Online Bank Fraud Hammering Small Businesses

Online bank fraud, for all of its obvious ploys and tired tactics, is still a remarkably effective way to make money. Too lazy or clueless to get a real job? Go phishing. Lots of people are doing it, and by some estimates, it’s evolving into a nearly $1 billion business. Many industry groups and...

APWG Fax Back Phishing Education Program

In an effort to respond to a growing public threat by offline phishers that conduct various scams via fax, the Anti-phishing Working Group APWG has partnered with the Internal Revenue Service IRS to create the APWG Fax Back Phishing Education Program. This program is designed to provide...

Mobile Website Flaws Cloak Click Fraud

It’s possible to craft a malicious website so that a user’s clicks are secretly redirected to a legitimate site in a way that steals a user’s passwords and other data. Many Web developers have added protections to block the tactic on standard websites, but Stanford University researchers warn tha...

6 Arrested in UK Online Bank Fraud Scheme

Six people have been arrested on suspicion of stealing credit cards, personal information and banking details as part of a suspected online banking fraud. Read the full article. Help Net Security...

Corporate Identity Theft Is On the Rise

Just days after Colorado officials warned businesses about scammers who are forging corporate identities to commit financial fraud, an official in Georgia said the same has been happening in that state as well. Read the full article. Computerworld...

MS Launches Centralized Fraud Alert System

Microsoft launched a new Web-based mechanism for researchers to securely report stolen credentials, bank and credit card data, or other data they discover, and as a way to quickly alert the appropriate banks, retailers, or government agencies of a compromise. Read the full article. Dark Reading...

ATM Skimmer Sites Attempt to Scam Criminals

Most skimmers that are openly advertised are little more than scams designed to separate clueless crooks from their ill-gotten gains. However, start poking around on some of the more exclusive online fraud forums for sellers who have built up a reputation in this business and chances are eventual...

Feds Indict 5 in Carson, CA Crimes

Five people were indicted this week on wire fraud and other criminal charges stemming from a 2007 cybertheft in which nearly $450,000 was stolen from the bank accounts of the city of Carson, California using credential-stealing spyware. Read the full article. Computerworld...

ID Theft Victims Spending Less on Cleanup

Nearly one-third of all identity theft victims say they are unable to completely clear up damaged credit or criminal records in the aftermath of their identities being abused. But the good news is they’re spending much less time and money cleaning up the fraud perpetrated against them in their...

Beta Users Refute MS Click Fraud Claims

Beta customers named in two click fraud lawsuits Microsoft filed this week maintain their innocence, and both say they assisted the software company in investigating the source of the problem. Read the full article. IDG News Service...

Visa Says Criminal Group Planning Fraud

Visa is warning financial institutions that it has received reliable intelligence that an organized criminal group plans to attempt to move large amounts of fraudulent payments through a merchant account. Read the full article. KrebsonSecurity...

Advertising Losses Mount in Botnet Click Fraud

The clever hacking of online advertisements has quietly grown into a multi-million dollar criminal industry showing no signs of slowing. The big losers: online advertisers. Read the full article. The Last Watchdog...

New Zeus Botnet Variant Targets Firefox

A new version of the data-stealing trojan Zeus is for the first time able to successfully exploit Mozilla’s Firefox browser to commit sophisticated online banking fraud. Read the full article. Secure Computing...

Friending HR: A Rich and Mineable Source of Intelligence

One of the most common complaints I hear from information security executives in large organizations is that they are constantly playing defense, not offense. Their network security apparatus is designed to wait for an attack, see if it’s successful and, if it is, to plug the hole, then repeat. T...

Changes to Flash Good for Bank Fraud

When the final version of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 hits desktops later this year, it will bring with it new functionality designed to allow users to automatically clear Flash cookies after a Web session. But while the feature may be lauded in the name of privacy, it may also force online banks to...

ID Thieves Took $4 Million from Tax Returns

A group of sophisticated identity thieves managed to steal more than $4 million by filing bogus tax returns using the names and Social Security numbers of other people, many of them deceased, according to a 74-count indictment unsealed in Arizona. Read the full article. Wired...

Online Fraud Loss Reaches $560 Mil in 2009

Reported losses from online fraud more than doubled last year, from $265 million in 2008 to nearly $560 million in 2009, according to figures released Friday by the FBI. Read the full article. KrebsonSecurity...

Monoprice.com Goes Offline, Investigates Fraud

Audio visual cabling giant monoprice.com shut down its Web site – possibly for the next couple of weeks – while it investigates the possible compromise of its customer credit and debit card information. Read the full article. KrebsonSecurity...

Hijacked Brands Grew in 2009 Phishing Attacks

The Anti-Phishing Working Group APWG released its Q4, 2009 Phishing Activity Trends Report, which reveals that eCrime syndicates are expanding the base of brands they exploit for online fraud far beyond major financial institutions and online merchants, with the number of hijacked brands reaching...

Darkmarket Founder Gets 56 Months in Jail

Renukanth Subramaniam, 33, who had previously plead guilty was sentenced to 46 months for conspiracy to defraud and 10 months for five counts of mortgage fraud, the terms to run consecutively. Also sentenced was Darkmarket user John McHugh, 66, who had the sign in “Devilman” and created fake cred...