Schlagwort-Archive: methods of fraud

(English) UK – world’s most phished country in 2012

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According to the world renowned cyber experts RSA, in 2012 UK consumers lost more money to online fraud than any other country. The RSA Anti-Fraud Command Centre (AFCC) released figures of a £405.8m loss in the UK for 2012 which was gained from 250 000 phishing attacks.
For the UK, this resulted in a 25% increase from 2011. The top five countries, which have a significant English speaking population, are as follows. US are second even though there loss was a decline of 19%. Canada, India and South Africa make up the rest.

An annual lost to the UK through cybercrime was estimated at £27bn by Detica-BAE Systems. From this £27bn, £21bn is believed to come from businesses.

The cost to consumers is equally catastrophic. Detica believes that a total figure of £3.1bn has a more encompassing scope than RSA. Fake antivirus packages and ’scareware‘ cost the consumer around £30m.

However, one must use caution when using estimations of cost as previous usages have been exaggerated wildly. However the RSA’s figures are based on attacks detected and dealt with by its AFCC. The attacks are then given the value of $300 per attack as this is the average from 8 years of operations, with 500 000 incidents tackled in this time. Detica’s totals use analysis from 25 industrial sectors and consultation with five British government agencies.

Due to the widespread use of chip-and-pin technology and other multi-factor authentication, the UK population are less at risk than those in the US.

Limor Kessem, Technical Lead of Knowledge Delivery at RSA believes that the UK are targeted due to an increase in technology for the average person. She said „The problem with the UK is that more people use the internet, more people have technology“.
The Office for National Statistics released figures last week that show that 84.7% of the UK public have used the internet at least once. In comparison, the US has a figure of 77.9%. In addition, the UK has the most usage for internet access from mobiles which increases the risk of attack.

New tactics are constantly being evolved by potential fraudsters to rid you of your money. For example, online fraudsters often require an individual, or an ‚insider‘, to reside in the country of the target. This is in case attendance at a bank is required and in this sense the fraudster can impersonate the target. „It’s partly because of the accent. You have to sound like a local if you really want to make sure the transaction goes through“, said Kessem.

Highlighted in a 2012 UK Cards Association report on payment fraud were methods that a potential fraudster might carry out in-branch. The theft of a card at an ATM, or tricking individuals into revealing their card and PIN by posing as a telephone salesperson have been used in the past.

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(English) Work Methods of Call Centres – The Importance of Telephone Number Blocks

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Leider ist der Eintrag nur auf Amerikanisches Englisch verfügbar.

Constant avaiability through our mobile and smartphones has become a part of our daily routine. Although there are, undoubtably, advantages to this avaiability, for some people this benefit turned into curse, especially as far as unsolicited calls are concerned.

One Company, Innumberable Phone Numbers – Thanks to Phone Number Blocks

Who does not know about the problem of being called by unknown phone numbers? Often the perpetrator is only one call centre disguised behind a broad range of phone numbers. How does that work? On one hand, call centres employ the Voice over IP technology to generate random phone numbers to conceal their true numbers, on the other hand, most call centre request vast blocks of telephone numbers from the network provider.

A phone number block contains at least 10 phone numbers which match each other in their initial digits. The public telephone network offers block numbers containing up to 1000 phone numbers. Some companies with a high affinity to telecommunications maintain block numbers supplying up to 10000 phone numbers to support their telephone systems. Another variant of block numbers refers to the bulk of extension numbers to define a telephone systems substations.

The main advantages of number blocks enables companies the use of Direct Dial Ins, that provides the telephone system’s substation to be avaiable directly from internal and public networks without the need of being relayed manually. As far as the consumer is concerned, he or she will be able to skip the company’s or institution’s swithboard and call the desired colloquist directly through the extension number. Additionally, consumers can recognize the number and attribute it to a certain company or institution.

Call Centres Use a Large Variety of Numbers

De facto most call centres use their number blocks to their own profitable ends. Hence consumer will be targeted by various numbers behind which telemarketers and lottery scams lurk. Most call centre expect their numbers being blocked every now and then. In order to avoid any losses call centres draw on a vast pool of numbers, essentially, thanks to the number blocks provided by the nertwork operator. The more number block a company has at its disposal, the more phone numbers it can employ. Although numbers of nuisance callers are blocked not only by consumer on a regular basis but also by official institution – some only after thousands of complaints – the call centres supply of replacement numbers enables the company to go on as if nothing happened.

