Threats Without Borders - Issue 30
Matt's Newsletter - Week ending June 13, 2021
Officials in the Netherlands have called for the banning of Bitcoin arguing “it doesn’t meet any of the three functions of money and is handy for criminals”. Pieter Hasekamp, director of the Dutch Bureau of Economic Analysis, further explains the currency “has no intrinsic value and is only valuable because others may accept it”. Mr. Hasekamp, please meet the U.S. Dollar. He is also concerned that the tool is useful to criminals. Again sir, I refer you to the dollar.
And if we are going to ban the mechanisms of value-transfer over concerns of crime, shall we do away with the gift card? Gift cards are certainly handy for criminals. In their 2020 Q4 Phishing Activity Trends Report, the Anti-Phishing Work Group (AWPG) reported that scammers requested gift cards in 60% of documented Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks.
And speaking of things only having worth because of societal constructs; Hello, gold!
Hi, I’m Matt. Thank You for opening this weeks newsletter. Links to the referenced articles are in bold. In some notes, I add the link address for those that weary of clicking on links embedded in newsletter. :)
They stole how much?
This Axios article claims that criminals have stolen “at least half” of all Covid-19 pandemic relief funds to the tune of 400 BILLION dollars. And even worse, the CEO of LexiNexis Risk Solutions claims that over 70% of the stolen money left the country. Can fraud investigators get some help now? And maybe the courts can actually put some money mules in prison? Just asking. https://www.axios.com/pandemic-unemployment-fraud-benefits-stolen-a937ad9d-0973-4aad-814f-4ca47b72f67f.html
Prices and Fraud are going up
The FBI issued a warning concerning the increase of BEC scammers impersonating construction companies. The guidance doesn’t specifically give this as a reason, but the increase price of construction materials gives the scammers perfect cover to submit fraudulent change orders for under-construction projects. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/fbi-warns-of-bec-scammers-impersonating-construction-companies/
Fraudster gets Trumped
A Mechanicsburg, PA man has been arrested for raising “hundreds-of-thousands” of dollars for the 2020 presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Raising money for Trump isn’t a crime, but keeping it all for your self is. He also created social media accounts that attracted more than 100,000 followers. It seems like he might have a future in politics -after he gets this pesky federal prosecution out of the way. The release doesn’t specify what he spent the money on. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/pennsylvania-man-charged-using-identities-then-president-s-family-members-perpetrate
The root causes of fraud
The unrelenting media highlighting the Covid-19 pandemic pushed several other issues of health and social concern out of the public consciousness. Out of sight out of mind, but not out of reality, unfortunately. The opioid crisis is still raging, especially here in Pennsylvania. This Real Clear Politics article reminds us that we are still loosing thousands of lives per year and there isn’t a vaccine available. It’s an important issue for fraud investigators because so many people sick with opioid addiction find themselves involved in financial fraud, usually as a money mule or check runner. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/06/10/pa_illustrates_the_extent_of_americas_opioid_crisis__145903.html
The Rest…
Financial institutions are being targeted in a phishing attack from someone using the domain “gateway-finra.org”. The real FINRA issued guidance. https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/notices/21-20
Professor Kerr’s opinion of the Supreme Court’s opinion in the case Van Buren V. United States, the first major decision based on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act handed down by the SCOTUS. https://www.lawfareblog.com/supreme-court-reins-cfaa-van-buren
And an article explaining why the ruling in Van Buren was needed….Fighting Inside Abuse After Van Buren. https://www.lawfareblog.com/fighting-insider-abuse-after-van-buren
Threat intelligence collection and analysis is essential for law enforcement agencies. https://www.recordedfuture.com/threat-intelligence-law-enforcement-agencies/
Kevin Beaumont gives us the hard truth about ransomware. https://doublepulsar.com/the-hard-truth-about-ransomware-we-arent-prepared-it-s-a-battle-with-new-rules-and-it-hasn-t-a93ad3030a54
And in real life is crazier than fiction…how about when the real mob gets involved in reality television. https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/lucchese-crime-family-member-sentenced-30-months-prison-aggravated-assault
Tools
https://webmii.com/ - people search engine. Sometimes it loads the german language site but refresh to get the English version. It found some interesting information during my testing.
“STOP ASSUMING THINGS AREN’T ATTAINABLE FOR YOU. YOU DECIDE THAT.” - someone smarter than me.
And that’s a wrap. Thank you for a few minutes of your time. Please consider sharing with your colleagues.