Golden rule: If someone calls saying they’re from your bank, just hang up and call them back — ideally using a phone number that came from the bank’s Web site or from the back of your payment card. Here is how a tech industry pro (having worked in security for several years at a fairly major cloud-based service) fell for a banking scam

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/04/when-in-doubt-hang-up-look-up-call-back/

Who's watching the watchers?, Luckily, SEC was - On more than one occasion, Gene Levoff, senior director of corporate law and corporate secretary (responsible for Apple's compliance with securities laws) disobeyed the company's "blackout" period for stock transactions, selling or buying stock worth tens of "millions of dollars", according to the SEC

Gene Levoff, senior director of corporate law and corporate secretary until September, "traded on material nonpublic information about Apple's earnings three times during 2015 and 2016," according to the SEC.

Before his termination in September, Levoff was "responsible for Apple's compliance with securities laws," the SEC complaint says.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/13/sec-files-insider-trading-lawsuit-against-former-apple-lawyer.html

Financial Fraud - I am talking about us (not corporations) More than 16 million Americans were victims of fraud last year, resulting in almost $17 billion of losses. So, what can we do?

Solution (other than MFA) - Simple, Be super skeptical of any email that arrives asking for any personal information,” he says. “Even if it’s claiming that your account has been hacked or your bank account is overdrawn.”

“As soon as they ask you for your pin or your password, that’s a bad guy,” he says.


http://time.com/money/5439185/bank-fraud-protection-tips

pcAnwhere (Remote access software) was installed on Voting Machines?. This makes the results unreliable

The nation's top voting machine maker has admitted  that the company installed remote-access software on election-management systems it sold over a period of six years

The statement contradicts what the company told me and fact checkers for a story I wrote for the New York Times in February. At that time, a spokesperson said ES&S had never installed pcAnywhere on any election system it sold. "None of the employees, … including long-tenured employees, has any knowledge that our voting systems have ever been sold with remote-access software," the spokesperson said.


ES&S is the top voting machine maker in the country, a position it held in the years 2000-2006 when it was installing pcAnywhere on its systems. The company's machines were used statewide in a number of states, and at least 60 percent of ballots cast in the US in 2006 were tabulated on ES&S election-management systems.

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/mb4ezy/top-voting-machine-vendor-admits-it-installed-remote-access-software-on-systems-sold-to-states

Fraudsters are purchasing medical records of patients that are already deceased, why?

Medical records are often used in combination with other personal information to conduct  sophisticated fraudulent transactions (other than ID theft and financial transactions).

Besides financial fraud, criminals also use stolen medical information for illegally acquiring medical supplies and obtaining health-insurance. One of the dark web one of our researchers found criminals explaining to a potential customer how they can use a medical ID to get prescribed drugs delivered to them, to order medication and even to book a doctor’s appointment for a check-up.


https://threatpost.com/deceased-patient-data-being-sold-on-dark-web/133871/

Ever heard of "Privacy Intrusive Defaults"? (Hint, Facebook, Google , Microsoft) and "FREE SOFTWARE/SERVICE"

Facebook and Google have privacy intrusive defaults, where users who want the privacy friendly option have to go through a significantly longer process.


Before we cry wolf, we should remember there is no such thing as "free service" so, we have to trade something to get something "free"


The popups from Facebook, Google and Windows 10 have design, symbols and wording that nudge users away from the privacy friendly choices. Choices are worded to compel users to make certain choices, while key information is omitted or downplayed. None of them lets the user freely postpone decisions.

Also, Facebook and Google threaten users with loss of functionality or deletion of the user account if the user does not choose the privacy intrusive option.



Full Report Here:
https://fil.forbrukerradet.no/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2018-06-27-deceived-by-design-final.pdf

Fake Malware - created by Kaspersky?

I think it is possible , after all it is fake Malware so, what's the harm?


From the Article:

Kaspersky Lab, tried to damage rivals in the marketplace by tricking their antivirus software programs into classifying benign files as malicious, according to two former employees.

In one technique, Kaspersky's engineers would take an important piece of software commonly found in PCs and inject bad code into it so that the file looked like it was infected, the ex-employees said. They would send the doctored file anonymously to VirusTotal


For more info:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/14/us-kaspersky-rivals-idUSKCN0QJ1CR20150814

Apple scammed 42 time - by a 24 Year old:-

Simple but brilliant..............

From the article)

Parrish allegedly tricked Apple Store employees in 16 states starting around December 2012 into accepting fake authorization codes to purchase $309,768 worth of Apple goods.

Here’s how it works: Parrish allegedly visited Apple Stores and tried to buy products with four different debit cards, which were all closed by his respective financial institutions. When his debit card was inevitably declined by the Apple Store, he would protest and offer to call his bank — except, he wasn’t really calling his bank.

he would offer the Apple Store employees a fake authorization code with a certain number of digits, which is normally provided by credit card issuers to create a record of the credit or debit override

“It does not actually matter what code the merchant types into the terminal,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey said publicly after a similar case occurred there in February. “Any combination of digits will override the denial.”

The link below has more information:-

http://www.businessinsider.com/sharron-laverne-parrish-jr-charged-with-apple-credit-card-scam-2014-7

Interesting Idea - On-line advertising - Beat your competitors by exhausting their Online AdWord budget

Hmm, I am impressed.


(From the article)

fraudsters engage in an opposite scam involving AdWords, in which advertisers try to attack competitors by raising their costs or exhausting their ad budgets early in the day.

