Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/04/23/fbi-online-theft-fraud-expl.html
…
2 Likes
More than once it has occurred to me that I’d probably be rich, if I didn’t have a conscience and a strong sense of morality.
SMH
12 Likes
I’m going to guess that $1.3 billion difference is pretty close to the sum of crypto-currency fraud in the last year.
7 Likes
Ditto.
As for becoming a victim of the type of fraud that sucks money from my accounts, I’m really hoping the fact that I have almost no money will help protect me. That, and my natural resistance to being overly social or friendly with people I don’t know.
Or personal loans to Trump.
6 Likes
At the supermarket where I clerk I noticed a few people buying large numbers of Google Play cards. I finally asked a customer why she was doing this. She said someone online “clearing her computer of viruses” told her to pay with these. I told her it was a scam. She didn’t get the cards - I don’t know how much she believed me.
If you pay a scammer with a credit card or some other common financial method there is a chance you can get your money back. You ain’t gettin nothing back if you pay with gift cards.
6 Likes
I’m sure that this is mostly true but do you ever get the feeling they are pulling these numbers out of their ass?
I mean, could be $6 billion, or 1 billion.
1 Like
I thought this was going to be a story about embezzlement type fraud but I guess the numbers are too low.
it will make you uncharacteristically sick with some problems
Reminder:
“It” probably has happened to you. But the major thieves are not mysterious hackers, and the FBI doesn’t give a shit about it.
6 Likes
You should add in tax fraud and civil forfeiture by enterprising cops as well.
2 Likes
I am in Germany, so the theft that happened against me last December doesn’t show up in the statistics, but someone ordered €2000 worth of goods from Burberry from my credit card. Thank goodness I check the balance online, else I wouldn’t have caught it in time. I did get my money back, and I hope the packages were intercepted by the cops, but I don’t have much hopes. Especially since online theft like this is cheaper to insure against than it is to program a more secure system.
4 Likes
So far I’ve been lucky. The few times a credit card was used fraudulently, the bank caught it and I lost nothing other than time waiting for a new card. But I take more precautions these days. I never store my CC information on a site, nor buy from a vendor who requires it but provides no alternatives like using Paypal. I don’t know how much that helps me, but it does ease the mind a little.
1 Like
Yes, considering I’ve seen reliable numbers (direct losses as reported internally by financial institutions) of $100B and that was several years ago.
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
