Threats Without Borders - Issue 150
Cyber-Financial Crime Investigation Newsletter, Week ending October 1, 2023
Welcome to Issue 150 - One-Hundred-Fifty! Every week for 150 straight weeks - I’m pushing my luck for sure.
While in law enforcement, I shuddered at the concept of "Law Enforcement Appreciation Month" or "National Police Officers Day", or any other honorary celebration of the job. I recognize the sentiment behind the effort, but how about appreciating law enforcement all year, not just one out of twelve months? Maybe "Love a Cop" every day, not just once a year.
And here I am, now in the corporate world, faced with the same conflict.
It's National Cybersecurity Awareness Month!
Yes, each October the industry celebrates itself and attempts to promote good cyber-hygiene and privacy-focused practices.
How about we consider cybersecurity every month? Better yet, every day. Imagine if security best practices and cybersecurity awareness were in the front of our minds every time we engaged with technology, not just in October?
Of course, then we wouldn't get a line item special-event budget allotment and as much press time as we can use.
Meh.
Happy Cybersecurity Awareness Month everyone!
Some News…
The FBI issued a warning on “Phantom Hacker Attacks” more commonly called tech-support scams. We all know the playbook but the shocking news from the release is that “Between January and June 2023, 19,000 complaints related to tech support scams were submitted to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), with estimated victim losses of over $542 million. Almost 50% of the victims reported to IC3 were over 60 years old, comprising 66% of the total losses. As of August 2023, losses have already exceeded those in 2022 by 40%. The most concerning aspect of these numbers is the fact that most victims do not report their victimization - at least not to the FBI or IC3, and local law enforcement numbers wouldn’t have caught up yet! https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2023/PSA230929
If you're asking, “Dude, where’s my check?” - it was probably stolen by this guy who worked in a Washington, D.C. post office. He’s accused of stealing checks worth 1.7 million dollars that were passing through the post office. Kudos to the USPIS for shutting this guy down and grabbing him before he fled the country! https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/postal-worker-accused-of-stealing-1-7m-in-checks-arrested-trying-to-board-flight-at-dulles/3429338/
Something investigators searching for CSAM know - always grab the gaming console. Investigators looking for evidence of financial crime and fraud need to adopt the same mindset: evidence can be anywhere. A Goldman Sachs analyst has been indicted for insider-trader that netted him over 400,000 dollars and the evidence was found on his Xbox. https://kotaku.com/xbox-360-chat-wall-street-fbi-insider-trading-goldman-1850887053
Bad guys coached a 78-year-old woman on how to deceive bank employees. “The scammers told her that her banks would question why she was trying to close her accounts and withdraw tens of thousands of dollars and insisted she create an excuse that would prevent bank employees from stopping her. When questioned by bank employees, the woman said she had a sick relative in Florida who needed help paying medical bills.” The group got $115,000 before being hemmed up by police. Hopefully, there is a special place in hell for these people. https://www.pennlive.com/news/2023/09/2-men-posed-as-dea-agents-extorted-115k-from-central-pa-woman-da.html
Use Bing Chat? You probably shouldn’t click on any ads since the service is promoting links to malware. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/bing-chat-responses-infiltrated-by-ads-pushing-malware/
Attackers are stepping up their use of QR codes in phishing attacks. Why not? People love to blindly scan them. It’s like a pick-your-own adventure route to exploitation! In this post, Kaspersky examines the recent attack trend. https://securelist.com/qr-codes-in-phishing/110676/
Giving them the ol’ one-two punch! The FBI released a Private Industry Notification warning that ransomware groups are moving to a dual variant attack technique where two separate strains of ransomware are unleashed on the victim at the same time. https://www.ic3.gov/Media/News/2023/230928.pdf
Cool Job
Bitcoin Compliance, Team Lead - Cash App. https://jobs.smartrecruiters.com/Square/743999927947943-bitcoin-compliance-team-lead
Cool Tool
See all the (meta)Data - https://jimpl.com/
Listen to the radio where ever you are - https://theonestopradio.com/
Mail Call
“Matt thanks for speaking out about AI. Our management is full speed ahead and even mentioning maybe we should slow down gets you a cross look”. - Russel. Issue 148 for reference.
“I think a lot of the cybercrime is just the result of learned behavior. In some of these crime communities it’s the natural next step from street crime and everyones doing it so why not? All of my friends and family are running scams so I will also” - Kyle. Issue 146 for reference.
Irrelevant
It’s “Fat Bear Week”. Yes, the annual National Park Service contest where we all get to vote for our favorite extra-large bruin. https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/fat-bear-week.htm
I did a webinar for ARC Risk and Compliance last week and the newsletter picked up a few new subscribers as a result. Welcome to you all and thank you for coming aboard. The newsletter is free and never contains ads or paid promotions. We only grow if you share it with your colleagues. So please share!
One “national day” that I can definitely support happens this week - Wednesday, October 4th. National Taco Day! Make sure to get yourself some.
It’s also Coffee With A Cop Day. Take a few minutes to stop by your local event on Wednesday and tell the officers you support then everyday - not just when you get a free cup of coffee and stale scone.
See you next Tuesday.
Matt
“IT IS EASY TO SIT UP AND TAKE NOTICE. WHAT IS DIFFICULT IS GETTING UP AND TAKING ACTION.”
Legal: I am not compensated by any entity for writing this newsletter. Obviously, anything written in this space are my own nonsensical opinions and doesn’t represent the official viewpoint of my employer or any associated organization. Blame me, not them.