Confidence Artist 2l2a50

tags) suggest a reliable destination, when the link actually goes to the phishers' site. The following example link, http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Genuine, appears to take you to an article entitled "Genuine"; clicking on it will in fact take you to the article entitled "Deception". In the lower left hand corner of most browsers you can preview and where the link is going to take you.[29] Hovering your cursor over the link for a couple of seconds will do a similar thing. An old method of spoofing used links containing the '@' symbol, originally intended as a way to include a name and (contrary to the standard).[30] For example, the link

Phishing http://[email protected]/ might deceive a casual observer into believing that it will open a page on www.google.com, whereas it actually directs the browser to a page on .tripod.com, using a name of www.google.com: the page opens normally, regardless of the name supplied. Such URLs were disabled in Internet Explorer,[31] while Mozilla Firefox[32] and Opera present a warning message and give the option of continuing to the site or cancelling. A further problem with URLs has been found in the handling of Internationalized domain names (IDN) in web browsers, that might allow visually identical web addresses to lead to different, possibly malicious, websites. Despite the publicity surrounding the flaw, known as IDN spoofing[33] or homograph attack,[34] phishers have taken advantage of a similar risk, using open URL redirectors on the websites of trusted organizations to disguise malicious URLs with a trusted domain.[35] [36] [37] Even digital certificates do not solve this problem because it is quite possible for a phisher to purchase a valid certificate and subsequently change content to spoof a genuine website.

Filter evasion Phishers have used images instead of text to make it harder for anti-phishing filters to detect text commonly used in phishing e-mails.[38]

Website forgery Once a victim visits the phishing website the deception is not over. Some phishing scams use JavaScript commands in order to alter the address bar.[39] This is done either by placing a picture of a legitimate URL over the address bar, or by closing the original address bar and opening a new one with the legitimate URL.[40] An attacker can even use flaws in a trusted website's own scripts against the victim.[41] These types of attacks (known as cross-site scripting) are particularly problematic, because they direct the to sign in at their bank or service's own web page, where everything from the web address to the security certificates appears correct. In reality, the link to the website is crafted to carry out the attack, making it very difficult to spot without specialist knowledge. Just such a flaw was used in 2006 against PayPal.[42] A Universal Man-in-the-middle (MITM) Phishing Kit, discovered in 2007, provides a simple-to-use interface that allows a phisher to convincingly reproduce websites and capture log-in details entered at the fake site.[43] To avoid anti-phishing techniques that scan websites for phishing-related text, phishers have begun to use Flash-based websites. These look much like the real website, but hide the text in a multimedia object.[44]

Phone phishing Not all phishing attacks require a fake website. Messages that claimed to be from a bank told s to dial a phone number regarding problems with their bank s.[45] Once the phone number (owned by the phisher, and provided by a Voice over IP service) was dialed, prompts told s to enter their numbers and PIN. Vishing (voice phishing) sometimes uses fake caller-ID data to give the appearance that calls come from a trusted organization.[46]

Other techniques • Another attack used successfully is to forward the client to a bank's legitimate website, then to place a popup window requesting credentials on top of the website in a way that it appears the bank is requesting this sensitive information.[47] • One of the latest phishing techniques is tabnabbing. It takes advantage of the multiple tabs that s use and silently redirects a to the affected site.

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Phishing • Evil twins is a phishing technique that is hard to detect. A phisher creates a fake wireless network that looks similar to a legitimate public network that may be found in public places such as airports, hotels or coffee shops. Whenever someone logs on to the bogus network, fraudsters try to capture their s and/or credit card information.

Damage caused by phishing The damage caused by phishing ranges from denial of access to e-mail to substantial financial loss. It is estimated that between May 2004 and May 2005, approximately 1.2 million computer s in the United States suffered losses caused by phishing, totaling approximately US$929 million. United States businesses lose an estimated US$2 billion per year as their clients become victims.[48] In 2007, phishing attacks escalated. 3.6 million adults lost US$3.2 billion in the 12 months ending in August 2007.[49] Microsoft claims these estimates are grossly exaggerated and puts the annual phishing loss in the US at US$60 million.[50] In the United Kingdom losses from web banking fraud—mostly from phishing—almost doubled to GB£23.2m in 2005, from GB£12.2m in 2004,[51] while 1 in 20 computer s claimed to have lost out to phishing in 2005.[52] The stance adopted by the UK banking body APACS is that "customers must also take sensible precautions ... so that they are not vulnerable to the criminal."[53] Similarly, when the first spate of phishing attacks hit the Irish Republic's banking sector in September 2006, the Bank of Ireland initially refused to cover losses suffered by its customers (and it still insists that its policy is not to do so[54] ), although losses to the tune of €11,300 were made good.[55]

Anti-phishing There are several different techniques to combat phishing, including legislation and technology created specifically to protect against phishing. Most new internet browsers come with anti-phishing software.

Social responses One strategy for combating phishing is to train people to recognize phishing attempts, and to deal with them. Education can be effective, especially where training provides direct .[56] One newer phishing tactic, which uses phishing e-mails targeted at a specific company, known as spear phishing, has been harnessed to train individuals at various locations, including United States Military Academy at West Point, NY. In a June 2004 experiment with spear phishing, 80% of 500 West Point cadets who were sent a fake e-mail were tricked into revealing personal information.[57] People can take steps to avoid phishing attempts by slightly modifying their browsing habits. When ed about an needing to be "verified" (or any other topic used by phishers), it is a sensible precaution to the company from which the e-mail apparently originates to check that the e-mail is legitimate. Alternatively, the address that the individual knows is the company's genuine website can be typed into the address bar of the browser, rather than trusting any hyperlinks in the suspected phishing message.[58] Nearly all legitimate e-mail messages from companies to their customers contain an item of information that is not readily available to phishers. Some companies, for example PayPal, always address their customers by their name in e-mails, so if an e-mail addresses the recipient in a generic fashion ("Dear PayPal customer") it is likely to be an attempt at phishing.[59] E-mails from banks and credit card companies often include partial numbers. However, recent research[60] has shown that the public do not typically distinguish between the first few digits and the last few digits of an number—a significant problem since the first few digits are often the same for all clients of a financial institution. People can be trained to have their suspicion aroused if the message does not contain any specific personal information. Phishing attempts in early 2006, however, used personalized information, which makes it unsafe to assume that the presence of personal information alone guarantees that a message is legitimate.[61] Furthermore, another recent study concluded in part that the presence of personal

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Phishing information does not significantly affect the success rate of phishing attacks,[62] which suggests that most people do not pay attention to such details. The Anti-Phishing Working Group, an industry and law enforcement association, has suggested that conventional phishing techniques could become obsolete in the future as people are increasingly aware of the social engineering techniques used by phishers.[63] They predict that pharming and other uses of malware will become more common tools for stealing information. Everyone can help educate the public by encouraging safe practices, and by avoiding dangerous ones. Unfortunately, even well-known players are known to incite s to hazardous behaviour, e.g. by requesting their s to reveal their s for third party services, such as email.[64]

Technical responses Anti-phishing measures have been implemented as features embedded in browsers, as extensions or toolbars for browsers, and as part of website procedures. The following are some of the main approaches to the problem. Helping to identify legitimate websites Most websites targeted for phishing are secure websites meaning that SSL with strong PKI cryptography is used for server authentication, where the website's URL is used as identifier. In theory it should be possible for the SSL authentication to be used to confirm the site to the , and this was SSL v2's design requirement and the meta of secure browsing. But in practice, this is easy to trick. The superficial flaw is that the browser's security interface (UI) is insufficient to deal with today's strong threats. There are three parts to secure authentication using TLS and certificates: indicating that the connection is in authenticated mode, indicating which site the is connected to, and indicating which authority says it is this site. All three are necessary for authentication, and need to be confirmed by/to the . Secure Connection The standard display for secure browsing from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s was the padlock. In 2005, Mozilla fielded a yellow URL bar 2005 as a better indication of the secure connection. This innovation was later reversed due to the EV certificates, which replaced certain certificates providing a high level of organization identity verification with a green display, and other certificates with an extended blue favicon box to the left of the URL bar (in addition to the switch from "http" to "https" in the url itself). Which Site The is expected to confirm that the domain name in the browser's URL bar was in fact where they intended to go. URLs can be too complex to be easily parsed. s often do not know or recognise the URL of the legitimate sites they intend to connect to, so that the authentication becomes meaningless.[3] A condition for meaningful server authentication is to have a server identifier that is meaningful to the ; many ecommerce sites will change the domain names within their overall set of websites, adding to the opportunity for confusion. Simply displaying the domain name for the visited website[65] as some anti-phishing toolbars do is not sufficient. Some newer browsers, such as Internet Explorer 8, display the entire URL in grey, with just the domain name itself in black, as a means of assisting s in identifying fraudulent URLs. An alternate approach is the petname extension for Firefox which lets s type in their own labels for websites, so they can later recognize when they have returned to the site. If the site is not recognised, then the software may either warn the or block the site outright. This represents -centric identity management of server identities.[66] Some suggest that a graphical image selected by the is better than a petname.[67] With the advent of EV certificates, browsers now typically display the organisation's name in green, which is much more visible and is hopefully more consistent with the 's expectations. Unfortunately, browser vendors have

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Phishing chosen to limit this prominent display only to EV certificates, leaving the to fend for himself with all other certificates. Who is the Authority The browser needs to state who the authority is that makes the claim of who the is connected to. At the simplest level, no authority is stated, and therefore the browser is the authority, as far as the is concerned. The browser vendors take on this responsibility by controlling a root list of acceptable CAs. This is the current standard practice. The problem with this is that not all certification authorities (CAs) employ equally good nor applicable checking, regardless of attempts by browser vendors to control the quality. Nor do all CAs subscribe to the same model and concept that certificates are only about authenticating ecommerce organisations. Certificate Manufacturing is the name given to low-value certificates that are delivered on a credit card and an email confirmation; both of these are easily perverted by fraudsters. Hence, a high-value site may be easily spoofed by a valid certificate provided by another CA. This could be because the CA is in another part of the world, and is unfamiliar with high-value ecommerce sites, or it could be that no care is taken at all. As the CA is only charged with protecting its own customers, and not the customers of other CAs, this flaw is inherent in the model. The solution to this is that the browser should show, and the should be familiar with, the name of the authority. This presents the CA as a brand, and allows the to learn the handful of CAs that she is likely to come into within her country and her sector. The use of brand is also critical to providing the CA with an incentive to improve their checking, as the will learn the brand and demand good checking for high-value sites. This solution was first put into practice in early IE7 versions, when displaying EV certificates.[68] In that display, the issuing CA is displayed. This was an isolated case, however. There is resistance to CAs being branded on the chrome, resulting in a fallback to the simplest level above: the browser is the 's authority. Fundamental flaws in the security model of secure browsing Experiments to improve the security UI have resulted in benefits, but have also exposed fundamental flaws in the security model. The underlying causes for the failure of the SSL authentication to be employed properly in secure browsing are many and intertwined. Security before threat Because secure browsing was put into place before any threat was evident, the security display lost out in the "real estate wars" of the early browsers. The original design of Netscape's browser included a prominent display of the name of the site and the CA's name, but these were dropped in the first release. s are now highly experienced in not checking security information at all. Click-through syndrome However, warnings to poorly configured sites continued, and were not down-graded. If a certificate had an error in it (mismatched domain name, expiry), then the browser would commonly launch a popup to warn the . As the reason was generally a minor misconfiguration, the s learned to by the warnings, and now, s are accustomed to treat all warnings with the same disdain, resulting in Click-through syndrome. For example, Firefox 3 has a 4-click process for adding an exception, but it has been shown to be ignored by an experienced in a real case of MITM. Even today, as the vast majority of warnings will be for misconfigurations not real MITMs, it is hard to see how click-through syndrome will ever be avoided.

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Phishing Lack of interest Another underlying factor is the lack of for virtual hosting. The specific causes are a lack of for Server Name Indication in TLS webservers, and the expense and inconvenience of acquiring certificates. The result is that the use of authentication is too rare to be anything but a special case. This has caused a general lack of knowledge and resources in authentication within TLS, which in turn has meant that the attempts by browser vendors to upgrade their security UIs have been slow and lacklustre. Lateral communications The security model for secure browser includes many participants: , browser vendor, developers, CA, auditor, webserver vendor, ecommerce site, regulators (e.g., FDIC), and security standards committees. There is a lack of communication between different groups that are committed to the security model. E.g., although the understanding of authentication is strong at the protocol level of the IETF committees, this message does not reach the UI groups. Webserver vendors do not prioritise the Server Name Indication (TLS/SNI) fix, not seeing it as a security fix but instead a new feature. In practice, all participants look to the others as the source of the failures leading to phishing, hence the local fixes are not prioritised. Matters improved slightly with the CAB Forum, as that group includes browser vendors, auditors and CAs. But the group did not start out in an open fashion, and the result suffered from commercial interests of the first players, as well as a lack of parity between the participants. Even today, CAB forum is not open, and does not include representation from small CAs, end-s, ecommerce owners, etc. Standards gridlock Vendors commit to standards, which results in an outsourcing effect when it comes to security. Although there have been many and good experiments in improving the security UI, these have not been adopted because they are not standard, or clash with the standards. Threat models can re-invent themselves in around a month; Security standards take around 10 years to adjust. Venerable Certificate Authority model Control mechanisms employed by the browser vendors over the CAs have not been substantially updated; the threat model has. The control and quality process over CAs is insufficiently tuned to the protection of s and the addressing of actual and current threats. Audit processes are in great need of updating. The recent EV Guidelines documented the current model in greater detail, and established a good benchmark, but did not push for any substantial changes to be made. Browsers alerting s to fraudulent websites Another popular approach to fighting phishing is to maintain a list of known phishing sites and to check websites against the list. Microsoft's IE7 browser, Mozilla Firefox 2.0, Safari 3.2, and Opera all contain this type of anti-phishing measure.[69] [70] [71] [72] Firefox 2 used Google anti-phishing software. Opera 9.1 uses live blacklists from PhishTank and GeoTrust, as well as live whitelists from GeoTrust. Some implementations of this approach send the visited URLs to a central service to be checked, which has raised concerns about privacy.[73] According to a report by Mozilla in late 2006, Firefox 2 was found to be more effective than Internet Explorer 7 at detecting fraudulent sites in a study by an independent software testing company.[74] An approach introduced in mid-2006 involves switching to a special DNS service that filters out known phishing domains: this will work with any browser,[75] and is similar in principle to using a hosts file to block web adverts. To mitigate the problem of phishing sites impersonating a victim site by embedding its images (such as logos), several site owners have altered the images to send a message to the visitor that a site may be fraudulent. The image may be moved to a new filename and the original permanently replaced, or a server can detect that the image was not

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Phishing

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requested as part of normal browsing, and instead send a warning image.[76] [77] and its totally safe Augmenting s The Bank of America's website[78] [79] is one of several that ask s to select a personal image, and display this -selected image with any forms that request a . s of the bank's online services are instructed to enter a only when they see the image they selected. However, a recent study suggests few s refrain from entering their when images are absent.[80] [81] In addition, this feature (like other forms of two-factor authentication) is susceptible to other attacks, such as those suffered by Scandinavian bank Nordea in late 2005,[82] and Citibank in 2006.[83] A similar system, in which an automatically-generated "Identity Cue" consisting of a colored word within a colored box is displayed to each website , is in use at other financial institutions.[84] Security skins[85] [86] are a related technique that involves overlaying a -selected image onto the form as a visual cue that the form is legitimate. Unlike the website-based image schemes, however, the image itself is shared only between the and the browser, and not between the and the website. The scheme also relies on a mutual authentication protocol, which makes it less vulnerable to attacks that affect -only authentication schemes. Still another technique [87] relies on a dynamic grid of images that is different for each attempt. The must identify the pictures that fit their pre-chosen categories (such as dogs, cars and flowers). Only after they have correctly identified the pictures that fit their categories are they allowed to enter their alphanumeric to complete the . Unlike the static images used on the Bank of America website, a dynamic image-based authentication method creates a one-time code for the , requires active participation from the , and is very difficult for a phishing website to correctly replicate because it would need to display a different grid of randomly generated images that includes the 's secret categories.

Dynamic image-based authentication for anti-phishing

Eliminating phishing mail Specialized spam filters can reduce the number of phishing e-mails that reach their addressees' inboxes. These approaches rely on machine learning and natural language processing approaches to classify phishing e-mails.[88] [89] Monitoring and takedown Several companies offer banks and other organizations likely to suffer from phishing scams round-the-clock services to monitor, analyze and assist in shutting down phishing websites.[90] Individuals can contribute by reporting phishing to both volunteer and industry groups,[91] such as PhishTank.[92] Individuals can also contribute by reporting phone phishing attempts to Phone Phishing,[93] Federal Trade Commission.[94]

Legal responses On January 26, 2004, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed the first lawsuit against a suspected phisher. The defendant, a Californian teenager, allegedly created a webpage designed to look like the America Online website, and used it to steal credit card information.[95] Other countries have followed this lead by tracing and arresting phishers. A phishing kingpin, Valdir Paulo de Almeida, was arrested in Brazil for leading one of the largest phishing crime rings, which in two years stole between US$18 million and US$37 million.[96] UK authorities jailed two men in June 2005 for their role in a phishing scam,[97] in a case connected to the U.S. Secret Service Operation Firewall,

Phishing which targeted notorious "carder" websites.[98] In 2006 eight people were arrested by Japanese police on suspicion of phishing fraud by creating bogus Yahoo Japan Web sites, netting themselves ¥100 million (US$870,000).[99] The arrests continued in 2006 with the FBI Operation Cardkeeper detaining a gang of sixteen in the U.S. and Europe.[100] In the United States, Senator Patrick Leahy introduced the Anti-Phishing Act of 2005 in Congress on March 1, 2005. This bill, if it had been enacted into law, would have subjected criminals who created fake web sites and sent bogus e-mails in order to defraud consumers to fines of up to US$250,000 and prison of up to five years.[101] The UK strengthened its legal arsenal against phishing with the Fraud Act 2006,[102] which introduces a general offence of fraud that can carry up to a ten year prison sentence, and prohibits the development or possession of phishing kits with intent to commit fraud.[103] Companies have also ed the effort to crack down on phishing. On March 31, 2005, Microsoft filed 117 federal lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The lawsuits accuse "John Doe" defendants of obtaining s and confidential information. March 2005 also saw a partnership between Microsoft and the Australian government teaching law enforcement officials how to combat various cyber crimes, including phishing.[104] Microsoft announced a planned further 100 lawsuits outside the U.S. in March 2006,[105] followed by the commencement, as of November 2006, of 129 lawsuits mixing criminal and civil actions.[106] AOL reinforced its efforts against phishing[107] in early 2006 with three lawsuits[108] seeking a total of US$18 million under the 2005 amendments to the Virginia Computer Crimes Act,[109] [110] and Earthlink has ed in by helping to identify six men subsequently charged with phishing fraud in Connecticut.[111] In January 2007, Jeffrey Brett Goodin of California became the first defendant convicted by a jury under the provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. He was found guilty of sending thousands of e-mails to America Online s, while posing as AOL's billing department, which prompted customers to submit personal and credit card information. Facing a possible 101 years in prison for the CAN-SPAM violation and ten other counts including wire fraud, the unauthorized use of credit cards, and the misuse of AOL's trademark, he was sentenced to serve 70 months. Goodin had been in custody since failing to appear for an earlier court hearing and began serving his prison term immediately.[112] [113] [114] [115]

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Phishing [46] "Identity thieves take advantage of VoIP" (http:/ / www. silicon. com/ research/ specialreports/ voip/ 0,3800004463,39128854,00. htm). Silicon.com. March 21, 2005. . [47] "Internet Banking Targeted Phishing Attack" (http:/ / www. met. police. uk/ fraudalert/ docs/ internet_bank_fraud. pdf). Metropolitan Police Service. 2005-06-03. . Retrieved 2009-03-22. [48] Kerstein, Paul (July 19, 2005). "How Can We Stop Phishing and Pharming Scams?" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20080324080028/ http:/ / www. csoonline. com/ talkback/ 071905. html). CSO. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. csoonline. com/ talkback/ 071905. html) on 2008-03-24. . [49] McCall, Tom (December 17, 2007). "Gartner Survey Shows Phishing Attacks Escalated in 2007; More than $3 Billion Lost to These Attacks" (http:/ / www. gartner. com/ it/ page. jsp?id=565125). Gartner. . [50] "A Profitless Endeavor: Phishing as Tragedy of the Commons" (http:/ / research. microsoft. com/ ~cormac/ Papers/ PhishingAsTragedy. pdf) (PDF). Microsoft. . Retrieved November 15, 2008. [51] "UK phishing fraud losses double" (http:/ / www. finextra. com/ fullstory. asp?id=15013). Finextra. March 7, 2006. . [52] Richardson, Tim (May 3, 2005). "Brits fall prey to phishing" (http:/ / www. the. co. uk/ 2005/ 05/ 03/ aol_phishing/ ). The . . [53] Miller, Rich. "Bank, Customers Spar Over Phishing Losses" (http:/ / news. netcraft. com/ archives/ 2006/ 09/ 13/ bank_customers_spar_over_phishing_losses. html). Netcraft. . Retrieved December 14, 2006. [54] "Latest News" (http:/ / applications. boi. com/ updates/ Article?PR_ID=1430). . [55] "Bank of Ireland agrees to phishing refunds – vnunet.com" (http:/ / www. vnunet. com/ vnunet/ news/ 2163714/ bank-ireland-backtracks). . [56] Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, Yong Woo Rhee, Alessandro Acquisti, Lorrie Cranor, Jason Hong and Elizabeth Nunge (November 2006). "Protecting People from Phishing: The Design and Evaluation of an Embedded Training Email System" (http:/ / www. cylab. cmu. edu/ files/ cmucylab06017. pdf) (PDF). Technical Report CMU-CyLab-06-017, CyLab, Carnegie Mellon University.. . Retrieved November 14, 2006. [57] Bank, David (August 17, 2005). "'Spear Phishing' Tests Educate People About Online Scams" (http:/ / online. wsj. com/ public/ article/ 0,,SB112424042313615131-z_8jLB2WkfcVtgdAWf6LRh733sg_20060817,00. html?mod=blogs). The Wall Street Journal. . [58] "Anti-Phishing Tips You Should Not Follow" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20080320035409/ http:/ / www. hexview. com/ sdp/ node/ 24). HexView. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. hexview. com/ sdp/ node/ 24) on 2008-03-20. . Retrieved June 19, 2006. [59] "Protect Yourself from Fraudulent Emails" (https:/ / www. paypal. com/ us/ cgi-bin/ webscr?cmd=_vdc-security-spoof-outside). PayPal. . Retrieved July 7, 2006. [60] Markus Jakobsson, Alex Tsow, Ankur Shah, Eli Blevis, Youn-kyung Lim.. "What Instills Trust? A Qualitative Study of Phishing." (http:/ / www. informatics. indiana. edu/ markus/ papers/ trust_USEC. pdf) (PDF). USEC '06. . [61] Zeltser, Lenny (March 17, 2006). "Phishing Messages May Include Highly-Personalized Information" (http:/ / isc. incidents. org/ diary. php?storyid=1194). The SANS Institute. . [62] Markus Jakobsson and Jacob Ratkiewicz. "Deg Ethical Phishing Experiments" (http:/ / www2006. org/ programme/ item. php?id=3533). WWW '06. . [63] Kawamoto, Dawn (August 4, 2005). "Faced with a rise in so-called pharming and crimeware attacks, the Anti-Phishing Working Group will expand its charter to include these emerging threats." (http:/ / www. zdnetindia. com/ news/ features/ stories/ 126569. html). ZDNet India. . [64] "Social networking site teaches insecure practices" (http:/ / blog. anta. net/ 2008/ 11/ 09/ social-networking-site-teaches-insecure--practices/ ). blog.anta.net. 2008-11-09. ISSN 1797-1993. . Retrieved 2008-11-09. [65] Brandt, Andrew. "Privacy Watch: Protect Yourself With an Antiphishing Toolbar" (http:/ / www. pcworld. com/ article/ 125739-1/ article. html). PC World – Privacy Watch. . Retrieved September 25, 2006. [66] Jøsangm Audun and Pope, Simon. " Centric Identity Management" (http:/ / www. unik. no/ people/ josang/ papers/ JP2005-AusCERT. pdf) (PDF). Proceedings of AusCERT 2005. . Retrieved 2008. [67] " Phishing - What it is and How it Will Eventually be Dealt With (http:/ / www. arraydev. com/ commerce/ jibc/ 2005-02/ jibc_phishing. HTM)" by Ian Grigg 2005 [68] " Brand matters (IE7, Skype, Vonage, Mozilla) (https:/ / financialcryptography. com/ mt/ archives/ 000645. html)" Ian Grigg [69] Franco, Rob. "Better Website Identification and Extended Validation Certificates in IE7 and Other Browsers" (http:/ / blogs. msdn. com/ ie/ archive/ 2005/ 11/ 21/ 495507. aspx). IEBlog. . Retrieved May 20, 2006. [70] "Bon Echo Anti-Phishing" (http:/ / www. mozilla. org/ projects/ bonecho/ anti-phishing/ ). Mozilla. . Retrieved June 2, 2006. [71] "Safari 3.2 finally gains phishing protection" (http:/ / arstechnica. com/ journals/ apple. ars/ 2008/ 11/ 13/ safari-3-2-finally-gains-phishing-protection). Ars Technica. November 13, 2008. . Retrieved November 15, 2008. [72] "Gone Phishing: Evaluating Anti-Phishing Tools for Windows" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20080114211315/ http:/ / www. 3sharp. com/ projects/ antiphish/ index. htm). 3Sharp. September 27, 2006. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. 3sharp. com/ projects/ antiphish/ index. htm) on 2008-01-14. . Retrieved 2006-10-20. [73] "Two Things That Bother Me About Google’s New Firefox Extension" (http:/ / www. oreillynet. com/ onlamp/ blog/ 2005/ 12/ two_things_that_bother_me_abou. html). Nitesh Dhanjani on O'Reilly ONLamp. . Retrieved July 1, 2007. [74] "Firefox 2 Phishing Protection Effectiveness Testing" (http:/ / www. mozilla. org/ security/ phishing-test. html). . Retrieved January 23, 2007. [75] Higgins, Kelly Jackson. "DNS Gets Anti-Phishing Hook" (http:/ / www. darkreading. com/ document. asp?doc_id=99089& WT. svl=news1_1). Dark Reading. . Retrieved October 8, 2006. [76] Krebs, Brian (August 31, 2006). "Using Images to Fight Phishing" (http:/ / blog. washingtonpost. com/ securityfix/ 2006/ 08/ using_images_to_fight_phishing. html). Security Fix. .

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Phishing [77] Seltzer, Larry (August 2, 2004). "Spotting Phish and Phighting Back" (http:/ / www. eweek. com/ article2/ 0,1759,1630161,00. asp). eWeek. . [78] Bank of America. "How Bank of America SiteKey Works For Online Banking Security" (http:/ / www. bankofamerica. com/ privacy/ sitekey/ ). . Retrieved January 23, 2007. [79] Brubaker, Bill (July 14, 2005). "Bank of America Personalizes Cyber-Security" (http:/ / www. washingtonpost. com/ wp-dyn/ content/ article/ 2005/ 07/ 13/ AR2005071302181. html). Washington Post. . [80] Stone, Brad (February 5, 2007). "Study Finds Web Antifraud Measure Ineffective" (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2007/ 02/ 05/ technology/ 05secure. html?ex=1328331600& en=295ec5d0994b0755& ei=5090& partner=rssland& emc=rss). New York Times. . Retrieved February 5, 2007. [81] Stuart Schechter, Rachna Dhamija, Andy Ozment, Ian Fischer (May 2007). "The Emperor's New Security Indicators: An evaluation of website authentication and the effect of role playing on usability studies" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20080406062148/ http:/ / www. deas. harvard. edu/ ~rachna/ papers/ emperor-security-indicators-bank-sitekey-phishing-study. pdf) (PDF). IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, May 2007. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. deas. harvard. edu/ ~rachna/ papers/ emperor-security-indicators-bank-sitekey-phishing-study. pdf) on 2008-04-06. . Retrieved February 5, 2007. [82] "Phishers target Nordea's one-time system" (http:/ / www. finextra. com/ fullstory. asp?id=14384). Finextra. October 12, 2005. . [83] Krebs, Brian (July 10, 2006). "Citibank Phish Spoofs 2-Factor Authentication" (http:/ / blog. washingtonpost. com/ securityfix/ 2006/ 07/ citibank_phish_spoofs_2factor_1. html). Security Fix. . [84] Graham Titterington. "More doom on phishing" (http:/ / www. ovum. com/ news/ euronews. asp?id=4166). Ovum Research, April 2006. . [85] Schneier, Bruce. "Security Skins" (http:/ / www. schneier. com/ blog/ archives/ 2005/ 07/ security_skins. html). Schneier on Security. . Retrieved December 3, 2006. [86] Rachna Dhamija, J.D. Tygar (July 2005). "The Battle Against Phishing: Dynamic Security Skins" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20080406062148/ http:/ / people. deas. harvard. edu/ ~rachna/ papers/ securityskins. pdf) (PDF). Symposium On Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS) 2005. Archived from the original (http:/ / people. deas. harvard. edu/ ~rachna/ papers/ securityskins. pdf) on 2008-04-06. . Retrieved February 5, 2007. [87] http:/ / www. confidenttechnologies. com/ products/ anti-phishing [88] Madhusudhanan Chandrasekaran, Krishnan Narayanan, Shambhu Upadhyaya (March 2006). "Phishing E-mail Detection Based on Structural Properties" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20080216101637/ http:/ / www. albany. edu/ iasymposium/ 2006/ chandrasekaran. pdf) (PDF). NYS Cyber Security Symposium. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. albany. edu/ iasymposium/ 2006/ chandrasekaran. pdf) on 2008-02-16. . [89] Ian Fette, Norman Sadeh, Anthony Tomasic (June 2006). "Learning to Detect Phishing Emails" (http:/ / reports-archive. . cs. cmu. edu/ anon/ isri2006/ CMU-ISRI-06-112. pdf) (PDF). Carnegie Mellon University Technical Report CMU-ISRI-06-112. . [90] "Anti-Phishing Working Group: Vendor Solutions" (http:/ / www. antiphishing. org/ solutions. html#takedown). Anti-Phishing Working Group. . Retrieved July 6, 2006. [91] McMillan, Robert (March 28, 2006). "New sites let s find and report phishing" (http:/ / www. linuxworld. com. au/ index. php/ id;1075406575;fp;2;fpid;1. ). LinuxWorld. . [92] Schneier, Bruce (2006-10-05). "PhishTank" (http:/ / www. schneier. com/ blog/ archives/ 2006/ 10/ phishtank. html). Schneier on Security. . Retrieved 2007-12-07. [93] "Phone Phishing" (http:/ / phonephishing. info). Phone Phishing. . Retrieved Feb 25, 2009. [94] "Federal Trade Commission" (http:/ / www. ftc. gov/ phonefraud). Federal Trade Commission. . Retrieved Mar 6, 2009. [95] Legon, Jeordan (January 26, 2004). "'Phishing' scams reel in your identity" (http:/ / www. cnn. com/ 2003/ TECH/ internet/ 07/ 21/ phishing. scam/ index. html). CNN. . [96] Leyden, John (March 21, 2005). "Brazilian cops net 'phishing kingpin'" (http:/ / www. channel. co. uk/ 2005/ 03/ 21/ brazil_phishing_arrest/ ). The . . [97] Roberts, Paul (June 27, 2005). "UK Phishers Caught, Packed Away" (http:/ / www. eweek. com/ article2/ 0,1895,1831960,00. asp). eWEEK. . [98] "Nineteen Individuals Indicted in Internet 'Carding' Conspiracy" (http:/ / www. cybercrime. gov/ mantovaniIndict. htm). . Retrieved November 20, 2005. [99] "8 held over suspected phishing fraud". The Daily Yomiuri. May 31, 2006. [100] "Phishing gang arrested in USA and Eastern Europe after FBI investigation" (http:/ / www. sophos. com/ pressoffice/ news/ articles/ 2006/ 11/ phishing-arrests. html). . Retrieved December 14, 2006. [101] "Phishers Would Face 5 Years Under New Bill" (http:/ / informationweek. com/ story/ showArticle. jhtml?articleID=60404811). Information Week. March 2, 2005. . [102] "Fraud Act 2006" (http:/ / www. opsi. gov. uk/ ACTS/ en2006/ 2006en35. htm). . Retrieved December 14, 2006. [103] "Prison for phishing fraudsters" (http:/ / www. the. co. uk/ 2006/ 11/ 14/ fraud_act_outlaws_phishing/ ). The . November 14, 2006. . [104] "Microsoft Partners with Australian Law Enforcement Agencies to Combat Cyber Crime" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20051103190357/ http:/ / www. microsoft. com/ australia/ press/ news/ pressreleases/ cybercrime_31_3_05. aspx). Archived from the original (http:/ / www. microsoft. com/ australia/ press/ news/ pressreleases/ cybercrime_31_3_05. aspx) on November 3, 2005. . Retrieved August 24, 2005.

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Phishing [105] Espiner, Tom (March 20, 2006). "Microsoft launches legal assault on phishers" (http:/ / news. zdnet. co. uk/ 0,39020330,39258528,00. htm). ZDNet. . [106] Leyden, John (November 23, 2006). "MS reels in a few stray phish" (http:/ / www. the. co. uk/ 2006/ 11/ 23/ ms_anti-phishing_campaign_update/ ). The . . [107] "A History of Leadership - 2006" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20070522231137/ http:/ / www. corp. aol. com/ whoweare/ history/ 2006. shtml). Archived from the original (http:/ / corp. aol. com/ whoweare/ history/ 2006. shtml) on 2007-05-22. . [108] "AOL Takes Fight Against Identity Theft To Court, Files Lawsuits Against Three Major Phishing Gangs" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20070131204118/ http:/ / media. aoltimewarner. com/ media/ newmedia/ cb_press_view. cfm?release_num=55254535). Archived from the original (http:/ / media. aoltimewarner. com/ media/ newmedia/ cb_press_view. cfm?release_num=55254535) on 2007-01-31. . Retrieved March 8, 2006. [109] "HB 2471 Computer Crimes Act; changes in provisions, penalty." (http:/ / leg1. state. va. us/ cgi-bin/ legp504. exe?051+ sum+ HB2471). . Retrieved March 8, 2006. [110] Brulliard, Karin (April 10, 2005). "Va. Lawmakers Aim to Hook Cyberscammers" (http:/ / www. washingtonpost. com/ wp-dyn/ articles/ A40578-2005Apr9. html). Washington Post. . [111] "Earthlink evidence helps slam the door on phisher site spam ring" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20070705211932/ http:/ / www. earthlink. net/ about/ press/ pr_phishersite/ ). Archived from the original (http:/ / www. earthlink. net/ about/ press/ pr_phishersite/ ) on 2007-07-05. . Retrieved December 14, 2006. [112] Prince, Brian (January 18, 2007). "Man Found Guilty of Targeting AOL Customers in Phishing Scam" (http:/ / www. pcmag. com/ article2/ 0,1895,2085183,00. asp). PCMag.com. . [113] Leyden, John (January 17, 2007). "AOL phishing fraudster found guilty" (http:/ / www. the. co. uk/ 2007/ 01/ 17/ aol_phishing_fraudster/ ). The . . [114] Leyden, John (June 13, 2007). "AOL phisher nets six years' imprisonment" (http:/ / www. the. co. uk/ 2007/ 06/ 13/ aol_fraudster_jailed/ ). The . . [115] Gaudin, Sharon (June 12, 2007). "California Man Gets 6-Year Sentence For Phishing" (http:/ / www. informationweek. com/ story/ showArticle. jhtml?articleID=199903450). InformationWeek. .

External links • Anti-Phishing Working Group (http://www.antiphishing.org/) • Center for Identity Management and Information Protection (http://www.utica.edu/academic/institutes/cimip/ ) – Utica College • How the bad guys actually operate (http://ha.ckers.org/blog/20060609/how-phishing-actually-works/) – Ha.ckers.org Application Security Lab • Plugging the "phishing" hole: legislation versus technology (http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/articles/ 2005dltr0006.html) – Duke Law & Technology Review • Know Your Enemy: Phishing (http://www.honeynet.org/papers/phishing/) – Honeynet project case study • Banking Scam Revealed (http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1745) – forensic examination of a phishing attack on SecurityFocus • The Phishing Guide: Understanding and Preventing Phishing Attacks (http://www.technicalinfo.net/papers/ Phishing.html) – TechnicalInfo.net • A Profitless Endeavor: Phishing as Tragedy of the Commons (http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/ cormac/Papers/PhishingAsTragedy.pdf) – Microsoft Corporation • Database for information on phishing sites reported by the public (http://www.phishtank.com/) - PhishTank • The Impact of Incentives on Notice and Take-down (http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rnc1/takedown.pdf) − Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge (PDF, 344 kB) • One Gang Responsible For Most Phishing Attacks - InternetNews.com (http://www.internetnews.com/ security/article.php/3882136/One+Gang+Responsible+For+Most+Phishing+Attacks.htm)

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Penetration test

Penetration test A penetration test, occasionally pentest, is a method of evaluating the security of a computer system or network by simulating an attack from a malicious source, known as a Black Hat Hacker, or Cracker. The process involves an active analysis of the system for any potential vulnerabilities that could result from poor or improper system configuration, both known and unknown hardware or software flaws, or operational weaknesses in process or technical countermeasures. This analysis is carried out from the position of a potential attacker and can involve active exploitation of security vulnerabilities. Any security issues that are found will be presented to the system owner, together with an assessment of their impact, and often with a proposal for mitigation or a technical solution. The intent of a penetration test is to determine the feasibility of an attack and the amount of business impact of a successful exploit, if discovered. It is a component of a full security audit. For example, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), and security and auditing standard, requires both annual and ongoing penetration testing (after system changes).

Black box vs. White box Penetration tests can be conducted in several ways. The most common difference is the amount of knowledge of the implementation details of the system being tested that are available to the testers. Black box testing assumes no prior knowledge of the infrastructure to be tested. The testers must first determine the location and extent of the systems before commencing their analysis. At the other end of the spectrum, white box testing provides the testers with complete knowledge of the infrastructure to be tested, often including network diagrams, source code, and IP addressing information. There are also several variations in between, often known as grey box tests. Penetration tests can also be described as "full disclosure" (white box), "partial disclosure" (grey box), or "blind" (black box) tests based on the amount of information provided to the testing party. The relative merits of these approaches are debated. Black box testing simulates an attack from someone who is unfamiliar with the system. White box testing simulates what might happen during an "inside job" or after a "leak" of sensitive information, where the attacker has access to source code, network layouts, and possibly even some s. The services offered by penetration testing firms span a similar range, from a simple scan of an organization's IP address space for open ports and identification banners to a full audit of source code for an application.

Rationale A penetration test should be carried out on any computer system that is to be deployed in a hostile environment, in particular any Internet facing site, before it is deployed. This provides a level of practical assurance that any malicious will not be able to penetrate the system. Black box penetration testing is useful in the cases where the tester assumes the role of an outside hacker and tries to intrude into the system without adequate knowledge of it.

