the decision was made by the JBA’s board of directors to oblige its members to establish in-house rules to exclude crime syndicates from their services. The Association had already announced in November last year a policy of banning the syndicates from financial transactions, including loans. This latest prohibition covers members and associate members of crime syndicates, companies that have close connections with crime syndicates and corporate racketeers. Banks will refuse to let them open ordinary savings accounts and current accounts, and will not provide safe-deposit boxes. Accounts already set up by gang members will be cancelled once banks determine their identity.
People and organizations involved in illicit activities such as intimidation will also be excluded from bank services, even if they are not clearly linked to crime. To ensure a consistent policy across the banking sector, the JBA has said it will examine the creation of a database of people linked to the syndicates. At present, banks only compile such information on an individual basis.
If Fake Anti-Virus Software Doesn’t Get You, Something Else Will.
A Russian security researcher who heads Canada’s virus lab, Sophos, has recently shown how most spam on email, search engines and social networking sites originates with ‘affiliate networks’. These networks pay generous commissions to geeks who refer unsuspecting web users to their illegal products. Not only are they selling fake anti-virus software but also illegal penis pills, fake watches and other counterfeit luxury products. Whatever it is that might take your fancy, if you get caught out by these people they can do a lot of damage. Good computer forensic work is the only thing that can help you detect their presence and grapple with it.
In a paper for the Virus Bulletin Conference September 2009, Dmitry Samosseiko outlines how scareware, ‘Canadian Pharmacy’ spam, adult sites, and comment spam on forums and blogs have plagued the web and email world of most people in the past few years. But what, he asks, links these things together? What makes them grow in volume and complexity? Who is behind them? What business model drives the perpetrators’ profits to millions of dollars annually?
The answer is hundreds of well-organised Russian affiliate networks known as “partnerka”, which have coalesced to form a booming business industry. Thousands of affiliates, each calling themselves ‘webmasters’, work day and night to drive as much user traffic to their partners’ stores as possible, raking in thousands of dollars in the process.
Cyber scams and cheats target job seekers: Six tips to protect yourself
As more and more job seekers turn to the internet looking for positions, scammers are finding ways to dupe them of their money. Cyber fraud, money laundering and scams are confronting online job seekers. Authorities have reported a large rise in online scams targeting those looking for a new job or part time position. Investigators are uncovering new methods being utilized by groups including organized crime rings.
One of the boom businesses on the internet has been online recruitment whereby job seekers have an easy way to review various positions vacant in their area which suit their qualifications and experience. Along with the established pay to advertise sites displaying adverts on behalf of recruitment agencies and businesses, there are now a number of free to advertise sites; these sites often focus on part time or work from home positions.
Unfortunately, many job seekers in their desperation to grab the opportunity of making some money; have fallen foul of fake adverts for nonexistent jobs. The advertisers often use a rolling index of generic business name such as Alpha Recruitment Inc and obscure their office location and contact details – choosing to communicate via email only.