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(English) Mobile scam that hit thousands of people

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Last weekend tens of thousands mobile phone users in Ireland woke up to a missed call, that, at the first glance, appeared to have originated locally. However, it was actually just a carefully disguised premium rate service number based in Slovenia, which the scammers used to profit from those who called back. While there is still no exact data on how much money in total the users have lost, it is estimates that connection charge alone was in excess of €2 in addition to similar costs incurred by the users for each minute spent on the call.

The scam was initially set up to play on peoples’ feelings and emotions after missing a call in the middle of the night, and it worked to the extent that people called back. Once the user had called back, the automatized system would play random noises to ensure that the caller stays for as long as possible and pays as much as he can. Many of tellows users are also annoyed by the calls in the middle of the night, our user sleepless reported:

Last night, while I was sound asleep, my phone rang. WTF! I was really pissed because I was sleeping soundly and then a sudden phone call woke me up. I did not answer the first call and then, someone from this number gave me more rings and it reached 20 missed calls. That was ridiculous. I HATE IT , REALLY !

Our user Jippard gives a good advice to everyone who has ever got a missed call:

Don’t answer calls from this number. If you answer you’ll only get harassed more and more from this company and others. If you get calls from strange numbers that you don’t recognise don’t answer. If its an important call they’ll leave you a message and you can phone them back.

The good news are that everything is being done to stop the fraudulent earnings reaching the scammers pockets, and, hopefully, Irish consumers will be reimbursed for any costs they have incurred due to the scam. Nevertheless, the idea behind prevention of this particular fraud is not just to keep the customers happy or to stop those in charge of the scam profiting from it. Irish communications regulator ComReg has stated that prevention is also being done to prove to others who may attempt a similar trick that the payment system in Ireland is secure enough to be able to withstand such scams and not to pay out the wanted money.

No data protection issues can be seen so far in the case, as the numbers that were called had been generated by a computer and all had the same prefix of 087, therefore it appears that there is no connection to any phone lists being leaked or used. However, regardless of the fact that the scammers will not get their money, they are also unlikely to be traced as the host numbers that appear to have come from Slovenia may have been cloned and could have come from a completely different place.

ComReg spokesperson has said that such scams are not uncommon in Ireland and are dealt with as quickly as possible and that any person, who believes that they may have been a victim to this particular scam, should contact their personal phone service provider to check whether any costs have been incurred.

Phone scams are by all means not the only type of fraud that are constantly happening. Letters from supposed foreign Lottery funds asking you to cover administration costs before you receive your money; SMS telling you that you have won money and that you need to call back; advertisements suggesting work from home where you have to pay for materials first; fake computer virus alerts and emails from banks requesting your financial details – all of these are scams that are not uncommon and might be attempted on anyone, therefore it is always essential to watch out for them. And Tellows is always here for you to help fighting against annoying scammers. Together, we can !
Your Tellows

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(English) Another Day, Another Scam – Be aware of current fraud-methods!

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Leider ist der Eintrag nur auf Amerikanisches Englisch verfügbar.

Another scam trying to lure you into a trip by promises of great riches sprouts shoots.

We would like to warn you about a message which promises a bonus payment of 1000₤ in addition to the regular pension. This recorded message want you to push 5 for further information or 9 for unsubscribing. Sometimes it’s not a message but a call. One of the numbers which are used by those fraudsters is 01619610056. Please don’t answer to that, its a scam! If you know other numbers, comment them here in order to warn other users!

Another method to get your money is stealing your bank details. We reported last year about scammers who claim to be SKY-employees in order to get your bank information. Now another company called Lending Stream is intend to gain access to your purse. They claim they granted you a loan in the past which they debit from your bank account now – although there isn’t any evidence for this loan. Even big banks like Lloyds aren’t protected from this method. Unfiortunately, you are often left alone with the problem because they don’t know how to avoid scams like this.

Our user Andrew tells us about his bad experiences with Lending Stream.

this company offered my father a loan so he paid them a u-cash voucher for 145 pounds so as his loan went into his bank account… it all seemed above board then they said they wanted another 250 to process….LENDING TREAM… Comlpete rip off merchants PLEASE STAY AWAY… my dad is 68 years old and they took most of his wages and then wanted more…SCUM THATS WHAT THIS COMPANY ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And they said he cant have his money BACK!!!!

All we can do is to pay attention and to share our experiences on tellows.co.uk.

Take care, your tellows-Team!

Sources:
Guardian – Lloyds Payday Fraud
Guardian – Recorded Phone Message

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(English) Great Success Against PC Doctor Scammers

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Leider ist der Eintrag nur auf Amerikanisches Englisch verfügbar.