Risks Penetration testing can be an invaluable technique to any organization's information security program. Basic white box penetration testing is often done as a fully automated inexpensive process. However, black box penetration testing is a labor-intensive activity and requires expertise to minimize the risk to targeted systems. At a minimum, it may slow the organization's networks response time due to network scanning and vulnerability scanning. Furthermore, the possibility exists that systems may be damaged in the course of penetration testing and may be rendered inoperable, even though the organization benefits in knowing that the system could have been rendered

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Penetration test inoperable by an intruder. Although this risk is mitigated by the use of experienced penetration testers, it can never be fully eliminated.

Methodologies The Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual is a peer-reviewed methodology for performing security tests and metrics. The OSSTMM test cases are divided into five channels which collectively test: information and data controls, personnel security awareness levels, fraud and social engineering control levels, computer and telecommunications networks, wireless devices, mobile devices, physical security access controls, security processes, and physical locations such as buildings, perimeters, and military bases. The OSSTMM focuses on the technical details of exactly which items need to be tested, what to do before, during, and after a security test, and how to measure the results. OSSTMM is also known for its Rules of Engagement which define for both the tester and the client how the test needs to properly run starting from denying false advertising from testers to how the client can expect to receive the report. New tests for international best practices, laws, regulations, and ethical concerns are regularly added and updated. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) discusses penetration testing in SP800-115.[1] [2] NIST's methodology is less comprehensive than the OSSTMM; however, it is more likely to be accepted by regulatory agencies. For this reason, NIST refers to the OSSTMM. The Information Systems Security Assessment Framework (ISSAF) is a peer reviewed structured framework from the Open Information Systems Security Group that categorizes information system security assessment into various domains and details specific evaluation or testing criteria for each of these domains. It aims to provide field inputs on security assessment that reflect real life scenarios. The ISSAF should primarily be used to fulfill an organization's security assessment requirements and may additionally be used as a reference for meeting other information security needs. It includes the crucial facet of security processes and, their assessment and hardening to get a complete picture of the vulnerabilities that might exist. The ISSAF, however, is still in its infancy.

Standards and certification The process of carrying out a penetration test can reveal sensitive information about an organization. It is for this reason that most security firms are at pains to show that they do not employ ex-black hat hackers and that all employees adhere to a strict ethical code. There are several professional and government certifications that indicate the firm's trustworthiness and conformance to industry best practice. The Council of ed Ethical Security Testers (CREST) is a non-profit association created to provide recognised standards and professionalism for the penetration testing industry.[3] For organisations, CREST provides a provable validation of security testing methodologies and practices, aiding with client engagement and procurement processes and proving that the member company is able to provide testing services to the CREST standard. Three certifications are currently offered: the CREST ed Tester and two CREST Certified Tester qualifications, one for infrastructure and one for application testing.[4] The Information Assurance Certification Review Board (IACRB) manages a penetration testing certification known as the Certified Penetration Tester (T). The T requires that the exam candidate a traditional multiple choice exam, as well as a practical exam that requires the candidate to perform a penetration test against live servers. SANS provides a wide range of computer security training arena leading to a number of SANS qualifications. In 1999, SANS founded GIAC, the Global Information Assurance Certification, which according to SANS has been undertaken by over 20,000 to date.[5] Two of the GIAC certifications are penetration testing specific: the GIAC Certified Penetration Tester (GPEN) certification; and the GIAC Web Application Penetration Tester (GWAPT) certification.

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Penetration test Offensive Security offers an Ethical Hacking certification (Offensive Security Certified Professional) - a training spin off of the BackTrack Penetration Testing distribution. The OS is a real-life penetration testing certification, requiring holders to successfully attack and penetrate various live machines in a safe lab environment. Upon completion of the course students become eligible to take a certification challenge, which has to be completed within twenty-four hours. Documentation must include procedures used and proof of successful penetration including special marker files. Government-backed testing also exists in the US with standards such as the NSA Infrastructure Evaluation Methodology (IEM). For web applications, the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) provides a framework of recommendations that can be used as a benchmark. The Tiger Scheme offers two certifications: Qualified Tester (QST) and Senior Security Tester (SST). The SST is technically equivalent to CHECK Team Leader and QST is technically equivalent to the CHECK Team Member certification[6] . Tiger Scheme certifies the individual, not the company. The International Council of E-Commerce consultants certifies individuals in various e-business and information security skills. These include the Certified Ethical Hacker course, Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator program, Licensed Penetration Tester program and various other programs, which are widely available worldwide.

Web application penetration testing Web application penetration testing refers to a set of services used to detect various security issues with web applications and identify vulnerabilities and risks, including: • Known vulnerabilities in COTS applications • Technical vulnerabilities: URL manipulation, SQL injection, cross-site scripting, back-end authentication, in memory, session hijacking, buffer overflow, web server configuration, credential management, Clickjacking, etc, • Business logic errors: Day-to-Day threat analysis, unauthorized s, personal information modification, pricelist modification, unauthorized funds transfer, breach of customer trust etc. OWASP, the Open Web Application Security Project, an open source web application security documentation project, has produced documents such as the OWASP Guide [7] and the widely adopted OWASP Top 10 [8] awareness document. The Firefox browser is a popular web application penetration testing tool, with many plugins [9] specifically designed for web application penetration testing. Damn vulnerable web app otherwise known as DVWA [10] is an open source web application which has been made to be vulnerable so that security professionals and students can learn more about web application security. Foundstone's Hacme Bank [11] simulates a banking application. It helps developers and auditors practice web application attacks, including input validation flaws such as SQL injection and Cross Site Scripting (XSS).

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Penetration test

References [1] Special Publication 800-42, Guideline on Network Security Testing (http:/ / csrc. nist. gov/ publications/ nistpubs/ 800-42/ NIST-SP800-42. pdf) [2] Special Publication 800-115, Technical Guide to Information Security Testing and Assessment, September 2008 (replaces SP800-42) (http:/ / csrc. nist. gov/ publications/ nistpubs/ 800-115/ SP800-115. pdf) [3] "Infosec 2008: UK association of penetration testers launched" (http:/ / www. computerweekly. com/ Articles/ 2008/ 04/ 24/ 230417/ infosec-2008-uk-association-of-penetration-testers. htm). Computer Weekly. 2008-04-24. . Retrieved 2008-08-16. [4] King, Leo (2008-04-24). "Security testing standards council launched" (http:/ / www. computerworlduk. com/ management/ security/ cybercrime/ news/ index. cfm?newsid=8730). Computerworld UK. . Retrieved 2008-08-16. [5] http:/ / www. sans. org/ why_certify. php SANS Institute [6] http:/ / www. cesg. gov. uk/ products_services/ iacs/ check/ index. shtml [7] http:/ / www. owasp. org/ index. php/ OWASP_Guide_Project [8] http:/ / www. owasp. org/ index. php/ OWASP_Top_Ten_Project [9] https:/ / addons. mozilla. org/ en-US/ firefox/ collection/ webappsec [10] http:/ / www. dvwa. co. uk/ [11] http:/ / www. foundstone. com/ us/ resources/ proddesc/ hacmebank. htm

• Johnny Long; Google Hacking for Penetration Testers, Syngress, 2007. ISBN 978-1597491761 • Stuart McClure; Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets and Solutions, McGraw-Hill, 2009. ISBN 978-0071613743

External links • List of Network Penetration Testing software (https://mosaicsecurity.com/categories/ 27-network-penetration-testing), Mosaic Security Research

Physical information security Physical information security is concerned with physically protecting data and means to access that data (apart from protecting it electronically). Many individuals and companies place importance in protecting their information from a software and/or network perspective, but fewer devote resources to protecting data physically. However, physical attacks to acquire sensitive information do frequently occur. Sometimes these attacks are considered a type of social engineering.

Background Many individuals and companies consider it important to protect their information for a variety of reasons, including financial, competitive, and privacy-related purposes. People who wish to obtain this information may be computer crackers, corporate spies, or other malicious individuals. This information may be directly beneficial to them, such as industrial secrets or credit card numbers. It may also be indirectly beneficial to them. For example, computer s do not have inherent value. However, they provide computer system access that may be used to get other information or to disable a person/company electronically. Sometimes these malicious individuals use electronic means or social engineering to gain information. However, sometimes they use direct physical attacks.

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Physical information security

Examples of physical attacks to obtain information There are several ways to obtain information through physical attacks or exploitations. A few examples are described below.

Dumpster diving Dumpster diving is the practice of searching through the trash of an individual or business in attempt to obtain something useful. In the realm of information security, this frequently means looking for documents containing sensitive information. However, as more and more information is being stored electronically, it is becoming increasingly useful to those seeking information through this means to search for computer disks or other computer hardware which may contain data. Sometimes this data can be restored to provide a wealth of information.

Overt document stealing Sometimes attackers will simply go into a building and take the information they need. Frequently when using this strategy, an attacker will masquerade as someone who belongs in the situation. The thief may pose as a copy room employee, remove a document from someone's desk, copy the document, replace the original, and leave with the copied document. Alternatively, the individual may pose as a janitor, systematically collecting information and "throwing it away." The individual may then be able to walk right out of the building with a trash bag containing documents that were left out in the open or a sticky note which had been left in a partially open desk drawer on which a had written his/her s.[1]

Common Physical Information Security Practices There are many practices commonly used to decrease the possibility of success for these kind of attacks. Document shredding has become common, and the practice is still growing. Also electronic storage media are often prepared for disposal by purging, which erases files which may have been "deleted" by an operating system but never overwritten with other data. Many choose to restrict access to areas where information is kept to those possessing a proper identification badge and/or other form of authorization. This attempts both to decrease the ease with which someone could access documents and to decrease the possibility of someone physically tampering with computer equipment. Along the same lines, many companies train their employees to physically protect documents and other sources of sensitive information on an individual level by locking the information in a file cabinet or by some other means. Also, companies request that employees memorize their s rather than writing them down as the paper with the could be seen or stolen.

References [1] Granger, Sarah (2001-12-18). "Social Engineering Fundamentals, Part I: Hacker Tactics" (http:/ / www. securityfocus. com/ infocus/ 1527). Security Focus. . Retrieved 2006-08-27.

External links • Social Engineering Fundamentals (http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1527)

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SMiShing

SMiShing In computing, Smishing is a form of criminal activity using social engineering techniques similar to phishing. The name is derived from "SMs phISHING". SMS (Short Message Service) is the technology used for text messages on cell phones. Similar to phishing, smishing uses cell phone text messages to deliver the "bait" to get you to divulge your personal information. The "hook" (the method used to actually "capture" your information) in the text message may be a web site URL, however it has become more common to see a phone number that connects to automated voice response system. The smishing message usually contains something that wants your "immediate attention", some examples include "We’re confirming you've signed up for our dating service. You will be charged $2/day unless you cancel your order on this URL: www.?????.com."; "(Name of popular online bank) is confirming that you have purchase a $1500 computer from (name of popular computer company). Visit www.?????.com if you did not make this online purchase"; and "(Name of a financial institution): Your has been suspended. Call ###.###.#### immediately to reactivate". The "hook" will be a legitimate looking web site that asks you to "confirm" (enter) your personal financial information, such as your credit/debit card number, CVV code (on the back of your credit card), your ATM card PIN, SSN, email address, and other personal information. If the "hook" is a phone number, it normally directs to a legitimate sounding automated voice response system, similar to the voice response systems used by many financial institutions, which will ask for the same personal information. This is an example of a (complete) smishing message in current circulation: "Notice - this is an automated message from (a local credit union), your ATM card has been suspended. To reactivate call urgent at 866-###-####." In many cases, the smishing message will show that it came from "5000" instead of displaying an actual phone number. This usually indicates the SMS message was sent via email to the cell phone, and not sent from another cell phone. This information is then used to create duplicate credit/debit/ATM cards. There are documented cases where information entered on a fraudulent web site (used in a phishing, smishing, or vishing attack) was used to create a credit or debit card that was used halfway around the world, within 30 minutes.

External links • Smishing article at ConsumerAffairs.com (http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/11/smishing. html) • Smishing advice from Get Safe Online (http://www.getsafeonlineblog.org/?p=118)

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Vishing

Vishing Vishing is the criminal practice of using social engineering over the telephone system, most often using features facilitated by Voice over IP (VoIP), to gain access to private personal and financial information from the public for the purpose of financial reward. The term is a combination of "voice" and phishing. Vishing exploits the public's trust in landline telephone services, which have traditionally terminated in physical locations known to the telephone company, and associated with a bill-payer. The victim is often unaware that VoIP makes formerly difficult-to-abuse tools/features of caller ID spoofing, complex automated systems (IVR), low cost, and anonymity for the bill-payer widely available. Vishing is typically used to steal credit card numbers or other information used in identity theft schemes from individuals. Vishing is very hard for legal authorities to monitor or trace. To protect themselves, consumers are advised to be highly suspicious when receiving messages directing them to call and provide credit card or bank numbers. Rather than provide any information, if speaking to a human ask them for an incident number and then hang up. Then place a call to the number printed on your credit card or billing statement from a telephone number the bank has on file, usually your home land line. While consumer caller id is trivial to fake the bank's call center gets much more reliable billing information provided by trunked 1-800 service and thus both parties have high confidence the other party is who they claim to be. There is technology that monitors all public switched telephone network (PSTN)-based traffic and can identify vishing attempts as a result of patterns and anomalies in call activity. One example is a multiple calls from a limited set of skype numbers to call centers.

Example 1. The criminal either configures a war dialer to call phone numbers in a given region or accesses a legitimate voice messaging company with a list of phone numbers stolen from a financial institution. 2. Typically, when the victim answers the call, an automated recording, often generated with a text to speech synthesizer, is played to alert the consumer that their credit card has had fraudulent activity or that their bank has had unusual activity. The message instructs the consumer to call the following phone number immediately. The same phone number is often shown in the spoofed caller ID and given the same name as the financial company they are pretending to represent. 3. When the victim calls the number, it is answered by automated instructions to enter their credit card number or bank number on the key pad. 4. Once the consumer enters their credit card number or bank number, the visher has the information necessary to make fraudulent use of the card or to access the . 5. The call is often used to harvest additional details such as security PIN, expiration date, date of birth, etc. Although the use of automated responders and war dialers is preferred by the vishers, there have been reported cases where human operators play an active role in these scams, trying to persuade the victims. According to a study [1] conducted during 2009 on data collected from United States customers, the most recurrent words used in automated, recorded scams are different from those leveraged by human scammers. For instance, it is very frequent that automated voices contain words such as "press" (a button) or "number", while humans typically resort to more complex social engineering techniques. (In a common variation, an email "phish" is sent instead of war-dialing - the victim is instructed to call the following phone number immediately and credit card or bank information is gathered) Another variation encourages a victim to install Scareware on an unrelated computer system at the same address as the Phone connection.

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Vishing

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External links • • • • • •

vnunet.com story: Cyber-criminals switch to VoIP 'vishing' [2] BBC News story: Criminals exploit net phone calls [3] The Paper PC: Messaging Security 2006: Vishing: The Next Big Cyber Headache? [4] The : FBI warns over "alarming" rise in american "vishing" [5] Phone Phishing: Phone Phishing - The First Phone Phishing and Scams Report Site [6] Anti Vishing: Anti-Vishing Video featuring excerpt from BBC Watchdog program [7]

References [1] Federico Maggi (Are the con artists back? A preliminary analysis of modern phone frauds). IEEE Computer Society. ed. Proceedings of the 10th IEEE International Conference on Computer and Information Technology (CIT 2010) (Bradford, UK). http:/ / home. dei. polimi. it/ fmaggi/ s/ publications/ 2010_maggi_vishing. pdf. [2] http:/ / www. vnunet. com/ vnunet/ news/ 2160004/ cyber-criminals-talk-voip [3] http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ technology/ 5187518. stm [4] http:/ / paperpc. blogspot. com/ 2006/ 10/ messaging-security-2006-vishing-next. html [5] http:/ / www. the. co. uk/ 2008/ 01/ 21/ fbi_vishing_warning/ [6] http:/ / phonephishing. info [7] http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=4CKagCrX_XI

Moving scam The moving industry in the United States was deregulated with the Household Goods Transportation Act of 1980. This act allowed interstate movers to issue binding or fixed estimates for the first time. Doing so opened the door to hundreds of new moving companies to enter the industry. This lead to an increase in competition and soon movers were no longer competing on services but on price. As competition drove prices lower and decreased what were already slim profit margins, "rogue" movers began hijacking personal property as part of a new scam. There are many versions to the moving scam but the basic scam takes place as follows. A prospective client s a moving company and requests a cost estimate. In today's market this often happens online via moving directories or brokers, or phone calls. These moving brokers are salesmen prone to quoting sometimes low, but usually reasonable prices with no room for the movers to provide a quality service. Once the rogue "moving company" has secured a move by providing a non-binding estimate, they arrive to pack and deliver the goods. Often the scam movers use deceptive pricing or weight measurements including prices based on the gross weight of the moving vehicle. After packing and loading, the client is informed that their goods went over the expected weight estimate and the additional weight will be charged at a substantially higher rate (often double the original price per pound). Rogue movers will not inform a client of these discrepancies until the client's goods have been weighed at a certifiable scale, far from the clients original pickup location. The new price may be four or five times higher than the original estimate. The scam movers know that most people will be forced to pay these exorbitant rates based on their need for the personal effects. The interstate moving industry in America is regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety istration (FMCSA), part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Only a small staff (fewer than 20 people) is available to patrol hundreds of moving companies, making enforcement difficult. Before moving, always check with the DOT/FMCSA to that your mover is licensed and insured. This information is made available on their website. A moving resource provided by the FMCSA, called 'Your Rights And Responsibilities When You Move' is made available to citizens free of charge via request and goes into great depth of the topic and moving in general.

Moving scam

External links • Protect Your Move [1] - a US government Web site on interstate moving regulations • American Moving & Storage Association [2] - provides consumer guidance when hiring a professional mover

References [1] http:/ / www. protectyourmove. gov [2] http:/ / www. moving. org

List of confidence tricks This list of confidence tricks and scams should not be considered complete, but covers the most common examples. Confidence tricks and scams are difficult to classify, because they change often and often contain elements of more than one type. Throughout this list, the perpetrator of the confidence trick is called the “con artist” or simply “artist”, and the intended victim is the “mark”.

Get-rich-quick schemes Get-rich-quick schemes are extremely varied; these include fake franchises, real estate “sure things”, get-rich-quick books, wealth-building seminars, self-help gurus, sure-fire inventions, useless products, chain letters, fortune tellers, quack doctors, miracle pharmaceuticals, Nigerian money scams, and charms and talismans. Variations include the pyramid scheme, the Ponzi scheme, and the Matrix sale. Count Victor Lustig sold the “money-printing machine” which could copy $100 bills. The client, sensing huge profits, would buy the machines for a high price (usually over $30,000). Over the next twelve hours, the machine would produce just two more $100 bills, but after that it produced only blank paper, as its supply of hidden $100 bills would have become exhausted. This type of scheme is also called the “money box” scheme.

Salting Salting or “salting the mine” are for a scam in which gemstones or gold ore are planted in a mine or on the landscape, duping the greedy mark into purchasing shares in a worthless or non-existent mining company.[1] During gold rushes, scammers would load shotguns with gold dust and shoot into the sides of the mine to give the appearance of a rich ore, thus “salting the mine”. Examples include the diamond hoax of 1872 and the Bre-X gold fraud of the mid-1990s. This trick was popularized in the HBO series Deadwood, when Al Swearingen and E. B. Farnum trick Brom Garret into believing gold is to be found on the claim Swearingen intends to sell him.

Spanish Prisoner The Spanish Prisoner scam—and its modern variant, the advance-fee fraud or “Nigerian scam”—take advantage of the victim’s greed. The basic premise involves enlisting the mark to aid in retrieving some stolen money from its hiding place. The victim sometimes believes they can cheat the con artists out of their money, but anyone trying this has already fallen for the essential con by believing that the money is there to steal (see also Black money scam). Note that the classic Spanish Prisoner trick also contains an element of the romance scam (see below). Many conmen employ extra tricks to keep the victim from going to the police. A common ploy of investment scammers is to encourage a mark to use money concealed from tax authorities. The mark cannot go to the authorities without revealing that they have committed tax fraud. Many swindles involve a minor element of crime or some other misdeed. The mark is made to think that they will gain money by helping fraudsters get huge sums out of a country (the classic advance-fee fraud/Nigerian scam); hence marks cannot go to the police without revealing that

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List of confidence tricks they planned to commit a crime themselves. In a recent twist on the Nigerian fraud scheme, the mark is told they are helping someone overseas collect debts from corporate clients. Large cheques stolen from businesses are mailed to the mark. These cheques are altered to reflect the mark's name, and the mark is then asked to cash them and transfer all but a percentage of the funds (his commission) to the con artist. The cheques are often completely genuine, except that the "pay to" information has been expertly changed. This exposes the mark not only to enormous debt when the bank reclaims the money from their , but also to criminal charges for money laundering. A more modern variation is to use laser-printed counterfeit cheques with the proper bank numbers and payer information.

Televised infomercial Certain infomercials feature enthusiastic hosts and highlights of satisfied customers’ testimony extolling the benefits of get-rich-quick methods such as Internet auctioneering, real estate investment and marketing, for-profit toll phone business, classified advertising and unique products of questionable value requiring active marketing by the paying customers. Infomercials which fall under the aforementioned descriptions are highly likely to be scams devised and engineered to “bamboozle” the unsuspecting viewers for the express purpose of enriching the scheme inventors who produced the infomercials which often grossly exaggerate their claims, in conjunction with the clips of satisfied customers' over-excited testimonies with the superimposed captions of the alleged profits made. Don Lapre, creator of "Money Making Secrets", "The Ultimate Road to Success", "The Greatest Vitamin in the World" and other schemes, was reported by Internet customer watchdog organizations Ripoff Report, Better Business Bureau and Quackwatch, plus alternative newspaper publications such as Phoenix New Times as one of the premier confidence artists whose characteristic traits of overly positive attitude and over-enthusiastically cheerful and charismatic personality depend on the gullibility of the infomercial viewers to purchase the essentially useless products to gain substantial sums of profit by deception.

Wire game The wire or delayed-wire game, as depicted in the movie The Sting, trades on the promise of insider knowledge to beat a gamble, stock trade or other monetary action. In the wire game, a "mob" composed of dozens of grifters simulates a "wire store", i.e., a place where results from horse races are received by telegram and posted on a large board, while also being read aloud by an announcer. The griftee is given secret foreknowledge of the race results minutes before the race is broadcast, and is therefore able to place a sure bet at the wire store. In reality, of course, the con artists who set up the wire store are the providers of the inside information, and the mark eventually is led to place a large bet, thinking it to be a sure win. At this point, some mistake is made, which actually makes the bet a loss. The grifters in The Sting use miscommunication about the race results to simulate a big mistake, and the bet is lost.[2]

Persuasion tricks Persuasion fraud, when fraudsters persuade people only to target their money, is an old-fashioned type of fraud.

Missionary conspiracy A missionary conspiracy is a scam that involves illegitimate missionaries who are part of a cult that converts an entire community to quasi-religious beliefs. This usually involves an authority figure like Jim Jones who then uses his authority to abuse followers or to use them for gain. Usually these communities are rural, isolated, and have no money, instead they are used for manual labor, in particular on plantations and manufacturing. This is referred to as a "conspiracy" because of the difficulty to prove and the scale of the scam. These faux missionaries tend to be the representative of these communities to and from the outside world which includes the handling of money. In addition, community either revere the missionaries as people of their new deity or refuse to it they had

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List of confidence tricks fallen victim to the scam. This scam is particularly attributed to cults with strong authority figures and has taken place in Asia, Africa, Central and South America.

Romance scam The traditional romance scam has now moved into internet dating sites. The con actively cultivates a romantic relationship which often involves promises of marriage. However, after some time it becomes evident that this Internet "sweetheart" is stuck in his home country, lacking the money to leave the country and thus unable to be united with the mark. The scam then becomes an advance-fee fraud or a check fraud. A wide variety of reasons can be offered for the trickster's lack of cash, but rather than just borrow the money from the victim (advance fee fraud), the con man normally declares that they have checks which the victim can cash on their behalf and remit the money via a non-reversible transfer service to help facilitate the trip (check fraud). Of course, the checks are forged or stolen and the con man never makes the trip: the hapless victim ends up with a large debt and an aching heart. This scam can be seen in the movie Nights of Cabiria.

Fortune telling fraud One traditional swindle involves fortune telling. In this scam, a fortune teller uses her cold reading skill to detect that a client is genuinely troubled rather than merely seeking entertainment; or is a gambler complaining of bad luck. The fortune teller informs the mark that they are the victim of a curse, but that for a fee a spell can be cast to remove the curse. In Romany, this trick is called bujo "bag", from one traditional form: the mark is told that the curse is in their money; they bring money in a bag to have the spell cast over it, and leave with a bag of worthless paper.[3] Fear of this scam has been one justification for legislation that makes fortune telling a crime.[4] This scam got a new lease on life in the electronic age with the virus hoax. Fake antivirus software falsely claims that your computer is infected with viruses, and renders the machine inoperable with bogus warnings unless blackmail is paid. In the Datalink Computer Services incident, a mark was fleeced of several million dollars by a firm that claimed that his computer was infected with viruses, and that the infection indicated an elaborate conspiracy against him on the Internet.[5] [6] [7] The alleged scam lasted from August 2004 through October 2010 and is estimated to have cost the victim between 6–20 million USD.[5] [8]

Gold brick scams Gold brick scams involve selling a tangible item for more than it is worth; named after selling the victim an allegedly golden ingot which turns out to be gold-coated lead.

Coin collecting The coin collecting scam is a scam preying on inexperienced collectors. The conman convinces the mark by stating that a high-priced collection is for sale at a lower amount. The coin collector then buys the entire collection, believing it is valuable.

Pig-in-a-poke Pig-in-a-poke originated in the late Middle Ages. The con entails a sale of a (suckling) "pig" in a "poke" (bag). The bag ostensibly contains a live healthy little pig, but actually contains a cat (not particularly prized as a source of meat). If one buys the bag without looking inside it, the person has bought something of less value than was assumed, and has learned firsthand the lesson caveat emptor. "Buying a pig in a poke" has become a colloquial expression in many European languages, including English, for when someone buys something without examining it beforehand. In Poland, Denmark, , Belgium, Latvia, Israel and , the "pig" in the phrase is replaced by "cat", referring to the bag's actual content, but the saying is otherwise identical. This is also said to be where the

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List of confidence tricks phrase "letting the cat out of the bag" comes from, although there may be other explanations.

Thai gem The Thai gem scam involves layers of con men and helpers who tell a tourist in Bangkok of an opportunity to earn money by buying duty-free jewelry and having it shipped back to the tourist's home country. The mark is driven around the city in a tuk-tuk operated by one of the con men, who ensures that the mark meets one helper after another, until the mark is persuaded to buy the jewelry from a store also operated by the swindlers. The gems are real but significantly overpriced. This scam has been operating for 20 years in Bangkok, and is said to be protected by Thai police and politicians. A similar scam usually runs in parallel for custom-made suits. Many tourists are hit by conmen touting both goods. People shopping for pirated software, illegal pornographic images, bootleg music, drugs, firearms or other forbidden or controlled goods may be legally hindered from reporting swindles to the police. An example is the "big screen TV in back of the truck": the TV is touted as "hot" (stolen), so it will be sold for a very low price. The TV is in fact defective or broken; it may, in fact, not even be a television at all, since some scammers have discovered that a suitably decorated oven door will suffice.[9] The buyer has no legal recourse without itting to attempted purchase of stolen goods. This con is also known as "The Murphy Game".

White van speaker In the white van speaker scam, low-quality loudspeakers are sold, stereotypically from a white van, as expensive units that have been greatly discounted. The salesmen explain the ultra-low price in a number of ways; they may, for instance, say that their employer is unaware of having ordered too many speakers, so they are sneakily selling the excess behind the boss's back. The scam may extend to the creation of Web sites for the bogus loudspeaker brand, which usually sounds similar to that of a respected loudspeaker company. The "speakermen" are ready to be haggled down to a seemingly gigantic discount, because the speakers they are selling, while usually technically functional, actually cost only a tiny fraction of their "list price" to manufacture. The "speakermen" will often place an ad in the "For sale" Classifieds of the local newspaper, for the speakers, at an exorbitant price. They will then show you a copy of this newspaper ad to "" their worth.

Extortion or false-injury tricks Badger game The badger game extortion is often perpetrated on married men. The mark is deliberately coerced into a compromising position, a supposed affair for example, then threatened with public exposure of his acts unless blackmail money is paid.

Clip t A clip t or fleshpot is an establishment, usually a strip club or entertainment bar, typically one claiming to offer adult entertainment or bottle service, in which customers are tricked into paying money and receive poor, or no, goods or services in return. Typically, clip ts suggest the possibility of sex, charge excessively high prices for watered-down drinks, then eject customers when they become unwilling or unable to spend more money. The product or service may be illicit, offering the victim no recourse through official or legal channels.

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List of confidence tricks

Foreign object in food This scam involves a patron ordering food in a restaurant, and then placing a bug or foreign object in the food. The patron complains loudly to the restaurant managers and threatens to sue. Sometimes the patron receives a free meal or additional compensation, or tries to blackmail the restaurant. A notable attempt to perform this scam which failed was when a woman placed a severed finger in a bowl of chili and attempted to extort money from Wendy's, a fast food burger chain.[10]

Hydrophobia lie The hydrophobia lie was popular in the 1920s, in which the con man pretended to have been bitten by the mark's allegedly rabid dog, hydrophobia being an alternative term for rabies.

Insurance fraud Insurance fraud includes a wide variety of schemes which attempt insureds to defraud their own insurance carriers, but when the victim is a private individual, the con artist tricks the mark into damaging, for example, the con artist's car, or injuring the con artist, in a manner that the con artist can later exaggerate. One relatively common scheme involves two cars, one for the con artist, and the other for the shill. The con artist will pull in front of the victim, and the shill will pull in front of the con artist before slowing down. The con artist will then slam on his brakes to "avoid" the shill, causing the victim to rear-end the con artist. The shill will accelerate away, leaving the scene. The con artist will then claim various exaggerated injuries in an attempt to collect from the victim's insurance carrier despite having intentionally caused the accident. Insurance carriers, who must spend money to fight even those claims they believe are fraudulent, frequently pay out thousands of dollars—a tiny amount to the carrier despite being a significant amount to an individual—to settle these claims instead of going to court.[11] A variation of this scam occurs in countries where insurance s are generally tied to a Bonus-Malus rating: the con artist will offer to avoid an insurance claim, settling instead for a cash compensation. Thus, the con artist is able to evade a professional damage assessment, and get an untraceable payment in exchange for sparing the mark the expenses of a lowered merit class. The con can take up an insurance policy while traveling then claim theft when no wrong doing has occurred. The con will approach the police and create a false statement to fulfill the requirements of the insurance policy.

Melon drop The melon drop is a scam in which the scammer will intentionally bump into the mark and drop a package containing (already broken) glass. He will blame the damage on the clumsiness of the mark, and demand money in compensation. This con arose when artists discovered that the Japanese paid large sums of money for watermelons. The scammer would go to a supermarket to buy a cheap watermelon, then bump into a Japanese tourist and set a high price.

Gambling tricks Barred winner Visitors to Las Vegas or other gambling towns often encounter the barred winner scam, a form of advance fee fraud performed in person. The artist will approach his mark outside a casino with a stack or bag of high-value casino chips and say that he just won big, but the casino accused him of cheating and threw him out without letting him redeem the chips. The artist asks the mark to go in and cash the chips for him. The artist will often offer a percentage of the winnings to the mark for his trouble. But, when the mark agrees, the artist feigns suspicion and asks the mark to put up something of value "for insurance". The mark agrees, hands over jewelry, a credit card or their wallet, then

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List of confidence tricks goes in to cash the chips. When the mark arrives at the cashier, they are informed the chips are fake. The artist, by this time, is long gone with the mark's valuables.

Fake reward The fake reward scam involves getting the mark to believe he has won some prizes after being randomly chosen. He is then required to get to a specific location to 'collect his prizes'. Once there, he is told that he only has to sign some papers to receive the rewards. These papers can range from agreeing to financial fraud or g up for hips.

Fiddle game The fiddle game uses the pigeon drop technique. A pair of con men work together, one going into an expensive restaurant in shabby clothes, eating, and claiming to have left his wallet at home, which is nearby. As collateral, the con man leaves his only worldly possession, the violin that provides his livelihood. After he leaves, the second con man swoops in, offers an outrageously large amount (for example $50,000) for such a rare instrument, then looks at his watch and runs off to an appointment, leaving his card for the mark to call him when the fiddle-owner returns. The mark's greed comes into play when the "poor man" comes back, having gotten the money to pay for his meal and redeem his violin. The mark, thinking he has an offer on the table, then buys the violin from the fiddle player who "reluctantly" agrees to sell it for a certain amount that still allows the mark to make a "profit" from the valuable violin. The result is the two conmen are richer (less the cost of the violin), and the mark is left with a cheap instrument. This trick is also detailed in the Neil Gaiman novel American Gods and is the basis for The Streets' song "Can't Con an Honest John". It was also shown in an episode of Steptoe and Son in which Harold has a commode which he has purchased on his rounds (from a house wife). A ing antiques dealer sees the item and offers a large amount of money, but will return the next day. In the meantime the husband of the woman from whom Harold bought the commode demands that Harold sells it back to him; instead Harold offers the man an amount of money to keep the commode, believing that he can sell it to the dealer later that day. In an episode of Hustle the fiddle game is acted out, using a dog instead of a fiddle. In the 1981 Only fools and horses episode "Cash and Curry", the main character, Delboy, is tricked into paying £2000 for a statue worth £17, believing it to be worth £4000.[12]

Football picks In the football picks scam the scammer sends out tip sheet stating a game will go one way to 100 potential victims and the other way to another 100. The next week, the 100 or so who received the correct answer are divided into two groups and fed another pick. This is repeated until a small population have (apparently) received a series of supernaturally perfect picks, then the final pick is offered for sale. Despite being well-known (it was even described completely on an episode of The Simpsons and used by Derren Brown in "The System"), this scam is run almost continuously in different forms by different operators. In Rex Stout's Novel And Be a Villain (1948) this horse race prediction scheme is described by Nero Wolfe as a sure way to make money if one was so inclined to commit a crime. The sports picks can also be replaced with securities, or any other random process, in an alternative form. This scam has also been called the inverted pyramid scheme, because of the steadily decreasing population of victims at each stage.

Glim-dropper The glim-dropper scam requires several accomplices, one of whom must be a one-eyed man. One grifter goes into a store and pretends he has lost his glass eye. Everyone looks around, but the eye cannot be found. He declares that he will pay a thousand-dollar reward for the return of his eye, leaving information. The next day, an accomplice enters the store and pretends to find the eye. The storekeeper (the intended griftee), thinking of the reward, offers to take it and return it to its owner. The finder insists he will return it himself, and demands the owner’s address.

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List of confidence tricks Thinking he will lose all chance of the reward, the storekeeper offers a hundred dollars for the eye. The finder bargains him up to $250, and departs. The one-eyed man, of course, cannot be found and does not return. (Described in A Cool Million, or, The Dismantling of Lemuel Pitkin (1934) by Nathanael West). Variants of this con have been used in movies such as The Flim-Flam Man, The Traveller (1997), Shade (2003), and Zombieland (2009), and also in books such as American Gods.

Lottery fraud by proxy Lottery fraud by proxy is a particularly vicious scam, in which the scammer buys a lottery ticket with old winning numbers. He or she then alters the date on the ticket so that it appears to be from the day before, and therefore a winning ticket. He or she then sells the ticket to the mark, claiming it is a winning ticket, but for some reason, he or she is unable to collect the prize (not eligible, etc.). The particular cruelty in this scam is that if the mark attempts to collect the prize, the fraudulently altered ticket will be discovered and the mark held criminally liable. This con was featured in the movie Matchstick Men, where Nicolas Cage teaches it to his daughter. A twist on the con was shown in Great Teacher Onizuka, where the more than gullible Onizuka was tricked into getting a "winning ticket". The ticket wasn't altered, instead the daily newspaper reporting the day's winning numbers was rewritten with a black pen.

Three-card Monte Three-card Monte, "find the queen", the "three-card trick", or "follow the lady", is (except for the props) essentially the same as the centuries-older shell game or thimblerig. The trickster shows three playing cards to the audience, one of which is a queen (the "lady"), then places the cards face-down, shuffles them around and invites the audience to bet on which one is the queen. At first the audience is skeptical, so the shill places a bet and the scammer allows him to win. In one variation of the game, the shill will (apparently surreptitiously) peek at the lady, ensuring that the mark also sees the card. This is sometimes enough to entice the audience to place bets, but the trickster uses sleight of hand to ensure that they always lose, unless the conman decides to let them win, hoping to lure them into betting much more. The mark loses whenever the dealer chooses to make him lose. This con appears in the Eric Garcia novel Matchstick Men and is featured in the movie Edmond. The scam is also central to the Pulitzer prize-winning play "Topdog/Underdog." It also appears in episodes of Newsradio, Everybody Hates Chris, and The Simpsons. A variation on this scam exists in Barcelona, Spain, but with the addition of a pickpocket. The dealer and shill behave in an overtly obvious manner, attracting a larger audience. When the pickpocket succeeds in stealing from a member of the audience, he signals the dealer. The dealer then shouts the word "aguas", and the three split up. "Aguas" is a colloquial that translates into "Watch Out!". The audience is left believing that the police are coming, and that the performance was a failed scam. A variant of this scam exists in Mumbai, India. The shill says loudly to the dealer that his cards are fake and that he wants to see it. He takes the cards and folds a corner and says in a hushed voice to the audience that he has marked the card. He first places the bet and wins. Then he asks the others to place bets as well. When one of the audience bets a large sum of money the cards are switched.

Online scams Fake antivirus Computer s unwittingly & install malware disguised as antivirus software, usually through an ActiveX program, by following the messages which appear on their screen. The software then pretends to find multiple viruses on the victim's computer, "removes" a few, and asks for payment in order to take care of the rest. They are then linked to con artists' websites, professionally designed to make their bogus software appear legitimate, where they must pay a fee to the "full version" of their "antivirus software".

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Phishing A modern scam in which the artist communicates with the mark, masquerading as a representative of an official organization which the mark is doing business with, in order to extract personal information which can then be used, for example, to steal money. In a typical instance of phishing, the artist sends the mark an email pretending to be from a company (such as eBay). This email is formatted exactly like email from that business, and will ask the mark to "" some personal information at their website, to which a link is provided. The website itself is also fake but designed to look exactly like the business' website. The site will contain an HTML form asking for personal information such as credit card numbers. The mark will feel compelled to give this information because of words in the email or the site stating that they require the information again, for example to "reactivate your ". When the mark submits the form (not checking the URL), the information is sent to the swindler. Other online scams include advance-fee fraud, bidding fee schemes, click fraud, domain slamming, various spoofing attacks, web-cramming, and online versions of employment scams and romance scams.

