Fraud
Man sent to prison for selling data of 7 millions elderly Americans
A North Carolina man was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for selling the personal information of over 7 million elderly Americans to Jamaican scammers. 57-year-old Troy Murray (who used the Steve Dixon pseudonym) pleaded guilty in January 2026 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced Thursday to […]
FBI warns of fake FIFA websites running World Cup fraud schemes
The FBI is warning of fake websites impersonating FIFA ahead of the 2026 World Cup, to steal personal and financial information, sell fake tickets and hospitality packages, and push other fraud related to the event. With the international soccer tournament set between June 11 and July 19 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, threat […]
Former US execs plead guilty to aiding tech support scammers
Two former executives of a call-tracking and analytics company pleaded guilty to concealing a years-long tech support fraud scheme that victimized individuals worldwide. Former CEO Adam Young (from Miami, Florida) and former CSO Harrison Gevirtz (from Las Vegas, Nevada) admitted to a misprision of a felony charge, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in […]
Apple blocked over $11 billion in App Store fraud in 6 years
Apple revealed that it blocked over $11 billion in fraudulent App Store transactions over the last six years, more than $2.2 billion in potentially fraudulent App Store transactions in 2025 alone. In a Wednesday press release, the tech giant said it rejected over 2 million problematic app submissions last year and blocked more than 1.1 […]
Telegram Mini Apps abused for crypto scams, Android malware delivery
Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a large-scale fraud operation that uses Telegram’s Mini App feature to run crypto scams, impersonate well-known brands, and distribute Android malware. A new report by CTM360 says the platform, dubbed FEMITBOT, is based on a string found in API responses and uses Telegram bots and embedded Mini Apps to create convincing, […]
Police dismantles 9 crypto scam centers, arrests 276 suspects
A joint international operation involving U.S. and Chinese authorities arrested at least 276 suspects and shut down nine cryptocurrency investment fraud centers. The crackdown was led by Dubai Police under the UAE Ministry of Interior and targeted crime networks running so-called pig-butchering schemes (also known as romance baiting), a form of fraud in which scammers […]
European police dismantles €50 million crypto investment fraud ring
Austrian and Albanian authorities dismantled a criminal ring accused of running a large-scale cryptocurrency investment fraud operation that caused estimated losses of over €50 million ($58.5 million) to victims worldwide. The joint action, which started in June 2023 and was supported by Europol and Eurojust, led to the arrest of 10 suspects and searches of […]
FTC: Americans lost over $2.1 billion to social media scams in 2025
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned of a massive increase in losses from social media scams since 2020, exceeding $2.1 billion in 2025. According to reports to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network, all age groups (except those 80 and over, who were mainly targeted via phone calls) lost more money to scams originating on […]
Traffic violation scams switch to QR codes in new phishing texts
Scammers are sending fake “Notice of Default” traffic violation text messages impersonating state courts across the U.S., pressuring recipients to scan a QR code that leads to a phishing site demanding a $6.99 payment while stealing personal and financial information. This is a new variation of the widely sent toll violation and unpaid parking ticket scams that […]
Musician admits to $10M streaming royalty fraud using AI bots
North Carolina musician Michael Smith has pleaded guilty to collecting over $10 million in royalty payments through a massive streaming royalty fraud scheme on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music. 54-year-old Smith bought hundreds of thousands of songs generated using artificial intelligence (AI) from an accomplice, uploaded them to these streaming platforms, and […]