It sounds like a relief from one of the most common scam methods of the past two years: the American FTC (Federal Trade Commission), in cooperation with several crime defense organisations such as the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission and the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency as well as law enforcement officials in India, has arrested 17 people in responsible positions of fraud companies.

As the Guardian reported, Indian fraud companies used locations and acounts in the USA and Canada to funnel the money back to India. Namely it were the following companies whose assets have been frozen: Pecon Software; PC Care247; Connexxions Infotech; Connexxions IT Services Private Ltd; Zeal IT Solutions; Lakshmi Infosoul Services Private Ltd; Virtual PC Solutions, First PC Solution; Direct PC Solution; Virtual IT Supports; Global Innovative Service; 24x7pchelp; 24x7pctech; Transfront Solutions; New World Services; Megabites Solutions; Mega Bits; Greybytes Cybertech; Bluesystemcare; Shine Solutions Private Ltd.

Tellows reported about the so-called PC doctor scam method on its blog earlier this year: http://blog.tellows.co.uk/tag/virus/

The scam was addressed to citizens of all English-speaking countries, with calls originating from India. Briefly said, the scam consisted in calliing the victims on the phone with the caller introducing himself as an employee of microsoft calling because of a virus that had been detected on the called person’s PC. The caller would ask the victim to open the Windows Event Viewer – a part of the Windows operating system that regularly gives error warnings, but these have no negative influence on a computer’s functioning.

Consequently, the caller would instruct the person on the other end to download a pseudo-anti-virus programme for a fee or even subscribe the person to a regular update for the application that should fix the computer problem. Even worse: in some cases the fraudsters were asking for personal information and bank account details to gain their victims‘ money. According to the Guardian, the fraudsters were in average able to ripp more than $ 800 off each conned person.

Tellows has records of the following UK numbers connected to the fraud:

Source:

Yours,

Team Tellows

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(English) The Silent Call Plague – Weekly Top 3 Spammers

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Leider ist der Eintrag nur auf Amerikanisches Englisch verfügbar.

There’s not much news on the top UK spam ranks:

1. 01932504981 from Weybridge with a tellows score of 7
2. 07520905002 mobile phone number with a tellows score of 8
3. 02073286956 from London with a tellows score of 7

Insurance scam business is still flousishing, especially with the number 01932504981 that is still relentlessly trying to sell car insurance on behalf of Van compare.

User Odd call’s comment speaks of the incompetence of the caller:

Answered and they said calling from car insurance company and that my insurance was up for renewal and was this right? I said „I have no idea“ the guy on the other end said „oh my gosh!“ and hung up. I have no idea what he thought I said, but it was different for a sales team to hang up on me rather than the other way round.

We got a silent call number on rank two for a change. Best comment of the week by scamhater says it all:

My advice is to always do what I do with these scam type calls;

1. use your phone to make a recording of 1 second of silence. (keep this 1 second silence in your ringtone or media folder)

2. save the recording and call it scamtone or something.

3. then enter the scammy number into your address book as ; scam1, scam2, scam 3 etc. Each one represents a different scammy number that you get over time.

4. finally, associate the 1 second of silence with each scammy number as a ringtone.

Simple – they can ring and ring and if you dont hear it you dont pick it up. If it is associated to a name ; Scam1 etc, you will never be tempted to ring it back from your call history.

Last week’s rank-3-number stayed where it is, still harassing people in the UK at all times of night. There are some hints that such silent calls at night could originate from an overseas call center, probably in India. Some companies are hiring telephone assistants in countries, where workforce is cheaper for them. They obviously did not keep the time zones in mind.

And as we already emphasized a million times, silent calls proved to be the precursors of real telemarketing or scam calls – so watch out!

Stay tuned and keep eyes and ears open for more spam numbers!

Kind regards,

Team Tellows

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(English) Weekly Top 3 Spammers

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Leider ist der Eintrag nur auf Amerikanisches Englisch verfügbar.

Were are back again to bring you the top 3 spammers of the week. Shame on:

1. 01932504981 from Huddersfield with a tellows score of 7
2. 01412582118 from Weybridge with a tellows score of 8
3. 02073286956 from London with a tellows score of 7

Last week’s second and third rank numbers moved one rank up. The new most active spam number is 01932504981 trying to sell car insurance on behalf of Van compare.

Dorothy reported last week:

Never heard of them, phone number not normally given. But then again all I got was someone that sounded stoned and hung up, but when i checked this number they said it was about car insurance.

This week’s second worst spammer has been well known to us already. We already found out that it must be a slightly unprofessional call centre. If they are not giggling or leaving offensive messages on people’s answer machines, they are tying their best to sell a wide range of products: air conditioners, home security alarms and solar panels.