Other confidence tricks and scams Art student The art student scam is common in major Chinese cities. A small group of 'students' will start a conversation, claiming that they want to practice their English. After a short time they will change the topic to education and will claim that they are art students and they want to take you to a free exhibition. The exhibition will usually be in a small, well hidden rented office and the students will show you some pieces which they claim to be their own work and will try to sell them at a high price, despite the pieces usually being nothing more than an internet printout worth a fraction of their asking price. They will often try 'guilt tricks' on people who try to bargain the price.

Beijing tea The Beijing tea scam is a famous scam in and around Beijing. The artists (usually female and working in pairs) will approach tourists and try to make friends. After chatting, they will suggest a trip to see a tea ceremony, claiming that they have never been to one before. The tourist is never shown a menu, but assumes that this is how things are done in China. After the ceremony, the bill is presented to the tourist, charging upwards of $100 per head. The artists will then hand over their bills, and the tourists are obliged to follow suit. Similar scams involving restaurants, coffee shops and bars also take place.

Big store The Big Store is a technique for selling the legitimacy of a scam and typically involves a large team of con artists and elaborate sets. Often a building is rented and furnished as a legitimate and substantial business.[13]

Cell phone grab Usually occurs outside airports or train stations at the pick-up curb, requires two cons and a getaway car. The con will approach the mark and claim that their ride isn't here due to their plane or train being late or early, and that they don't have the change to use a pay phone, or their own cell phone battery is dead. They ask the mark if they can use their cell phone to call, usually reassuring the mark by saying that the call is local and it will not cost them much. If the mark refuses, the con will try to guilt trip them. The moment the mark hands over their cell phone, the con makes a break for it, often hopping into a waiting car to make a quick getaway.

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Change raising Change raising is a common short con and involves an offer to change an amount of money with someone, while at the same time taking change or bills back and forth to confuse the person as to how much money is actually being changed. The most common form, "the Short Count", has been featured prominently in several movies about grifting, notably Nueve Reinas, The Grifters, Criminal, and Paper Moon. A con artist shopping at, say a gas station, pays for a cheap item (under a dollar) and gives the clerk a ten dollar bill. The con gets back nine ones and the change then tells the clerk he has a one and will exchange ten ones for a ten. Here's the con: get the clerk to hand over the $10 BEFORE handing over the ones. Then the con hands over nine ones and the $10. The clerk will assume a mistake and offer to swap the ten for a one. Then the con will probably just say, "Here's another one, give me a $20 and we're even". Notice that the con just swapped $10 for $20. The $10 was the store's money, not the con's. To avoid this con, keep each transaction separate and never ever permit the customer to handle the original ten before handing over the ten ones. Another variation is to flash a $20 bill to the clerk, then ask for something behind the counter. When the clerk turns away, the con artist can swap the bill they are holding to a lesser bill. The clerk might then make change for the larger bill, without noticing it has been swapped. The technique works better when bills are the same colour at a glance like, for instance, U.S. dollar bills.

Counterfeit cashier's check In this scam the victim is sent a cashier's check or money order for payment on an item for sale on the internet. When this document is taken to the bank it may not be detected as counterfeit for 10 business days or more, but the bank will deposit the money into the victim's and tell you that it has been "verified" or is "clear" in about 24 hours. This gives the victim a false feeling of security that the document is real, so they proceed with the transaction. When the bank does find that the check is counterfeit, they will come back to the customer for the entire amount of the check.

Empty car lot The scammers will find a vacant lot that is essentially used as free car parking and then start to charge people at the entrance, saying that the building is under new management and now chargeable.

Fake raffle The con artist sells tickets for a non-existent raffle, often either door-to-door or at a stall in a densely populated commercial space (i.e. a large shopping mall), to dozens of individual marks, making a sizeable profit in the process. Because the marks never expected to win the raffle, they generally never realise they've been stung; and may not even think about it at all afterwards, because they only parted with a small amount of money (several dollars, for example).

False charity A con artist will go door-to-door saying that the mark's donation will help build better playgrounds, help starving children etc; thus the mark will pay the con artist. Sometimes the con artist will even print out fake papers explaining the good that they will be doing.

Gas can The gas can scam happens on the street or in a parking lot, usually near a big-box store or mall. The con artist is well-dressed, and carrying a gas can. A story is given, usually involving a wife or teenage offspring waiting in the car (or occasionally, teenage offspring home alone) and then a request for ten to twenty bucks for gas. Often, the con artist will ask for your address to "return" your money. A variation of this scam has the con artist claiming that his car was towed, and he needs money to retrieve it from the towing company.

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List of confidence tricks In a gas-can-free variation of this scam, the artist claims that his or her car ran out of gas, and he or she asks for gas money. A purportedly out-of-gas car might or might not be present.

Landlord The landlord scam s an apartment for rent at an attractive price. The con artist, usually someone who is house-sitting or has a short-term sublet at the unit, takes a deposit and first/last month's rent from every person who views the suite. When move-in day arrives, the con artist is of course gone, and the apartment belongs to none of the angry people carrying boxes.

Neighbor's false friend In the neighbor's false friend scam, the con artist rings the mark's door bell claiming to be a friend of a neighbor or someone who lives nearby and asks to borrow money for gas since they've left their wallet with all their money at their friend's house and now there's nobody home. The con artist is gambling that the mark knows the name of the "friend" and perhaps is an acquaintance so that it would be embarrassing to refuse assistance, but that the mark doesn't know very much else about the "friend", making verification difficult. Of course the con artist has just read the "friend's" name on a mailbox or a door bell.

Paranoia The paranoia scam is a scam involving the conman telling the mark various lies about different scams and instigating false attempts so that the mark, by now feeling worried and with no place to hide their money from fraud, turns to the conman (of all people) for help. Used in an episode of Monk.

Pigeon drop The pigeon drop, also featured early in the film The Sting, involves the mark or pigeon assisting an elderly, weak or infirm stranger to keep their money safe for them. In the process, the stranger (actually a confidence trickster) puts their money with the mark's money (in an envelope, briefcase or sack) which the mark is then entrusted with. The money is actually not put into the sack or envelope, but is switched for a bag full of newspaper (etc). The mark is enticed to make off with the con artist's money through the greed element and various theatrics, but in actuality, the mark is fleeing from their own money, which the con artist still has (or has handed off to an accomplice). In LOST this was Sawyer's preferred way of conning people out of money.

Pseudoscience and snake oil In pseudoscience and snake oil scams, popular psychology confidence tricksters make money by falsely claiming to improve reading speed and comprehension using speed reading courses by fooling the consumer with inappropriate skimming and general knowledge tests. These popular psychology tricksters often employ popular assumptions about the brain and the cerebral hemispheres which are scientifically wrong, but attractive and plausible. A common myth is that we use only 10% of our brain.[14] [15] Similar scams involve the use of brain machines to alter brain waves, and intelligence amplification through balancing the mind and body. See Scientology.

Psychic surgery Psychic surgery is a con game in which the trickster uses sleight of hand to apparently remove malignant growths from the mark's body. A common form of medical fraud in underdeveloped countries, it imperils victims who may fail to seek competent medical attention. The movie Man on the Moon depicts comedian Andy Kaufman undergoing psychic surgery, and it can also be seen in an episode of Jonathan Creek as well as an episode of Lost in which the character Rose travels to Australia in a last ditch effort to cure her cancer.

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Rainmaker The con artist (a "rainmaker") convinces the mark to pay them to make something happen. If it happens, then the mark is convinced it is because they paid the rainmaker; if not, the rainmaker can say they need more money to do it. A major story arc in the third season of The Wire is Senator Clay Davis' shakedown of the Barksdale Organization. There is also an example of this in the Quantum Leap episode "A Single Drop of Rain" from Season 4.

Real estate The real estate scam may vary according to the type of real estate, but the common goal is that the con artist tricks the seller into thinking that they are going to buy or rent the property and make monthly payments. In reality, the con artist has no intention of paying anything. This will usually continue until they are caught or evicted, but the catch here is this is hard to prove in a criminal court; the only legal recourse the seller has is to file a lawsuit against the person responsible. However, the con artist will usually scam the seller for an amount below the cost of its recovery through litigation.

Recovery room A recovery room scam is a form of advance-fee fraud where the scammer (sometimes posing as a law enforcement officer or attorney) calls investors who have been sold worthless shares (for example in a boiler-room scam), and offers to buy them, to allow the investors to recover their investments.[16] The scam involves requiring an advance fee before the payment can take place, for example a "court fee".[17]

Rip deal The Rip Deal is a swindle very popular in Europe and is essentially a pigeon drop confidence trick. In a typical variation scammers will target, say, a jeweler, and offer to buy some substantial amount of his wares at a large markup provided he perform some type of under-the-table cash deal, originally exchanging Swiss francs for euros. This exchange goes through flawlessly, at considerable profit for the mark. Some time later the scammers approach the mark with a similar proposition, but for a larger amount of money (and thus a larger return for the mark). His confidence and greed inspired by the previous deal, the merchant agrees—only to have his money and goods taken, by sleight-of-hand or violence, at the point of exchange. This scam was depicted in the movie Matchstick Men. The same term is used to describe a crime where a vendor (especially a drug dealer) is killed to avoid paying for goods.[18]

Robbed traveler The robbed traveler scam usually takes place at airports and train stations. A person smartly dressed in suit and tie appears in distress and looks around bewildered, making sure the mark has noticed them. Then they approach and tell the story that their wallet or jacket has been stolen with all their money. They then appeal for help and ask if they can borrow a small amount of money for a taxi to their friend's house or a hotel where they're booked in, promising to pay it back as soon as they get access to their money. Experts at this game may even trick their mark into giving them the money (as opposed to merely lending it) in the belief that they are helping an upstanding member of society in genuine distress.

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Stranded Traveler Scam This type of scam usually appears as an email message coming from the target's friend or acquaintance. In the appeal the victim claims to be out of the country and has lost their port, credit card, plane tickets, or had them stolen. The con claims he/she cannot get home because they have no identification, or cannot pay their hotel bill or replace airline tickets. The con usually gains access to the friend's email , cell phone, or social network (e.g., Facebook). The con uses information about the target by reading old email messages or information on the social network. The tell is that the message usually contains spelling errors or uses language that the target's friend would not write. All foreign countries host embassies or consulates that will help travelers who are stranded abroad. Credit card issuers can be called collect to obtain an emergency replacement or assistance settling a hotel bill.

Street mechanic The con artist approaches the mark's car and says something is wrong with it - usually something the mark cannot immediately see - the bumper is turning into the wheel, for example. The con artist tells the mark that it is a very expensive fix, but that they are a mechanic and will fix it. Really, the con artist is creating an illusion, perhaps by sitting on the bumper. They "fix" the problem in minutes. They may ask for only a ride at first, but then pretend to call their boss and pretend that they are late for work and their boss is angry, and tell the mark they have lost a customer. The mark is made to feel guilty and grateful, and believe that they have been helped by a kind mechanic who has charged less than the normal hourly rate (albeit plus a hefty tip) to replace the customer they lost. This scam has been found in the streets of downtown Baltimore.

Subway attendant An individual dressed to resemble a subway attendant stands near a subway ticket machine at a downtown stop. The individual approaches people who appear to be out-of-towners headed back to the airport, and asks if they need directions, how their stay was, etc. They offer to sell a ticket to the airport directly from a handful they are carrying; however, these are merely used-up tickets collected from the trash. This has been seen on MARTA in Atlanta. The scammer is imitating legitimate attendants at the airport who show travelers how to use the vending machines but don't accept cash or give you tickets themselves.

Tow-truck scam Similar to the gas can scam, the scammer will explain that his or her car broke down and that he needs money for the tow truck. The scammer might flash a wad of cash and ask the mark for "just a few dollars more" to have his car towed.

Undercover cop The undercover cop scam is a scam where a con artist masquerades as an undercover police officer, usually by stopping the mark's vehicle and showing a fake badge, and tells the mark about a case they are investigating, and that the mark is a suspect. The conman asks for money to be checked, and when the mark is out of the vehicle, the con artist gets into the mark's car and drives away, having made sure there was more time to escape than it would take for the mark to get back to their vehicle. This scam is usually done to tourists, variations include their whole luggage being transferred to the conman's trunk "to be checked at a police station", or a fake immigration agent, asking for papers and then for money to clear up the problem.

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References [1] Dan Plazak A Hole in the Ground with a Liar at the Top (Salt Lake: Univ. of Utah Press, 2006) ISBN 978-0-87480-840-7. [2] The Sting. Motion picture. Written by David S. Ward. 1973. Script: http:/ / www. imsdb. com/ scripts/ Sting,-The. html [3] W. W. Zellner, William M. Kephart, Extraordinary groups: an examination of unconventional lifestyles (Macmillan, 2000; ISBN 1-57259-953-7), pp. 121-122 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=izrSSWrKu8cC& pg=PA121& lpg=PA121& dq=bujo+ gypsy+ scam& source=bl& ots=oktYov9_dK& sig=psavI5uf3jd-pQZnvWudOs2R7dA& hl=en& ei=Ci7jTNT1O8ainQeM6IDoDg& sa=X& oi=book_result& ct=result& resnum=3& ved=0CCEQ6AEwAg#v=onepage& q& f=false) [4] Spiritual Psychic Science Church v. City of Azusa (1985) 39 Cal.3d 501 , 217 Cal.Rptr. 225; 703 P.2d 1119 [5] "Heir to schlumberger OILfield services fortune fleeced of at least six million dollars" (http:/ / www. westchesterda. net/ pressreleases/ 001108mkarraign. htm). Press Release. Westchester County District Attorney. 11-08-2010. . Retrieved 10 November 2010. [6] EL-GHOBASHY, TAMER (November 9, 2010.). "Virus Leads to $20 Million Scam - WSJ.com" (http:/ / online. wsj. com/ article/ SB10001424052748703957804575602993406810012. html). The Wall Street Journal. . Retrieved 10 November 2010. [7] Fernandez, Manny (9 November 2010). "Man Held in Defrauding Roger Davidson, Musician" (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2010/ 11/ 09/ nyregion/ 09fraud. html?partner=rss& emc=rss). The New York Times. . Retrieved 10 November 2010. [8] Zetter, Kim (November 9, 2010). "Computer Virus Leads to $20 Million Scam Targeting Pianist Composer" (http:/ / www. wired. com/ threatlevel/ 2010/ 11/ pianist-composer-bilked). Wired News. . Retrieved 10 November 2010. [9] Danny Allen (August 14, 2009). "Cops Bust Guy Selling Oven Door Disguised as HDTV" (http:/ / m. gizmodo. com/ 5337290/ cops-bust-guy-selling-oven-door-disguised-as-hdtv). gizmodo.com. . Retrieved 2011-02-14. [10] "Jail for Wendy's Finger Scam Couple" (http:/ / www. cbsnews. com/ stories/ 2006/ 01/ 18/ national/ main1218315. shtml). CBS News. 18 January 2006. . Retrieved 14 August 2009. [11] "What factors impact auto insurance rates?" (http:/ / www. ifaauto. com/ faq/ rate. asp). . Retrieved 25 August 2010. [12] Cash and Curry, episode synopsis, www.bbc.co.uk, accessed 1 August 2010 (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ comedy/ onlyfools/ series1/ cashandcurry. shtml) [13] Maurer, David W. (1940). The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man and the Confidence Game. Bobbs Merrill. ISBN 0-7869-1850-8 [14] Do We Use Only 10% of Our Brain? online (http:/ / faculty. washington. edu/ chudler/ tenper. html) [15] Snopes: The Ten-Percent Myth online (http:/ / www. snopes. com/ science/ stats/ 10percnt. htm) [16] Wang, Wallace (2006). Steal This Computer Book 4.0 : What They Won't Tell You About the Internet. San Francisco: No Starch Press. ISBN 1-59327-105-0. [17] Weinberg, Michael C. (2008). Careers in Crime: An Applicant's Guide. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 0-7407-5708-3. [18] Florence Bruce; Hagell, Ann; Renuka Yeyarajah-dent (2006). Children Who Commit Acts of Serious Interpersonal Violence: Messages for Best Practice. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 1-84310-384-2.

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Advance-fee fraud

Advance-fee fraud An advance-fee fraud is a confidence trick in which the target is persuaded to advance sums of money in the hope of realizing a significantly larger gain.[1] Among the variations on this type of scam are the Nigerian Letter (also called the 419 fraud, Nigerian scam, Nigerian bank scam, or Nigerian money offer[2] ), the Spanish Prisoner, the black money scam as well as Russian/Ukrainian scam (also widespread, though far less popular than the former). The so-called Russian and Nigerian scams stand for wholly dissimilar organized-crime traditions; they therefore tend to use altogether different breeds of approaches. Although similar to older scams such as the Spanish Prisoner, the modern 419 scam originated in the early 1980s as the oil-based Nigerian economy declined. Several unemployed university students first used this scam as a means of manipulating business visitors interested in shady deals in the Nigerian oil sector before targeting businessmen in the west, and later the wider population. Scammers in the early-to-mid 1990s targeted companies, sending scam messages via letter,[3] fax, or Telex.[4] The spread of e-mail and easy access to e-mail-harvesting software significantly lowered the cost of sending scam letters by using the Internet. In the 2000s, the 419 scam has spurred imitations from other locations in Africa, Philippines, Malaysia, Russia, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and the United States. In particular advanced fee fraud in the United States primarily originates from the cities of Buffalo and Detroit. The number "419" refers to the article of the Nigerian Criminal Code (part of Chapter 38: "Obtaining Property by false pretences; Cheating") dealing with fraud.[5] The American Dialect Society has traced the term "419 fraud" back to 1992.[6] The advance-fee fraud is similar to a much older scam known as the Spanish Prisoner scam[7] in which the trickster tells the victim that a rich prisoner promised to share treasure with the victim in exchange for money to bribe prison guards. An older version of this scam existed by the end of 18th century, and is called "the Letter From Jerusalem" by Eugène François Vidocq, in his memoirs.[8] Insa Nolte, a lecturer of University of Birmingham's African Studies Department, stated that "The availability of e-mail helped to transform a local form of fraud into one of Nigeria's most important export industries."[9] Embassies and other organizations warn visitors to various countries about 419. Countries in West Africa with warnings cited include Nigeria,[7] [10] Ghana,[11] [12] Benin,[13] Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast),[14] Togo,[15] [16] Senegal[17] and Burkina Faso.[18] Countries outside West Africa with 419 warnings cited include South Africa,[16] [19] Spain,[19] and the Netherlands.[20]

Implementation This scam usually begins with a letter or e-mail[7] purportedly sent to a selected recipient but actually sent to many, making an offer that would result in a large payoff for the victim. The e-mail's subject line often says something like "From the desk of Barrister. [Name]", "Your assistance is needed", and so on. The details vary, but the usual story is that a person, often a government or bank employee, knows of a large amount of unclaimed money or gold which he cannot access directly, usually because he has no right to it. Such people, who may be real but impersonated people or fictitious characters played by the con artist, could include the wife or son of a deposed African or Indonesian leader or dictator who has amassed a stolen fortune, or a bank employee who knows of a terminally ill wealthy person with no relatives or a wealthy foreigner who deposited money in the bank just before dying in a plane crash (leaving no will or known next of kin),[21] a US soldier who has stumbled upon a hidden cache of gold in Iraq, a business being audited by the government, a disgruntled worker or corrupt government official who has embezzled funds, a refugee,[22] and similar characters. The money could be in the form of gold bullion, gold dust, money in a bank , blood diamonds, a series of checks or bank drafts, and so forth. The sums involved are usually in the millions of dollars, and the investor is promised a large share, typically ten to forty percent, if they assist the scam

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Advance-fee fraud character in retrieving the money. Whilst the vast majority of recipients do not respond to these e-mails, a very small percentage do, enough to make the fraud worthwhile as many millions of messages can be sent. Invariably sums of money which are substantial, but very much smaller than the promised profits, are said to be required in advance for bribes, fees, etc.—this is the money being stolen from the victim, who thinks he or she is investing to make a huge profit. Many operations are professionally organized in Nigeria, with offices, working fax numbers, and often s at government offices. The victim who attempts to research the background of the offer often finds that all pieces fit together. Such scammers can often lure wealthy investors, investment groups, or other business entities into scams resulting in multi-million dollar losses. However, many scammers are part of less organized gangs or are operating independently; such scammers have reduced access to the above connections and thus have little success with wealthier investors or business entities attempting to research them, but are still convincing to middle-class individuals and small businesses, and can bilk hundreds of thousands of dollars from such victims. If the victim agrees to the deal, the other side often sends one or more false documents bearing official government stamps, and seals. 419 scammers often mention false addresses and use photographs taken from the Internet or from magazines to falsely represent themselves. Often a photograph used by a scammer is not of any person involved in the scheme. Multiple "people" involved in schemes are fictitious; the author of the "West African Advance Fee Scams" article posted on the website of the Embassy of the United States in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire believes that in many cases one person controls many fictitious personas used in scams.[14] A scammer introduces a delay or monetary hurdle that prevents the deal from occurring as planned, such as "To transmit the money, we need to bribe a bank official. Could you help us with a loan?" or "For you to be a party to the transaction, you must have holdings at a Nigerian bank of $100,000 or more" or similar. More delays and more additional costs are added, always keeping the promise of an imminent large transfer alive, convincing the victim that the money they are currently paying is covered several times over by the payoff. Sometimes psychological pressure is added by claiming that the Nigerian side, to pay certain fees, had to sell belongings and borrow money on their house, or by pointing out the different salary scale and living conditions in Africa, compared to the West. Much of the time, however, the needed psychological pressure is self-applied; once the victims have put money in toward the payoff, they feel they have a vested interest in seeing the "deal" through. Some victims believe that they can cheat the con artist.[14] This idea is often encouraged by the fraudsters who write in a clumsy and uneducated style which presents them as naive and easily cheated by a sophisticated Westerner. The essential fact in all advance-fee fraud operations is that the promised money transfer never happens because the money or gold does not exist. The perpetrators rely on the fact that, by the time the victim realizes this (often only after being confronted by a third party who has noticed the transactions or conversation and recognized the scam), the victim may have sent thousands of dollars of their own money, and sometimes thousands or millions more that has been borrowed or stolen, to the scammer via an untraceable and/or irreversible means such as wire transfer.[14] In extreme cases the victim may not realize that he or she has been defrauded. A version of the scam is for the thief to claim to have s to facilitate legitimate business loans; the victim here is not persuaded that he is doing anything illegal. The fraudster meets the victim, and must be able to act the part of a well-connected and experienced loan broker. He asks for payment in advance, which is normal for large loans. Then the loan gradually falls through in a plausible way, and the victim may end up being defrauded of tens of thousands of dollars or pounds, thinking only that the deal simply failed. These frauds may go unreported, either because the victim does not realize he has been cheated, or due to reluctance to it the facts. Because of "non-disclosure clauses" which may have been included in the fraudulent contract, reporting of the scam may be delayed until the victim becomes certain he has been cheated. The spam e-mails perpetrating these scams are often sent from Internet cafés equipped with satellite Internet. Recipient addresses and e-mail content are copied and pasted into a webmail interface using a standalone storage medium, such as a memory card. Many areas of Lagos, such as Festac, contain many cyber cafés that serve

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Advance-fee fraud scammers; many cyber cafés seal their doors during afterhours, such as from 10:30 PM to 7:00 AM, so that scammers inside may work without fear of discovery.[23] Nigeria also contains many businesses that provide false documents used in scams; after a scam involving a forged signature of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in summer 2005, Nigerian authorities raided a market in the Oluwole section of Lagos. The police seized thousands of Nigerian and non-Nigerian ports, 10,000 blank British Airways boarding es, 10,000 United States money orders, customs documents, false university certificates, 500 printing plates, and 500 computers.[23] During the courses of many schemes, scammers ask victims to supply bank information. Usually this is a "test" devised by the scammer to gauge the victim's gullibility.[20] Scammers often request that payments be made using a wire transfer service like Western Union and Moneygram. The reason given by the scammer usually relates to the speed at which the payment can be received and processed, allowing quick release of the supposed payoff. The real reason is that wire transfers and similar methods of payment are irreversible, untraceable and, because identification beyond knowledge of the details of the transaction is often not required, completely anonymous.[14] Telephone numbers used by scammers tend to come from mobile phones. In Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) a scammer may purchase an inexpensive mobile phone and a pre-paid SIM card without submitting subscriber information. If the scammers believed they are being traced, they discard their mobile phones and purchase new ones.[14] In Benin, Nigerians operate scams with Beninese cooperating in the schemes.[13] Some crime syndicates employ fraudsters in the United States who conclude "deals" or threaten victims who try to leave deals.[24] [25]

Common elements Fake cheques Fraudulent cheques and money orders are key elements in many advance-fee scams, such as auction/classified listing overpayment, lottery scams, inheritance scams, etc., and can be used in almost any scam when a "payment" to the victim is required to gain, regain or further solidify the victim's trust and confidence in the validity of the scheme.[26] The use of cheques in a scam hinges on a US law (and common practice in other countries) concerning cheques: when an holder presents a cheque for deposit or to cash, the bank must (or in other countries, usually) make the funds available to the holder within 1–5 business days, regardless of how long it actually takes for the cheque to clear and funds to be transferred from the issuing bank.[27] The cheques clearing process normally takes 7–10 days and can in fact take up to a month when dealing with foreign banks. The time between the funds appearing as available to the holder and the cheque clearing is known as the "float", during which time the bank could technically be said to have floated a loan to the holder to be covered with the funds from the bank clearing the cheque. The cheque given to the victim is typically counterfeit but drawn on a real with real funds in it. With a piece of software like QuickBooks and/or pre-printed blank cheque stock, using the correct banking information, the scammer can easily print a cheque that is absolutely genuine-looking, es all counterfeit tests, and may even clear the paying if the information is accurate and the funds are available. However, whether it clears or not, it eventually becomes apparent either to the bank or the holder that the cheque is a forgery. This can be as little as three days after the funds are available if the bank supposedly covering the cheque discovers the cheque information is invalid, or it could take months for a business or individual to notice the fraudulent draft on their . It has been suggested that in some cases the cheque is genuine — however the fraudster has a friend (or bribes an official) at the paying bank to claim it is a fake weeks or even months later when the physical cheque arrives back at the paying bank.

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Advance-fee fraud Regardless of the amount of time involved, once the cashing bank is alerted that the cheque is fraudulent, the transaction is reversed and the money removed from the victim's . In many cases, this puts victims in debt to their banks as the victim has usually sent a large portion of the cheque by some non-reversible 'wire transfer' means (typically Western Union) to the scammer and, since more uncollected funds have been sent than funds otherwise present in the victim's , an overdraft results.

Western Union/MoneyGram Wire Transfers A central element of advance-fee fraud is that the transaction from the victim to the scammer must be untraceable and irreversible. Otherwise, the victim, once they become aware of the scam, can successfully retrieve their money and/or alert officials who can track the s used by the scammer. Wire transfers via Western Union and MoneyGram are ideal for this purpose. The wire transfer, if sent internationally, cannot be cancelled or reversed, and the person receiving the money cannot be tracked. In fact, that person often does not have to provide identification; they only have to know the identifiers of the transaction such as the control number (MTCN) and do not need the "secret question". Thus, the overwhelming majority of scams involve making payment via wire transfer. Other similar uncancellable forms of payment Western Union, Avenue de Choisy, Paris 13e include postal money orders and cashier's checks, but as wire transfer via Western Union or MoneyGram is the fastest method, it is the most common.

Anonymous communication Since the scammer's operations must be untraceable to avoid identification, and because the scammer is often impersonating someone else, any communication between the scammer and his victim must be done through channels that hide the scammer's true identity. The following options in particular are widely used. Web-based e-mail Because many free e-mail services do not require valid identifying information, and also allow communication with many victims in a short span of time, they are the preferred method of communication for scammers. Some services go so far as to mask the sender's source IP address, making the scammer completely untraceable even to country of origin. Scammers can create as many s as they wish and often have several at a time. In addition, if e-mail providers are alerted to the scammer's activities and suspend the , it is a trivial matter for the scammer to simply create a new to resume scamming.

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Advance-fee fraud E-mail hijacking/friend scams Some fraudsters hijack existing e-mail s and use them for advance-fee fraud purposes. The fraudsters e-mail associates, friends, and/or family of the legitimate owner in an attempt to defraud them.[29] This ruse generally requires the use of phishing or keylogger computer viruses to gain information for the e-mail address. Fax transmissions Facsimile machines are commonly used tools of business, whenever a client requires a hard copy of a document. They can also be simulated using web services, and made untraceable by the use of prepaid phones connected to mobile fax machines or by use of a public fax machine such as one [28] Screenshot of Firefox 2.0.0.1 phishing suspicious site owned by a document processing business like FedEx warning Office/Kinko's. Thus, scammers posing as business entities often use fax transmissions as an anonymous form of communication. This is more expensive, as the prepaid phone and fax equipment cost more than e-mail, but to a skeptical victim it can be more believable. SMS messages Abusing SMS bulk senders such as WASPS, scammers subscribe to these services using fraudulent registration details and paying either via cash or stolen credit card details. They then send out masses of unsolicited SMS'es to victims stating they have won a competition or like event and they have to somebody to claim their prize. Typically the details of the party to be ed will be an equally untraceable email address or a virtual telephone number. These messages may be sent over a weekend when abuse staff at the service providers are not working, enabling the scammer to be able to abuse the services for a whole weekend. Telecommunications relay services Many scams use telephone calls to convince the victim that the person on the other end of the deal is a real, truthful person. The scammer, possibly impersonating a US citizen or other person of a nationality, or gender, other than their own, would arouse suspicion by telephoning the victim. In these cases, scammers use TRS, a US federally-funded relay service where an operator or a text/speech translation program acts as an intermediary between someone using an ordinary telephone and a deaf caller using TDD or other TeleType device. The scammer may claim they are deaf, and that they must use a relay service. The victim, possibly drawn in by sympathy for a disabled caller, might be more susceptible to the fraud. FCC regulations and confidentiality laws require that operators relay calls verbatim, and that they adhere to a strict code of confidentiality and ethics. Thus, no relay operator may judge the legality and/or legitimacy of a relay call, and must relay it without interference. This means the relay operator may not warn victims, even when they suspect the call is a scam. MCI said that about one percent of their IP Relay calls in 2004 were scams.[30] Tracking phone-based relay services is relatively easy, so scammers tend to prefer Internet Protocol-based relay services such as IP Relay. In a common strategy, they bind their overseas IP address to a router or server located on US soil, allowing them to use US-based relay service providers without interference. TRS is sometimes used to relay credit card information to make a fraudulent purchase with a stolen credit card. In many cases however, it is simply a means for the con artist to further lure the victim into the scam.

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Fake websites Though 419 scams are often perpetrated by e-mail alone, some scammers enhance believability of their offer by using a sham website. They create these sites to impersonate real commercial sites, such as eBay, PayPal, or a banking site like Bank of America or The Natwest Bank for phishing. Others represent fictional companies or institutions to give the scam credibility. Though phishing is a secondary interest of most scam operations, as the object of the scammer is to deceive the victim into sending the money through legitimate means, the use of websites for advance-fee fraud is common. For instance, a scammer may create a website for a fictional bank, then give the victim details to to the site, where the victim sees the money the scammer has promised sitting in the . The victim believes the scammer and sends the requested advance payments. Fake (or hijacked) websites are the centerpiece of false online storefront scams. Another twist on scamming is where links are provided to real news sites covering events the scammer says are relevant to the transaction they propose. For instance, a scammer may use news of the death of a prominent government official as a backstory for a scam involving getting millions of dollars of the slain official's money out of the country. These are real websites covering legitimate news, but the scammer is usually not connected in any way with the events reported, and is simply using the story to gain the victim's sympathy.

Invitation to visit the country Sometimes, victims are invited to a country to meet real or fake government officials. Some victims who do travel are instead held for ransom. Scammers may tell a victim that he or she does not need to get a visa or that the scammers will provide the visa.[31] If the victim does this, the scammers have the power to extort money from the victim.[32] Sometimes victims are ransomed or, as in the case of the 29 year old Greek George Makronalli who was lured to South Africa, killed.[33] [34]

Followup scamming Scammers recognise that their victim who has just been scammed is more likely to fall for scamming attempts than a random person. Often after a scam, the victim is ed again by the scammer, representing himself as a law enforcement officer. The victim is informed that a group of criminals has been arrested and that they have recovered his money. To get the money back, the victim must pay a fee for processing or insurance purposes. Even after the victim has realised that he has been scammed, this follow up scam can be successful as the scammer represents himself as a totally different party yet knows details about the transactions. The realization that he has lost a large sum of money and the chance he might get it back often leads to the victim transferring even more money to the same scammer.

Compensation scamming The scammer sends a message thanking the victim for helping him start a transaction, and explaining that since they have been able to leave regime-torn Nigeria (with the victim's help), they have been residing and working in the UK and finishing the "transaction" without the victim's help. The scammer informs the victim of their recent inheritance or partnership with a Brazilian businessman, and their desire to compensate them for their "release of some money." In order to claim the money, the victim must the scammer's secretary immediately, or else miss out on their share of a multi-million dollar sum.

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Variants There are many variations on the most common stories, and also many variations on the way the scam works. The following are notable deviations from the standard Nigerian Letter scam, but still retain the core elements; the victim is deceived by some disproportionately large gain into sending an advance payment, which once made is irrecoverable.

Purchasing goods and services A modern activity is advertising automobiles on websites. They list a (non-existent) high value car with a low price as bait to attract buyers eager to buy quickly. The scammer says "I am not in the country, but if you pay me first, a friend will drive the car around to you". The payment required may be the full price, or a deposit, but it would not be an insignificant fee. The victim never sees the car, as it does not exist. The scammers use e-mail only, as they know that the sound of their voice and their attitude will give them away as being high risk. Another scheme involves advertising fake academic conferences and enticing academics to apply to present papers. It is a common practice that the conference subsidizes or pays for the air travel of academics who present papers at the conference, but does not pay for accommodation. One way the scammer baits the hopeful attendee is they offer free air travel to the victim, but only as long as they pre-pay for hotel accommodation. The scammer can give a variety of reasons that the accommodation must be pre-paid — primarily that they don't trust the victim will attend the conference unless he pays upfront. Any goods or services may be used in the scam, but the idea is that the scammer baits the victim with a good deal, but the victim must pay upfront and electronically.

Check cashing Some schemes are based solely on conning the victim into cashing a counterfeit check. The scammer s the victim to interest them in a "work-at-home" opportunity, or asks them to cash a check or money order that for some reason cannot be redeemed locally. A recently-used cover story is that the perpetrator of the scam wishes the victim to work as a "mystery shopper", evaluating the service provided by MoneyGram or Western Union locations within major retailers such as Wal-Mart.[35] The scammer sends the victim a check or money order, the victim cashes it, sends the cash to the scammer via wire transfer, and the scammer disappears. Later the forgery is discovered and the bank transaction is reversed, leaving the victim liable for the balance. Schemes based solely on check cashing usually offer only a small part of the check's total amount, with the assurance that many more checks will follow; if the victim buys in to the scam and cashes all the checks, the scammer can win big in a very short period of time. Other scams such as overpayment usually result in smaller revenues for the scammer, but have a higher success rate as the scammer's request seems more believable. Some check-cashing scammers use multiple victims at multiple stages of the scam. A victim in the US or other "safe" country such as the UK or Canada (often the country in which the cashing victim resides) is sometimes approached with an offer to fill out checks sent to them by the scammer and mail them to other victims who cash the check and wire the money to the scammer. The check mailer is usually promised a cut of the money from the scammer; this usually never occurs, and in fact the check mailer is often conned into paying for the production and shipping costs of the checks. The check information has either been stolen or fictionalized and the checks forged. The victim mailing the check is usually far easier to track (and prosecute) than the scammer, so when the checks turn up as fraudulent, the one mailing them usually ends up not only facing federal bank fraud and conspiracy charges, but liability for the full amount of the fraudulent checks. Because the check mailer is taking the fall, the scammer is even less likely to be caught, which makes it a popular variation of the scam for scammers in nations with tougher anti-fraud laws.

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Advance-fee fraud A variation of the check-cashing scheme involves owners of vacation rentals. The scammer expresses interest in renting the unit for a much higher than normal rate, usually for an honeymoon, business trip, etc. The scammer also offers to pay all fees "up front," as soon as the unsuspecting unit owner agrees to the windfall rental. Eventually a very official looking money order/cashier's check arrives. About this time the scammer requests that a portion of the rental fee be returned for some compelling reason...wedding called off, death in the family, business failure, etc. Due to the supposed crises, it is requested that most of the rental fee be returned via wire transfer. The unit owner is encouraged to retain "a fair amount" to compensate him for his time. The wire transfer is sent, only to find out later that the official looking check was indeed fake and the entire amount is charged back to the unit owner by his bank.

Romance angle A recent variant is the Romance Scam, which is a money-for-romance angle. The con artist approaches the victim on an online dating service, an Instant messenger (like Yahoo IM), or a social networking site. The scammer claims an interest in the victim, and posts pictures posted of an attractive person (not themselves). The scammer uses this communication to gain confidence, then asks for money. The con artist may claim to be interested in meeting the victim, but needs cash to book a plane, hotel room, or other expenses. In other cases, they claim they're trapped in a foreign country and need assistance to return, to escape imprisonment by corrupt local officials, to pay for medical expenses due to an illness contracted abroad, and so on. The scammer may also use the confidence gained by the romance angle to introduce some variant of the original Nigerian Letter scheme, such as saying they need to get money or valuables out of the country and offer to share the wealth, making the request for help in leaving the country even more attractive to the victim. In a newer version of the scam, the con artist claims to have 'information' about the fidelity of a person's significant other, which they will share for a fee. This information is garnered through social networking sites by using search parameters such as 'In a relationship' or 'Married'. Anonymous e-mails are first sent to attempt to receipt, then a new web based e-mail is sent along with directions on how to retrieve the information.

Lottery scam The lottery scam involves fake notices of lottery wins. The winner is usually asked to send sensitive information to a free e-mail . The scammer then notifies the victim that releasing the funds requires some small fee (insurance, registration, or shipping). Once the victim sends the fee, the scammer invents another fee. Much like the various forms of overpayment fraud detailed above, a new variant of the lottery scam involves fake or stolen checks being sent to the 'winner' of the lottery (these checks representing a part payment of the winnings). The winner is more likely to assume the win is legitimate, and thus more likely to send the fee (which he does not realize is an advance fee). The check and associated funds are flagged by the bank when the fraud is discovered, and debited from the victim's . In 2004 a variant of the lottery scam appeared in the United States. Fraud artists using the scheme call victims on telephones; a scammer tells a victim that a government has given them a grant and that they must pay an advance fee, usually around $250, to receive the grant.[36]

Hitman An e-mail is sent to the victim's inbox, supposedly from a hitman who has been hired by a "close friend" of the recipient to kill him or her but will call off the hit in exchange for a large sum of money. This is usually backed up with a warning not to the local police or FBI, or the "hitman" will be forced to go through with the plan.[37] [38] This is less an advance-fee fraud and more outright extortion, but a reward can sometimes be offered in the form of the "hitman" offering to kill the man who ordered the original hit on the victim.