The service, which appears to have been in the offering since at least January 2012, provides customers both a la carte and subscription rates. The prices range from $100 to block between three to ten ad units for 24 hours to $80 for 15 to 30 ad units. For a flat fee of $1,000, small businesses can use GoodGoogle’s software and service to sideline a handful of competitor's ads indefinitely.


The link below has more information:-

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/07/service-drains-competitors-online-ad-budget/

Secure Connection + forged = Bad for web

According to the article:-

Computer scientists have uncovered direct evidence that a small but significant percentage of encrypted Web connections are established using forged digital certificates that aren't authorized by the legitimate site owner.

At least one issuer of certificates—IopFailZeroAccessCreate—was generated by a known malware sample that was presented 112 times by users in 45 different countries.

More troubling, of course, was the discovery of forged certificates issued by malware and adware programs for purposes of ferreting log-in credentials out of, and injecting banner ads into, encrypted Web traffic. Because the certificates were installed by software that made administer-level changes to the end-user computers, they likely generated few if any error warnings when they were presented.

The link below has more information:-

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/05/significant-portion-of-https-web-connections-made-by-forged-certificates/

Another incident that reminds that people should use credit cards instead of debit cards.

According to the article:-

Earlier this month, I began hearing from sources in the banking industry about fraudulent debit card activity on cards that were all recently used at self-service stamp vending machines at U.S. Post Offices in at least 13 states and the District of Columbia.

Banking sources said the fraud follows a fairly consistent pattern: The thieves are targeting debit card users and somehow stealing the PINs associated with the cards. Ostensibly, the fraudsters then fabricate new cards and make cash withdrawals at ATMs ranging from $500 to $800 per card.

One way to protect yourself against this type of fraud is to use a credit card in lieu of a debit card whenever possible. With a credit card, your liability is maxed out at $50 in the case of fraudulent transactions. Things get more complicated with debit cards. Although many banks also will observe the $50 limit on debit card fraud, customers could be facing losses of up to $500 if they wait more than two business days after learning about the fraud to report it. 

The link below has more information:-

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/05/postal-service-beware-stamp-kiosk-skimmers/

"TECHTOPUS" - Affected the salaries Million+ Silicon valley tech workers.

In simple terms "Silicon valley Wage Cartel"

It is an illegal agreement between seven tech giants, including Apple, Google, and Intel, to suppress wages for tens of thousands of tech employees.

Welcome to " Power Capitalism" where , Powerful people can easily exploit and still claim that the results are driven by the "Market".  This is easy when you are both the supplier and the consumer and unfortunately we are the commodities whose prices are fixed by a few.

UNION is an outdated "Socialist" word when it comes to employees.

CARTEL is the same but it applies to Bosses who own the business. 

DISCLAIMER:

"I am not GOD so, I admit that I could be wrong anywhere between 0 - 100%"

According to the article:- 

The combined workforce of the companies involved totals well over a million employees.

Although the Department ultimately decided to focus its attention on just Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit, Lucasfilm and Pixar, the emails and memos clearly name dozens more companies which, at least as far as Google and Apple executives were concerned, formed part of their wage-fixing cartel.

The links below has more information:

http://pando.com/2014/03/22/revealed-apple-and-googles-wage-fixing-cartel-involved-dozens-more-companies-over-one-million-employees/

4 Billion dollars profits per year - Which Industry? - Tax Fraud (by Cyber-criminals)

SNIPPET from the Article:-

Many consumers also begin to file their tax returns only to find out that someone else illegally filed a return in their names, according to ThreatMetrix. 

After a legitimate user files his or her tax return online, cybercriminals can compromise the system and steal personally identifiable information.

And finally, Cyber criminals are increasingly using social networks to collect data about their victims -- such as marital status or number of children -- which helps them to file more accurate tax returns and increase the success of their fraud.

The links below has more information:

http://www.darkreading.com/authentication/report-cybercriminals-bank-nearly-4-bill/240166574

Bitcon disaster could be due to fraud - Anonymous hackers uncover alleged proof

SNIPPET:

Forbes reports the 716 megabyte file placed on Karpeles' site included items like his home address, CV, and an Excel spreadsheet that seems to document more than a million trades. But the most interesting piece of information shared is a summary of 18 different currency balances—with 951,116 bitcoins listed. In light of the 850,000 bitcoins supposedly lost in the recent attack, the hackers concluded this figure demonstrates fraud. The footnote reads, "That fat fuck has been lying!!"

The links below has more details:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/03/anonymous-hackers-uncover-alleged-proof-of-mtgox-fraud-from-sites-ceo/

Back to the Past - Message from First American Bank - Avoid paying for cab rides in Chicago with credit or debit cards,

This might sound like bad message but, given the context , it looks like the right thing to do.

why?

Here is the public statement from the bank:

“We have reported the breach to MasterCard® and have kept them apprised of details as they’ve developed. We have also made repeated attempts to deal directly with Banc of America Merchant Services and Bank of America, the payment processors for the taxis, to discontinue payment processing for the companies suffering this compromise until its source is discovered and remediated. These companies have not shared information about their actions and appear to not have stopped the breach.”

The link below has more details:

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/03/illinois-bank-use-cash-for-chicago-taxis/

H1-Visa fraud:I thought this used to happen 20 years back but it seems this still continues

At the time, according to the report, the vast majority of fraudulent applications came from the southern city of Hyderabad

Officials uncovered a scheme where Hyderabadis were claiming to work for made-up companies in Pune so the Mumbai consulate would be less suspicious about their applications. “The Hyderabadis claimed that they had opened shell companies in Bangalore because ‘everyone knows Hyderabad has fraud and Bangalore is reputable,’” according to the internal communiqué.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/140121/india-H1B-fraud-con-artist