Telecom Fraud Alerts - Oct - Dec 2019

Robocalls Hit Record Levels as Phone Carriers, Lawmakers and Start-ups Fight Back

Robocalls are at an all-time high. On average, Americans received more than 2,000 robocalls every second in October, up 25% from the previous month. With 49 billion robocalls so far this year, all four major U.S. phone carriers now offer some form of blocking or screening service.

* Source: https://www.cnbc.com/

“New Wangiri Warnings in Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Czech Republic, Trinidad and NZ

In the last two years Commsrisk has witnessed an increasing deluge of warnings about wangiri fraud from telcos, regulators and journalists around the world. However, the tsunami reached unprecedented heights this October, with consumers in six different countries being alerted to spikes in wangiri calls.

* Source: https://commsrisk.com/

“Sim Swapping” Identity Thief Indicted for Stealing $1 Million in Cryptocurrency

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of YOUSEF SELASSIE, 19, for stealing the identities of at least 75 victims across the United States in a sophisticated “SIM swapping” scheme, through which he stole more than $1 million in cryptocurrency.

* Source: https://www.manhattanda.org/

Sim Box Fraud: State Loses Gh¢3m Monthly

The state is losing more than GH¢3 million a month to an illegal scheme that diverts international calls into local ones, according to the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications. Known as sim box fraud, the illegality is perpetrated by Ghanaians and their international partners who route international calls through the Internet and terminate them on local mobile phone numbers to attract local charges.

* Source: https://www.ghanaweb.com/

Ipv4 Address Fraud in South Africa Directly Targets $30 Million in Corporate Assets

This September, South African media revealed an elaborate fraud scheme where IPv4 addresses reportedly worth at least $30 million on the second-hand market were stolen or misappropriated from large multinational companies based in South Africa.

* Source: https://www.dqindia.com/

Canada's Telecom Industry Faces Challenge from Deluge of Spam Phone Calls

Canada's telecom companies say they're close to deploying new technologies that will help combat a surge of spam phone calls -- but add they're also working with the industry regulator to bring out more advanced solutions.

* Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/

UAE Bank Told to Pay for Dh4.7 Million after Sim Swap Fraud

A recent judgment by a Dubai court, which held a local bank responsible for a Dh4.7 million SIM card swap fraud, serves as a reminder to all banks and telecom providers to adopt tighter security measures, a Dubai-based lawyer has said on Sunday.

* Source: https://gulfnews.com/

'Internet Fraud Academy' Busted in Nigeria

Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency says it has arrested 23 people undergoing training in internet fraud scams in a remote village in the south of the country. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says the suspects - aged between 19 and 35 - were being trained on how to carry out romance and trading scams, as well as identity theft.

* Source: https://www.myjoyonline.com/

DoJ Charges 14 People in $6 Million Counterfeit Iphone and Ipad Scheme

Scammers are continuing to cause problems for Apple, submitting counterfeit iPhones under warranty and getting them replaced with genuine devices. The US Department of Justice recently unsealed a federal grand jury indictment against a China-based group which has allegedly committed fraud and money laundering in a scheme using counterfeit Apple products.

* Source: https://www.engadget.com/

For all previous fraud alerts click on the following link: https://www.subex.com/fraud-alerts/

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