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Bomb scams Related to the hitman scam, the scammer s a business, mall, office building, or other commercial location with a bomb threat. The scammer says they will detonate the bomb unless the management of the business does as the scammer tells them. Often, the scammer says they have the store under surveillance; however, analysis of the calls by police have established that the vast majority of threat calls are made from other states or even from outside the country. Some evidence exists that points to the scammers hacking into the store's surveillance network, but this has not been confirmed.[39] The scammer usually demands that the store management or people in the headquarters office of the store (if the store is a chain) send money via wire transfer to the scammer to spare the store and the people in it. Other demands of these scammers have been more personal and humiliating, such as demanding that everyone in the store take off their clothes.[39] Because the underlying threat in the scam is a bomb threat, local law enforcement very quickly responds to the site under threat; however, because the scammer is usually nowhere near this location, the scammer is in little if any danger of being apprehended while the scam is playing out. Law enforcement, in the meantime, cannot assume the threat is anything but genuine, and therefore can do little to intervene without risking the detonation of the bomb. The fact that the threat was in reality a scam has usually not been discovered until long after the situation is over—and the extortionist has collected the money demanded.

Charity scams The scammer poses as a charitable organization soliciting donations to help the victims of a natural disaster, terrorist attack (such as the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack), regional conflict, or epidemic. Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 tsunami were popular targets of scammers perpetrating charity scams; other more timeless scam charities purport to be raising money for cancer, AIDS or Ebola virus research, children's orphanages (the scammer pretends to work for the orphanage or a non-profit associated with it), or impersonates charities such as the Red Cross or United Way. The scammer asks for donations, often linking to online news articles to strengthen their story of a funds drive. The scammer's victims are charitable people who believe they are helping a worthy cause and expect nothing in return. Once sent, the money is gone and the scammer often disappears, though many attempt to keep the scam going by asking for a series of payments. The victim may sometimes find themselves in legal trouble after deducting their supposed donations from their income taxes. United States tax law states that charitable donations are only deductible if made to a qualified non-profit organization.[40] The scammer may tell the victim their donation is deductible and provide all necessary proof of donation, but the information provided by the scammer is fictional, and if audited, the victim faces stiff penalties as a result of the fraud. Though these scams have some of the highest success rates especially following a major disaster, and are employed by scammers all over the world, the average loss per victim is less than other fraud schemes. This is because, unlike scams involving a large expected payoff, the victim is far less likely to borrow money to donate or donate more than they can spare. In a related variant, the scammer poses as a terminally ill mother, poor university student, or other down-on-their-luck person and simply begs the victim for money for college tuition, to sponsor their children, or a similar ruse. The money, they say, will be repaid plus interest by some third party at a later date (often these third parties are some fictitious agency of the Nigerian government, or the scammer themselves once a payment from someone else is made available to them). Once the victim starts paying money to the scammer, the scammer tells the victim that additional money is needed for unforeseen expenses, similar to most other variants; in the case of the ill mother, the children will fall ill as well and require money for a doctor's care and medicine (many scammers go as far as to say that as the sponsor of the children, the victim is legally liable for such costs), where the student might claim that a dormitory fire destroyed everything they own.

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Fraud recovery scams This variant targets former victims of scams. The scammer s the victim saying that their organization can track and apprehend the scammer and recover the money lost by the victim, for a price. Alternatively, the scammer may say that a fund has been set up by the Nigerian government to compensate victims of 419 fraud, and all that is required is proof of loss (which usually includes personal information) and a processing and handling fee to release the amount of the claim. The scammer is counting on the victim's dire need to recover their lost money, as well as the fact that they have fallen victim before and are therefore susceptible to such scams. Often, these scams are perpetrated by the same scammer who conned the victim in the first place, as an attempt to ensure the scammer gets every penny possible from the victim. Alternately, the original scammer "sells" a list of the people he has scammed but who have ceased to another scammer who runs the recovery scam. Sometimes the scammer impersonates the foremost "fraud related crime-fighters" in Nigeria, the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission), which not only adds credibility to the scam, but tarnishes the reputation of the EFCC once this second scam is discovered.[14] [41]

Babysitting and Au-Pair scams Another variation of the advance payment type of scam involves recruiting unsuspecting individuals for non-existent babysitting, nanny, or au-pair employment. In one variation a prospective employee may be given an "advance" on wages; in another the victim may be asked to pricing and ultimately purchase items for the scammer's non-existent child. Victims are often asked to submit résumés and references and jump through other hoops, cementing in the victim's mind that the employer must be legitimate and the high wages offered are real. Focusing the victim's thinking on proving their worthiness for employment consideration serves to distract the victim from considering whether the offer itself is worthy of replying to.

Pet scams Another such scam is based on the adoption of a puppy or an exotic pet such as parrots or reptiles. A scammer first posts an ment or sets up a web page offering puppies for adoption or for sale at a ridiculously low price, most often using stolen pictures from other websites and respectable breeders. When a victim responds to the ad and questions the lowered price or the reason for giving up such an expensive pet, the scammer first explains that they have recently moved to Nigeria or Cameroon from the US for work (usually volunteer work as missionaries or a UN transfer) or for studies, and claims either to have no time to properly care for the pet, that the weather has had such a terrible toll on the pet, or that they have too many pets to care for- often asking for follow-up holiday photos of the pet and a continued line of communication so that the victim does not suspect a scam. The scammer and victim exchange a few e-mails to build trust. They may even send (fake or stolen) photo IDs to further prove their credibility. Once it is established that the victim offers the right home for the pet, the scammer offers to ship the pet, and requests the victim only pay for shipping, or comes off the original price substantially to seem legitimate. The victim, who now has an emotional attachment to the pet, feels obligated and even happy to do so, as shipping is a small price to pay compared to the pet's full price at a shop or breeder. The scammer requests Western Union or MoneyGram (untraceable and irreversible) to keep the deal going in a timely fashion as the pet is ready to go to a new home and the victim is now excited. However, after wiring money, the victim does not receive the pet (as it does not exist), and if the victim does hear from the scammer again it is only for more money (to get animal out of airport holding/quarantine, "refundable" life-insurance fees or to pay unexpected vet bills that have come up) until the victim stops responding. This is extremely common currently in Nigeria and Cameroon.[42] Another type of scam that is beginning to appear is the selling of a pet by the victim. The scammer typically s the victim by a newspaper ad or through an online service with the aid of a call-relay service. After this call has been made, communication is done through email. As mentioned above, trust is built between the scammer and the victim by emails. The structure of the scam is that the seller of the animal (victim) will have the asking price of the animal

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Advance-fee fraud plus the shipping price sent to him/her through a fake check. The victim will then deposit the check then wire the funds to the scammer through a Western Credit Union location. The "shipper" is often non-existent and described as being "private". Once the money has been wired, the scammer wins.

Craigslist The popular online classifieds website, Craigslist, has been plagued with scammers using advance-fee fraud and similar techniques, usually involving fake checks, to con people out of their money. Sometimes many scammers a person who is either attempting to buy or sell items on Craigslist, and attempt to perpetrate exactly the same scam. Many of the same elements as the Nigerian 419 scams are used often on Craigslist, including persons conducting transactions from outside the country, sending realistic looking bank checks, sending more money than is owed, and requesting that money be wired back to the scammer.[43] [44] Another advance-fee method that has been used recently on Craigslist is where the scammer will someone selling an item and ask them to ship the item to a location outside the US, then provide the tracking number for the shipped item in exchange for payment. The seller then sends the item and provides the tracking number, after which the scammer never provides payment. Sometimes the scammer will approach someone offering a room or apartment for rent and pose as someone moving in to their area from overseas. They will create a scenario in which they are pressured to secure the room in advance, and ask if they can secure their occupancy with a deposit. The deposit check that they send will be a fake check for far more than the amount requested for a deposit. When the check arrives, the scammer will ask for a refund of the difference between the check they sent and the agreed upon amount. The fake check will bounce and the victim has lost whatever money they "refunded" to the scammer. A similar scam exists on the rental model, particularly in the United Kingdom - the scammer posts an ad on a classifieds site such as Craigslist or Gumtree (also known as "Scamtree") for an apartment or house for rent (and the rent is far below the normal market rate) with a fantastic description and pictures taken from other adverts or other websites. The victim s the scammer in order to secure a viewing, but is told that in order to do so they must go to a Western Union outlet, do a money transfer to a relative for the amount of the deposit and then provide a scanned receipt. Ostensibly this is to prove that the victim can afford the deposit before they view the apartment, and they'll get the money back after the viewing. But in actuality the property may or may not actually exist, and the receipt allows the scammer to collect the funds without any viewing ever taking place. Alternatively, the scammer forwards a rental application, or asks for information typically given on a rental application, such as driver's license number, bank information, Social Security Number, etc.

Bona vacantia In the United Kingdom, bona vacantia is ownerless property which has ed to the Crown. This property is istered by the Bona Vacantia Division of the Treasury Solicitor's Department. Fraudulent emails and letters, claiming to be from this department, have been reported which inform the recipient that they are the beneficiary of a legacy but requiring payment of a fee before sending more information or releasing the money.[45]

Fake job offer A new scam targets people who have posted their resumes on job sites. The scammer sends a letter with a falsified company logo. The job offer usually indicates exceptional salary and benefits and requests that the victim needs a "work permit" for working in the country and includes the address of a (fake) "government official" to . The fake "government official" then proceeds to fleece the victim by extracting fees from the unsuspecting for the work permit and other fees. A variant of the job scam recruits freelancers seeking legitimate gigs (such as in editing or translation), then offers "pre-payment" for their work. Many legitimate (or at least fully ed) companies work on a similar basis, using this method as their primary source of earnings. Some modelling and escort agencies will tell applicants that they have a number of clients lined

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Advance-fee fraud up, but that they require a "registration fee" of sorts to for processing and marketing expenses, or so it is claimed, which is paid in a number of untraceable methods, most often by cash; once the fee is paid, the applicant is informed that the client has cancelled, and thereafter they never the applicant again.

Rental scams A foreign student, doctor, etc. s a landlord seeking accommodation. Once the are negotiated, a forged check is forwarded for a greater amount than negotiated. Then some emergency comes up where some part of the amount is requested to be urgently wired back. The reverse may also happen, where a scammer posts an accommodation, and requests monies be wired as deposit. The victim arrives to discover they have no accommodation.

Attorney Collection Scams Attorneys that do collections often practice based on contingency. The attorney is ed by a scammer posing as a representative of a large international firm headquartered in another country. The scammer states that the company has no legal representation in the attorney's state, and needs to collect a debt from a company in that state. Scammer requests attorney email standard retainer agreement. This is commonly done, so attorney emails agreement, scammer signs and returns, and informs attorney that because legal representation has been obtained, the debtor has agreed to pay the debt by the end of the month. Red flag #1 is when the scammer requests attorney not the debtor company because the client wishes to maintain a working relationship with the debtor, saving litigation as a last resort. The attorney is instructed to the debtor only if the promised payment isn't made on the promised date. On the promised date, the huge check is delivered to the attorney, who deposits in the law firm trust , keeps the attorney's contingency fee, and sends the rest to the scammer. Red flag #2 is that the scammer will request the money be wired to a foreign country, or insists on quick remittance. Sophisticated scammers will file articles of organization with both states, build web sites, and purchase prepaid cell phones with local phone numbers with scammers posing as both client and debtor. All of that can be done cheaply and easily on the internet.

Consequences Monetary loss estimates Estimates of the total losses due to the scam vary widely. Although the "success rate" of the scam is hard to gauge, some experienced 419 scammers get one or two interested replies for every thousand messages. Stephanie Nolen of The Globe and Mail said that an experienced scammer can expect to make at least several thousand dollars per successful scam letter.[46] Since 1995, the United States Secret Service has been involved in combating these schemes. The organization doesn't investigate unless the monetary loss is in excess of 50,000 US Dollars. However, very few arrests and prosecutions have been made due to the international aspect of this crime. In 2006, a report by a research group concluded that Internet scams in which criminals use information they trick from gullible victims and commonly strip their bank s cost the United Kingdom economy £150 million per year, with the average victim losing £31,000.[47] Between May 1992 and July 1994, a San Diego-based businessman, James Adler, was swindled out of $5.2 million by a Nigeria-based advance fee scam. In 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the trial court's findings that (1) various Nigerian government officials (including a governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria) had been directly or indirectly involved; (2) the Nigerian government officials could be sued in U.S. courts under the "commercial activity" exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act; and (3) Adler's case was completely barred by the doctrine of unclean hands because he had knowingly entered into a contract with the criminal purpose of helping Nigerian officials embezzle funds from their own government.[48]

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Advance-fee fraud Nelson Sakaguchi, a director at the Brazilian bank Banco Noroeste, transferred hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars to Chief Emmanuel Nwude, Nigeria's most accomplished scammer.[49] The scam led to at least two murders, including that of one of the scammers, Mr. Bless Okereke. The scam was the third biggest in banking history, after Nick Leeson's activities at Barings Bank, and the looting of the Iraqi Central Bank during the buildup to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.[49] In 2008, an Oregon woman, Janella Spears, lost $400,000 to a Nigerian advance-fee fraud scam, after an e-mail told her she had inherited money from her long-lost grandfather. Her curiosity was piqued because she actually had a grandfather whom her family had lost touch with, and whose initials matched those given in the e-mail. Spears sent hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of more than two years, despite her family, bank staff and law enforcement officials all urging her to stop.[50] [51]

Physical harm or death • Some victims have hired private investigators in Nigeria or have personally travelled to Nigeria, without ever retrieving their money. There are cases of victims being unable to cope with the losses and committing suicide.[52] In November 2003, Leslie Fountain, a senior technician at Anglia Polytechnic University in England, set himself on fire after falling victim to a scam; Mr. Fountain died of his injuries.[53] In 2006 an American living in South Africa hanged himself in Togo after being defrauded by a Ghanaian 419 con man.[54] In 2007, a Chinese student at the University of Nottingham killed herself after she discovered that she fell for a lottery scam.[55] • In February 2003, Jiří Pasovský, a 72 year-old scam victim from the Czech Republic, shot and killed 50-year old Michael Lekara Wayid, an official at the Nigerian embassy in Prague, and injured another person, after the Nigerian Consul General explained he could not return $600,000 that Pasovský had lost to a Nigerian scammer.[49] [56] [57] [58] [59] Kidnapping • Osamai Hitomi, a Japanese businessman was lured to Johannesburg, South Africa in a 419 scam and kidnapped on 26 September 2008. The kidnappers took him to Alberton, south of Johannesburg and demanded a $5 million ransom from his family. Seven people were arrested.[60] • On 23 September 2008, a Kenth Sadaaki Suzuki, a Swedish businessman, was lured to South Africa and kidnapped. He was taken to a house in Rosettenville in Johannesburg and robbed of all his belongings. Thereafter a ransom of €20,000 was demanded from his family. Two people were arrested. They are also linked to the kidnappings of three American citizens and possibly other similar cases.[61] • On 2 June 1996 in Lomé, Togo, 419ing kidnappers held a Swedish businessman for $500,000. Swedish police and the kidnappers negotiated before the kidnappers released the man on 12 June 1996.[37] • From September 1995 to April 1997, conmen in Nigeria held at least eight Americans against their will. In 1996 the U.S. embassy helped repatriate ten Americans who fell victim to 419 schemes.[37] • Joseph Raca, a former mayor of Northampton, England, was kidnapped by scammers in Johannesburg, South Africa in July 2001. The captors released Raca after they became nervous.[62] • Dănuţ Tetrescu, a Romanian who flew from Bucharest to Johannesburg to meet with con men in the Soweto area of Johannesburg, was kidnapped in 1999 and held for $500,000.[63]

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Advance-fee fraud Murder • 29-year old George Makronalli, a Greek man, was murdered in South Africa in December 2004 after his family refused to pay a ransom.[33] • Kjetil Moe, a Norwegian businessman, was reported missing and ultimately killed after a trade with Nigerian scammers in Johannesburg, South Africa (September 1999).[64] • One American was murdered in Nigeria in June 1995 after being lured by a 419 scam.[65] • From 1994 to April 1997, 419 scammers murdered 15 people in total.[37]

Emotional harm Victims, in addition to having lost large sums of money, often also lose their ability to trust. The 419 Eater website says, "Although there is no serious physical injury, many victims of con-men speak of the betrayal as the psychological equivalent of rape". Victims may blame themselves for what has happened, resulting in overwhelming guilt and shame. If the victim has borrowed money from others to pay the scammer, these feelings are magnified. Further compounding the problem is the public opinion of scam letters and scam victims. Scam letters are often viewed as humorously moronic, and the people who fall for them equally so. The victim, having lost money through the scammer's manipulation of payment methods such as money orders or checks, may become distrustful of the financial system. Scam victims may stop trusting and giving money to churches, legitimate charities and, in the extreme, even service providers such as their electric company because of their requests for money. Some victims commit suicide.[52] [53] In other cases, the victim continues to the scammer after being shown proof that they are being scammed or even being convicted of crimes relating to the scam, having been drawn so deeply into the web of deception that their trust in what the scammer tells them overrides everything else in their life.[66] Such victims are easy prey for future scams, digging themselves even deeper into financial and legal trouble.

Arrests In 2004, fifty-two suspects were arrested in Amsterdam after an extensive raid.[67] An Internet service provider noticed the increased e-mail traffic. None were jailed or fined, due to lack of evidence. They were released in the week of 12 July 2004. On 8 November 2004, Nick Marinellis of Sydney, Australia, was sentenced to 4 1⁄3 to 5 1⁄4 years for sending Nigerian 419 e-mails.[68] In October 2006 the Amsterdam police launched Operation Apollo to fight Internet fraud scams operated by West Africans and notably Nigerians. Following this investigation police have arrested eighty suspects, most of them from Nigeria, and seized from their homes lists of e-mail addresses, as well as fake documents. On 16 June 2007, 111 people were arrested for being in the Netherlands illegally and suspicion of fraud, although their implication with the e-mail scams is yet unknown.[69] Authorities in Nigeria have been slow to take action and for many years nothing was done. Nigeria has a reputation for criminals being able to avoid convictions through bribery and rumours abounded of official connivance in the scams.[70] In 2003 however the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was charged with tackling the problem.[71] A couple of success stories including convictions in a large 419 case were reported in 2005.[72] Edna Fiedler, 44, of Olympia, Washington, on 25 June 2008, pleaded guilty in a Tacoma court and was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment and 5 years of supervised release or probation in an Internet $1 million "Nigerian check scam." She conspired to commit bank, wire and mail fraud, against US citizens, specifically using the Internet, and by having an accomplice ship her counterfeit checks and money orders from Lagos, Nigeria, last November. Fiedler shipped out $ 609,000 fake check and money orders when arrested and prepared to send additional $1.1 million counterfeit materials. The US Postal Service recently intercepted counterfeit checks, lottery tickets and eBay overpayment schemes with a face value of $2.1 billion.[73] [74]

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Advance-fee fraud In March 2009, agents from Spain's technological investigation squad, UDEF Central, arrested 23 people who were accused of defrauding 150 people in both the United States and Europe. According to the police, the suspects sent out 20,000 scam e-mails per day[75] and had a list of the e-mail addresses of 55,000 potential victims in their possession.[76] In October 2009, the Nigerian government announced that they are launching "Operation Eagle Claw", a t effort with Microsoft to apprehend Nigerian 419 scammers.[75]

Victim becoming a criminal Victims of the fraud sometimes fall directly into crime by borrowing or stealing money to pay the advanced fees, believing an early payday is imminent. Credit-card fraud, check kiting, and embezzlement are among the crimes committed to pay the advances, with an expectation of having the money to repay the unauthorized loans. • Former Alcona County (Michigan) Treasurer Thomas A. Katona was sentenced to 9–14 years for his embezzlement of more than US$1.2 million in county funds in a Nigerian fraud scheme, which represented 25% of the county's budget for 2006.[77] • Robert Andrew Street,[78] a Melbourne-based financial adviser, who fleeced his clients for over AU$1 million which he sent to the scammers in the hope of receiving US$65 million in return. Eventually the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigated the victim, who had now become a con man himself. • A bookkeeper for the Michigan law firm[79] Olsman Mueller & James who in 2002 emptied the company bank of US$2.1 million in expectation of a US$4.5 million payout. • John W. Worley, a Massachusetts psychotherapist, fell for a Nigerian scam and was convicted of taking money under false pretenses, his case being such that The New Yorker dubbed him The Perfect Mark in a headline.[80] • According to Kurt Eichenwald, author of The Informant, Mark Whitacre defrauded Archer Daniels Midland, a food products manufacturer for which he was a division president, embezzling US$9 million during the same period of time that he was acting as an informant for the FBI in a price fixing scheme that was involved in. His illegal activities in trying to procure funds for payment of his supposed Nigerian benefactors cost him his immunity in the price-fixing scandal, according to Eichenwald. James Lieber, author of Rats in the Grain and an attorney, also wrote a book about Whitacre in which he disagreed with Eichenwald's conclusions about Whitacre and the Nigerian scam.[81] [82] [83] • In 2008, Georg Weiner, a German businessman was sentenced to 4 years in jail for fraud. He promised to save the professional team handball club TUSEM Essen from financial difficulties with the fictional money that turned out to be part of several advance fee fraud schemes. Besides the money that he himself may have lost, Weiner also made the then club manager pay $31000 to the scammers. When the money did not materialize, the club lost its licence and was forcibly relegated to the third division.[84] [85] [86]

Scam baiting Various groups and individuals have engaged against "419" frauds by making scammers lose their time or some amount of money.[87] One widely propagated report of such a scam baiting involved an American who identified himself as "James T Kirk" to a Nigerian completely unaware of the Star Trek television series.[88]

used by 419-scammers These are common words in the Nigerian pidgin English. Fall mugu (to) To be fooled, to become victim of advance-fee fraud Flash of

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Advance-fee fraud Cause a victim's bank to temporarily show a large credit (which the bank reverses when they discover its false origins) to convince the victim the deal is legitimate. Format Scheme or script of an advance-fee fraud, e.g., the late dictator format, the next of kin format, the lottery format... Guyman, guy Con artist engaged in advance-fee fraud Jokeman, Joker A scam-baiter Luxcini An investment scam involving a line of men's luxury clothing based in Beverly Hills, California Maga, mugu, mugun, mahi, magha,[23] mahee, mayi, mayee, mgbada Victim of advance-fee fraud ("Mugu" means "fool"—often used as an insult by scam-baiters) Modality Method of funds transfer;[89] Oga or Chairman Boss Owner of the job, Catcher Con artist who makes first with the victim, then es him to another scammer to finish Run An illegal activity Yahoo millionaire,[90] yahoo boy [91]

Scammers

Yahoo Yahoo Someone who cons through e-mail, particularly through a Yahoo! address

Popular culture references • In the 2007 Futurama movie, Bender's Big Score, Professor Farnsworth falls for a Lottery scam after he thought he'd won the lottery by giving away his personal details on the Internet. • In the BBC program The Real Hustle broadcast in the United Kingdom, the hustlers demonstrated the 419 Scam to the hidden cameras in the 'High Stakes' series of the show. The hustle involved claims of moving vast sums of money to the victims bank from Sierra Leone but the victim needed to pay £5,000 for the paperwork in exchange for a bogus-bouncing check with the promise that he can keep 30% of the funds, which never materialized. • Nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot has written a song (Message No. 419) about the 419 scam on his debut album Nerdcore Rising. • In the HBO comedy series, Flight of The Conchords episode The New Cup, the band's manager, Murray, uses the band's emergency funds for an investment with a Nigerian, Mr. Nigel Soladu, who promises to offer "1000% profit." However, it turns out that Nigel Soladu is a real person and the investment offer is legitimate. The band receives a 1000% profit, which they use to get bailed out of jail. • In an episode of NBC series The Office in which Michael Scott tries to sell his subordinates on what he does not realize to be a pyramid scheme, Toby Flenderson asks, "Didn't you lose a lot of money on that other investment?

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Advance-fee fraud

•

• •

• •

The email?", to which Michael replies, "You know what Toby, when the son of the deposed king of Nigeria emails you directly, asking for help, you help! His father ran the freaking country! Okay?" In The Sun Cow episode of the Nickelodeon TV series, Back at the Barnyard, Otis, Pig and Abby received an e-mail from a Nigerian prince requesting for help, to which Abby replies with the farmer's credit card number and stating that the Internet does not lie. In a 2009 episode of A&E documentary Intervention, a man habitually gives his family's money away to 419 scammers. Two songs promoting advance fee fraud are popular in Nigeria: "I Go Chop Your Dollar - 419 Song" by Osuofia with the chorus "419 is just a game, you are the loser, I am the winner",[92] and "Maga Don Pay" (The victims pay) by Kelly Hansome, with the chorus Maga don pay, shout hallelujah. In response to this song, 9 R&B and rap artists (Banky W, Bez, Cobhams, MI, Modele, Omawumi, Rooftop MCs, The Wordsmith) released the song "Maga No Need Pay". The lyrics and the chorus Maga no need pay for me to buy correct motor, for me to take make my dough explain to the youngsters that they can make a good living and that they will help their country by staying away from advance fee fraud. Fela! The Musical makes several references to code 419. One of the series featured in webcomic Irregular Webcomic! stars the Nigerian Finance Minister.[93]

• In the television series Sit Down, Shut Up, the teacher Stuart Proszakian sends money to a Nigerian Scam despite the other teachers' warnings. But at the end it turns out there really was a Nigerian Prince, and thanks Stuart for the donation.

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[52] "Fraud Alert - 419 Fraud" (http:/ / www. met. police. uk/ fraudalert/ 419. htm). London Metropolitan Police. . Retrieved 2006-07-09. [53] "Suicide of Internet Scam Victim" (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ england/ cambridgeshire/ 3444307. stm). British Broadcasting Corporation. 2004-01-30. . Retrieved 2006-09-26. [54] " Surge in global Internet scams prompts new US warning to Internet s (http:/ / www. iht. com/ articles/ ap/ 2007/ 03/ 02/ america/ NA-GEN-US-Internet-Scams. php)," International Herald Tribune

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Advance-fee fraud [55] " Web scam drove student to suicide (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 2/ hi/ uk_news/ england/ nottinghamshire/ 7380093. stm)," BBC News [56] "Nigerian scam continues to thrive" (http:/ / www. msnbc. msn. com/ id/ 3078489/ ), MSNBC [57] "Internet technology fueling Nigerian scam" (http:/ / www. avma. org/ onlnews/ javma/ apr03/ 030401d. asp). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 2003-04-01. . Retrieved 2006-07-09. [58] "Czech pensioner charged with murdering Nigerian consul" (http:/ / www. radio. cz/ en/ news/ 37806). Radio Prague. 2003-02-20. . Retrieved 2006-07-09. [59] " Nigerian Slain Over E-Mail Scam (http:/ / www. wired. com/ culture/ lifestyle/ news/ 2003/ 02/ 57760)," Wired [60] "Seven in court for 419 kidnap" (http:/ / www. news24. com/ Africa/ News/ Seven-in-court-for-419-kidnap-20080930). . [61] "?" (http:/ / www. news24. com/ News24/ South_Africa/ News/ 0,,2-7-1442_2399032,00. html). . Retrieved 14 September 2010. "R100m in fraud crackdown" (http:/ / www. news24. com). . Retrieved 14 September 2010. [62] " Kidnapped Briton tells of terror (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ uk/ 1438872. stm)," BBC [63] " "I Brought You A Good News," An Analysis of Nigerian 419 Letters (http:/ / www. businesscommunication. org/ conventions/ Proceedings/ 2005/ PDFs/ 07ABC05. pdf)," Oregon Institute of Technology [64] " Moe funnet død (http:/ / www. dagbladet. no/ nyheter/ 2000/ 05/ 26/ 205694. html)," Dagbladet [65] " Woman falls for Nigerian scam (http:/ / www. njherald. com/ 326099832547533. php)," New Jersey Herald [66] " Nigerian scam victims maintain the faith (http:/ / www. smh. com. au/ news/ business/ nigerian-scam-victims-maintain-the-faith/ 2007/ 05/ 14/ 1178995057764. html)," The Sydney Morning Herald [67] Dutch 419 inside job (http:/ / www. the. co. uk/ 2004/ 07/ 05/ dutch_419_inside_job/ ), The . Retrieved 31 December 2006. [68] Haines, Lester (2004-11-08). "Nigerian 419 Scam Spammer Sentenced to Five Years in Prison" (http:/ / www. the. co. uk/ 2004/ 11/ 08/ aussie_419er_jailed/ ). The.co.uk. . Retrieved 2009-06-10. [69] Dutch act on 'Nigerian scams' (http:/ / australianit. news. com. au/ story/ 0,24897,21923565-15306,00. html), The Australian. Retrieved 18 June 2007. [70] "Skeptics Journal 1998" (http:/ / www. skeptics. com. au/ journal/ 1998/ 1. pdf) (PDF). . Retrieved 2009-07-03. [71] "About the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission". (http:/ / www. efccnigeria. org/ index. php?option=com_content& task=section& id=5& Itemid=69) EFCC website accessed 25 July 2007. [72] "Text of A Media Conference by Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Executive Chairman, EFCC" (http:/ / www. efccnigeria. org/ index. php?option=com_content& task=view& id=716& Itemid=2) (Monday, 21 November 2005). EFCC website retrieved 25 July 2007. [73] "Woman gets prison for 'Nigerian' scam" (http:/ / www. upi. com/ Top_News/ 2008/ 06/ 26/ Woman_gets_prison_for_Nigerian_scam/ UPI-73791214521169/ ). Upi.com. 2008-06-26. . Retrieved 2009-06-10. [74] "Cisco to start paying a dividend before summer" (http:/ / tech. yahoo. com/ news/ pcworld/ 147575). Yahoo! News. . Retrieved 14 September 2010. ??? [75] (AFP) – Oct 22, 2009 (2009-10-22). "Nigeria's anti graft police shuts 800 scam websites" (http:/ / www. google. com/ hostednews/ afp/ article/ ALeqM5iV7uw_rlEABbsQCt-GvZexDLbRqw). Google.com. . Retrieved 2010-11-12. [76] "Desarticulada una banda que enviaba diariamente 20.000 'cartas nigerianas'" (http:/ / www. elpais. com/ articulo/ espana/ Desarticulada/ banda/ enviaba/ diariamente/ 20000/ cartas/ nigerianas/ elpepuesp/ 20090317elpepunac_11/ Tes). Elpais.com. . Retrieved 2010-11-12. [77] " Former Alcona County Treasurer Sentenced to 9-14 Years in Nigerian Scam Case (http:/ / mi. gov/ ag/ 0,1607,7-164-34739-170122--,00. html)," Office of the Attorney General, Michigan [78] 419ers take Aussie financial advisor for AU$1m (http:/ / www. the. co. uk/ 2004/ 10/ 19/ aussie_419_victim/ ), The , Published Tuesday 19th October 2004 GMT [79] Haines, Lester. " Woman falls for Nigerian scam, steals $2.1m from law firm (http:/ / www. the. co. uk/ 2002/ 09/ 23/ woman_falls_for_nigerian_scam/ )," The [80] " Annals of Crime: The Perfect Mark (http:/ / www. newyorker. com/ archive/ 2006/ 05/ 15/ 060515fa_fact?printable=true& currentPage=all) ," The New Yorker [81] " Supermarket for Scandal (http:/ / www. upenn. edu/ gazette/ 1100/ 1100books. html)," University of Pennsylvania [82] " Rats In the Grain. - Review - book review (http:/ / findarticles. com/ p/ articles/ mi_m0HIC/ is_1_16/ ai_75477934)" [83] "Rats in the grain: The Dirty Tricks and Trials of Archer Daniels Midland The Supermarket to the World" (http:/ / www. populist. com/ 00. 16. krebs. html). Populist.com. . Retrieved 2009-06-10. [84] "Luftschlösser gebaut" (http:/ / www. derwesten. de/ sport/ lokalsport/ essen/ tusem/ Luftschloesser-gebaut-id894146. html), Der Westen, 17.07.2008 (in german) [85] "Ego statt Geld" (http:/ / www. sueddeutsche. de/ sport/ 386/ 446122/ text/ ), Süddeutsche Zeitung, 21.06.2008 (in german) [86] "Großes Ganovenstück" (http:/ / www. derwesten. de/ staedte/ essen/ Grosses-Ganovenstueck-id1242365. html), Der Westen, 19.06.2008 (in german) [87] Baiting Nigerian scammers for fun (not so much for profit) (http:/ / arstechnica. com/ web/ news/ 2009/ 05/ baiting-nigerian-scammers-for-fun-not-so-much-for-profit. ars) at ArsTechnica. [88] "Dumb Nigerian Con-Artists" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20070209072152/ spl. haxial. net/ nigerian-fraud/ ). Web.archive.org. . Retrieved 2010-11-12. [89] " Advance fee fraud schemes (http:/ / www. yale. edu/ its/ email/ spam/ fraud. html)," Yale University [90] " Online scams create "Yahoo! millionaires" (http:/ / money. cnn. com/ magazines/ fortune/ fortune_archive/ 2006/ 05/ 29/ 8378124/ )," CNN Money

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Advance-fee fraud [91] " Nigeria cracks down on e-mail scams (http:/ / www. csmonitor. com/ 2005/ 1215/ p07s02-woaf. html)," Christian Science Monitor [92] "Home: Advance Fee Fraud: Encyclopedia" (http:/ / www. baldfaceliars. com/ Advance_fee_fraud/ encyclopedia. htm). BaldFaceLiars.com. . [93] "Nigerian Finance Minister" (http:/ / www. irregularwebcomic. net/ cast/ nigerianfinanceminister. html). Irregular Webcomic!. . Retrieved 2010-03-18.

Books • Apter, Andrew (2005). "The Politics of Illusion". The Pan-African Nation: Oil and the Spectacle of Culture in Nigeria. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226023559. • Berry, Michael (2006). Greetings in Jesus Name!: The Scambaiter Letters (http://books.google.com/ books?id=tL7tAAAACAAJ). Harbour Books. ISBN 1905128088. • Dillon, Eamon (2008). "Chapter 6: The 419ers" (http://www.dilloninvestigates.com/index_files/Page390. htm). The Fraudsters — How Con Artists Steal Your Money. Merlin Publishing. ISBN 9781903582824. • Edelson, Eve (2006). Scamorama: Turning the Tables on Email Scammers (http://books.google.com/ books?id=piSbAAAACAAJ). Disinformation Company. ISBN 1932857389. • Nwaubani, Adaobi Tricia (2009). I Do Not Come to You By Chance (novel) (http://www.hyperionbooks.com/ titlepage.asp?ISBN=1401323111&SUBJECT=Fiction). Hyperion Books. • Tive, Charles (2006). 419 Scam: Exploits of the Nigerian Con Man (http://books.google.com/ books?id=tT_WX_2pvFwC). iUniverse.com. ISBN 0595413862. • Van Wijk, Anton (2009). Mountains of gold; An exploratory research on Nigerian 419-fraud: backgrounds (http:/ /419.swpbook.com). SWP Publishing. ISBN 978-90-8850-028-2.

External links • Advance-fee fraud (http://www.dmoz.org//Society/Issues/Fraud/Advance_Fee_Fraud//) at the Open Directory Project • UK Metro Police Antifraud (http://www.met.police.uk/): Metro Police UK Antifraud Division • ScamWatch (http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/): Australia's ScamWatch • RomanceScam (http://www.romancescam.com/): Nigerian Dating Scammers • Interview with an ex-scammer, January 2010 (http://www.scam-detectives.co.uk/blog/2010/01/22/ interview-with-a-scammer-part-one): Scam Detectives • RentScams (http://www.rentscams.org/): Rental Property Scams • VP44 Spam & Scam Database (http://spamdb.vp44.com/): large repository of 419 scam samples

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Pig in a poke

115

Pig in a poke The idioms pig in a poke and sell a pup (or buy a pup) refer to a confidence trick originating in the Late Middle Ages, when meat was scarce, but cats and dogs (puppies) were not.[1] [2] [3] The idiom pig in a poke can also simply refer to someone buying a low-quality pig in a bag because he or she did not carefully check what was in the bag.[4] The scheme entailed the sale of a suckling pig or pup in a poke (bag). The bag would actually contain a cat or dog (not particularly prized as a source of meat), which was sold to the victim in an unopened bag. The French idiom acheter (un) chat en poche (to buy a cat in a bag) refers to an actual sale of this nature, as do many European equivalents, while the English expression refers to the appearance of the trick.[5] The common English colloquial expressions such as turn out to be a pig in a poke or buy a pig in a poke mean that something is sold or bought without the buyer knowing its true nature or value, especially when buying without inspecting the item beforehand. The phrase can also be applied to accepting an idea or plan without a full understanding of its basis. Similar expressions exist in other European languages, most of them referring to the purchase of a cat in a bag, with some exceptions: Language

Phrase

Translation

Bulgarian

да купиш котка в торба

to buy a cat in a bag

Catalan

Donar/Prendre gat per llebre

to give/to take cat instead of hare

Croatian

kupiti mačka u vreći

to buy a cat in a sack

Czech

koupit zajíce v pytli

to buy a hare in a sack

Danish

at købe katten i sækken

to buy the cat in the sack

Dutch

een kat in de zak kopen

to buy a cat in the sack

Estonian

ostma põrsast kotis

to buy a piglet in a sack

French

acheter un chat dans un sac

to buy a cat in a bag

Finnish

ostaa sika säkissä

to buy a pig in a sack

German

die Katze im Sack kaufen


Greek

αγοράζω γουρούνι στο σακκί to buy a pig in a sack

Hebrew

‫קשב לותח‬

cat in a sack

Hungarian

zsákbamacska

cat in a sack

Icelandic

að kaupa köttinn í sekknum


Indonesian

kucing dalam karung

cat in a sack

Irish

ceannaigh muc i mala

buying a pig in a bag

Latvian

pirkt kaķi maisā


Lithuanian

pirkti katę maiše


Luxembourgish d'Kaz am Sak kafen

to buy the cat in a sack

Macedonian

да купиш мачка во вреќа


Norwegian

kjøpe katta i sekken


Polish

kupić kota w worku


Portuguese

comprar gato por lebre

to buy a cat instead of a hare

Romanian

a cumpăra cu ochii închiși

to buy with closed eyes

Russian

купить кота в мешке


Pig in a poke

116 Spanish

dar gato por liebre

to give a cat instead of a hare

Spanish

hay gato encerrado

there is a cat shut inside

Serbian

купити мачку у џаку


Slovak

kúpiť mačku vo vreci


Slovene

kupiti mačka v žaklju


Swedish

köpa grisen i säcken

to buy the pig in the sack

This trick also appears to be the origin of the expression "let the cat out of the bag",[6] meaning to reveal that which is secret (if the would-be buyer opened the bag, the trick would be revealed).[5]

References Notes [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

pig in a poke (http:/ / idioms. yourdictionary. com/ pig-in-a-poke) at YourDictionary.com pup (http:/ / www. ldoceonline. com/ dictionary/ pup) at Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English be sold a pup (http:/ / idioms. thefreedictionary. com/ be+ sold+ a+ pup) at The Free Dictionary pig in a poke (http:/ / www. idiomdictionary. com/ definition/ pig-in-a-poke. html) at IdiomDictionary.com Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1898. Let the cat out of the bag (http:/ / www. phrases. org. uk/ meanings/ 227250. html) on The Phrase Finder

Bibliography • E. Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (http://www.bartleby.com/81/13246.html). 1898. • Funk, Charles Earle, A Hog on Ice: & Other Curious Expressions. HarperResource, 2002. ISBN 0-06-051329-2. • National Lampoon's European Vacation, The television game show the Griswolds played that won them the trip.

