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Tag Archive: fraud

UK Cybercrime Up 9 Pct. In 2007

UK Cybercrime Up 9 Pct. In 2007

Online identity firm Garlik has released a report showing a total of 3.5 million cybercrimes in all forms were committed in the UK during 2007, a rise of 9%.

However, identity theft fell by 8%, and sexual offences dropped 2%. Most of the crimes related to fraud, along with abusive or threatening e-mails, the BBC reports. There was an increase in harassment, with over two million people the victims of abusive emails, false accusations or blackmail attempts.

The 250,000 incidents of financial fraud reported during the year meant a 20% increase over 2006, and that the crime had become more professional, with more than 19,000 illicit traders on the information black market identified.

Two Years For Stock Hacker

Two Years For Stock Hacker

Between February and December 2006, Thirugnanam Ramanathan led a group of hackers who bought worthless stocks at very low prices, then hacked into stock trading accounts and used them to buy those stocks, artificially inflating their value.

But now he’s been sentenced to two years in prison for his crimes by a US court after pleading guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. He’ll also have to pay a $362,247 fine and undergo three years of supervised release, Vnunet reports.

“Biggest ID Fraud Case” Cracked

"Biggest ID Fraud Case" Cracked

The Department of Justice has cracked what it called “the single largest and most complex identity theft case” that’s ever resulted in charges. 11 people from the US, China, Belarus, Estonia and Ukraine have been accused of stealing the details of more than 40 million debit and credit cards then selling on the information, according to a BBC report. So far only one of those accused is in custody.

They used a technique called “wardriving” to hack into business and bank computers then installed their own data to access the information. They’re also believed to have driven around neighborhoods and accessed information by hacking into unprotected wireless networks.

Ex-Samsung Head Gets 3-Year Suspended Term

Ex-Samsung Head Gets 3-Year Suspended Term

After being charged with fraud and resigning as head of the Samsung Group, Lee Kun-hee was given a three-year suspended jail sentence on charges of tax evasion, but was cleared of breach-of-trust charges and charges he issued bonds to illegally transfer money to his children.

Lee’s sentence was suspended for five years. The court also fined Lee 110 billion won (about $110 million US), which was more than double the amount he was charged of evading in taxes.

Seattle Spam King Pleads Guilty

Seattle Spam King Pleads Guilty

Seattle’s notorious “spam king” Robert Soloway has plead guilty to three charges in U.S. District Court in Seattle today, including fraud, email fraud, and failing to file a tax return. The fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years; the email fraud charge has a maximum sentence of five years, while failing to file an income tax return might net Soloway another year.

UK Online Banking Fraud Drops

UK Online Banking Fraud DropsVnunet reports that Apacs has published its annual survey of problems affecting the British banking industry, and the biggest surprise is that over online bankingfraud has fallen by a third between 2006 and 2007, even as phishing attacks have risen by over 70% to 25,796. However, it’s not all good news, since the total of card fraud losses took a 25%jump to just over one billion dollars, much of it from stolen UK cards used in overseas frauds. Notably the majority were committed in countries that don’t use the chip and Pin technology thathas been introduced in Britain. Sandra Quinn, director of communications at Apacs, said,   "Although card fraud levels have now begun to go up again due to fraud abroad and card-not-presentfraud losses, chip and Pin has proved an undoubted success in reducing card fraud on the UK high street. As more countries follow our lead and upgrade to chip and Pin, the opportunities for criminalsto use our stolen magnetic stripe details overseas will decrease."   Proof of the effectiveness of chip and Pin is the decrease in face-to-face transaction fraud in the UK since it wasintroduced two years ago – down by two-thirds to $150 million.

Paypal Buys Fraud Sciences

Paypal Buys Fraud SciencesIt seems as if most of the world knows Paypal and eBay these days; they’ve become ubiquitous. With that fame has comegreater possibilities of fraud – simply witness all those phishing e-mails.   But now Paypal has acquired Fraud Sciences, an e-commerce securitycompany run by two former members of Israel’s Mossad secret service, E-Commerce Times reports. The sale is expected to go through within 30 days for$170 million cash, and with Fraud Science founders Shvat Shaked and Saar Wilf both joining Paypal’s technology and fraud management teams.   "Integrating Fraud Sciences’ risk toolswith PayPal’s sophisticated fraud management system should allow us to be even more effective in protecting eBay and PayPal’s hundreds of millions of customers around the world," saidPaypal’s president, Scott Thompson.   Fraud Sciences has proved popular with merchants as it allows them to verify the identities of purchasers, which inevitably decreases fraud, and itwill prove useful not only to Paypal, but to eBay itself, which has had its share of fraudsters over the years, an almost inevitable outgrowth of the kind of business it’s in.   Theacquisition will help Paypal as it pushes its non-auction business, in spire of competition from Google Checkout.

Click Fraud Cost $666 Million in 2006?

Think tank IncreMental Advantage, which publishes research on topics ranging from public utilities and overseas investing to intellectual property and advertising, announced today it believes Internet advertisers lost as much as $666 million to online click fraud during 2006, much of that due to the activities of organized crime. In its new report, Combating Click Fraud, the firm argues the practice has become so pervasive that it’s stunting the growth of online advertising—an assertion that may make ad-dependent Internet businesses like Google, Yahoo, and AOL take notice.

Online Fraud Declining, Losses Up?

A new report from Javelin Strategy and Research suggests that while the Internet is by no means a crime- and fraud-free utopia, the majority of fraud and identity theft occurs out in the real world rather than via the Internet. However, folks who get scammed online are losing more and more money.

According to the report (available to paid subscribers), in identity theft cases where the source of the information was known, only 9 percent stemmed from phishing scams, hacking, worms, or viruses. In contrast, nearly one third (30 percent) resulted from a lost or stolen wallet or credit card.

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