Short comment by user 111a:

Rude people making harrassment calls, keep hanging up if you speak.

The last but not least annoying number is 02073286956, providing thousands of households with harassing silent calls. You pick up, but there is no-one on the other end.

Silent calls proved to be the precursors of real telemarketing calls – so watch out!

Remember: Never ever tell confidential personal information to telemarketers or fraudsters phishing for information!

Kind regards,

Team Tellows

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(English) Beware: Fraudulent Sky Callers Want Your Bank Details!

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Leider ist der Eintrag nur auf Amerikanisches Englisch verfügbar.

Were are back again to bring you the latest news on a new fraud method circulating in the UK. Scammers pretending to work for SKY TV or companies related to SKY are calling (former) sky customers, claiming their package had to be renewed or their bills had not been paid. Watch out! It might sound logical in the first place, but all these fraudsters want is to get your bank details!
We are talking namely about the following numbers:

The caller pretends to be an employee of SKY TV or a company installing the gear for SKY. All calls show a similar structure: first you will be confronted with some financial matter. Either you have not payed your SKY fee or you are paying too much and should get money back. Second part: you will be asked for your details.

We provide some simple advices how you notice that this is a scam call

  • Never ever tell anybody your credit card details during a cold call, nor give any other personal information like your name or address. The caller should have at least your address, if it really is a legitimate company calling you. Ask for the information they got on you!
  • Ask the caller for her/his name, job title, company and telephone number
  • Write down the telephone number and report it to tellows.co.uk
  • Keep in mind that legitimate companies do contracts in a written way and never ask for personal details and financial matters on the phone

Source:

Yours,

Team Tellows

Read more on the topic in our press release.

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(English) Ignoring The TPS!? The British Top 3 Phone Spammers

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The only number that didn´t change since the last British Top 3 spam number report is 01484818084 on rank 1.

1. 01484818084 from Huddersfield with a tellows score of 8
2. 01412582118 from Glasgow with a tellows score of 8
3. 01234945454 from Bedford with a tellows score of 7

Manyfold telemarketing offers seem to originate from number 01484818084 – the British top spam number! As we discovered recently with the help of all Tellows users, the callers are not only trying to sell PI claims or mortgages but also goods, suchs as solar pannels. The latest comment reveals even another „product“ – CI insurace. Insurance scam seems to be the most flourishing fraud method of all in Britain.

User waveylines reported:

Asian person who rang me wanting my details…for a claim he reckoned i was due….was reluctant to give me any details about the company he worked for -was evasive but eventually told me that hie company was called Talk International and he worked in the CI claims department..Difficult to understand his accent….

Tellows does not want to promote any stereotypes or xenophobia. We highly depreciate this. Please keep in mind that suspicious telemarketing companies hire the cheapest workforce and therefore often make a profit out of globalization and bad economic situations in other countries.

The number on rank 2 is getting on people’s nerves with silent calls. It is a typical method of checking phone numbers with the help of an automath in order to give telemarketing calls sooner or later. Same thing with 01234945454 which is on rank 3.

Don’t let them take over! The community counts on your comments!

Your Tellows Team

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(English) Spam Numbers Of The Week – The British Top 5

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The most annoying numbers are still the same, though there are some changes on the minor ranks:

1. 01484818084 from Huddersfield with a tellows score of 8
2. 01234945454 from Bedford with a tellows score of 7
3. 07968463380 a mobil phone number with a tellows score of 7
4. 07787225074 a mobil phone number with a tellows score of 9
5. 07787241083 a mobil phone number with a tellows score of 9

This week’s most annoying phone number 01484818084 has been searched more than 5293 times now. Beware! Several stories about what the callers are offering on this number have been reported. The range is very wide, starting off with PI claims, mortgages as well as solar pannels. This does not sound trustworthy at all.

This is what waveylines wrote about this number:

Asian person who rang me wanting my details…for a claim he reckoned i was due….was reluctant to give me any details about the company he worked for -was evasive but eventually told me that hie company was called Talk International and he worked in the CI claims department.

For number 01234945454 we found out that the initial ping calls comming from this number turned into PPI claims spam. We already reported about this method in a previous article:

Main principle of the scam: the caller is trying to convince people that they are owed money for an unclaimed PPI insurance. The method of the fraudulant calls is simple: assuming the called person has a loan, stating exactly how much money the person is owed by the unclaimed insurance and offering their service of getting the client’s money back – after prior payment, of course.

read more

We count on you in the struggle against phone spam and scam!

Your Tellows Team

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