Thai gem scam

Thai gem scam The Thai Gem Scam (also known as the Bangkok Gem Scam) is a confidence trick performed in Bangkok, Thailand as well as other cities in the country. It is one of the most pervasive scams in Thailand. Most of the shops are gold or jewelry shops. It has been alleged that this scam has been operating for the past 20 years, sometimes in the same premises. It has been suggested that individuals in the Royal Thai Police and even politicians protect this scam. The scam was demonstrated on an episode of the BBC series, The Real Hustle, except the hustlers used a tourist hot-spot in Ibiza as opposed to Thailand.

The scam A network of touts and con men present the mark with an opportunity to profit from buying discount gems from a jewelry shop. The mark is convinced that he can buy gems at duty free price and bring them overseas for a threefold or more profit. Through a network of helpers, each of whom tells the mark bits of information, the mark is guided to the jewelry shop. 1. A tout will be on the lookout at popular tourist spots like the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Khaosan Road, Siam Square, or other temples or tourist attractions in Bangkok. (Also, the scam may often be initiated by a tuk-tuk driver.) The tout will be dressed as a student or gentleman and will approach the mark to tell him the place he is about to visit is closed today because of some made-up holiday. The tout, taking advantage of the Thai people's reputation for friendliness, may strike up a conversation, asking where the mark is from, and if this is his first time in Bangkok. The tout will also tell the mark that a certain tuk-tuk waiting nearby is cheap or even free because it has been sponsored by the tourism ministry and can bring him to other temples elsewhere to visit. Sometimes this gentleman finds out which country the mark is from and informs the con man at the next layer about it. 2. If the mark gets on the tuk-tuk, the driver will bring him to a secluded temple in the city, drop him off, and wait for him to return. 3. When the mark walks into the temple, there will be a gentleman praying inside. That person will tell him about a scheme by the government which allows people to buy jewelry duty free and make a profit when the gems are shipped to their home country, adding that today is the last day of this scheme. 4. The tuk-tuk may take the mark to another temple, where another person (sometimes a Thai, sometimes a Westerner) tells the same story, building up the mark's confidence through a seemingly "independent" verification. If the mark is interested, the person will tell the tuk-tuk driver to take him to the jewelry store. 5. At the shop the mark will be pressured to buy jewelry. If the mark purchases the jewelry, the gem will be packaged and shipped directly to the mark's address in his home country so that he will not have a chance to get the gem appraised or return it for a refund. In the purchase process the mark may be told to go to a nearby gold shop to purchase gold to be exchanged for the gem - this money laundering ensures that any stop-payment on the part of the mark will not affect the gem store's profits. 6. The mark returns to his home country, only to find the jewelry to be worth far less than he paid for it. Other scams include fake Thai Mikimoto certificates. Once in a store, a variety of selling tactics are employed, including bait and switch, and "educating" gemstone novices about "fake gems" which are in fact real, and selling them "real gems" which are in fact fake.

117

Thai gem scam

References External links • The Bangkok Gem Scam (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/holidaytypeshub/article-588986/ The-Bangkok-Gem-Scam.html) - The Daily Mail • Malaysians falling prey to Bangkok gems scam (http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/2/ nation/20100102151817&sec=nation) - The Star

White van speaker scam The white van speaker scam is a scam sales technique in which a salesman makes a buyer believe he is getting a good price on audio merchandise. Con artists in this type of scam call themselves "speakerguys" or "speakermen".

Process The typical white van speaker scam involves one to three individuals, who are usually casually dressed or wearing uniforms. They drive an SUV, minivan or a commercial vehicle (usually a white commercial van, which may be rented inexpensively) that often displays a company logo. To find suitable targets, the van operators set up their con in moderately-trafficked areas, such as parking lots, gas stations, colleges, or large apartment complexes. Alternatively, they may target people driving expensive cars and wave them down. The marks (victims) are usually affluent young men, college students, or others thought to have large amounts of disposable income. The marks may also be foreigners or people who are unfamiliar with typical business transactions in Western countries. The operators often claim that they work for an audio retailer or audio installer and that, through some sort of corporate error (warehouse operator mistake, bookkeeping mistakes, computer glitch, etc.) or due to the client changing the order after supplies were purchased, they have extra speakers. Sometimes, it is implied that the merchandise may be stolen. For varying reasons they need to dispose of the speakers quickly and are willing to get rid of them at "well below retail" prices. The con artists will repeatedly state the speaker's "value" as anywhere between $1800 and $3500, prices often purportedly verified by showing a brochure or a magazine ment. They will usually also have an official-looking website ing their claims. If the mark declines the offer, the scammer uses various high-pressure negotiation sales tactics. Among these techniques are producing glossy material that details the quality and high retail value of the speakers, and bombarding the potential customer with technical jargon, whether correctly or incorrectly used. If still unable to convince the mark that he is turning down an incredible offer, the con artist will almost always lower the price significantly. Some con artists will even suggest that, since the customer got such a great deal, he should pay a little extra as beer money for his supposed benefactor.

118

White van speaker scam

Economics Distributors rent a warehouse and obtain licenses and distribution rights, then import large quantities of poorly made goods. They ship these goods to local warehouses in major cities and hire 'salesmen' to distribute the shoddy goods. North American distribution operations are in major cities across the continent.[1] The marketers at each office establish a promotion, benefit, and bonus scale for the speaker sales teams. Bonuses may be paid in cash or speakers. In Australia the same tactic is used. Receipts are issued, but the details are usually fake so that the goods cannot be returned. As an added measure, vehicles are leased so that they can not be traced to either the distributor or 'sales person' driving.

Online availability White van speakers and home theater systems are now commonly found online on such sites as Craigslist, Kijiji and eBay. Speakers and projectors are popular scams because they are not easily tested. Buyers are misled into purchasing low quality knock off brands. with reviews showing these speakers or electronics to be outclassed by even inexpensive "home theater in a box" systems sold by legitimate manufacturers. One online technique used on Craigslist is for the seller to post ads for the speakers for the "retail price" printed on their boxes, which is often in the thousands of dollars. Any box of speakers with an MSRP printed on it should be considered a counterfeit. Then the seller will post another ad with different wording at a "deal" price, a fraction of the original price. Both ads will have links to the phony speaker brand's web site. The higher priced ment is meant to fool any prospective buyer into thinking that they have done their due diligence. In addition to the phony prices, other common verbiage includes: "my loss is your gain", "received as a gift", "won it at a raffle or company award", "I am an audio installer", "having a baby", "need to pay rent or a fine", "already have one don't need 2", "moving out of town", "great buy!", "need to sell fast" and "still in the box." A more recent development in ad postings are self-perpetuating scams—those claiming to be victims of the scam, when exposed, say they are trying to recoup some of their loss.

Techniques used The brand name of the speakers is often confusingly similar to a well-regarded speaker manufacturer. For example, the reputations of manufacturers such as Klipsch, Polk Audio, Paradigm, Dahlquist, and Wharfedale are used to sell low-quality speakers with fake brand names like Kirsch, Volk Audio, Paradyme, Dahlton, and Grafdale. Another brand called Millennium Theater Systems or MTS,[2] is similar to MTX, and a brand called Paramax Audio[3] has been claimed to be tly owned by Paramount Studios and the IMAX Corporation. "Matrix Audio Concepts" is another fictional brand that returns additional related websites with an Internet search query for that term. Some sites, such as for Theater Research[4] , also list customer service telephone numbers or e-mail addresses. These methods of are often dead ends. Another recent technique is to parrot but not mimic, the names of reputable companies. For example, Genesis Media Labs is a white van scam name that trades on the American "Genesis" brand of loudspeakers [5] [6] , while DiVinci trades on the name of the Swiss "DaVinci" company.

119


Technology and quality of the product Overall, the quality of the product is inferior. For example, Denmark Audio's home theatre system has been quoted as sounding like a hornet's nest. The Denmark Audio system has been tested on a test bench and proven to be of very low quality.[7] Another line that appears is the shock people have when they try to hook up the home theatre system to high definition television sets and find out it cannot be done — the claim of HD compatibility made for the white van system is just another element of the scam. Systems (typically amplifiers with speakers, sold as sets) with low numbers (2 or 3) of inputs and/or audio switching only (no video inputs/switching) with only analogue L/R/6ch RCA jacks are common in this scheme.

Organizations connected to the distribution side of the scam • • • • •

Bang Audio - ed Business Number WA BN11169709 (Western Australia, Australia)[8] Paramount Audio Performance Pty. Ltd. (Victoria, Australia)[9] American Sound System (Walter Hawthorne) Oliver Beling (Sole trader with ed ABN) (Victoria, Australia)[10] Sonic Audio Distributors (a.k.a Sonic Audio Distribution) (Victoria, Australia)[10]

• • • • • • • •

XRT Distributors Arlington, TX Prestige Sound and Audio, San Carlos, CA. STFO Trading, LLC., Elmhurst, NY and Sunset Beach, CA.[11] Eran Electronics Inc., Toronto, Canada [12] Wahldorf Home Theater, West Palm Beach, Florida Empire Audio, 2001 E. 74th Ave suite B, Denver, CO ORKA Distributors (AKA - Sound Studio Lab) - 11357 Pyrites Way Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 Glenn Smith - North American distributor - office (714) 379-8326 or (714) 894-5888

Product safety concerns Consumers have reported receiving products which have been faulty for some time now.[10] This is a result of sub-standard quality and manufacturing processes. However, during June 2008 another, more serious warning emerged. Denmark Audio systems inter alia had been found to have an impedance curve dropping below two ohms.[13] The result of this fault will damage amplifiers connected to the load when it drops, however it could also lead to overheating and short circuits.[13] Therefore these systems could potentially cause a fire if left unattended. Products are not UL listed nor CSA approved.

Brands reported to be sold out of white vans • Accusound[14] (Not related to Accusound Australia nor the Accusound speakers made by Audiosphere in Canada) • Acoustic Monitor, Acoustic Studio Monitor 3311/3312, Acoustic Response, Acoustic Image, Acoustic Lab Technology, Acoustic Reference[15] [16] • Advanced Sound Technologies (AST)[16] • Afinity[17] • Ashton, Ashton Home Theater Systems[18] • Audio Resource[14] • Audio-Tech, Audio Tech Pro[16] • Audiofile[15] [19] [20] • BSS - Brendle Sound Systems[21] (No relation to BSS Audio, part of the Harman Pro Group), also Brendel, BrendelElectronics [22]

120

White van speaker scam Bjorn and Wielder [23] Camelot Audio[14] Carlson Audio[14] Cerwin Vega (counterfeit)[24] Cinemax Loudspeakers Cleo Acoustics (Singapore) [25] Columbia Audio [10] Crystal Home Theater (Not related to Crystal Home Audio) [26] Definitive Sound Technology [27] (no relation to Definitive Technology) Denmark, Denmark Audio, Denmark Optics[9] [15] [19] Deutsch Akustik [28] Dogg Digital, Digital Dogg Audio[15] [16] [29] DanWave, Dan Wave[16] Dahlton[15] [16] Digital Pro Audio, Pro Audio, Digital Audio,Digital Galaxy, Digital Audio Professional Speaker Systems, Digital Audio Skyline, Digital Research[15] [16] [19] • DiVinci[16] [19] • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Dreamland, Dream Land[10] Dynalab[15] [19] Elite Audio[30] EDS, Elite Digital Sound[31] EKO[14] Eurosound[14] Epiphany Audio[15] [32] Fleetwood Audio[33] Genesis Media Labs, Genisis Media Labs[16] (no relation to Genesis Technologies) Glatten Audio[14] Grafdale[15] [16] Hauffman[16] Hy-line Sound Electronics [16] I-Cinema[34] Icon MediaLab, Icon Media Lab Digital Fusion[10] [35] (No relation to LBi Ltd., the ed trademark owners of the Icon MediaLab name) Image Audio Concepts[36] Image Reference[37] JBL (counterfeit)[24] Jannsonn & Fynn [38] Kauffman[39] Kinetic[17] Kirsch, Kirsh[16] [19] Linear Acoustik[14] Linear Phase[19] London[32] Matrix Audio[16] Mantooth Audio[16]

• Marc Vincent Audio [40] • Millennium Theater Systems (MTS)[16] [19]

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White van speaker scam • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Norway Audio[41] Olin Ross [42] Omni Audio[15] Oracle Projector[43] Orix[14] Palermo[17] Paradyme[19] (no relation to Paradigm) Paragon Paramax[16] [17] [19] [42] [44] Proline Acoustic[16] Pro-Optics, 3D Optics, 3D Optiks[43] Protechnik[43] [44] [45] [46] Protecsound (PTS)[15] [47] PSD[15] [16] PurTone [48] RDX [49] Rothdale [50]

• • • • • • • • • • •

Samaurai[16] [19] Skyline[19] Sutherland Technology[16] (no relation to Sutherland Engineering) Theater Logic[51] Theater Research, Theatre Research, Theater Innovations[15] [16] [19] US Acoustics[52] VAV[14] VisionMax[53] Vokl Audio [54] Volk Audio (also has a projector branch known as Volk Cinema) [55] Wahldorf Home Theater [56]

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Scam Shield - Distributor Locations (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Help. asp?id=4) MTS Speakers (http:/ / www. mtsspeakers. com/ ) http:/ / paramaxaudio. com/ Paramax Audio website Theater Research website (http:/ / www. trtheaterresearch. com/ ) Genesis Loudspeakers by Genesis Advanced Technologies (http:/ / www. genesisloudspeakers. com) Genesis Model 5.2 review at Stereophile Magazine (http:/ / www. stereophile. com/ floorloudspeakers/ 206gen/ ) Warning - white van scammers out in Melbourne (http:/ / www. ls1. com. au/ forum/ showthread. php?t=90432& page=2) OzRipOff - BangAudio (http:/ / www. ozripoff. com/ report-view/ 299-bangaudiocomau-scam) Minister for Consumer Affairs - Government of South Australia (http:/ / www. ocba. sa. gov. au/ assets/ medicomms/ mrelease_itinertraders. pdf) [10] ScamShield Listing Australia (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Sighting. asp?state=none& country=Australia& article=1) [11] United States Patent Office (http:/ / tarr. uspto. gov/ servlet/ tarr?regser=serial& entry=77797734) [12] Panjiva Shipping records (http:/ / panjiva. com/ Eran-Electronic-Inc/ 4036298) [13] Kitsap Sun (http:/ / www. kitsapsun. com/ news/ 2008/ jun/ 26/ sound-system-scammers-traveling-in-white-van-get) [14] VR-Zone Forum: "White Van" speaker brand listing (http:/ / forums. vr-zone. com/ showthread. php?t=219074) [15] Kuro5hin story (http:/ / www. kuro5hin. org/ story/ 2004/ 4/ 9/ 224439/ 1810) [16] ScamShield Listing Canada (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Sighting. asp?state=none& country=Canada& article=1) [17] ScamShield Listing Texas (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Sighting. asp?country=none& state=Texas& article=1) [18] Ripoff Report: George Grover - The Home Theater Store (http:/ / www. ripoffreport. com/ Stereos/ George-Grover-The-Ho/ george-grover-the-home-theat-mm5p5. htm) [19] ScamShield Listing Colorado (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Sighting. asp?country=none& state=Colorado& article=1)

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White van speaker scam [20] ScamShield Listing UK (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Sighting. asp?state=none& country=United Kingdom& article=1) [21] Bss M-250's - 440 Forums (http:/ / en. 440forums. com/ forums/ ?act=ST& f=3& t=8149& lang=EN& ) [22] Forum warning about Brendel amplifiers (http:/ / www. the-home-cinema-guide. com/ connecting-brendel-power-amplifier-to-a-surround-sound-system. html) [23] Scam Shield: Australian White Van Speaker Scam Sightings (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Sighting. asp?state=none& country=Australia& article=1) [24] ProSoundWeb Live Audio Board: The White Van Scam (http:/ / srforums. prosoundweb. com/ index. php/ mv/ tree/ 27816/ 72/ ) [25] Singapore Hardwarezone Forum: Scam at around Sim Lim Area - Warning (http:/ / forums. hardwarezone. com. sg/ showthread. php?t=1705581) [26] White Van Speaker Scam - North Carolina (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Sighting. asp?country=none& state=North Carolina& article=1) [27] (http:/ / www. avforums. com/ forums/ speakers/ 847651-definitive-sound-technology-dst-303-speakers-hoax. html) (http:/ / www. defsoundtech. com/ ) - Forum Review and Definitive Sound Technology Website [28] (http:/ / www. DeutschAkustik. com) [29] Santa Barbara BBB News: Dogg Digital Audio (http:/ / www. santabarbara. bbb. org/ BBBWEB/ Forms/ General/ BBBNewsArchivesPageDetail. aspx?News_ID=73& sm=) [30] Sonicflare: The White Van of the Apocalypse (http:/ / www. sonicflare. com/ archives/ the-white-van-of-the-apocalypse. php) [31] (http:/ / lansing. craigslist. org/ ele/ 1998133685. html) [32] ScamShield Listing Tennessee (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Sighting. asp?country=none& state=Tennessee& article=1) [33] Ripoff Report: Fleetwood Audio (http:/ / www. ripoffreport. com/ reports/ 0/ 167/ RipOff0167727. htm) [34] Playa.info: Anyone heard of i-Cinema? (http:/ / www. playa. info/ playa-del-carmen-forum/ 52661-anyone-heard-i-cinema. html) [35] Northern Territory News (http:/ / www. ntnews. com. au/ article/ 2009/ 04/ 03/ 43015_ntnews. html) [36] Rip-off Report: Image Audio Concepts Theatre System IA-905S (http:/ / www. ripoffreport. com/ reports/ 0/ 443/ RipOff0443536. htm) [37] ScamShield Listing North Carolina, USA (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Sighting. asp?country=none& state=North Carolina& article=1) [38] "Hifi-Forum" Warning! (http:/ / www. hifi-forum. de/ viewthread-55-9234. html) [39] "Kauffman" Anyone heard of this brand?? (http:/ / forums. audioholics. com/ forums/ showthread. php?t=55666) [40] Review of the product, plus comments from scam victims (http:/ / www. jackcola. org/ blog/ 82-do-not-buy-a-marc-vincent-audio-sound-system) [41] Ripoff Report: Norway Audio Systems I was basically taken for a $500 ride for a $50 "home theater system" (http:/ / www. ripoffreport. com/ miscellaneous-electronics/ norway-audio-systems/ norway-audio-systems-i-was-ba-8aa96. htm) [42] ScamShield Listing California (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Sighting. asp?country=none& state=California& article=1) [43] Protechnik projector scam (http:/ / www. curtpalme. com/ forum/ viewtopic. php?p=226583) [44] ScamShield listing: Washington (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Sighting. asp?country=none& state=Washington& article=1) [45] Northern Territory Department of Justice (http:/ / www. caba. nt. gov. au/ documents/ CApressrelease_Itinerant_Traders_Home_Theatre_Sellers. pdf) [46] Review of the product, plus comments from scam victims (http:/ / www. jackcola. org/ blog/ 82-do-not-buy-a-marc-vincent-audio-sound-system) [47] Ripoff Report: PTS Protecsound (http:/ / www. ripoffreport. com/ reports/ 0/ 065/ RipOff0065577. htm) [48] (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Sighting. asp?country=none& state=North Carolina& article=1) [49] Ripoff Report: RDX Surround Speaker scam Richmond British Columbia Canada (http:/ / www. ripoffreport. com/ reports/ 0/ 408/ RipOff0408520. htm) [50] (http:/ / www. scamshield. com/ Sighting. asp?country=none& state=Virginia& article=1) [51] Remote Central: Theater Logic Home Cinema L6 (http:/ / www. remotecentral. com/ cgi-bin/ mboard/ rc-theater/ thread. cgi?3244) [52] (http:/ / phorums. com. au/ archive/ index. php/ t-114022. html) [53] (http:/ / www. ripoffreport. com/ electronic-manufacturers/ visionmax/ visionmax-fred-herrmann-projec-cc8d8. htm) [54] Audio Asylum: Any one heard of VOKL AUDIO? (http:/ / www. audioasylum. com/ cgi/ t. mpl?f=shady& m=3914) [55] (http:/ / www. polkaudio. com/ forums/ showthread. php?t=90708) [56] (http:/ / www. wahldorfhometheater. com)

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External links A great deal of information and warnings on the topic of "white van speakers" can be found using search engines. Some of the more informative links include: • A Kuro5hin story on "The Great International White Van Speaker Scam". (http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/ 2004/4/9/224439/1810) • This American Life did an episode called Suckers (http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=222), one segment of which concerned white van speakers. • Scamshield entry on white van speakers. (http://www.scamshield.com/Feature.asp?id=1) • Crimes-of-Persuasion.com on Speaker Scams (http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/InPerson/ speaker_scams.htm) • http://www.fbaa.us/ (http://web.archive.org/web/20070404002512/http://www.fbaa.us/) -- Fake Better Business Bureau that claims to "certify" these companies (via Archive.org)

Badger game The badger game is an extortion scheme, often perpetrated on married men, in which the victim or "mark" is tricked into a compromising position to make him vulnerable to blackmail. There are two competing explanations for the origin of the term badger game. One explanation is that the term originated in the practice of badger baiting. Another says that it derives its name from the state of Wisconsin (the Badger State), where the con allegedly either originated or was popularized. This con has been around since at least the early 19th century. There are several variations of the con; in the most typical form an attractive woman approaches a man, preferably a lonely, married man of some financial means from out of town, and entices him to a private place with the intent of maneuvering him into a compromising position, usually involving some sort of sexual act. Afterward an accomplice presents the victim with photographs, video, or similar evidence, and threatens to expose him unless blackmail money is paid. The woman may also claim that the sexual encounter was non-consensual and threaten the victim with a rape charge. It can also involve such things as the threat of a sexual harassment charge which may endanger the victim's career. In the days before photography or video, the accomplice would usually burst into the room during the act, claiming to be the woman's husband, father, older brother, etc., and demand justice. The con was particularly effective in the 19th and earlier 20th century when the social repercussions of adultery were much greater. A famous person known to have been victimized by the scheme was Alexander Hamilton, whose adulterous affair with Maria Reynolds was used by her husband to extort money and information from him. Variants of the con involve luring the mark with homosexual acts, underage girls, child pornography, bizarre sexual fetishes, or other activities deemed to have a particular social stigma. Another form involves accusations of professional misconduct. In an example of this form of the con, a "sick" woman would visit a physician, describing symptoms that required her to disrobe for the examination, require the doctor to examine the genitals, or ensure similar scrutiny from the doctor. During the examination an "outraged husband" or "outraged father" would enter the room and accuse the doctor of deviant misconduct. The "sick" woman, who is of course part of the con, takes the side of her accomplice and threatens the doctor with criminal charges or a lawsuit. This form of the badger game was first widely publicized in an article in the August 25, 1930 edition of Time magazine. Non-sexual versions of this con also exist, particularly among ethnic or religious groups with strong social taboos; for example coercing a Mormon to gamble or drink alcohol. The badger game has been featured as a plot device in numerous books, movies and television shows.

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References

Clip t A clip t or fleshpot is an establishment, usually a strip club or entertainment bar, typically one claiming to offer adult entertainment or bottle service, in which customers are tricked into paying money and receive poor goods or services, or none, in return. Typically, clip ts suggest the possibility of sex, charge excessively high prices for watered-down drinks, and then eject customers when they become unwilling or unable to spend more money. The product or service may be illicit, offering the victim no recourse through official or legal channels. In the United States, clip ts were widespread during the national prohibition of alcohol from 1920 to 1933. They are generally outlawed in America now. For instance, the New York State Liquor Authority will impose penalties against any licensed premise permitting such conduct. Clip ts still operate openly in some areas of the world, such as Shanghai, where they prey on visiting foreigners.[1] [2]

The Scam A typical scenario involves a young adult male (typically a tourist) being approached by a beautiful woman (typically either a local or claiming to be) who recommends a "favourite local" bar or club. The man is usually seated at a table and ed by a "hostess," who may or may not order drinks. Whether or not any "services" are performed or drinks are ordered has little bearing on the outlandish bill received at the end of the night. Bills are commonly hundreds of pounds, listing things like a "hostess fee" or "service charge." The arrival of the bill typically corresponds with the arrival of a few large bouncers to ensure payment. The beautiful woman or women who originally lured the mark to the location will often make an excuse and leave prior to the arrival of the bill. If confronted the establishment will claim that they have no connection with the woman and indicate that she arrived with the mark, and as such the mark is responsible for all of the items on the bill. This scam is in a legal grey area if extortion is not explicitly involved, since there is no law against charging high prices and the customer is primarily responsible for determining the prices of services to be rendered before accepting them. Often, a clip t employee will wait near a legitimate club, and invite ing pedestrians into a "VIP" area. The potential customers are meant to believe that the person works for the nearby club, though they may not explicitly say so. Once inside, drinks are usually alcohol free (as they usually don't have a licence) or watered down and overpriced with no prices listed on the menu, and (as is typical) unrequested companion(s) may also arrive at the table.

Clip ts in the United Kingdom A number of clip ts (or "near beer bars") still operate in London's Soho area, alongside legitimate strip bars. Since 2007, the London Local Authorities Act reclassified clip ts as sex establishments, meaning that they required relevant licences, closing a loophole where these businesses did not need a licence to operate because they did not serve food or alcohol or provide entertainment. [3] As recently as 2009, 2 people were jailed for 36 and 14 months respectively after threatening an undercover police officer. [4]

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Bottle service clubs The Manhattan bottle service club, Arena, was sued in 2007 for their version of the clip t scam. In December 2007, a patron knowingly purchased a $350 bottle of vodka, but was not told of a 3 bottle minimum. At the end of the night, he was presented with a $1050 tab that included two unordered bottles. When he refused to pay, the Arena bouncers beat him up. The patron agreed to get money from an ATM. The bouncers escorted him two blocks to the ATM, where his debit card was declined. The bouncers then dragged him back to the bar, where he was held until police arrived. He was arrested for theft of services but the charges were dismissed. [5]

References [1] "Warnings Or Dangers: Shanghai. Hustlers, pimps and beggars" (http:/ / . virtualtourist. com/ m/ 7987e/ f4fc8/ 8/ ). virtualtourist.com. 2 December 2006. . Retrieved 30 May 2010. [2] "Tea Ceremony Scam in Shanghai" (http:/ / www. tripadvisor. in/ ShowTopic-g294211-i642-k1172540-Tea_Ceremony_Scam_in_Shanghai_BEWARE-China. html). 30 April 2007. . Retrieved 30 May 2010. [3] http:/ / www. opsi. gov. uk/ Acts/ localact2007/ ukla_20070002_en_5 [4] "Cracking down on clip t scams" (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ uk/ 8175510. stm). BBC News. 6 October 2009. . Retrieved 30 April 2010. [5] Del, John (31 December 2007). "Roughed-Up Reveler Sues Club Over 3 Bottle Shakedown" (http:/ / gothamist. com/ 2007/ 12/ 31/ roughedup_revel. php). Gothamist. . Retrieved 10 September 2009.

External links • Soho clip ts (http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/arsssoho.htm) • NY Post article on Arena (http://www.nypost.com/seven/12302007/news/regionalnews/ bruising_battle_on_boozy__147966.htm) • Soho clip ts to be forced out of business by police (http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/ 0,2763,1158894,00.html), Guardian story: dated 29 February 2004, accessed 16 September 2006 • Bottle Club Patron Roughed Up (http://gothamist.com/2007/12/31/roughedup_revel.php)

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Insurance fraud Insurance fraud is any act committed with the intent to fraudulently obtain payment from an insurer. Insurance fraud has existed ever since the beginning of insurance as a commercial enterprise.[1] Fraudulent claims for a significant portion of all claims received by insurers, and cost billions of dollars annually. Types of insurance fraud are very diverse, and occur in all areas of insurance. Insurance crimes also range in severity, from slightly exaggerating claims to deliberately causing accidents or damage. Fraudulent activities also affect the lives of innocent people, both directly through accidental or purposeful injury or damage, and indirectly as these crimes cause insurance s to be higher. Insurance fraud poses a very significant problem, and governments and other organizations are making efforts to deter such activities.

Causes The “chief motive in all insurance crimes is financial profit.”[1] Insurance contracts provide both the insured and the insurer with opportunities for exploitation. One reason that this opportunity arises is in the case of over-insurance, when the amount insured is greater than the actual value of the property insured.[1] This condition can be very difficult to avoid, especially since an insurance provider might sometimes encourage it in order to obtain greater profits.[1] This allows fraudsters to make profits by destroying their property because the payment they receive from their insurers is of greater value than the property they destroy. Insurance companies are also susceptible to fraud because false insurance claims can be made to appear like ordinary claims. This allows fraudsters to file claims for damages that never occurred, and so obtain payment with little or no initial cost. The most common form of insurance fraud is inflating of loss.

Losses due to insurance fraud It is virtually impossible to determine an exact value for the amount of money stolen through insurance fraud. Insurance fraud is designed to be undetectable, unlike visible crimes such as robbery or murder. As such, the number of cases of insurance fraud that are detected is much lower than the number of acts that are actually committed.[1] The best that can be done is to provide an estimate for the losses that insurers suffer due to insurance fraud. The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud estimates that in 2006 a total of about $80 billion was lost in the United States due to insurance fraud.[2] According to estimates by the Insurance Information Institute, insurance fraud s for about 10 percent of the property/casualty insurance industry’s incurred losses and loss adjustment expenses.[3] The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association estimates that 3% of the health care industry’s expenditures in the United States are due to fraudulent activities, amounting to a cost of about $51 billion.[4] Other estimates attribute as much as 10% of the total healthcare spending in the United States to fraud—about $115 billion annually.[5] In the United Kingdom, the Insurance Fraud Bureau estimates that the loss due to insurance fraud in the United Kingdom is about £1.5 billion ($3.08 billion), causing a 5% increase in insurance s.[6] The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates that personal injury fraud in Canada costs about C$500 million annually.[7]

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Hard vs. soft fraud Insurance fraud can be classified as either hard fraud or soft fraud.[8] Hard fraud occurs when someone deliberately plans or invents a loss, such as a collision, auto theft, or fire that is covered by their insurance policy in order to receive payment for damages. Criminal rings are sometimes involved in hard fraud schemes that can steal millions of dollars.[9] Soft fraud, which is far more common than hard fraud, is sometimes also referred to as opportunistic fraud.[8] This type of fraud consists of policyholders exaggerating otherwise legitimate claims. For example, when involved in a collision an insured person might claim more damage than was really done to his or her car. Soft fraud can also occur when, while obtaining a new insurance policy, an individual misreports previous or existing conditions in order to obtain a lower on their insurance policy.[8]

Types of insurance fraud Life insurance An example of life insurance fraud is the John Darwin disappearance case, an ongoing investigation into the faked death of British former teacher and prison officer John Darwin, who turned up alive in December 2007, five years after he was thought to have died in a canoeing accident. Darwin was reported as "missing" after failing to report to work following a canoeing trip on March 21, 2002. He reappeared on December 1, 2007, claiming to have no memory of the past five years.

Health care insurance According to Roger Feldman, Blue Cross Professor of Health Insurance at the University of Minnesota, one of the main reasons that medical fraud is such a prevalent practice is that nearly all of the parties involved find it favorable in some way. Many physicians see it as necessary to provide quality care for their patients. Many patients, although disapproving of the idea of fraud, are sometimes more willing to accept it when it affects their own medical care. Program s are often lenient on the issue of insurance fraud, as they want to maximize the services of their providers.[10] The most common perpetrators of healthcare insurance fraud are health care providers. One reason for this, according to David Hyman, a Professor at the University of Maryland School of Law, is that the historically prevailing attitude in the medical profession is one of “fidelity to patients”.[11] This incentive can lead to fraudulent practices such as billing insurers for treatments that are not covered by the patient’s insurance policy. To do this, physicians often bill for a different service, which is covered by the policy, than that which was rendered.[12] Another motivation for insurance fraud in the healthcare industry, just as in all other types of insurance fraud, is a desire for financial gain. Public healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid are especially conducive to fraudulent activities, as they are often run on a fee-for-service structure.[13] Physicians use several fraudulent techniques to achieve this end. These can include “up-coding” or “upgrading,” which involve billing for more expensive treatments than those actually provided; providing and subsequently billing for treatments that are not medically necessary; scheduling extra visits for patients; referring patients to another physician when no further treatment is actually necessary; "phantom billing," or billing for services not rendered; and “ganging,” or billing for services to family or other individuals who are accompanying the patient but who did not personally receive any services.[13]

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Automobile insurance The Insurance Research Council estimated that in 1996, 21 to 36 percent of auto-insurance claims contained elements of suspected fraud.[14] There is a wide variety of schemes used to defraud automobile insurance providers. These ploys can differ greatly in complexity and severity. Richard A. Derrig, vice president of research for the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts, lists several ways that auto-insurance fraud can occur. Examples of soft auto-insurance fraud can include filing more than one claim for a single injury, filing claims for injuries not related to an automobile accident, misreporting wage losses due to injuries, or reporting higher costs for car repairs than those that were actually paid. Hard auto-insurance fraud can include activities such as staging automobile collisions, filing claims when the claimant was not actually involved in the accident, submitting claims for medical treatments that were not received, or inventing injuries.[15] Hard fraud can also occur when claimants falsely report their vehicle as stolen. Soft fraud s for the majority of fraudulent auto-insurance claims.[14] Another example is that a person may illegally their car to a location that would net them cheaper insurance rates than where they actually live, sometimes called "rate evasion". For example, some drivers in Brooklyn drive with Pennsylvania license plates because ing their car in a rural part of Pennsylvania will cost a lot less than ing it in Brooklyn. Another form of automobile insurance fraud, known as "fronting," involves ing someone other than the real primary driver of a car as the primary driver of the car. For example, parents might list themselves as the primary driver of their children's vehicles to avoid young driver s. "Crash for cash" scams may involve random unaware strangers, set to appear as the perpetrators of the orchestrated crashes.[16] Such techniques are the classic rear-end shunt (the driver in front suddenly slams on the brakes, eventually with brake lights disabled), the decoy rear-end shunt (when following one car, another one pulls in front of it, causing it to brake sharply, then the first car drives off) or the helpful wave shunt (the driver is waved in to a line of queuing traffic by the scammer who promptly crashes, then denies waving)[17] Organized crime rings can also be involved in auto-insurance fraud, sometimes carrying out schemes that are very complex. An example of one such ploy is given by Ken Dornstein, author of Accidentally, on Purpose: The Making of a Personal Injury Underworld in America. In this scheme, known as a “swoop-and-squat,” one or more drivers in “swoop” cars force an unsuspecting driver into position behind a “squat” car. This squat car, which is usually filled with several engers, then slows abruptly, forcing the driver of the chosen car to collide with the squat car. The engers in the squat car then file a claim with the other driver’s insurance company. This claim often includes bills for medical treatments that were not necessary or not received.[18] An incident that took place on Golden State Freeway June 17, 1992, brought public attention to the existence of organized crime rings that stage auto accidents for insurance fraud. These schemes generally consist of three different levels. At the top, there are the professionals--doctors or lawyers who diagnose false injuries and/or file fraudulent claims and these earn the bulk of the profits from the fraud. Next are the "cappers" or "runners", the middlemen who obtain the cars to crash, farm out the claims to the professionals at the top, and recruit participants. These participants at the bottom-rung of the scheme are desperate people (poor immigrants or others in need of quick cash) who are paid around $1000 USD to place their bodies in the paths of cars and trucks, playing a kind of Russian roulette with their lives and those of unsuspecting motorists around them. According to investigators, cappers usually hire within their own ethnic groups. What makes busting these staged-accident crime rings difficult is how quickly they move into jurisdictions with lesser enforcement, after a crackdown in a particular region. As a result, in the US several levels of police and the insurance industry have cooperated in forming task forces and sharing databases to track claim histories. [19] [20]

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Property insurance Possible motivations for this can include obtaining payment that is worth more than the value of the property destroyed, or to destroy and subsequently receive payment for goods that could not otherwise be sold. According to Alfred Manes, the majority of property insurance crimes involve arson.[21] One reason for this is that any evidence that a fire was started by arson is often destroyed by the fire itself. According to the United States Fire istration, in the United States there were approximately 31,000 fires caused by arson in 2006, resulting in losses of $755 million.[22] Example: The Moulin Rouge in Las Vegas was struck by arson twice within 6 years.[23]

Council compensation claims The fraud involving claims from the councils' insurers suppose staging damages blamable on the local authorities (mostly falls and trips on council owned land) or inflating the value of existing damages.[24]

Detecting insurance fraud The detection of insurance fraud generally occurs in two steps. The first step is to identify suspicious claims that have a higher possibility of being fraudulent. This can be done by computerized statistical analysis or by referrals from claims adjusters or insurance agents. Additionally, the public can provide tips to insurance companies, law enforcement and other organizations regarding suspected, observed, or itted insurance fraud perpetrated by other individuals. Regardless of the source, the next step is to refer these claims to investigators for further analysis. Due to the sheer number of claims submitted each day, it would be far too expensive for insurance companies to have employees check each claim for symptoms of fraud.[25] Instead, many companies use computers and statistical analysis to identify suspicious claims for further investigation.[26] There are two main types of statistical analysis tools used: supervised and unsupervised.[25] In both cases, suspicious claims are identified by comparing data about the claim to expected values. The main difference between the two methods is how the expected values are derived.[25] In a supervised method, expected values are obtained by analyzing records of both fraudulent and non-fraudulent claims.[25] According to Richard J. Bolton and David B. Hand, both of Imperial College in London, this method has some drawbacks as it requires absolutely certainty that those claims analyzed are actually either fraudulent or non-fraudulent, and because it can only be used to detect types of fraud that have been committed and identified before.[25] Unsupervised methods of statistical detection, on the other hand, involve detecting claims that are abnormal.[25] Both claims adjusters and computers can also be trained to identify “red flags,” or symptoms that in the past have often been associated with fraudulent claims.[27] Statistical detection does not prove that claims are fraudulent; it merely identifies suspicious claims that need to be investigated further.[25] Fraudulent claims can be one of two types. They can be otherwise legitimate claims that are exaggerated or “built up,” or they can be false claims in which the damages claimed never actually occurred. Once a built up claim is identified, insurance companies usually try to negotiate the claim down to the appropriate amount.[28] Suspicious claims can also be submitted to “special investigative units”, or SIUs, for further investigation. These units generally consist of experienced claims adjusters with special training in investigating fraudulent claims.[29] These investigators look for certain symptoms associated with fraudulent claims, or otherwise look for evidence of falsification of some kind. This evidence can then be used to deny payment of the claims or to prosecute fraudsters if the violation is serious enough.[30]

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Legislation National and local governments, especially in the last half of the twentieth century, have recognized insurance fraud as a serious crime, and have made efforts to punish and prevent this practice. Some major developments are listed below:

