Threats Without Borders - Issue 65
Threats Without Borders - Issue 65
Matt's Newsletter - Week ending February 13, 2022
The Threats Without Borders Newsletter is is a weekly recap of the best news, research, and threat intelligence relevant to those who investigate and work-to-prevent cyber and financial crime. The newsletter is published every Tuesday (hopefully) and delivered to your email in-box. No subscription fee. No ads. No spam. Maybe some snark.
Welcome to Issue 65!
Two emails I received from Tw/oB readers last week:
“Your writing about the felony lane gang was understandable but a little preachy.I can't be the only one that read it and felt slightly ridiculed for just going along with the industry lingo" And
“I look forward to the email each week. The cool tools are like someone in front of you paying for your cup of coffee.”Looking for love
In all the wrong places! The FTC reports romance scam victimization hit an all-time high in 2021. The agency received complaints from lovelorn victims exceeding 547 Million USD in losses. That’s an 80% increase over the dollar loss reported in 2020. I’m sure the pandemic had much to do with it - people shut in and lonely with nothing to do but look for companionship. Hopefully in the future they try knitting or woodworking to fill their idle time. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/data-spotlight/2022/02/reports-romance-scams-hit-record-highs-2021
NFTs were made for…
Fraud. Here is another story (I included several in last weeks issue) about the threats of NFT’s. They are quickly becoming the vehicle of choice for fraudsters and money launderers. And in reality, the more I study the topic, it seems fraud might be the only area where they really excel. And separating fools from their money. https://www.acfcs.org/acfcs-special-contributor-report-it-starts-with-art-nfts-money-laundering-and-terrorist-financing/
And yet another… US based Cent Marketplace has paused it’s sale of NFT’s due to “rampant fakes and plagiarism”
DDoS bites
Kaspersky Securelist issued a rather long and technical post about the increased presence and lethality of DDoS (Dedicated Denial of Service) attacks over the past year. There are many reasons why a victim is targeted for an attack but the majority are chosen for financial reasons. I consider DDoS a financial crime and have been rather outspoken about it for some time. Kaspersky reports the number of attacks in Q4 increased by 52% against the previous quarter and more than 4.5 times against the same period last year. https://securelist.com/ddos-attacks-in-q4-2021/105784/
When money laundering isn’t the worst thing
Unless you have been completely unplugged over the past week you’ve heard the Department Justice announce the arrest of a married couple in connection to the hack of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange in 2016. Law enforcement was able to recover 3.6 BILLION dollars worth of Bitcoin. Hey Now! But the fact that Heather Morgan was involved in international money laundering and controlled a digital wallet worth that much money isn’t even the strangest part… she lived an alternative life as a rapper known as Razzlekhan. Yes, it’s as cringy as you’d expect. https://www.theverge.com/22924237/razzlekhan-bitfinex-hack-laundering-bitcoin-explained-rapper-heather-morgan
The Rest…
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reports it received 1,611 SIM swapping complaints through 2021, with a victim loss of 68 Million dollars. https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2022/PSA220208
Former director of a Florida animal shelter arrested for stealing more than 1.5 million dollars from the organization. The obligatory boat was purchased. https://nbc-2.com/news/crime/2022/02/10/__trashed-18/
Security company SanSec identifies over 500 Magento web stores infected with a web skimmer. https://sansec.io/research/naturalfreshmall-mass-hack
Colorado wants to crack-down on organized retail theft through stricter regulations on Internet marketplaces. Good luck. https://www.greeleytribune.com/2022/02/14/organized-retail-theft-colorado-legislature-2/
Cool Tools…
All in one OSINT search site: https://synapsint.com/index.php
Cool Jobs…
Senior Fraud Analyst - The Walt Disney Company (Orlando, FL) https://jobs.disneycareers.com/job/orlando/senior-fraud-analyst/391/22501484336
Homophones are Hard
Weather: The state of the atmosphere at a given time and place, with respect to variables such as temperature, moisture, wind velocity, and barometric pressure.
Whether: Used in indirect questions to introduce one alternative. Used to introduce alternative possibilities.
“NO AMOUNT OF THINKING IS GOING TO FIX THE PROBLEM THAT IS SOLVED BY DOING.” - someone who does more than me.
Heartbreaking or infuriating, it’s a fine line, story of the week
Family of yogurt bar bandits hit same store twice in same week - Of course, in San Francisco you can’t be prosecuted unless you steal over $950.00, so why not? https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2022/02/08/video-family-of-thieves-hit-sf-yogurt-shop-twice-in-one-week/
Thank you for opening the email this week. You can reply to the email that delivered the newsletter to offer comments, suggestions, or condemnation.
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Thanks
Matt