United States • Insurance Fraud is specifically classified as a crime in all states, though a minority of states only criminalize certain types (i.e. Oregon only outlaws Worker Compensation fraud).[8] • 19 states require mandatory insurer fraud plans. This requires companies to form programs to combat fraud and in some cases to develop investigation units to detect fraud.[8] • 41 states have fraud bureaus. These are law enforcement agencies where “investigators review fraud reports and begin the prosecution process.”[8] • Section 1347 of Title 18 of the United States Code states that whoever attempts or carries out a “scheme or artifice” to “defraud a health care benefit program” will be “fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.” If this scheme results in bodily injury, the violator may be imprisoned up to 20 years, and if the scheme results in death the violator may be imprisoned for life.[31]

Canada • The Insurance Crime Prevention Bureau was founded in 1973 to help fight insurance fraud. This organization collects information on insurance fraud, and also carries out investigations. Approximately one third of these investigations result in criminal conviction, one third result in denial of the claim, and one third result in payment of the claim.[32] • British Columbia’s Traffic Safety Statutes Amendment Act of 1997 states that any person who submits a motor vehicle insurance claim that contains false or misleading information may on the first offence be fined C$25,000, imprisoned for two years, or both. On the second offense, that person may be fined C$50,000, imprisoned for two years, or both.[33]

United Kingdom • A major portion of the Financial Services Act of 1986 was intended to help prevent fraud.[34] • The Serious Fraud Office, set up in 1987 under the Criminal Justice Act, was established to “improve the investigation and prosecution of serious and complex fraud.”[34] • The Fraud Act 2006 specifically defines fraud as a crime. This act defines fraud as being committed when a person “makes a false representation,” “fails to disclose to another person information which he is under a legal duty to disclose,” or abuses a position in which he or she is “expected to safeguard, or not to act against, the financial interests of another person.” This act also defines the penalties for fraud as imprisonment up to ten years, a fine, or both.[35]

Examples Following are some examples of real instances of insurance fraud that occurred in recent years: • According to a report by a United States district court in Illinois, a psychiatrist who practiced as the Assistant Medical Director and Medical Director at a psychiatric facility in Illinois from 1998 through 2002 submitted claims to Medicare for psychiatric and psychotherapy services that he in fact never actually provided. He also “up-coded,” or billed for more expensive services than those that were actually provided, many claims that he submitted to Medicare. In addition, he itted patients that did not qualify for treatment so that he could submit bills for hospital care even though it was not medically necessary for those patients. Through these schemes, this

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Insurance fraud psychiatrist was able to fraudulently obtain $875,881 in Medicare Reimbursements before his conviction in February 2005.[36] • The Insurance Information Institute estimates that in New York, fraud and abuse in the state’s no-fault auto system cost New York drivers $229 million in 2009 as a result of dishonest medical service providers who file inflated and often bogus medical claims, unscrupulous lawyers who sue insurers that challenge these claims and others who help defraud insurers by staging accidents and recruiting supposedly injured claimants to fraudulent medical clinics. The average cost of a no-fault insurance claim in New York soared to $8,690 by the third quarter of 2009 and was the third-highest in the U.S. after Michigan and New Jersey. The average cost of a no-fault insurance claim in New York was up 55 percent from $5,615 at the end of 2004. [37] • According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, a former business executive from Chicago resorted to insurance fraud to pay off his debt of over $672,000. He set fire to his own home in order to collect insurance money on it. In order to disguise this act of arson, he trapped his ninety year old mother in the basement while the house was burning so that the fire would appear to be a suicide. He received about $600,000 in insurance money, but was eventually convicted on several charges and sentenced to 190 years in federal prison.[38]

Bibliography • Bolton, Richard J. and David J. Hand. "Statistical Fraud Detection: A Review." Statistical Science. 17.3 (2002): 235-249. • Clarke, Michael. "The Control of Insurance Fraud, A Comparative View." The British Journal of Criminology. 30.1 (1990): 1-23. • Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. Annual Report. Washington, DC: Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, 2006. • Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. "Insurance Fraud Hall of Shame: Mother Almost Blamed for Son's Arson." 31 12 2006. Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. 13 December 2007.[39] • Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. "Learn About Fraud." Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. 1 December 2007.[40] • Derrig, Richard A. "Insurance Fraud." The Journal of Risk and Insurance. 69.3 (2002): 271-287. • Dornstein, Ken. Accidentally on Purpose: The Making of a Personal Injury Underworld in America. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996. • Feldman, Roger. "An Economic Explanation for Fraud and Abuse in Public Medical Care Programs." The Journal of Legal Studies. 30.2 (2001): 569-577. • Ghezzi, Susan Guarino. "A Private Network of Social Control: Insurance Investigative Units." Social Problems. 30.5 (1983): 521-531. • Hyman, David A. "Health Care Fraud and Abuse: Market Change, Social Norms, and the Trust 'Reposed in the Workmen'." The Journal of Legal Studies. 30.2 (2001): 531-567. • Insurance Information Institute. "Fraud." Insurance Information Institute. 1 December 2007.[41] • Insurance Information Institute. "Insurance Fraud." Insurance Information Institute. 1 December 2007.[42] • Insurance Information Institute. "No-Fault Insurance Fraud in N.Y. State." Insurance Information Institute. 1 December 2007.[43] • Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. "Traffic Safety Statutes Amendment Act." 1997. • Manes, Alfred. "Insurance Crimes." Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 35.1 (1945): 34-42. • Ministry of Justice. "Fraud Act 2006." 11 August 2006. The UK Statute Law Database. 13 December 2007.[44] • National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association. "The Problem of Health Care Fraud." National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association. 1 December 2007.[45] • Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives. "United States Code; Title 18, Section 1347." 2 January 2006.[46]

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Insurance fraud • Pontell, Henry N., Paul D. Jesilow and Gilbert Geis. "Policing Physicians: Practitioner Fraud and Abuse in a Government Medical Program." Social Problems. 30.1 (1982): 117-125. • Staple, George. "Serious and Complex Fraud: A New Perspective." The Modern Law Review. 56.2 (1993): 127-137. • Tennyson, Sharon and Pau Salsas-Forn. "Claims Auditing in Automobile Insurance: Fraud Detection and Deterrence Objectives." The Journal of Risk and Insurance. 69.3 (2002): 289-308. • U.S. Fire istration. "Arson Fire Statistics." 11 October 2007. U.S. Fire istration. 13 December 2007.[47] • United States of America v. Naseem Chaudhry. United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. February 2005. • Viaene, Stijn, et al. "A Comparison of State-of-the-Art Classification Techniques for Expert Automobile Insurance Claim Fraud Detection." The Journal of Risk and Insurance. 69.3 (2002): 373-421.

Citations [1] [2] [3] [4]

Manes, Alfred. "Insurance Crimes." p. 34. Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. Annual Report. Insurance Information Institute. "Insurance Fraud." National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association. "The Problem of Health Care Fraud."

[5] Hyman, David A. "Health Care Fraud and Abuse." p. 532. [6] Insurance Fraud Bureau. "Fighting Organized Insurance Fraud." p. 2. [7] Insurance Bureau of Canada. "Cost of Personal Injury Fraud." [8] Insurance Information Institute. "Fraud." [9] Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. "Learn About Fraud." [10] Feldman, Roger. "Economic Explanation." p. 569-570. [11] Hyman, David A. "Health Care Fraud and Abuse." p. 541. [12] Hyman, David A. "Health Care Fraud and Abuse." p. 547. [13] Pontell, Henry N., et al. "Policing Physicians." p. 118. [14] Tennyson, Sharon et al. "Claims Auditing" p. 289. [15] Derrig, Richard A. "Insurance Fraud." p. 274. [16] "BBC News - Car crash scams at record level" (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ news/ uk-11046344). Bbc.co.uk. 2010-08-21. . Retrieved 2010-08-21. [17] The One Show Team - September 15, 2008 3:50 PM (2008-09-15). "Crash for cash - a scam for the unquestioning? - Consumer" (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ blogs/ theoneshow/ consumer/ 2008/ 09/ 15/ crashing-in-on-crime. html). Bbc.co.uk. . Retrieved 2010-08-21. [18] Dornstein, Ken. Accidentally on Purpose. p. 3. [19] (http:/ / motherjones. com/ politics/ 1993/ 09/ swoop-and-squats#) [20] (http:/ / www. theglobeandmail. com/ report-on-business/ how-small-time-auto-insurance-scams-have-evolved-into-big-business-in-canada/ article1850088/ ) [21] Manes, Alfred. "Insurance Crimes." p. 35. [22] U.S. Fire istration. "Arson Fire Statistics." [23] Mercury News 05/06/2009 http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12308730 [24] "Housing and Council Tax Benefit fraud - Allerdale Borough Council" (http:/ / www. allerdale. gov. uk/ advice-and-benefits/ benefits/ housing-benefit/ housing-benefit-fraud. aspx). Allerdale.gov.uk. 2009-11-02. . Retrieved 2010-08-21. [25] Bolton, Richard J. “Statistical Fraud Detection.” p. 236. [26] Derrig, Richard A. "Insurance Fraud." p. 277. [27] Viaene, Stijn, et al. "Insurance Claim Fraud Detection." p. 375. [28] Derrig, Richard A. "Insurance Fraud." p. 278. [29] Viaene, Stijn, et al. "Insurance Claim Fraud Detection." p. 374. [30] Ghezzi, Susan Guarino. " Private Network." [31] Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives. "United States Code." [32] Clarke, Michael. “The Control of Insurance Fraud.” p. 10. [33] Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. "Traffic Safety Statutes Amendment Act." [34] Staple, George. "Serious and Complex Fraud." p. 127. [35] Ministry of Justice. "Fraud Act 2006." [36] United States of America v. Naseem Chaudhry. [37] Insurance Information Institute. "No-Fault Insurance Fraud."

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Insurance fraud [38] Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. "Insurance Fraud Hall of Shame." p. 99. [39] "Articles on insurance fraud" (http:/ / www. insurancefraud. org/ article. lasso?RecID=1532). Insurancefraud.org. 2006-12-31. . Retrieved 2010-08-21. [40] "Learn about fraud" (http:/ / www. insurancefraud. org/ learn_about_fraud. htm). Insurancefraud.org. . Retrieved 2010-08-21. [41] "Fraud" (http:/ / www. iii. org/ media/ facts/ statsbyissue/ fraud/ ). III. . Retrieved 2010-08-21. [42] "Insurance Fraud" (http:/ / www. iii. org/ media/ hottopics/ insurance/ fraud/ ). III. . Retrieved 2010-08-21. [43] "Conozca los deducibles por huracanes y si aplica a su póliza de seguro de propietario de vivienda" (http:/ / www. iii. org/ media/ research/ newyorknofaultauto/ ). III. . Retrieved 2010-08-21. [44] "Fraud Act 2006 (c. 35) - Statute Law Database" (http:/ / www. statutelaw. gov. uk/ content. aspx?LegType=All+ Legislation& title=fraud& Year=2006& searchEnacted=0& extentMatchOnly=0& confersPower=0& blanketAmendment=0& sortAlpha=0& TYPE=QS& PageNumber=1& NavFrom=0& parentActiveTextDocId=2922456& ActiveTextDocId=2922458& fi). Statutelaw.gov.uk. 2007-01-15. . Retrieved 2010-08-21. [45] "Anti-Fraud Resource Center" (http:/ / www. nhcaa. org/ eweb/ Dynamiage. aspx?webcode=anti_fraud_resource_centr& wpscode=TheProblemOfHCFraud). Nhcaa.org. . Retrieved 2010-08-21. [46] "U.S. Code" (http:/ / uscode. house. gov/ uscode-cgi/ fastweb. exe?getdoc+ uscview+ t17t20+ 687+ 0+ + () AND ((18) ADJ USC):CITE AND (USC w/ 10 (1347)):CITE ). Uscode.house.gov. . Retrieved 2010-08-21. [47] "USFA Arson Fire Statistics" (http:/ / www. usfa. dhs. gov/ statistics/ arson/ index. shtm). Usfa.dhs.gov. 2010-01-05. . Retrieved 2010-08-21.

Zalma, Barry "Insurance Fraud" an E- Book available at http://www.zalma.com/Insurance Fraud.htm

External links • Insurance Information Institute (http://www.iii.org/). Insurance Information Institute. • National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (http://www.nhcaa.org/). National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association. • National Insurance Crime Bureau (http://www.nicb.org/). National Insurance Crime Bureau. • Insurance Bureau of Canada (http://www.ibc.ca/). Insurance Bureau of Canada. • UK Insurance Fraud Bureau (http://www.insurancefraudbureau.org/). • U.S. Fire istration (http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/) • Insurance Research Council (http://www.ircweb.org/). Insurance Research Council. • 2009 Florida report: Impacts of the Economy and Insurance Fraud (http://www.myfloridacfo.com/fraud/ forms/Economic_Impacts_8-2009.pdf)

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Fiddle game

Fiddle game The fiddle game is a confidence trick, involving two men. The first enters a restaurant, dressed poorly and carrying a violin, and asks to be seated. He eats his meal, then contrives a reason to leave (typically he is short a little money, but this could be any of a variety of reasons, as long as it allows for a swift return for payment). No host would allow him to do so, but as insurance he offers his violin, praising its sentimental value and emphasizing its necessary return. An agreement is reached; the man leaves. His partner then approaches the host, requesting to inspect the instrument. Doing so, he makes much ado about its hidden value, revealing it to be a lost masterpiece. He offers a large sum for it, but cannot wait for its owner to return; he leaves his card with the host and ask that he it along. This con, as many do, relies on the inherent dishonesty of the mark. An honest mark, upon the first man's return, will hand over both card and instrument, leaving the partners out the cost of two dinners, but still in possession of the violin. The other response, and the one the con artists hope for, is the dishonest man's. With the return of the first man, the mark will attempt to purchase the violin, banking on making a quick profit with the number of the collector. The first man parts with the violin, but very reluctantly, driving up the amount the mark is willing to pay. At the end, the partners split whatever the mark paid them for the violin; the mark is left with a cheap wooden toy and a bogus business number.

References

Pigeon drop Pigeon drop is a confidence trick in which a mark or "pigeon" is persuaded to give up a sum of money in order to secure the rights to a larger sum of money, or more valuable object.[1] [2] [3] [4] In reality, the scammers make off with the money and the mark is left with nothing. In the process, the stranger (actually a confidence trickster) puts his money with the mark's money (in an envelope, briefcase, or sack) which the mark is then entrusted with. The money is actually not put into the sack or envelope, but is switched for a bag full of newspaper or other worthless material. Through various theatrics, the mark is given the opportunity to make off with money without the stranger realising. In actuality, the mark would be fleeing from his own money, which the con man still has (or has handed off to an accomplice).

References [1] Swierczynski, Duane (2003), The complete idiot's guide to frauds, scams, and cons, Alpha Books, p. 28, ISBN 9780028644158 [2] "Psychology Today - How to Run a Con" (http:/ / blogs. psychologytoday. com/ blog/ the-moral-molecule/ 200811/ how-run-a-con). Blogs.psychologytoday.com. 2008-11-13. . Retrieved 2009-07-03. [3] Arrington, Rick (2006), Crime prevention: the law enforcement officer's practical guide, Jones & Bartlett Publishers, p. 103, ISBN 9780763741303 [4] Bercowetz, Cynthia (2004), Don't Get Ripped Off! Get Help! Tell It to George, Buy Books on the web, p. 219, ISBN 9780741422286

External links • Video of a live pigeon drop (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur3nMiP-XV0) • How to Run a Con (http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-moral-molecule/200811/how-run-a-con)

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Art student scam

Art student scam The art student scam is a confidence trick in which cheap, mass-produced paintings or prints are misrepresented as original works of art, often by young people pretending to be art students trying to raise money for art supplies or tuition fees.[1] [2] [3] [4] In some early instances of the scam the sellers represented themselves as Israeli art students, but the scam is now international, with instances of Chinese, French, Chilean, and other nationalities posing as art students or dealers in Australia, Canada, China, New Zealand and the United States since at least 2000. The art is often sold door-to-door, bying exhibition sites or art galleries.[4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Mass-produced paintings Most mass-produced prints and paintings originate in Asia. Some are essentially posters, sometimes referred to as "Hong Kong horrors", printed on rough paper, making the lack of brush strokes less apparent. Oil paintings are mass-produced in China, which does a booming business in legitimate replicas of old masters. In Dafen, in Shenzhen, China, 10,000 painters produce up to 30 paintings a day and some five million paintings are exported each year, about 10% of which are not copies, but original works. The paintings sell for as little as US$10 each.[9]

United States From the summer of 2000, news outlets in the Pacific Northwest reported young people posing as Israeli students selling mass-produced oil paintings, both copies and originals, for US$80–$200 each. The 'art students' were said to be going door-to-door primarily targeting residential neighborhoods and businesses with people "who might like art". They claimed to be studying at art universities in Israel, and to be in the United States selling works by talented fellow students to raise money for art supplies or school fees.[3] Through the early 2000s some 130 separate incidents of 'art student' encounters" were reported across the United States. Allegations of Israeli spying were raised after the leaking of an internal DEA report suggesting a connection between the art scammers and a spy ring.[10] Several dozen Israelis in their twenties, including supposed art students, were deported for undertaking paid work not allowed by their visas.[11] Israel dismissed claims of spying as "nonsense."[10] In 2010 the scam surfaced again in Saratoga Springs, Northern Utah County, with allegations that the Israeli art students were asking about the new National Security Agency's data center being built at Camp Williams.[12]

Australia and New Zealand People posing as Israeli art students were reported in Australia and New Zealand from as early as 2003.[4] [13] The paintings are worth around A$5, but are ed off as being worth hundreds of dollars.[5] Three backpackers, an Israeli and two Chileans, were taken to court in Dunedin for the scam in 2003, but were discharged as the judge said that they were "minnows" in the organisation. They reportedly made NZ$15,000 in three weeks from the scam. The NZ Consumers' Institute suspected that an Auckland man was the organiser of the operation.[8] A 23-year-old man was arrested in New South Wales, Australia, for operating the scam and 50 oil paintings were found in his car.[14] An adviser for the New Zealand Consumer Affairs Ministry said that "All around the world, students from various countries are doing this". She suggested that the scam's organiser may place ments in backpackers’ lodges to recruit students.[15] The scammers have also claimed to be Greek, Argentinian and French.[16] [17]

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Art student scam

Canada In 2004, a group of Israelis said to have been selling mass-produced paintings as their own work, for hundreds of dollars each, were deported from Canada for working in violation of their visas.[18] The scam recurred in 2009 in Calgary, and Warman, Saskatchewan; eight people claiming to be students from Israel, and were arrested and 100 paintings were seized by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Border Services.[19]

China In China, scammers approach tourists at popular attractions such as the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.[20] The scammer speaks English well enough to get into a conversation with the foreigner. The scammer claims to be an art student whose works are on display at a nearby exhibition which is part of the scam and sells mass-produced art reproductions at exorbitant prices. There are warnings about this scam in tourist guides.[21] [22]

References [1] "Scam art ripples Peninsula 'Students' up-sell cheap, mass-produced works door-to-door". Peace Arch News (The (White Rock, British Columbia, Canada)): p. 1. Tuesday, August 10, 2004. ""An Israeli art scam with suggested links to espionage and fundamentalist fundraisers may have turned up on the Semiahmoo Peninsula. At least half a dozen locals-probably more-were likely duped by the hoax, which has for years puzzled North American authorities.Young Israelis posing as art students travel door-to-door hocking mass-produced art as their own. The works are worth little, but still sell for hundreds of dollars to naive customers."" [2] Wilton, Suzanne, "Art-sales-scam ringleaders ordered to leave Canada", Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, B.C.: Aug 7, 2004. pg. A.8. [3] "Information On An Israeli Art Scam" (http:/ / www. komonews. com/ news/ archive/ 4007381. html). Komo News. August 30, 2006. . [4] Moyes, Sarah; Michelle Robinson (5 March 2010). "Warning on art scam" (http:/ / www. stuff. co. nz/ auckland/ local-news/ east-bays-courier/ 3403169/ Warning-on-art-scam). East And Bays Courier. . Retrieved 29 July 2010. [5] "Foreign students caught up in fake art scam" (http:/ / www. abc. net. au/ news/ stories/ 2008/ 04/ 18/ 2220627. htm). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. April 18, 2008. . [6] Gandia, Renato (August 19, 2009). ""Israeli art scam" preying on people's kindness" (http:/ / www. calgarysun. com/ news/ alberta/ 2009/ 08/ 19/ 10523156. html). Calgary Sun. . [7] "Oil painting scam hits the Border" (http:/ / www. bordermail. com. au/ news/ local/ news/ general/ oil-painting-scam-hits-the-border/ 1494344. aspx). Border Mail. April 22, 2009. . [8] Dye, Stuart (February 4, 2004). "Brush with law reveals art scam" (http:/ / www. nzherald. co. nz/ nz/ news/ article. cfm?c_id=1& objectid=3547311). NZ Herald. . Coulter, Narelle (January 18, 2006). "Door slammed on ‘original’ art scam" (http:/ / www. starnewsgroup. com. au/ story/ 8437). Star News Group. . Feek, Belinda (January 19, 2010). "Warnings out over art scam" (http:/ / findarticles. com/ p/ news-articles/ waikato-times/ mi_8054/ is_20100119/ warnings-art-scam/ ai_n48688542/ ?tag=content;col1). Waikato Times. . [9] Chinese Art (http:/ / www. shanghai-central. com/ shanghai art. html), shanghai-central.com. [10] Guttman, Nathan (May 7, 2002). "Spies, or students? Were the Israelis just trying to sell their paintings, or agents in a massive espionage ring?" (http:/ / www. haaretz. com/ print-edition/ features/ spies-or-students-1. 45243). Haaretz. . [11] "Israeli student 'spy ring' revealed" (http:/ / www. guardian. co. uk/ education/ 2002/ mar/ 06/ internationaleducationnews. highereducation). London: The Guardian. March 6, 2002. . Retrieved March 6, 2010. [12] Door-to-door spies in Utah County? (http:/ / www. abc4. com/ content/ news/ slc/ story/ Door-to-door-spies-in-Utah-County/ sjOWsjk_zEqf6QeAfk4ZJw. cspx) ABC4 News 9/29/01. [13] Rogers, Sy (2 March 2009). "Beware of “Israeli” door-to-door art scams!" (http:/ / www. designfederation. net/ general/ beware-of-door-to-door-art-scams/ ). Design Federation. . Retrieved 29 July 2010. [14] "Police arrest 23yo over alleged art scam" (http:/ / www. abc. net. au/ news/ stories/ 2008/ 12/ 13/ 2445638. htm?site=idx-nsw). ABC News (Australia). 13 December 2008. . Retrieved 29 July 2010. [15] Robinson, Michelle (4 March 2010). "Door-to-door art scam" (http:/ / www. stuff. co. nz/ auckland/ local-news/ north-shore-times/ 3399549/ Door-to-door-art-scam). North Shore Times. . Retrieved 29 July 2010. [16] Thomson, Alister (12 April 2010). "Bogus student touting art fakes around Clive" (http:/ / www. hawkesbaytoday. co. nz/ local/ news/ bogus-student-touting-art-fakes-around-clive/ 3912395/ ). Hawke's Bay Today. . Retrieved 29 July 2010. [17] "Art sellers painting a suspect picture" (http:/ / www. northernadvocate. co. nz/ local/ news/ art-sellers-painting-a-suspect-picture/ 3912676/ ). The Northern Advocate. 18 April 2010. . Retrieved 29 July 2010. [18] "Scam art ripples Peninsula 'Students' up-sell cheap, mass-produced works door-to-door". Peace Arch News (The (White Rock, British Columbia, Canada)): p. 1. Tuesday, August 10, 2004. ""An Israeli art scam with suggested links to espionage and fundamentalist fundraisers may have turned up on the Semiahmoo Peninsula. At least half a dozen locals-probably more-were likely duped by the hoax, which has for

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Art student scam years puzzled North American authorities. Young Israelis posing as art students travel door-to-door hocking mass-produced art as their own. The works are worth little, but still sell for hundreds of dollars to naive customers."" [19] Slobodian, Erin (4 September 2009). "Scam 'Artists' in Warman" (http:/ / www. newstalk980. com/ story/ 20090904/ 21900). News Talk 980. . Retrieved 29 July 2010. [20] "The famous art show ripoff in Tiananmen Square was recently cleaned up for the Olympics. This was a pretty funny one, where English-speaking 'art students' would strike up conversation with overseas visitors and tell them they happen to be in town for an art show across the street. The show was closing today when I first heard the spiel in 2006, it was closing today when I returned to Beijing in 2007, but the pre-Olympics cleanup really seems to have closed the collection of knockoff art." (http:/ / www. startbackpacking. com/ travel/ china-scam/ ). See also (http:/ / www. virtualtourist. com/ travel/ Asia/ China/ Beijing_Shi/ Beijing-1024960/ Tourist_Traps-Beijing-Art_Students-BR-1. html). [21] Frommer's China, Wiley, ISBN 978-0-470-52658-3, p. 140. (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=1DqjMGlyY5QC) "You should also be leery of any English-speaking youngsters who claim to be art students and offer to take you to a special exhibit of their work. [...] The art, which you will be pressured to buy, almost always consists of assembly-line reproductions of famous (or not-so-famous) paintings offered at prices several dozen times higher than their actual value." [22] China Tourism Scams (http:/ / www. chinaprimer. com/ china-travel-tips/ china-tourism-scams. html)

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Psychic surgery

139

Psychic surgery Psychic Surgery

Terminology Definition The use of paranormal means to conduct an alleged invasive medical procedure. Signature

The apparent insertion of the practitioner's hands into a patient's body.

Status

Debunked as sleight of hand. Some results may be attributed to placebo.

See also

sleight of hand

Psychic surgery is a procedure typically involving the supposed creation of an incision using only the bare hands, the supposed removal of pathological matter, and the seemingly spontaneous healing of the incision. Psychic surgery has been condemned in many countries as a form of medical fraud.[1] [2] [3] It has been denounced by the US Federal Trade Commission as a "total hoax",[2] and the American Cancer Society maintains that psychic surgery may cause needless death by keeping the ill away from life-saving medical care.[3] Medical professionals and skeptics classify it as sleight of hand and any positive results as a placebo effect.[4] [5] [6] [7] It first appeared in the Spiritualist communities of the Philippines and Brazil in the mid-1900s, and it has taken different paths in those two countries.

Procedure Although psychic surgery varies by region and practitioner, it usually follows some common lines. Without the use of a surgical instrument, a practitioner will press the tips of his/her fingers against the patient's skin in the area to be treated. The practitioner's hands appear to penetrate into the patient's body painlessly and blood seems to flow. The practitioner will then show organic matter or foreign objects apparently removed from the patient's body, clean the area, and then end the procedure with the patient's skin showing no wounds or scars. Most cases do not involve actual surgery although some practitioners make real incisions.[8] In regions of the world where belief in evil spirits is prevalent, practitioners will sometimes exhibit objects, such as glass, explaining that the foreign bodies were placed in the patient's body by evil spirits.[3]

History s of psychic surgery started to appear in the Spiritualist communities of the Philippines and Brazil in the mid-1900s.

Philippines In the Philippines, the procedure was first noticed in the 1940s, when performed routinely by Eleuterio Terte. Terte and his pupil Tony Agpaoa, who was apparently associated with the Union Espiritista Christiana de Filipinas (The Christian Spiritist Union of the Philippines), trained others in this procedure.[3] In 1959, the procedure came to the attention of the U. S. public after the publication of Into the Strange Unknown by Ron Ormond and Ormond McGill. The authors called the practice "fourth dimensional surgery," and wrote "[we] still don’t know what to think; but we have motion pictures to show it wasn’t the work of any normal magician, and could very well be just what the Filipinos said it was — a miracle of God performed by a fourth dimensional surgeon."[9]

Psychic surgery Alex Orbito, who became well-known in the U. S. through his association with actress Shirley MacLaine[10] was one said practitioner of the procedure. On June 14, 2005, Orbito was arrested by Canadian authorities and indicted for fraud.[11] On Jan 20, 2006, the charges were dropped as it then seemed unlikely that Orbito would be convicted.[12] Psychic surgery made U.S. tabloid headlines in March 1984 when comedian Andy Kaufman, diagnosed with large cell carcinoma (a rare lung cancer), traveled to the Philippines for a six-week course of psychic surgery.[13] Practitioner Jun Labo claimed to have removed large cancerous tumors and Kaufman declared to believe the cancer had been removed. Kaufman died from renal failure as consequence of a metastatic lung cancer, on May 16, 1984.[14] [15]

Brazil The origins of the practice in Brazil are obscure; but by the late 1950s several "spiritual healers" were practicing in the country. Many of them were associated with Kardecism, a major spiritualistic movement in Brazil, and claimed to be performing their operations merely as channels for spirits of deceased medical doctors.[16] Others were following practices and rituals known as "Umbanda", a shamanic ritualistic religion with mediumistic overtones inherited from the African slaves brought to the country in colonial times. A known Brazilian psychic healer who routinely practiced psychic surgery was Zé Arigó, who claimed to be channeling for a deceased medical doctor of name Dr. Fritz. Unlike most other psychic healers, who work bare-handed, Arigó used a non surgical blade.[17] Other psychic healers who claimed to channel for Dr. Fritz were Edson Queiroz and Rubens Farias Jr..[18] Popular today (especially abroad) is João de Deus, a psychic healer in Abadiânia, state of Goiás.[19] According to the descriptions of Yoshiaki Omura, Brazilian psychic surgery appears to be different from that practiced in the Philippines. Omura calls attention to the fact that practitioners in Brazil use techniques resembling Qi Gong, Shiatsu massage, and chiropractic manipulation. Some patients are also injected with a brown liquid, and alleged minor surgery was performed in about 20% of the cases observed.[20] While Arigó performed his procedures using kitchen knives in improvised settings, Omura reports that the clamping of blood vessels and the closing of the surgical wounds are now performed by licensed surgeons or licensed nurses.[16]

Medical and legal criticism In 1975, the Federal Trade Commission declared that "'psychic surgery' "is nothing but a total hoax"."[2] Judge Daniel H. Hanscom, when granting the FTC an injunction against travel agencies promoting psychic surgery tours, declared: "Psychic surgery is pure and unmitigated fakery. The 'surgical operations' of psychic surgeons ... with their bare hands are simply phony."[21] In 1990, the American Cancer Society stated that it found no evidence that "psychic surgery" results in objective benefit in the treatment of any medical condition, and strongly urged individuals who are ill not to seek treatment by psychic surgery.[3] The British Columbia Cancer Agency "strongly urges individuals who are ill not to seek treatment by psychic surgeon."[22] While not directly hazardous to the patient, the belief in the alleged benefits of psychic surgery may carry considerable risk for individuals with diagnosed medical conditions, as they may delay or forgo conventional medical help, sometimes with fatal consequences.[3] [23]

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Psychic surgery

Accusations of fraud According to stage magician James Randi, psychic surgery is a sleight-of-hand confidence trick. He has said that in personal observations of the procedure, and in movies showing the procedures, he can spot sleight-of-hand moves that are evident to experienced stage magicians, but might deceive a casual observer. Randi has replicated the appearance of psychic surgery himself through the use of sleight-of-hand.[24] Professional magicians Milbourne Christopher and Robert Gurtler have also observed psychic surgeons at work, and claimed to have spotted the use of sleight-of-hand. On his A&E show Mindfreak in the episode "Sucker," illusionist Criss Angel performed "Psychic Surgery," showing first-hand how it may be done (fake blood, plastic bags and chicken livers were used). In Randi's view, the healer would slightly roll or pinch the skin over the area to be treated. When his flattened hand reaches under the roll of skin, it looks and feels as if the practitioner is actually entering into the patient's body. The healer would have prepared in advance small pellets or bags of animal entrails which would be palmed in his hand or hidden beneath the table within easy reach. This organic matter would simulate the "diseased" tissue that the healer would claim to be removing. If the healer wants to simulate bleeding, he might squeeze a bladder of animal blood or an impregnated sponge. If done properly, this procedure may deceive patients and observers. However, some "psychic surgery" procedures do not rely solely on the "sleight of hand" described, as at least one Brazilian performer also cuts his victims' skin to heighten the illusion.[25] The practitioners are using sleight of hand techniques to produce blood or blood-like fluids, animal tissue or substitutes, and/or various foreign objects from folds of skin of the patient as part of a confidence game for financial benefit of the practitioner. Two psychic surgery practitioners provided testimony in a Federal Trade Commission trial that, to their knowledge, the organic matter supposedly removed from the patients usually consists of animal tissue and clotted blood.[3]

In popular culture • In the 1989 film Penn & Teller Get Killed, comedic magicians Penn and Teller demonstrate how to perform the illusion of psychic surgery. • A 1989 episode of Unsolved Mysteries featured a police officer whose mother claimed to have been cured by psychic surgery, only to die shortly thereafter; her autopsy revealed several tumors. The policeman described himself going undercover to feign illness and desiring psychic surgery, and having the feeling of the practitioner using sleight of hand to supposedly dig into his tissue, as well suspecting that the "cysts" and "tumors" being removed from his body were in actuality ready made chicken parts. • In the TV show Criss Angel Mindfreak, Season 2 Episode "Sucker", Criss explains psychic surgery as a deception. • In the BBC documentary Full Circle with Michael Palin, Michael Palin visits two psychic surgeons while venturing through the Philippines and even assists one of them on a procedure. • In the 1998 Christmas special "Black Canary" of BBC series Jonathan Creek, Jonathan as an expert and designer of illusions exposes the psychic surgeon as being a hoax. • In the 1999 movie Man on the Moon, a movie based on the life of Andy Kaufman, Kaufman receives psychic surgery and notices the "sleight of hand". • In a 2008 episode of a Turkish talk show, "Brian Brushwood", bizarre magician and host of Revision3's Scam School, demonstrated the practice on someone with appendicitis, exposing the fraudulent practices.

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Footnotes [1] "FTC Decision, July–December 1975" (http:/ / www. ftc. gov/ os/ decisions/ docs/ vol86/ FTC_VOLUME_DECISION_86_(JULY_-_DECEMBER_1975)PAGES_715-825. pdf). . Retrieved 2007-08-19. [2] "F.T.C. Curtails the Promotion Of All Psychic Surgery Tours - The New York Times" (http:/ / select. nytimes. com/ gst/ abstract. html?res=F20E17F73C5B157493C7AB178BD95F418785F9). 1975-10-25. . Retrieved 2007-08-19. [3] "Psychic surgery" (http:/ / caonline. amcancersoc. org/ cgi/ reprint/ 40/ 3/ 184). CA: a cancer journal for clinicians 40 (3): 184–8. 1990. doi:10.3322/canjclin.40.3.184. PMID 2110023. . Retrieved 2007-08-19. [4] Randi, James (1989). The Faith Healers. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-535-0. [5] David Vernon in Skeptical - a Handbook of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal, ed Donald Laycock, David Vernon, Colin Groves, Simon Brown, Imagecraft, Canberra, 1989, ISBN 0731657942, p47 [6] Evan, Dylan (2003). Placebo. Mind over matter in modern medicine.. Great Britain: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-00-712613-1. [7] Brody, Howard M.D. PhD (2000). The Placebo response. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-019493-6. [8] Spence, Lewis (2003). Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology Vol. 2. Kessinger Publishing Co. pp. 750. ISBN 978-0766128170. [9] Into the Strange Unknown By the Two Men Who Lived Every Moment of it (http:/ / www. biblio. com/ details. php?dcx=134022077& aid=frg). The Esoteric Foundation. 1959. ISBN 0-87975-535-0. . [10] "Fake healing" (http:/ / www. rickross. com/ reference/ general/ general475. html). . Retrieved 2007-08-19. [11] "The Filipino Reporter" (http:/ / www. filipinoreporter. com/ archive/ 3327/ headline03. htm). . Retrieved 2007-08-19. [12] "The Filipino Reporter" (http:/ / www. filipinoreporter. com/ archive/ 3424/ headline05. htm). . Retrieved 2007-08-19. [13] ", Psychic Surgery" (http:/ / www. benatural. org/ psychic-surgery. html). . Retrieved 2007-08-19. [14] "Andy Kaufman's death certificate" (http:/ / www. findadeath. com/ Deceased/ k/ Andy Kauffman/ dc. jpg). . Retrieved 2007-08-19. [15] California Death Index (http:/ / vitals. rootsweb. com/ ca/ death/ search. cgi) [16] "Yoshiaki Omura on psychic surgery in Brazil" (http:/ / www. aegis. com/ aidsline/ 1997/ oct/ M97A0099. html). . Retrieved 2007-08-19. [17] "James Randi Educational Foundation — Arigó, José" (http:/ / www. randi. org/ encyclopedia/ Arigo, Jose. html). . Retrieved 2007-08-19. [18] "Rio Journal;Live, in Brazil (Again): The Reincarnated Dr. Fritz - New York Times" (http:/ / query. nytimes. com/ gst/ fullpage. html?res=9A07E1DD1039F931A25752C0A960958260& sec=health& spon=& pagewanted=all). The New York Times. 1996-01-12. . Retrieved 2007-08-19. [19] "John of God" (http:/ / skepdic. com/ johnofgod. html). . Retrieved 2007-08-19. [20] Omura Y. Impression on observing psychic surgery and healing in Brazil which appear to incorporate (+) qi gong energy & the use of acupuncture points. Acupunct Electrother Res. 1997;22(1):17-33. PMID: 9188913 [21] "F.T.C. Curbs Philippines Flights For Cures by 'Psychic Surgery'"; New York Times March 15, 1975, p. 11 (Judge Hanscom: "pure and unmitigated fakery... simply phony") [22] "Unconventional therapies--Psychic surgery" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20070202112741/ http:/ / www. bccancer. bc. ca/ PPI/ UnconventionalTherapies/ PsychicSurgery. htm). British Columbia Cancer Agency. February 2000. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. bccancer. bc. ca/ PPI/ UnconventionalTherapies/ PsychicSurgery. htm) on 2007-02-02. . Retrieved 2007-04-01. [23] "NCAHF Statements on Faith Healing and Psychic Surgery" (http:/ / www. ncahf. org/ pp/ faith. html). . Retrieved 2007-08-19. [24] The following images are of Randi demonstrating "psychic surgery": • prepare (http:/ / www. csicop. org/ / randi/ prepare. jpg) • go in (http:/ / www. csicop. org/ / randi/ go-in. jpg) • come out (http:/ / www. csicop. org/ / randi/ come-out. jpg) [25] Commentary, February 18, 2005, A Special Analysis (http:/ / www. randi. org/ jr/ 021805a. html#5)

External links • James Randi debunks "psychic surgery" (http://youtube.com/watch?v=p3RC3M5VKAQ) • Turkish Television (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuwMhDkd6Qo) Brian Brushwood debunks psychic surgery • Unconventional therapies - Psychic Surgery (http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/PPI/UnconventionalTherapies/ PsychicSurgery.htm) — overview by the British Columbia Cancer Agency • Psychic "surgery" (http://skepdic.com/psurgery.html) — definition in the Skeptic's Dictionary • Fake Healing (http://www.rickross.com/reference/general/general475.html) - a description of an event involving Mr. Orbito with editorial commentary. • Abstract (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed& list_uids=9188913&dopt=Abstract) • "Psychic Surgery" (1990) Ca. Cancer J. Clin. 40(3) 184-8 Abstract (http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/ content/abstract/40/3/184) Full text (http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/reprint/40/3/184.pdf)

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Psychic surgery Terte/Agpaoa origins; exposed by Milbourne Christopher and Robert Gurtler. • "Sideshows of Science," David Perlman, San Francisco Chronicle, January 8, 2001; text (http://www.rickross. com/reference/general/general327.html). Reference to "psychic underground" • 'Psychic surgeon' a heel, not a healer, police say (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM. 20050616.wxfraud16/BNStory/National/) Globe and Mail story on Orbito's 2005 arrest in Toronto • Psychic surgeon charged (http://www.filipinoreporter.com/archive/3327/headline03.htm) Filipino Reporter story on Orbito's 2005 arrest in Toronto

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Al Capone, a face commonly associated with organized crime.

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Organized crime

145 Prison reform · Prisoner abuse Prisoners' rights · Rehabilitation Recidivism · Retribution Utilitarianism Criminal justice portal

See also: Wikibooks:Social Deviance

Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are politically motivated (see Violent non-state actor (VNSA)). Gangs may become "disciplined" enough to be considered "organized". An organized gang or criminal set can also be referred to as a mob. Mafia is a term used to describe a number of criminal organizations around the world. The first organization to bear the label was the Sicilian Mafia based in Sicily, known to its as Cosa Nostra. In the United States, "the Mafia" generally refers to the Italian American Mafia. Other organizations described as mafias include the Russian Mafia, the Irish Mob, the Chinese Triads, the Albanian Mafia, Bosnian mafia, the Japanese Yakuza, the Neapolitan Camorra, the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, the Apulian Sacra Corona Unita, the Indian Mafia, the Corsican Mafia, the Serbian Mafia, the Mexican Mafia and the Bulgarian mafia. There are also a number of localized mafia organizations around the world bearing no link to any specific ethnic background. In the United States the Organized Crime Control Act (1970) defines organized crime as "The unlawful activities of [...] a highly organized, disciplined association [...]".[1] Criminal activity as a structured group is referred to as racketeering and such crime is commonly referred to as the work of the Mob.

Origins and conceptual background Today, crime is sometimes thought of as an urban phenomenon, but for most of human history it was the rural world that was crime-ridden. Pirates, highwaymen and bandits attacked trade routes and roads, at times severely disrupting commerce, raising costs, insurance rates and prices to the consumer. According to criminologist Paul Lunde, "Piracy and banditry were to the pre-industrial world what organized crime is to modern society."[2]

“

"If we take a global rather than strictly domestic view, it becomes evident even crime of the organized kind has a long if not necessarily noble heritage. The word 'thug' dates to early 13th-century India, when Thugs, or gangs of criminals, roamed from town to town, looting and pillaging. Smuggling and drug-trafficking rings are as old as the hills in Asia and Africa, and extant criminal organizations in Italy and Japan [3] trace their histories back several centuries..."

”

As Lunde states, "Barbarian conquerors, whether Vandals, Goths, Norsemen, Turks or Mongols are not normally thought of as organized crime groups, yet they share many features associated with successful criminal organizations. They were for the most part non-ideological, predominantly ethnically based, used violence and intimidation, and adhered to their own codes of law."[2] Organized crime most typically flourishes when a central government and civil society is disorganized, weak, absent or untrusted. This may occur in a society facing periods of political, economic or social turmoil or transition, such as a change of government or a period of rapid economic development, particularly if the society lacks strong and established institutions and the rule of law. The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe that saw the downfall of the Communist Bloc created a breeding ground for organized criminal organizations. The newest growth sectors for organized crime are identity theft and online extortion. These activities are troubling because they discourage consumers from using the Internet for e-commerce. E-commerce was supposed to level the

Organized crime playing ground between small and large businesses, but the growth of online organized crime is leading to the opposite effect; large businesses are able to afford more bandwidth (to resist denial-of-service attacks) and superior security. Furthermore, organized crime using the Internet is much harder to trace down for the police (even though they increasingly deploy cybercops) since most police forces and law enforcement agencies operate within a local or national jurisdiction while the Internet makes it easier for criminal organizations to operate across such boundaries without detection. In the past criminal organizations have naturally limited themselves by their need to expand. This has put them in competition with each other. This competition, often leading to violence, uses valuable resources such as manpower (either killed or sent to prison), equipment and finances. In the United States, the Irish Mob boss of the Winter Hill Gang (in the 1980s) turned informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He used this position to eliminate competition and consolidate power within the city of Boston which led to the imprisonment of several senior organized crime figures including Gennaro Angiulo, underboss of the Patriarca crime family. Infighting sometimes occurs within an organization, such as the Castellamarese war of 1930–31 and the Boston Irish Mob Wars of the 1960s and 1970s. Today criminal organizations are increasingly working together, realizing that it is better to work in cooperation rather than in competition with each other. This has led to the rise of global criminal organizations such as Mara Salvatrucha and the 18th Street gang. The Italian-American Mafia in the U.S. have had links with organized crime groups in Italy such as the Camorra, the 'Ndrangheta, Sacra Corona Unita, and Sicilian Mafia. The Cosa Nostra has also been known to work with the Irish Mob (John Gotti of the Gambino family Mugshot of Charles Luciano in 1936, Sicilian and James Coonan of the Westies are known to have worked together, mobster. with the Westies operating as a contract hit squad for the Gambino family after they helped Coonan come to power), the Japanese Yakuza and the Russian Mafia. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that organized crime groups held $322 billion in assets in 2005.[4] This rise in cooperation between criminal organizations has meant that law enforcement agencies are increasingly having to work together. The FBI operates an organized crime section from its headquarters in Washington, D.C. and is known to work with other national (e.g., Polizia di Stato, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police), federal (e.g., Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Drug Enforcement istration, United States Marshals Service, and the United States Coast Guard), state (e.g., Massachusetts State Police Special Investigation Unit and the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation) and city (e.g., New York City Police Department Organized Crime Unit and the Los Angeles Police Department Special Operations Division) law enforcement agencies.

Notable criminal organizations Perhaps the best known criminal organizations are the Sicilian and Italian American Cosa Nostra, most commonly known as the Mafia. The Neopolitan Camorra, the Calabrian and Italian Canadian 'Ndrangheta, and the Apulian Sacra Corona Unita are similar Italian organized crime groups. Other organized criminal enterprises include the Russian mafia, Irish mob,Corsican mafia, Chinese Triads and the Japanese Yakuza. On the lower level in the criminal food chain may be street or youth gangs such as the Bloods and Crips. Criminal organizations may function both inside and outside of prison. Such prison gangs include the Mexican Mafia and Aryan Brotherhood. Biker gangs such as the Hells Angels and Outlaws are also believed to be involved in organized crime.

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Human rights law Another use of the term "criminal organization" exists in human rights law and refers to an organization which has been found guilty of crimes against humanity. Once an organization has been determined to be a criminal organization, one must only demonstrate that an individual belonged to that organization and not that the individual actually individually committed illegal acts. This concept of the criminal organization came into being during the Nuremberg Trials. Several public sector organizations of Nazi such as the SS and Gestapo were judged to be criminal organizations, while other organizations such as the German Army High Command were indicted but acquitted of charges. This conception of criminal organizations was, and continues to be, controversial, and has not been used in human rights law since the trials at Nuernberg.

Ideological crime In addition to what is considered traditional organized crime involving direct crimes of fraud swindles, scams, racketeering and other Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) predicate acts motivated for the accumulation of monetary gain, there is also non-traditional organized crime which is engaged in for political or ideological gain or acceptance. Such crime groups are often labeled terrorist organizations and include such groups as Al-Qaeda, Animal Liberation Front, Army of God, Black Liberation Army, The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord, Earth Liberation Front, Hamas, Hezbollah, Irish Republican Army, Kurdistan Workers' Party, Lashkar e Toiba, May 19th Communist Organization, The Order, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Symbionese Liberation Army, Taliban, United Freedom Front and Weather Underground.

Typical activities Organized crime often victimize businesses through the use of extortion or theft and fraud activities like hijacking cargo trucks, robbing goods, committing bankruptcy fraud (also known as "bust-out"), insurance fraud or stock fraud (inside trading). Organized crime groups also victimize individuals by car theft (either for dismantling at "chop shops" or for export), art theft, bank robbery, burglary, jewelry theft, computer hacking, credit card fraud, economic espionage, embezzlement, identity theft, and securities fraud ("pump and dump" scam). Some organized crime groups defraud national, state, or local governments by bid-rigging public projects, counterfeiting money, smuggling or manufacturing untaxed alcohol (bootlegging) or cigarettes (buttlegging), and providing immigrant workers to avoid taxes. Organized crime groups seek out corrupt public officials in executive, law enforcement, and judicial roles so that their activities can avoid, or at least receive early warnings about, investigation and prosecution. Organized crime groups also provide a range of illegal services and goods, such as loansharking of money at very high interest rates, assassination, blackmailing, bombings, bookmaking and illegal gambling, confidence tricks, copyright infringement, counterfeiting of intellectual property, kidnapping, prostitution, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, oil smuggling, organ trafficking, contract killing, identity document forgery, illegal dumping of toxic waste, illegal trading of nuclear materials, military equipment smuggling, nuclear weapons smuggling, port fraud, providing illegal immigration and cheap labor, people smuggling, trading in endangered species, and trafficking in human beings. Organized crime groups also do a range of business and labour racketeering activities, such as skimming casinos, insider trading, setting up monopolies in industries such as garbage collecting, construction and cement pouring, bid rigging, getting "no-show" and "no-work" jobs, money laundering, political corruption, bullying and ideological clamping.

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Footnotes [1] [2] [3] [4]

http:/ / www. atf. gov/ pub/ fire-explo_pub/ xcomplete. htm Paul Lunde, Organized Crime, 2004. Sullivan, Robert, ed. Mobsters and Gangsters: Organized Crime in America, from Al Capone to Tony Soprano. New York: Life Books, 2002. "Market Value of Organized Crime-Havocscope Black Market" (http:/ / www. havocscope. com/ market-value-of-organized-crime-322-billion/ ). .

External links • Mob Life: Gangster Kings of Crime (http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/37642/ mob-life-gangster-kings-of-crime#index/0) - slideshow by Life magazine • BBC radio series on global crime (including audio files) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/ global_crime_report/radioseries/) • UNODC - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/organized-crime/ index.html) — Sub-section dealing with organized crime worldwide • Organized Crime Research (http://www.organized-crime.de) — Has a vast collection of definitions of organized crime, reviews of books on organized crime, research papers, and other material • IOCNI (http://www.iocni.com) International organized crime news and information • Crimestoppers (http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org) — on information about crime anonymously to the crime-fighting charity • Squeezing a balloon? (http://www.cmi.no/publications/file/3399-squeezing-a-balloon.pdf) — Squeezing a balloon? Challenging the nexus between organised crime and corruption • "Organized Crime." Oxford Bibliographies Online: Criminology. (http://oxfordbibliographiesonline.com/ display/id/obo-9780195396607-0021) • Havocscope Black Market (http://www.havocscope.com/) Data on organized crime businesses and activities • An Inside Look at Mexican Guns and Arms Trafficking (http://www.mexidata.info/id2684.html) • Organised Crime Research Resources (http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/subjects/Organised-and-WhiteCollar-Crime/6) by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (http://www.sccjr.ac.uk) • Compilation of useful resources about Organised Crime (http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/pubs/ Information-Resources-on-Organised-Crime/247) developed and regularly maintained by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (http://www.sccjr.ac.uk) and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) (http://www.sdea.police.uk/)

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Identity theft

Identity theft Identity theft is a form of fraud or cheating of another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name. The victim of identity theft (here meaning the person whose identity has been assumed by the identity thief) can suffer adverse consequences if he or she is held able for the perpetrator's actions. Organizations and individuals who are duped or defrauded by the identity thief can also suffer adverse consequences and losses, and to that extent are also victims. The term identity theft was coined in 1964[1] and is actually a misnomer, since it is not literally possible to steal an identity as such - more accurate would be identity fraud or impersonation or identity cloning but identity theft has become commonplace. "Determining the link between data breaches and identity theft is challenging, primarily because identity theft victims often do not know how their personal information was obtained," and identity theft is not always detectable by the individual victims, according to a report done for the FTC.[2] Identity fraud is often but not necessarily the consequence of identity theft. Someone can steal or misappropriate personal information without then committing identity theft using the information about every person, such as when a major data breach occurs. A US Government ability Office study determined that "most breaches have not resulted in detected incidents of identity theft".[3] the report also warned that "the full extent is unknown". A later unpublished study by Carnegie Mellon University noted that "Most often, the causes of identity theft is not known," but reported that someone else concluded that "the probability of becoming a victim to identity theft as a result of a data breach is ... around only 2%".[4] More recently, an association of consumer data companies noted that one of the largest data breaches ever, ing for over four million records, resulted in only about 1,800 instances of identity theft, according to the company whose systems were breached.[5] A recent article entitled, “Cyber Crime Made Easy" explained the level to which hackers are using malicious software. As one security specialist named Gunter Ollmann said, “Interested in credit card theft? There’s an app for that.” This statement summed up the ease with which these hackers are accessing all kinds of information online. The new program for infecting s’ computers is called Zeus; and the program is so hacker friendly that even an inexperienced hacker can operate it. Although the hacking program is easy to use, that fact does not diminish the devastating effects that Zeus (or other software like Zeus) can do to a computer and the . For example, the article stated that programs like Zeus can steal credit card information, important documents, and even documents necessary for homeland security. If the hacker were to gain this information, it would mean identity theft or even a possible terrorist attack. (Giles, Jim. "Cyber Crime Made Easy." New Scientist 205.2752 (2010): 20-21. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 Oct. 2010.)

Types Sources such as the non-profit Identity Theft Resource Center[6] sub-divide identity theft into five categories: • • • • •

Business/commercial identity theft (using another's business name to obtain credit) Criminal identity theft (posing as another person when apprehended for a crime) Financial identity theft (using another's identity to obtain credit, goods and services) Identity cloning (using another's information to assume his or her identity in daily life) Medical identity theft (using another's identity to obtain medical care or drugs)

Identity theft may be used to facilitate or fund other crimes including illegal immigration, terrorism, and espionage. There are cases of identity cloning to attack payment systems, including online credit card processing and medical insurance.[7]

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Identity theft Identity thieves occasionally impersonate others for non-financial reasons—for instance, to receive praise or attention for the victim's achievements.[8]

Identity cloning and concealment In this situation, the identity thief impersonates someone else in order to conceal their own true identity. Examples might be illegal immigrants, people hiding from creditors or other individuals, or those who simply want to become "anonymous" for personal reasons. Unlike identity theft used to obtain credit which usually comes to light when the debts mount, concealment may continue indefinitely without being detected, particularly if the identity thief is able to obtain false credentials in order to various authentication tests in everyday life.

Criminal identity theft When a criminal fraudulently identifies himself to police as another individual at the point of arrest, it is sometimes referred to as "Criminal Identity Theft." In some cases criminals have previously obtained state-issued identity documents using credentials stolen from others, or have simply presented fake ID. Provided the subterfuge works, charges may be placed under the victim's name, letting the criminal off the hook. Victims might only learn of such incidents by chance, for example by receiving court summons, discovering their drivers licenses are suspended when stopped for minor traffic violations, or through background checks performed for employment purposes. It can be difficult for the victim of a criminal identity theft to clear their record. The steps required to clear the victim's incorrect criminal record depend on what jurisdiction the crime occurred in and whether the true identity of the criminal can be determined. The victim might need to locate the original arresting officers and prove their own identity by some reliable means such as fingerprinting or DNA fingerprinting, and may need to go to a court hearing to be cleared of the charges. Obtaining an expungement of court records may also be required. Authorities might permanently maintain the victim's name as an alias for the criminal's true identity in their criminal records databases. One problem that victims of criminal identity theft may encounter is that various data aggregators might still have the incorrect criminal records in their databases even after court and police records are corrected. Thus it is possible that a future background check will return the incorrect criminal records.[9] This is just one example of the kinds of impact that may continue to affect the victims of identity theft for some months or even years after the crime, aside from the psychological trauma that being 'cloned' typically engenders.

Synthetic identity theft A variation of identity theft which has recently become more common is synthetic identity theft, in which identities are completely or partially fabricated. The most common technique involves combining a real social security number with a name and birthdate other than the ones associated with the number. Synthetic identity theft is more difficult to track as it doesn't show on either person's credit report directly, but may appear as an entirely new file in the credit bureau or as a subfile on one of the victim's credit reports. Synthetic identity theft primarily harms the creditors who unwittingly grant the fraudsters credit. Individual victims can be affected if their names become confused with the synthetic identities, or if negative information in their subfiles impacts their credit ratings.[10]

Medical identity theft Medical identity theft occurs when someone uses a person's name and sometimes other parts of their identity—such as insurance information—without the person's knowledge or consent to obtain medical services or goods, or uses the person’s identity information to make false claims for medical services or goods. Medical identity theft frequently results in erroneous entries being put into existing medical records, which may in turn lead to inappropriate and potentially life-threatening decisions by medical staff.[11]

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Techniques for obtaining and exploiting personal information for identity theft Identity thieves typically obtain and exploit personally identifiable information about individuals, or various credentials they use to authenticate themselves, in order to impersonate them. Examples include: • Rummaging through rubbish for personal information (dumpster diving) • Retrieving personal data from redundant IT equipment and storage media including PCs, servers, PDAs, mobile phones, USB memory sticks and hard drives that have been disposed of carelessly at public dump sites, given away or sold on without having been properly sanitized • Using public records about individual citizens, published in official s such as electoral rolls • Stealing bank or credit cards, identification cards, ports, authentication tokens ... typically by pickpocketing, housebreaking or mail theft • Skimming information from bank or credit cards using compromised or hand-held card readers, and creating clone cards • Using 'less' credit card readers to acquire data wirelessly from RFID-enabled ports • Observing s typing their credentials, credit/calling card numbers etc. into IT equipment located in public places (shoulder surfing) • Stealing personal information from computers using malware, particularly Trojan horse keylogging programs or other forms of spyware • Hacking computer networks, systems and databases to obtain personal data, often in large quantities • Exploiting breaches that result in the publication or more limited disclosure of personal information such as names, addresses, Social Security number or credit card numbers • Advertising bogus job offers in order to accumulate resumes and applications typically disclosing applicants' names, home and email addresses, telephone numbers and sometimes their banking details • Exploiting insider access and abusing the rights of privileged IT s to access personal data on their employers' systems • Infiltrating organizations that store and process large amounts or particularly valuable personal information • Impersonating trusted organizations in emails, SMS text messages, phone calls or other forms of communication in order to dupe victims into disclosing their personal information or credentials, typically on a fake corporate website or data collection form (phishing) • Brute-force attacking weak s and using inspired guesswork to compromise weak reset questions • Obtaining castings of fingers for falsifying fingerprint identification ... or famously using gummy bears to fool low quality fingerprint scanners[12] • Browsing social networking websites for personal details published by s, often using this information to appear more credible in subsequent social engineering activities • Diverting victims' email or post in order to obtain personal information and credentials such as credit cards, billing and bank/credit card statements, or to delay the discovery of new s and credit agreements opened by the identity thieves in the victims' names • Using false pretenses to trick individuals, customer service representatives and help desk workers into disclosing personal information and details or changing s/access rights (pretexting) • Stealing checks to acquire banking information, including numbers and bank routing numbers[13] • Guessing Social Security numbers by using information found on Internet social networks such as Facebook and MySpace [14]

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Individual identity protection The acquisition of personal identifiers is made possible through serious breaches of privacy. For consumers, this is usually a result of them naively providing their personal information or credentials to the identity thieves as a result of being duped but identity-related documents such as credit cards, bank statements, utility bills, checkbooks etc. may also be physically stolen from vehicles, homes and offices, or directly from victims by pickpockets and bag snatchers. Guardianship of personal identifiers by consumers is the most common intervention strategy recommended by the US Federal Trade Commission, Canadian Phone Busters and most sites that address identity theft. Such organizations offer recommendations on how individuals can prevent their information falling into the wrong hands. Identity theft can be partially mitigated by not identifying oneself unnecessarily (a form of information security control known as risk avoidance). This implies that organizations, IT systems and procedures should not demand excessive amounts of personal information or credentials for identification and authentication. Requiring, storing and processing personal identifiers (such as Social Security number, national identification number, drivers license number, credit card number, etc.) increases the risks of identity theft unless this valuable personal information is adequately secured at all times. To protect themselves against electronic identity theft by phishing, hacking or malware, individual are well advised to maintain computer security, for example by keeping their operating systems fully patched against known security vulnerabilities, running antivirus software and being cautious in their use of IT. Identity thieves sometimes impersonate dead people, using personal information obtained from death notices, gravestones and other sources to exploit delays between the death and the closure of the person's s, the inattentiveness of grieving families and weaknesses in the processes for credit-checking. Such crimes may continue for some time until the deceased's families or the authorities notice and react to anomalies.[15] In recent years, commercial identity theft protection/insurance services have become available in many countries. These services purport to help protect the individual from identity theft or help detect that identity theft has occurred in exchange for a monthly or annual hip fee or .[16] The services typically work either by setting fraud alerts on the individual's credit files with the three major credit bureaus or by setting up credit report monitoring with the credit bureaux. While identity theft protection/insurance services have been heavily marketed, their value has been called into question.[17]

Identity protection by organizations In their May 1998 testimony before the United States Senate, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) discussed the sale of Social Security numbers and other personal identifiers by credit-raters and data miners. The FTC agreed to the industry's self-regulating principles restricting access to information on credit reports.[18] According to the industry, the restrictions vary according to the category of customer. Credit reporting agencies gather and disclose personal and credit information to a wide business client base. Poor stewardship of personal data by organizations, resulting in unauthorized access to sensitive data, can expose individuals to the risk of identity theft. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has documented over 900 individual data breaches by US companies and government agencies since January 2005, which together have involved over 200 million total records containing sensitive personal information, many containing social security numbers.[19] Poor corporate diligence standards which can result in data breaches include: • failure to shred confidential information before throwing it into dumpsters • failure to ensure adequate network security • the theft of laptop computers or portable media being carried off-site containing vast amounts of personal information. The use of strong encryption on these devices can reduce the chance of data being misused should a criminal obtain them.

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• the brokerage of personal information to other businesses without ensuring that the purchaser maintains adequate security controls • Failure of governments, when ing sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations, to determine if the officers listed in the Articles of Incorporation are who they say they are. This potentially allows criminals access to personal information through credit-rating and data mining services. The failure of corporate or government organizations to protect consumer privacy, client confidentiality and political privacy has been criticized for facilitating the acquisition of personal identifiers by criminals.[20] Using various types of biometric information, such as fingerprints, for identification and authentication has been cited as a way to thwart identity thieves, however there are technological limitations and privacy concerns associated with these methods as well.

Regional legal responses Australia In Australia, each state has enacted laws that dealt with different aspects of identity or fraud issues. Some States have now amended relevant criminal laws to reflect crimes of identity theft, such as the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA), Crimes Amendment (Fraud, Identity and Forgery Offences) Act 2009 and also in Queensland under the Criminal Code 1899 (QLD). Other States and Territories are in states of development in respect of regulatory frameworks relating to identity theft such as Western Australia in respect of Criminal Code Amendment (Identity Crime) Bill 2009. On the Commonwealth level, under the Criminal Code Amendment (Theft, Fraud, Bribery & Related Offences) Act 2000 which amended certain provisions within the Criminal Code Act 1995, 135.1 General dishonesty (3) A person is guilty of an offence if: a) the person does anything with the intention of dishonestly causing a loss to another person; and b) the other person is a Commonwealth entity. Penalty: Imprisonment for 5 years.

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Likewise, each state has enacted their own privacy laws to prevent misuse of personal information and data. The Commonwealth Privacy Act is applicable only to Commonwealth and territory agencies, and to certain private sector bodies (where for example they deal with sensitive records, such as medical records, or they have more than $3 million turnover PA).

Canada Under section 402.2 of the Criminal Code of Canada, Everyone commits an offence who knowingly obtains or possesses another person’s identity information in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference that the information is intended to be used to commit an indictable offence that includes fraud, deceit or falsehood as an element of the offence. is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years; or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

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Under section 403 of the Criminal Code of Canada, (1) Everyone commits an offence who fraudulently personates another person, living or dead, (a) with intent to gain advantage for themselves or another person; (b) with intent to obtain any property or an interest in any property; (c) with intent to cause disadvantage to the person being personated or another person; or (d) with intent to avoid arrest or prosecution or to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of justice. is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years; or guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

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In Canada, Privacy Act (federal legislation) covers only federal government, agencies and crown corporations. Each province and territory has its own privacy law and privacy commissioners to limit the storage and use of personal

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data. For the private sector, the purpose of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act ( 2000, c. 5 ) (known as PIPEDA) is to establish rules to govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal information; except for the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia were provincial laws have been deemed substantially similar.

In , a person convicted of identity theft can be sentenced up to five years in prison and fined up to €75,000.[21]

Hong Kong Under HK Laws. Chap 210 Theft Ordinance, sec. 16A Fraud (1) If any person by any deceit (whether or not the deceit is the sole or main inducement) and with intent to defraud induces another person to commit an act or make an omission, which results either- (a) in benefit to any person other than the second-mentioned person; or (b) in prejudice or a substantial risk of prejudice to any person other than the first-mentioned person, the first-mentioned person commits the offense of fraud and is liable on conviction upon indictment to imprisonment for 14 years.

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Under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, it established the post of Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and mandate how much personal information one can collect, retain and destruction. This legislation also provides citizens the right to request information held by businesses and government to the extent provided by this law.

India Under the Information Technology Act 2000 Chapter IX Sec 43 (b) If any person without permission of the owner or any other person who is incharge of a computer, computer system or computer network, (b) s, copies or extracts any data, computer data base or information from such computer, computer system or computer network including information or data held or stored in any removable storage medium;

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he shall be liable to pay damages by way of compensation not exceeding one crore rupees to the person so affected.

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[22]

Sweden Sweden have had relatively little problems with identity theft. This is because only Swedish identity documents have been accepted for identity verification. Stolen documents are traceable by banks and some other institutions. The banks have the duty to check the identity of people withdrawing money or getting loans. If a bank gives money to someone using an identity document reported as stolen, the bank must take the loss. From 2008 any EU port are valid in Sweden for identity check, and Swedish ports are valid all over the EU. This makes it harder to detect stolen documents, but still banks in Sweden must ensure that stolen documents are not accepted. Other types of identity theft than over the bank desk have become more common in Sweden. One common example is ordering a credit card to someone who has an unlocked letterbox and is not home on daytime. The thief steals the letter with the credit card and then the letter with the code which typically arrives a few days later. Usage of a stolen credit card is hard in Sweden, since an identity document or a PIN code it is normally demanded. If the shop does not demand that, it must take the loss from stolen credit cards. The method of observing someone using the credit card PIN code, stealing the card or skimming it, and then use the card, has become more common. Legally, Sweden is an open society. The Principle of Public Access says that all information kept by public authorities must be available for anyone except in certain cases. Specificially anyone's address, income, taxes etc. are available to anyone. This makes fraud easier (the address is protected for certain people needing it). To impersonate someone else and gain money from it is a kind of fraud, which is described in the Criminal Code (Swedish:Brottsbalken).

Identity theft

United Kingdom In the United Kingdom personal data is protected by the Data Protection Act 1998. The Act covers all personal data which an organization may hold, including names, birthday and anniversary dates, addresses, telephone numbers, etc. Under English law (which extends to Wales but not necessarily to Northern Ireland or Scotland), the deception offences under the Theft Act 1968 increasingly contend with identity theft situations. In R v Seward (2005) EWCA Crim 1941[23] the defendant was acting as the "front man" in the use of stolen credit cards and other documents to obtain goods. He obtained goods to the value of £10,000 for others who are unlikely ever to be identified. The Court of Appeal considered sentencing policy for deception offenses involving "identity theft" and concluded that a prison sentence was required. Henriques J. said at para 14:"Identity fraud is a particularly pernicious and prevalent form of dishonesty calling for, in our judgment, deterrent sentences." Increasingly, organizations, including Government bodies will be forced to take steps to better protect their s' data.[24] Stats released by CIFAS on the 2nd of February 2010, show that in 2009 in the UK that there were 85,000 victims of impersonation and 24,000 victims of bank takeovers. this represents a 35% and 15% increase respectively from 2008 levels.[25]

United States The increase in crimes of identity theft lead to the drafting of the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act.[26] In 1998, The Federal Trade Commission appeared before the United States Senate.[27] The FTC discussed crimes which exploit consumer credit to commit loan fraud, mortgage fraud, lines-of-credit fraud, credit card fraud, commodities and services frauds. The Identity Theft Deterrence Act (2003)[ITADA] amended U.S. Code Title 18, § 1028 [28] ("Fraud related to activity in connection with identification documents, authentication features, and information"). The statute now makes the possession of any "means of identification" to "knowingly transfer, possess, or use without lawful authority" a federal crime, alongside unlawful possession of identification documents. However, for federal jurisdiction to prosecute, the crime must include an "identification document" that either: (a) is purportedly issued by the United States, (b) is used or intended to defraud the United States, (c) is sent through the mail, or (d) is used in a manner that affects interstate or foreign commerce. See 18 U.S.C. § 1028 [29](c). Punishment can be up to 5, 15, 20, or 30 years in federal prison, plus fines, depending on the underlying crime per 18 U.S.C. § 1028 [29](b). In addition, punishments for the unlawful use of a "means of identification" were strengthened in § 1028A ("Aggravated Identity Theft"), allowing for a consecutive sentence under specific enumerated felony violations as defined in § 1028A(c)(1) through (11). The Act also provides the Federal Trade Commission with authority to track the number of incidents and the dollar value of losses. Their figures relate mainly to consumer financial crimes and not the broader range of all identification-based crimes.[30] If charges are brought by state or local law enforcement agencies, different penalties apply depending on the state. Six Federal agencies conducted a t task force to increase the ability to detect identity theft. Their t recommendation on "red flag" guidelines is a set of requirements on financial institutions and other entities which furnish credit data to credit reporting services to develop written plans for detecting identity theft. The FTC has determined that most medical practices are considered creditors and are subject to requirements to develop a plan to prevent and respond to patient identity theft.[31] I These plans must be adopted by each organization's Board of Directors and monitored by senior executives.[32] Identity theft complaints as a percentage of all fraud complaints decreased from 2004-2006.[33] The Federal Trade Commission reported that fraud complaints in general were growing faster than ID theft complaints.[33] The findings were similar in two other FTC studies done in 2003 and 2005. In 2003, 4.6 percent of the US population said they

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Identity theft were a victim of ID theft. In 2005, that number had dropped to 3.7 percent of the population.[34] [35] The Commission's 2003 estimate was that identity theft ed for some $52.6 billion of losses in the preceding year alone and affected more than 9.91 million Americans;[36] the figure comprises $47.6 billion lost by businesses and $5 billion lost by consumers. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a report released in 2007 revealed that 8.3 million American adults, or 3.7 percent of all American adults, were victims of identity theft in 2005.[37] The latest report from the FTC showed that ID theft increased by 21% in 2008. However, credit card fraud, that crime which is most closely associated with the crime of ID theft, has been declining as a percentage of all ID theft. In 2002, 41% of all ID theft complaints involved a credit card. That percentage has dropped to 21% in 2008.[38] Two states, California[39] and Wisconsin[40] have created an Office of Privacy Protection to assist their citizens in avoiding and recovering from identity theft. In Massachusetts in 2009-2010, Governor Deval Patrick made a commitment to balance consumer protection with the needs of small business owners. His Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation announced certain adjustments to Massachusetts' identity theft regulations that maintain protections and also allows flexibility in compliance. These updated regulations went into effect on March 1, 2010. The regulations are clear that their approach to data security is a risk-based approach important to small businesses and might not handle a lot of personal information about customers.[41] [42] Notification Most states followed California's lead and enacted mandatory data breach notification laws. As a result, companies that report a data breach typically report it to all their customers.[43]

Spread and impact Surveys in the USA from 2003 to 2006 showed a decrease in the total number of victims and a decrease in the total value of identity fraud from US$47.6 billion in 2003 to $15.6 billion in 2006. The average fraud per person decreased from $4,789 in 2003 to $1,882 in 2006. The 2003 survey from the Identity Theft Resource Center[44] found that: • Only 15% of victims find out about the theft through proactive action taken by a business • The average time spent by victims resolving the problem is about 330 hours • 73% of respondents indicated the crime involved the thief acquiring a credit card In a widely publicized ,[45] Michelle Brown, a victim of identity fraud, testified before a U.S. Senate Committee Hearing on Identity Theft. Ms. Brown testified that: "over a year and a half from January 1998 through July 1999, one individual impersonated me to procure over $50,000 in goods and services. Not only did she damage my credit, but she escalated her crimes to a level that I never truly expected: she engaged in drug trafficking. The crime resulted in my erroneous arrest record, a warrant out for my arrest, and eventually, a prison record when she was booked under my name as an inmate in the Chicago Federal Prison." In Australia, identity theft was estimated to be worth between AUS$1billion and AUS$4 billion per annum in 2001.[46] In the United Kingdom the Home Office reported that identity fraud costs the UK economy £1.2 billion annually[47] (experts believe that the real figure could be much higher)[48] although privacy groups object to the validity of these numbers, arguing that they are being used by the government to push for introduction of national ID cards. Confusion over exactly what constitutes identity theft has led to claims that statistics may be exaggerated.[49]

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Famous identity thieves • • • •

Frank Abagnale Albert Gonzalez Radovan Karadžić Michael Sabo

Cultural references The public fascination with impostors has long had an effect on popular culture and extends to modern literature, and cinema.[50] • Catch Me If You Can is a 2002 American crime film based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor and Louisiana attorney and parish prosecutor. His primary crime was cheque forgery, becoming so skillful that the FBI eventually turned to him for help in catching other cheque forgers. • In East Bound and Down HBO (Chapter 7) Kenny Powers moves to Mexico and steals Stevie Janowski's Identity • The story of Michelle Brown has been made into a film.[51] • In Frederick Forsyth's novel The Day of the Jackal the would-be assassin of General de Gaulle steals three identities. Firstly, he assumes the identity of a dead child by obtaining the child's birth certificate and using it to apply for a port. He also steals the ports of a Danish clergyman and an American tourist, and disguises himself as each of those persons in turn. The assumption of a dead person's identity is now generally known as "Jackal Fraud".[52] • In the 1995 movie The Net, Sandra Bullock plays a computer consultant whose life is taken over with the help of computer assisted identity theft. • In Jonathan Smith's novel Night Windows the action is based on the horrific and real life theft of Smith's own identity. • In the webcomic Kevin and Kell the character Danielle Kindle dies and is later "replaced" by a double from a parallel world. After an attempt at taking over her predecessor's identity, Danielle Kendall confesses her true nature and gets accepted by the predecessor's family—if not by all the readers. • T. Coraghessan Boyle's 2006 novel Talk Talk describes the theft of Dana Halter's identity, and her and Martin Bridger's chase of the thief across the country. • In Susan Schaab's novel Wearing the Spider a female attorney gets caught in a web of sexual harassment, identity theft and political intrigue. • In the Family Guy episode "Back to the Woods", James Woods, having gotten his hands on Peter's wallet, steals Peter's identity, so Peter retaliates by stealing Woods' identity and angering people. • In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Barty Crouch Jr. magically steals the identity of Mad-Eye Moody. • In The Talented Mr. Ripley novel (1955) and movie (1999), after murdering Greenleaf, Ripley assumes his identity, living off the latter's allowance. • In The Office (Season 3 Episode 21), Jim steals Dwight's identity as a prank. • In Gattaca (1997), Vincent borrows the identity of another person in a society which analyzes peoples DNA and predetermines how successful you can or can not be (coined in the movie as a "borrowed ladder"). • That Mitchell and Webb Sound features a sketch in which a bank manager tells a customer that his identity has been stolen, although the customer claims that he is still himself and it is in fact his money that has been stolen and therefore the bank's fault and not his. • In Mad Men, Dick Whitman, an enlisted man from a poor background, is wounded in the Korean War and switches identities with Donald Draper, an officer who has been killed. As 'Don Draper', he becomes a successful advertising man.

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Identity theft • Puccini's opera Gianni Schicchi, based on a reference in Dante's Inferno, tells of a character who impersonates a recently deceased man in order to make himself the beneficiary of his will. • In Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door, Doopliss stole the identity of Mario just as a prank.

References [1] "[[Oxford English Dictionary (http:/ / dictionary. oed. com/ cgi/ entry/ 50111220/ 50111220se23)] online"]. Oxford University Press. September 2007. . Retrieved 27 September 2010. [2] Federal Trade Commission – 2006 Identity Theft Survey Report, p.4 [3] "Data Breaches Are Frequent, but Evidence of Resulting Identity Theft Is Limited; However, the Full Extent Is Unknown" (http:/ / www. gao. gov/ new. items/ d07737. pdf). Highlights of GAO-07-737, a report to congressional requesters. gao.gov. . Retrieved 22 September 2010. [4] Sasha Romanosky. "Do Data Breach Disclosure Laws Reduce Identity Theft?" (http:/ / www. heinz. cmu. edu/ research/ 241full. pdf). Heinz First Research Paper. heinz.cmu.edu. . [5] "Story" (http:/ / pressherald. mainetoday. com/ story. php?id=256153). Pressherald.maintoday.com. . [6] "Identity Theft Resource Center website" (http:/ / www. idtheftcenter. org/ ). idtheftcenter.org. . [7] "Medical Identity Theft: What to Do if You are a Victim (or are concerned about it)" (http:/ / www. worldprivacyforum. org/ medidtheft_consumertips. html), World Privacy Forum [8] Former Major League Baseball player Reno Stephens was impersonated for over twenty years by an individual with the same name. There is no evidence that the impersonator gained financially from the impersonation but he did receive significant local attention. [9] Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (http:/ / www. privacyrights. org/ fs/ fs17g-CrimIdTheft. htm) - "Fact Sheet 17g: Criminal Identity Theft: What to Do if It Happens to You " [10] McFadden, Leslie (2007-05-16). "Detecting synthetic identity fraud" (http:/ / www. bankrate. com/ brm/ news/ pf/ identity_theft_20070516_a1. asp). Bankrate.com. pp. 1–2. . Retrieved 2008-09-21. [11] "Medical Identity Theft" (http:/ / www. fightidentitytheft. com/ blog/ medical-identity-theft-protect-yourself). fightidentitytheft.com. . Retrieved 27 September 2010. [12] "Biometric Devices and Fingerprint Spoofing" (http:/ / www. washjeff. edu/ s/ ahollandminkley/ Biometric/ index. html), ITL 233: Cyberattacks], January 2006, , Washington & Jefferson College [13] "Identity Theft" (http:/ / www. douglascountysheriff. org/ idtheft/ idtheftmain. htm), Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Washington [14] Olmos, David (2009-07-06). "Social Security Numbers Can Be Guessed From Data, Study Finds" (http:/ / www. bloomberg. com/ apps/ news?pid=newsarchive& sid=aKbjO. Ew4S2E). Bloomberg. . Retrieved 2011-01-04. [15] IDtheftcenter.org (http:/ / www. idtheftcenter. org/ artman2/ publish/ c_tips/ Fact_Sheet_117_IDENTITY_THEFT_AND_THE_DECEASED_-_PREVENTION_AND_VICTIM_TIPS. shtml), Identity Theft Resource Center Fact Sheet 117 Identity Theft and the Deceased - Prevention and Victim Tips. [16] Identity Theft Protection Services (http:/ / www. nextadvisor. com/ identity_theft_protection_services/ compare. php) retrieved on 2008-12-16 [17] Identity-Theft Protection: What Services Can You Trust? (http:/ / www. pcworld. com/ article/ 145077/ identitytheft_protection_what_services_can_you_trust. html) PC World.com, retrieved on 2008-12-16 [18] Testimony before the Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information (http:/ / www. ftc. gov/ os/ 1998/ 05/ identhef. htm), Committee of the Judiciary, United States Senate May 20, 1998 pp 5,6 [19] A Chronology of Data Breaches (http:/ / www. privacyrights. org/ ar/ ChronDataBreaches. htm) [20] Internet Identity Theft - A Tragedy for Victims (http:/ / www. siia. net/ software/ pubs/ iit-00. pdf), Software and Information Industry Association. Retrieved June 30, 2006. [21] Journaldunet.com (http:/ / www. journaldunet. com/ juridique/ juridique040309. shtml) [22] The Information Technology Act 2000 (http:/ / nicca. nic. in/ pdf/ itact2000. pdf) [23] R v Seward (2005) EWCA Crim 1941 (http:/ / www. bailii. org/ ew/ cases/ EWCA/ Crim/ 2005/ 1941. html) [24] Government Bodies Must Play Their Part in Securing Against Identity Theft (http:/ / www. infocycle. co. uk/ index. php?option=com_content& task=view& id=43& Itemid=43) [25] UK Fraud Prevention Agency Say ID Theft Increase of 32% in 2009 (http:/ / id-theft-uk. blogspot. com/ 2010/ 02/ uk-fraud-prevention-agency-say-id-theft. html), Identity Theft UK Blog, 3 February 2010 [26] FTC.gov (http:/ / www. ftc. gov/ os/ statutes/ itada/ itadact. htm), Public Law 105-318, 112 Stat. 3007 (Oct. 30, 1998) [27] Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission on "Identity Theft" (http:/ / www. ftc. gov/ os/ 1998/ 05/ identhef. htm), May 20, 1998 [28] http:/ / www. law. cornell. edu/ uscode/ uscode18/ usc_sec_18_00001028---A000-. html [29] http:/ / www. law. cornell. edu/ uscode/ 18/ 1028. html [30] Federal Trade Commission (http:/ / www. consumer. gov/ idtheft/ ). Retrieved June 30, 2006. [31] Michael,Sara "Getting Red Flag Ready" (http:/ / www. physicianspractice. com/ index/ fuseaction/ newsletterArticles. view/ articleID/ 87. htm) PhysiciansPractice.com, 2009-05-21. Retrieved July 2, 2009. [32] 72 Fed. Reg. 70944 (http:/ / www. ftc. gov/ os/ fedreg/ 2007/ december/ 071213factafurnisheraccuracy. pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 2008-01-29.

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Identity theft [33] Law Enforcement 1 January 1 December 31, 2001 (http:/ / www. ftc. gov/ b/ edu/ microsites/ idtheft/ s/ clearinghouse_2006. pdf) [34] FTC-Synovate Rep Final 26Aug.PDF (http:/ / www. ftc. gov/ b/ edu/ microsites/ idtheft/ s/ synovate_report. pdf) [35] Federal Trade Commission: 2006 Identity Theft Survey Report: Prepared for the Commission by Synovate (November 2007) (http:/ / www. ftc. gov/ os/ 2007/ 11/ SynovateFinalReportIDTheft2006. pdf) [36] FTC.gov (http:/ / www. ftc. gov/ opa/ 2003/ 09/ idtheft. shtm), releases Survey of Identity Theft in U.S. 27.3 Million Victims in past 5 Years, Billions in Losses for Businesses and Consumers [37] 8.3 Million Identity Theft Victims, Start Shredding (http:/ / blog. monomachines. com/ 2008/ 05/ identity-theft-93-million/ ); MonoMachines.com Retrieved 2008-06-19. [38] Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book (http:/ / www. ftc. gov/ sentinel/ reports/ sentinel-annual-reports/ sentinel-cy2008. pdf) (PDF), Federal Trade Commission [39] California Office of Identity Protection (http:/ / www. privacyprotection. ca. gov/ ) [40] Wisconsin's Office of Privacy Protection (http:/ / privacy. wi. gov/ ) [41] "Consumer Identity Theft" (http:/ / www. mass. gov/ ?pageID=ocatopic& L=3& L0=Home& L1=Consumer& L2=Identity+ Theft& sid=Eoca). Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2010 [42] "Frequently Asked Question Regarding 201 CMR 17.00" (http:/ / www. mass. gov/ Eoca/ docs/ idtheft/ 201CMR17faqs. pdf), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, November 3, 2009 [43] States Offer Data Breach Protection (http:/ / www. naag. org/ states-offer-data-breach-protection. php), NAAG [44] IDtheftcenter.org (http:/ / www. idtheftcenter. org) [45] Verbal Testimony by Michelle Brown (http:/ / www. privacyrights. org/ cases/ victim9. htm), July 2000, U.S. Senate Committee Hearing on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information – "Identity Theft: How to Protect and Restore Your Good Name" [46] Identity Crime Research and Coordination (http:/ / www. ar. gov. au/ research_idcrime. asp), Australasian Center for Policing Research. Retrieved June 30, 2006. [47] Home Office (May 26, 2004). "What is Identity theft?" (http:/ / www. identitytheft. org. uk/ ). identitytheft.co.uk. . Retrieved September 27, 2010. [48] "Free help, tips and advice on avoiding and dealing with Identity Theft" (http:/ / identity-theft. weebly. com/ what-is-it. html). identity-theft.weebly.com. . [49] Bruce Schneier. "Identity Theft Over-Reported" (http:/ / www. schneier. com/ blog/ archives/ 2005/ 11/ identity_theft. html). . Retrieved June 30, 2006. [50] Pintér Róbert (2007), D5.2c: Identity related crime in the world of films (http:/ / www. fidis. net/ resources/ deliverables/ forensic-implications/ #c1774), FIDIS deliverable Del 5.2 [51] IMDb: Identity Theft: The Michelle Brown Story (2004) (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0430211/ ) [52] The Day of the Jackal

External links • The New Era of Identity Theft (http://www.criminal-justice-careers.com/crime/id-theft.html)–[Criminal Justice Resources] • Identity theft (http://www.ftc.gov/b/edu/microsites/idtheft/) – United States Federal Trade Commission • The President’s Task Force on Identity Theft (http://www.idtheft.gov) – a government task force established by US President George W. Bush to fight identity theft. • Identity theft (http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Crime/Theft/Identity_Theft/) at the Open Directory Project • Identity Theft (http://www.mysecurecyberspace.org/encyclopedia/index/identity-theft.html#msc. encyclopedia.identitytheft) – Carnegie Mellon University • Identity Theft: A Research Review, National Institute of Justice 2007 (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/ crime/id-theft/welcome.htm) • Identity Theft and Fraud (http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/websites/idtheft.html) – United States Department of Justice • Get ID Smart (http://www.getidsmart.com/) 'Public service site offering free prevention tips' • Dateline NBC investigation (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17805134/) 'To Catch an ID Thief' • able identity theft curriculum for educators (http://incredibleinternet.com/identity-theft/ id-theft-curriculum) • "Transcript of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras Announcing the Release of the President's Identity Theft Task Force" (http://web.archive.org/web/20070911112747/http://

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Identity theft www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2007/ag_speech_0704231.html). US Department of Justice. April 23, 2007. Archived from the original (http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2007/ag_speech_0704231.html) on September 11, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-24. • ID Theft Prevention: Nine Ways to Protect Yourself (http://www.creditlearningcenter.com/ ID-Theft-Prevention/Nine-Ways-to-Protect-Yourself-from-Identity-Theft.html)

Money laundering Money laundering is generally regarded as the practice of engaging in financial transactions to conceal the identity, source, and/or destination of illegally gained money by which the proceeds of crime are converted into assets which appear to have a legitimate origin. In the United Kingdom the statutory definition is wider.[1] It is common to refer to money legally obtained as “clean”, and money illegally obtained as “dirty”. Money laundering occurs over a period of three steps: the first involves the physical distribution of the cash (“placement”), the second involves carrying out complex financial transactions in order to camouflage the illegal source (“layering”), and the final step entails acquiring wealth generated from the transactions of the illicit funds (“integration”). In the past, the term money laundering was applied only to financial transactions related to organized crime. Today its definition is often expanded by government and international regulators such as the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to mean any financial transaction which generates an asset or a value as the result of an illegal act, which may involve actions such as tax evasion or false ing. In the UK, it does not even need to involve money, but any economic good. Courts involve money laundering committed by private individuals, drug dealers, businesses, corrupt officials, of criminal organizations such as the Mafia, and even states. As financial crime has become more complex, and "Financial Intelligence" (FININT) has become more recognized in combating international crime and terrorism, money laundering has become more prominent in political, economic, and legal debate. Money laundering is ipso facto illegal; the acts generating the money almost always are themselves criminal in some way (for if not, the money would not need to be laundered).

Cashing up A business taking large amounts of small change each week (e.g. a convenience store) needs to deposit that money in a bank. If its deposits vary greatly for no obvious reason this can draw suspicion; but if the transactions are regular and roughly the same the suspicion is easily discounted. This is the basis of all money laundering, a track record of depositing clean money before slipping through dirty money. In the United states for example, cash transactions and deposits of more than $10,000 must be reported by the cashier (the bank etc.) as "significant cash transactions" to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network FinCEN, with any other suspicious financial activity identified as "suspicious activity reports" In other jurisdictions suspicion-based requirements may be placed on financial services employees and firms to report any suspicious activity to the authorities.

Captive business Another method is to start a business whose cash inflow cannot be monitored, and funnel the small change into it and pay taxes on it. But all bank employees are trained to be constantly on the lookout for transactions that seem to be trying to get around reporting requirements. To avoid suspicion, shell companies should deal directly with the public, perform some service (not provide physical goods), and have a business that reasonably would accept cash as a matter of course. Dealing directly with the public in cash gives a plausible reason for not having a record of customers. For example, a hairstylist is paid in cash, and even if she knows her customers' names, she does not know their bank details. A record of a haircut must ostensibly be accepted as prima facie evidence. Service businesses have

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Money laundering the advantage of the anonymity of resources—but the disadvantage that they must deal in cash. A business that sells computers has to for the computers, whereas the hairstylist does not have to produce the cut hair, but the receipt for the computer, even if inflated, exists—that for the haircut probably does not. It is of course also possible to invent customers, purely for the purpose of accepting money from them.

Structuring In structuring, (also known as "smurfing"), money is put into the licit economy in such a way as to avoid legal record keeping and reporting requirements. For example: deposits of less than $10,000 (anything over that amount would require a report to be filed with the IRS) are made into multiple bank s that are then withdrawn after a sufficient amount of time has ed to avoid suspicion.

Legislation Many jurisdictions adopt a list of specific predicate crimes for money laundering prosecutions as a "self launderer".

Bangladesh In Bangladesh, this issue has been dealt with by the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (Act No. VII of 2002). In of section 2, "Money Laundering means (a) Properties acquired or earned directly or indirectly through illegal means; (b) Illegal transfer, conversion, concealment of location or assistance in the above act of the properties acquired or earned directly of indirectly through legal or illegal means." In this Act, “Properties means movable or immovable properties of any nature and description”. To prevent these Illegal uses of money Bangladesh Govt. has introduced the Money Laundering Prevention Act. The Act was last amended in the year 2009 and all the Financial Institutes are following this act. Till today there are 26 Circulars issued by Bangladesh Bank under this act. To prevent Money laundering a banker must do the following: While opening a new , the opening form should be duly filled up by all the information of the Customer. The KYC has to be properly filled up The TP (Transaction Profile) is mandatory for a client to understand his/her transactions. If needed, the TP has to be updated at the Client’s consent. All other necessary papers should be properly collected along with the Voter ID card. If there is any suspicious transaction is notified, the BAMLCO (Branch Anti Money Laundering Compliance Officer) has to be notified and accordingly the STR (Suspicious Transaction Report) reporting has to be done. The Cash department should be aware of the Transactions. It has to be noted if suddenly a big amount of money is deposited in any . Proper documents will be required if any Client does this type of transaction. Structuring, over/ under Invoicing is another way to do Money Laundering. The Foreign Exchange Department should look into this matter cautiously. If in any there is a transaction exceeding 7.00 lac in a single day that has to be reported as CTR (cash Transaction report) All the Bank Officials must go through all the 26 Circulars and must use in doing the Banking.

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Canada The National Initiative to Combat Money Laundering, with the involvement of the Solicitor General of Canada, the RCMP, Justice Canada, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, and, Citizenship and Immigration, began operation in 1998.

India The Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 came into effect on 1 July 2005. Section 3 of the Act makes the offense of money-laundering cover those persons or entities who directly or indirectly attempt to indulge or knowingly assist or knowingly are party or are actually involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime and projecting it as untainted property, such person or entity shall be guilty of offense of money-laundering. Section 4 of the Act prescribes punishment for money-laundering with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to five lakh rupees and for the offences mentioned [elsewhere] the punishment shall be up to ten years. Section 12 (1) prescribes the obligations on banks, financial institutions and intermediaries (a) to maintain records detailing the nature and value of transactions which may be prescribed, whether such transactions comprise of a single transaction or a series of transactions integrally connected to each other, and where such series of transactions take place within a month; (b) to furnish information of transactions referred to in clause (a) to the Director within such time as may be prescribed and t records of the identity of all its clients. Section 12 (2) prescribes that the records referred to in sub-section (1) as mentioned above, must be maintained for ten years after the transactions finished. The provisions of the Act are frequently reviewed and various amendments have been ed from time to time. The recent activity in money laundering in India is through political parties corporate companies and share market.

United Kingdom Money laundering and terrorist funding legislation in the UK is governed by four Acts of primary legislation:• • • •

Terrorism Act 2000[2] Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001[3] Proceeds of Crime Act 2002[4] Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005[5]

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 contains the primary UK anti-money laundering legislation,[6] including provisions requiring businesses within the 'regulated sector' (banking, investment, money transmission, certain professions, etc.) to report to the authorities suspicions of money laundering by customers or others.[7] Money laundering is widely defined in the UK.[8] In effect any handling or involvement with any proceeds of any crime (or monies or assets representing the proceeds of crime) can be a money laundering offence. An offender's possession of the proceeds of his own crime falls within the UK definition of money laundering.[9] The definition also covers activities which would fall within the traditional definition of money laundering as a process by which proceeds of crime are concealed or disguised so that they may be made to appear to be of legitimate origin.[10] Unlike certain other jurisdictions (notably the USA and much of Europe), UK money laundering offences are not limited to the proceeds of serious crimes, nor are there any monetary limits, nor is there any necessity for there to be a money laundering design or purpose to an action for it to amount to a money laundering offence. A money laundering offence under UK legislation need not involve money, since the money laundering legislation covers assets of any description. In consequence any person who commits an acquisitive crime (i.e. one from which he obtains some benefit in the form of money or an asset of any description) in the UK will inevitably also commit a money laundering offence under UK legislation.

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Money laundering This applies also to a person who, by criminal conduct, evades a liability (such as a taxation liability) - referred to by lawyers as "obtaining a pecuniary advantage" - as he is deemed thereby to obtain a sum of money equal in value to the liability evaded.[8] The principal money laundering offences carry a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment.[11] Secondary regulation is provided by the Money Laundering Regulations 2003[12] and 2007[13] One consequence of the Act is that solicitors, ants, and insolvency practitioners who suspect (as a consequence of information received in the course of their work) that their clients (or others) have engaged in tax evasion or other criminal conduct from which a benefit has been obtained, are now required to report their suspicions to the authorities (since these entail suspicions of money laundering). In most circumstances it would be an offence, 'tipping-off', for the reporter to inform the subject of his report that a report has been made.[14] These provisions do not however require disclosure to the authorities of information received by certain professionals in privileged circumstances or where the information is subject to legal professional privilege. Professional guidance (which is submitted to and approved by the UK Treasury) is provided by industry groups including the t Money Laundering Steering Group[15] and the Law Society.[16] However there is no obligation on banking institutions to routinely report monetary deposits or transfers above a specified value. Instead reports have to be made of all suspicious deposits or transfers, irrespective of their value. The reporting obligations include reporting suspicions relating to gains from conduct carried out in other countries which would be criminal if it took place in the UK.[17] Exceptions were later added to exempt certain activities which were legal in the location where they took place, such as bullfighting in Spain.[18] There are more than 200,000 reports of suspected money laundering submitted annually to the authorities in the UK (there were 240,582 reports in the year ended 30 September 2010 - an increase from the 228,834 reports submitted in the previous year[19] ). Most of these reports are submitted by banks and similar financial institutions (there were 186,897 reports from the banking sector in the year ended 30 September 2010[20] ). Although 5,108 different organisations submitted suspicious activity reports to the authorities in the year ended 30 September 2010 just four organisations submitted approximately half of all reports, and the top 20 reporting organisations ed for three-quarters of all reports.[21] The offence of failing to report a suspicion of money laundering by another person carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment.[11] Bureaux de change All UK Bureaux de change are ed with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs which issues a trading licence for each location. Bureaux de change and money transmitters, such as Western Union outlets, in the UK fall within the 'regulated sector' and are required to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.[13] Checks can be carried out by HMRC on all Money Service Businesses.

United States In U.S. law, "reasonably accepting cash" means the business must regularly perform services that on average are less than $500 each. It is assumed that above that amount most people pay with a check, a credit card, or another (traceable) payment method. The company should actually function on a legitimate level. In the hairstyler example, it is perfectly reasonable for a lot of the business to involve mostly labour (dyes and machine oil and so forth being relatively small concerns), and for most transactions to be settled in cash. But it is unreasonable for all of the business to work without parts and just on cash. So the legitimate business will generate a legitimate (if low) level of parts use, and enough traceable transactions to mask the illegitimate ones. Anti-money laundering (AML/CFT) laws typically have other offences such as "tipping off (warning)", "willful blindness", "not reporting suspicious activity", "conscious facilitation of a money launderer", "assisting a terrorist

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Money laundering financier with moving terrorist financing". The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 requires banks to report cash transactions of $10,000.01 or more. The Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 further defined money laundering as a federal crime. The U.S.A PATRIOT Act of 2001 expanded the scope of prior laws to more types of financial institutions, and added a focus on terrorist financing, specifying that financial institutions take specific actions to "know your customer" (KYC). In the United States, Federal law provides: "Whoever ... knowing[ly] ... conducts or attempts to conduct ... a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity ... with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity ... shall be sentenced to a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater, or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both. While money laundering typically involves the flow of "dirty money" (criminal proceeds) into a clean bank or negotiable instrument, terrorist financing frequently involves the reverse flow: apparently clean funds converted to "dirty" purposes. A hawala may launder drug proceeds and help fund a terrorist, netting the incoming and outgoing funds with only occasional small net settlement transactions. NASA case From 1992 to 1996 a nine-agency Federal Task Force investigation led by NASA's Office of Inspector General investigated Omniplan Corporation of Houston and California. It became the largest count indictment and conviction in NASA history, with the owner of Omniplan, Ralph Montijo, being convicted of 179 felonies in his multi-million dollar embezzlement scheme. Five of his companies were also convicted of felonies, they were, Omniplan, Papa Primo's of Texas, Papa Primo's of Arizona, Omnipoint Production Services and Mercury Trust. These companies, together with two unincorporated companies, Space Industries Leasing and Space Industries Properties were liquidated. Each embezzlement count was associated with a corresponding money laundering count which resulted in dozens of convictions for money laundering. In a New York Times story, NASA Office of Inspector General Senior Special Agent Joseph Gutheinz, who led the Omniplan investigation, said "We didn't get any pizzas, but we got the bills", referring to the fact that some of the alleged mischarging to the NASA contract also involved costs associated with two of Ralph Montijo's pizza companies, Papa Primo's of Texas, and Papa Primo's of Arizona. Laundered or not? Money obtained by an illegal action is not, of itself, laundered money in most jurisdictions (an exception being the United Kingdom where mere possession of the proceeds of any crime is itself capable of being a money laundering offence[9] ). The laundering offence comes from the attempt to conceal its source, not because the transaction was itself illegal (which is a separate offence). The Supreme Court of the United States on June 2, 2008, rendered two judgments in favour of defendants, narrowing the application of the federal money-laundering statute. In a unanimous opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Court reversed Acuna, Mexico's Humberto Cuellar's conviction and ruled that "hiding $81,000 in cash under the floorboard of a car and driving toward Mexico is not enough to prove the driver was guilty of money laundering; instead, prosecutors must also prove the driver was traveling to Mexico for the purpose of hiding the true source of the funds." That is, the prosecution had not made its prima facie case. The Court further ruled "that federal prosecutors have gone too far in their use of money laundering charges to combat drug traffickers and organized crime; that money laundering charges under the Money Laundering Control Act of 198, Sec. 18 U.S.C. § 1956 [22](a)(2)(B)(i) apply only to profits of an illegal gambling ring and cannot be used when the only evidence of a possible crime is when a courier headed to the Texas-Mexico border with $81,000 in cash proceeds of a cannabis transaction; it cannot be proven merely by showing that the funds were concealed in a secret compartment of a Volkswagen Beetle; instead, prosecutors must show that the purpose of transporting funds in a money laundering case was to conceal their ownership, source or control; the

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Money laundering secrecy must be part of a larger design to disguise the source or nature of the money." Later, in a divided decision, the Court reversed the convictions of Efrain Santos of Indiana and Benedicto Diaz for money laundering based on cash from an illegal lottery. In the plurality opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the law referred to the "proceeds of some form of unlawful activity; paying off gambling winners and compensating employees who collect the bets don't qualify as money laundering; the word “proceeds” in the federal money-laundering statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1956 [22], and §1956(a)(1)(A)(i) and §1956(h), applies only to transactions involving criminal profits, not criminal receipts; those are expenses, and prosecutors must show that profits were used to promote the illegal activity." Congress clarified the meaning of the statute in the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, defining proceeds explicitly to include both profits and gross receipts. Congress enacted the 1986 statute after the President's Commission on Organized Crime stressed the problem of "washing" criminal proceeds through overseas bank s and legitimate businesses. It imposes a 20-year maximum prison term.

Fighting money laundering The first defense against money laundering is the requirement on financial intermediaries to know their customers—often termed KYC know your customer requirements. Knowing one's customers, financial intermediaries will often be able to identify unusual or suspicious behavior, including false identities, unusual transactions, changing behaviour, or other indicators of laundering. But for institutions with millions of customers and thousands of customer- employees, traditional ways of knowing their customers must be supplemented by technology. Many Companies provide software and databases to help perform these processes. Bank and corporate security directors can also play an important role in fighting money laundering.

Using information technology Information technology can never be a replacement for a well-trained investigator, but as money laundering techniques become more sophisticated, so too does the technology used to fight it. Before anti-money laundering programs became commonplace, in the U.S. the Bank Secrecy Act required financial institutions to file Currency Transaction Reports for cash transactions of more than $10,000. These CTRs prove invaluable for investigators, but money launderers began to structure their transactions to avoid the reporting requirements. As a result, the U.S. ed laws against structuring transactions to avoid the reporting requirements, and most structuring would trigger a Suspicious Activity Report by the financial institution. The various software packages are capable of name analysis, rule-based systems, statistical and profiling engines, neural networks, link analysis, peer group analysis, and time sequence matching. Also, there are specific KYC solutions that offer case-based documentation acceptance and rectification, as well as automatic risk scoring of the customer taking of country, business, entity, product, transaction risks that can be reviewed intelligently. Other elements of AML technology include portals to share knowledge and e-learning for training and awareness. This software is not used exclusively to track money laundering, but more often the common theft of credit cards or bank details. Unusual activity on an may trigger a call from the card issuer to make sure it has not been misused. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network FinCEN is an organization created by the United States Department of the Treasury. FinCEN receives Suspicious Activity Reports from financial institutions, analyses them, and shares their data with U.S. law enforcement agencies and Financial Intelligence Units FIUs of other countries. One of its strategic goals is to improve information-sharing through eGovernment. It offers training and advice to organizations of foreign governments to help improve the efficacy of their own anti-money laundering programs.

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Anti-money laundering (AML) software Anti-money laundering (AML) software is a type of computer program used by financial institutions to analyze customer data and detect suspicious transactions. Anti-laundering systems filter customer data, classify it according to level of suspicion and inspect it for anomalies. Such anomalies would include any sudden and substantial increase in funds or a large withdrawal. In both the United States and Canada, all transactions of $10,000 or greater must be reported. Smaller transactions that meet certain criteria may be also be flagged as suspicious. For example, a person who wants to avoid detection will sometimes deposit a large sum as multiple smaller sums within a brief period of time. That practice, known as "structuring," will also lead to flagged transactions. The software flags names that have been blacklisted and transactions involving countries that are thought to be hostile to the host nation. Once the software has mined data and flagged suspect transactions, it generates a report. Important aspects of AML software:• • • • •

Suspicious Activity Detection Know Your Customer (KYC) Management Caution / Watch List Management & Checking Of Customers / Prospects Customer Risk Categorization Link Tracing

• • • •

Large Cash Transaction Reporting Regulatory Reporting KPI / KRI Dashboards for Chief Compliance Officers Online AML and List Check for Remittance Transactions

9/11 and the international response to the underground economy After September 11, 2001, money laundering became a major concern of the United States' war on terror, although critics argue that it has become less and less important for the White House. Clearstream International, based in Luxembourg, was a central securities depository and clearing house, a "bank of banks" which practiced financial clearing and centralized debit and credit operations for hundreds of banks. It was accused of being a major operator of the underground economy via a system of unpublished s. Bahrain International Bank, owned by Osama bin Laden, would have profited from these transfer facilities.[23] The scandal prompted André Lussi, Clearstream's CEO, to resign on 31 December 2001; several judicial investigations were opened and the European Commission was interpelled by of the European Parliament (MEPs) Harlem Désir, Glyn Ford, and Francis Wurtz, who asked the Commission to investigate the accusations and to ensure that the 10 June 1990 directive (91/308 CE) on control of financial establishment was applied in all member states, including Luxembourg, effectively.[24] The international response to the underground economy has been coordinated by the [25] "FATF" (also known by its French acronym of "GAFI"), whose original 40 principles form the basis of most international responses to money laundering. A further 8 principles, designed to counteract funding to terrorist organisations, were added on 30 June 2003, in response to the 9/11, with another added 22 October 2004, to form what are now known as the [26] (AML/CFT). Compliance with these principles, or at least a move towards them, is now seen as a requirement of an internationally active bank or other financial service entity.

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FATF: Financial Action Task Force against Money Laundering Formed in 1989 by the G7 countries, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) is an intergovernmental body whose purpose is to develop and promote an international response to combat money laundering. In October 2001, FATF expanded its mission to include combating the financing of terrorism. FATF is a policy-making body, which brings together legal, financial and law enforcement experts to achieve national legislation and regulatory AML and CFT reforms. Currently, its hip consists of 31 countries and territories and two regional organizations. In addition, FATF works in collaboration with a number of international bodies and organizations. These entities have observer status with FATF, which does not entitle them to vote, but permits full participation in plenary sessions and working groups.

Amounts Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount of money laundered, either worldwide or within their national economy. A frequently cited figure is 2-5% of the worldwide global economy, stated by the IMF. But some academics note that such figures are usually simply "best guesses". In 1997 the FATF, an arm of the OECD set up to combat money laundering, frankly itted "the vast majority of FATF lack sufficient data to any credible estimate."[27] Although issions of that nature are no longer maintained, there is still a dearth of data on the actual amounts of money laundered worldwide. Some academic commentators have expressed real concerns about the reliability and basis of figures used by governmental and multinational organizations. It is always hard to find out real figures about illegal acts. We are faced with the problem that there has been little work to develop an objective academic analysis of the true extent of laundering, which means that we do not have a framework within which the appropriateness of legislative measures can be evaluated. Without this, it is difficult to challenge the 'alarmist' position of the authorities whereby such estimates have been put forward, quoted and repeated, becoming, through such repetition, seemingly established truths. It can be argued ... that global estimates are little more than informed guesses: "large numbers are frequently thrown around without serious " (Reuter and Truman, 2005, p.56), reproduced to the point at which they gain, through mere repetition, some form of reliable accuracy.[28]

References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Part 7 Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 "OPSI: Terrorism Act" (http:/ / www. opsi. gov. uk/ acts/ acts2000/ ukpga_20000011_en_1). . Retrieved 2009-02-14. "OPSI: Anti-Terrorist Crime & Security Act" (http:/ / www. opsi. gov. uk/ Acts/ acts2001/ ukpga_20010024_en_1). . Retrieved 2009-02-14. "OPSI: Proceeds of Crime Act" (http:/ / www. opsi. gov. uk/ acts/ acts2002/ ukpga_20020029_en_1). . Retrieved 2009-02-14. "OPSI: Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005" (http:/ / www. opsi. gov. uk/ acts/ acts2005/ ukpga_20050015_en_1). . Retrieved 2009-02-14. [6] Sections 327 - 340, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 [7] Section 330, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 [8] Section 340, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 [9] Section 329, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 [10] Section 327, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 [11] Section 334, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 [12] "OPSI: Money Laundering Regulations 2003" (http:/ / www. opsi. gov. uk/ si/ si2003/ 20033075. htm). . Retrieved 2009-02-14. [13] "OPSI: Money Laundering Regulations 2007" (http:/ / www. opsi. gov. uk/ si/ si2007/ uksi_20072157_en_1). . Retrieved 2009-02-14. [14] Section 333A, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 [15] "t Money Laundering Steering Group" (http:/ / www. jmlsg. org. uk/ bba/ jsp/ polopoly. jsp;jsessionid=aH1DPtXgUly-?d=749). . Retrieved 2009-02-14. [16] "Law Society AML Guidance" (http:/ / www. lawsociety. org. uk/ newsandevents/ news/ majorcampaigns/ view=newsarticle. law?CAMPAIGNSID=217590). . Retrieved 2009-02-14. [17] Section 340(2), Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 [18] David Winch, "Money Laundering Law Changes" (http:/ / www. ingevidence. com/ documents/ articles/ Money laundering law changes. pdf) (2006)

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Money laundering [19] 'The Suspicious Activity Reports Regime Annual Report 2010 published by SOCA [20] 'The Suspicious Activity Reports Regime Annual Report 2010 published by SOCA [21] 'The Suspicious Activity Reports Regime Annual Report 2010 published by SOCA [22] http:/ / www. law. cornell. edu/ uscode/ 18/ 1956. html [23] Lucy Komisar (October 4, 2001). "Tracking Terrorist Money - 'Too Hot for U.S. to handle?'" (http:/ / www. webcom. com/ hrin/ magazine/ money. html). Pacific News Service. . Retrieved February 2006. [24] (French) Official March 2000 French Parliamentary Report on the obstacles on the control and repression of financial criminal activity and of money-laundering in Europe (http:/ / www. assemblee-nationale. fr/ rap-info/ i2311-51. asp#P1089_155970) by French MPs Vincent Peillon and Arnaud Montebourg, third section on "Luxembourg's political dependency toward the financial sector: the Clearstream affair" (pp.83-111 on PDF version) [25] Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (http:/ / www. fatf-gafi. org) [26] "40 + 9" principles of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (http:/ / www. fatf-gafi. org/ dataoecd/ 7/ 40/ 34849567. PDF) [27] FATF 1997 report into global money laundering, page 3 [28] Harvey, Dr Jackie (June 2008). Money Laundering Bulletin.

• Anti money laundering software and methods (http://finance.vsoni.com/money-laundering-1)

External links • Money laundering (http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Crime/Research/Money_Laundering//) at the Open Directory Project • UNODC - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime - on money-laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/money-laundering/index.html)

Extortion Extortion, outwresting, and/or exaction is a criminal offense which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person(s), entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime groups. The actual obtainment of money or property is not required to commit the offense. Making a threat of violence which refers to a requirement of a payment of money or property to halt future violence is sufficient to commit the offense. Exaction refers not only to extortion or the unlawful demanding and obtaining of something through force,[1] but additionally, in its formal definition, means the infliction of something such as pain and suffering or making somebody endure something unpleasant.[2] In the United States, extortion may also be committed as a federal crime across a computer system, phone, by mail or in using any instrument of "interstate commerce". Extortion requires that the individual sent the message "willingly" and "knowingly" as elements of the crime. The message only has to be sent (but does not have to reach the intended recipient) to commit the crime of extortion. Extortion is distinguished from robbery. In "strong arm" robbery, the offender takes goods from the victim with use of immediate force. In "robbery" goods are taken or an attempt is made to take the goods against the will of another—with or without force. A bank robbery or extortion of a bank can be committed by a letter handed by the criminal to the teller. (Comedian Artie Lange was accused and charged with extortion after he handed a bank teller a note claiming he had a weapon and would use it if the bank did not give him $10,000 in unmarked bills; Lange later explains it was simply a joke to flirt with the bank teller and was released shortly after incarceration). In extortion, the victim is threatened to hand over goods, or else damage to their reputation or other harm or violence against them may occur. Under federal law extortion can be committed with or without the use of force and with or without the use of a weapon. A key difference is that extortion always involves a written or verbal threat whereas robbery can occur without any verbal or written threat (refer to U.S.C. 875 and U.S.C. 876).

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Extortion The term extortion is often used metaphorically to refer to usury or to price-gouging, though neither is legally considered extortion. It is also often used loosely to refer to everyday situations where one person feels indebted against their will, to another, in order to receive an essential service or avoid legal consequences. For example, certain lawsuits, fees for services such as banking, automobile insurance, gasoline prices, and even taxation, have all been labeled "legalized extortion" by people with various social or political beliefs. Neither extortion nor blackmail require a threat of a criminal act, such as violence, merely a threat used to elicit actions, money, or property from the object of the extortion. Such threats include the filing of reports (true or not) of criminal behavior to the police, revelation of damaging facts (such as pictures of the object of the extortion in a compromising position), etc.

References [1] Exaction - definition of exaction by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia (http:/ / www. thefreedictionary. com/ exaction) [2] "Exact definition - Dictionary - MSN Encarta" (http:/ / www. webcitation. org/ 5kwc1Rfdf). Archived from the original (http:/ / encarta. msn. com/ dictionary_1861609570/ exact. html) on 2009-10-31. .

External links • Legaltree (http://legaltree.ca/node/554), a Canadian legal portal, contains an article describing the elements of the offence of extortion under Canadian criminal law.

Hacker (computer security) In common usage, a hacker is a stereotypical person who breaks into computers and computer networks, either for profit or motivated by the challenge.[1] The subculture that has evolved around hackers is often referred to as the computer underground but is now an open community.[2] Other definitions of the word hacker exist that are not related to computer security. They are subject to the long standing hacker definition controversy about the true meaning of hacker. In this controversy, the term hacker is reclaimed by computer programmers who argue that someone breaking into computers is better called cracker,[3] not making a difference between computer criminals ("black hats") and computer security experts ("white hats"). Some white hat hackers claim that they also deserve the title hacker, and that only black hats should be called crackers. None of this controversy has gained any relevance in mainstream media, TV and movies, however.

History In today's society understanding the term "hacker" is complicated because it has many different definitions. The term can be traced back to MIT (Massachusetts Institute Technology). MIT was the first institution to offer a course in computer programming and computer science and it is here in 1960 where a group of MIT students taking a lab on artificial intelligence first coined this word. These students called themselves hackers because they were able to take programs and have them perform actions not intended for that program. “The term was developed on the basis of a practical joke and feeling of excitement because the team member would “hack away” at the keyboard hours at a time.” (Moore R., 2006).[4] Hacking developed alongside phone phreaking, a term referred to exploration of the phone network without authorization, and there has often been overlap between both technology and participants. The first recorded hack was accomplished by Joe Engressia also known as The Whistler. Engressia is known as the grandfather of phreaking. His hacking technique was that he could perfectly whistle a tone into a phone and make free call.[5] Bruce Sterling traces part of the roots of the computer underground to the Yippies, a 1960s counterculture movement which published the Technological Assistance Program (TAP) newsletter.[6] Other sources of early 1970s hacker culture

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Hacker (computer security) can be traced towards more beneficial forms of hacking, including MIT labs or the Homebrew Computer Club, which later resulted in such things as early personal computers or the open source movement.

Artifacts and customs The computer underground[1] is heavily dependent on technology. It has produced its own slang and various forms of unusual alphabet use, for example 1337speak. Writing programs and performing other activities to these views is referred to as hacktivism. Some go as far as seeing illegal cracking ethically justified for this goal; a common form is website defacement. The computer underground is frequently compared to the Wild West.[7] It is common among hackers to use aliases for the purpose of concealing identity, rather than revealing their real names.

Hacker groups and conventions The computer underground is ed by regular real-world gatherings called hacker conventions or "hacker cons". These drawn many people every year including SummerCon (Summer), DEF CON, HoHoCon (Christmas), ShmooCon (February), BlackHat, Hacker Halted, and H.O.P.E... In the early 1980s Hacker Groups became popular, Hacker groups provided access to information and resources, and a place to learn from other . Hackers could also gain credibility by being d with an elite group.[8]

Hacker attitudes Several subgroups of the computer underground with different attitudes and aims use different to demarcate themselves from each other, or try to exclude some specific group with which they do not agree. Eric S. Raymond (author of The New Hacker's Dictionary) advocates that of the computer underground should be called crackers. Yet, those people see themselves as hackers and even try to include the views of Raymond in what they see as one wider hacker culture, a view harshly rejected by Raymond himself. Instead of a hacker/cracker dichotomy, they give more emphasis to a spectrum of different categories, such as white hat, grey hat, black hat and script kiddie. In contrast to Raymond, they usually reserve the term cracker. According to (Clifford R.D. 2006) a cracker or cracking is to "gain unauthorized access to a computer in order to commit another crime such as destroying information contained in that system".[9] These subgroups may also be defined by the legal status of their activities.[10] White hat A white hat hacker breaks security for non-malicious reasons, for instance testing their own security system. This classification also includes individuals who perform penetration tests and vulnerability assessments within a contractual agreement. Often, this type of 'white hat' hacker is called an ethical hacker. The International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants, also known as the EC-Council [11] has developed certifications, courseware, classes, and online training covering the diverse arena of Ethical Hacking.[10] Black hat A black hat hacker, sometimes called a cracker, is someone who breaks computer security without authorization or uses technology (usually a computer, phone system or network) for malicious reasons such as vandalism, credit card fraud, identity theft, piracy, or other types of illegal activity.[10] [12] Grey hat A grey hat hacker is a combination of a Black Hat and a White Hat Hacker. A Grey Hat Hacker may surf the internet and hack into a computer system for the sole purpose of notifying the that their system has been hacked, for example. Then they may offer to repair their system for a small fee.[4] Elite hacker

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Hacker (computer security)

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A social status among hackers, elite is used to describe the most skilled. Newly discovered exploits will circulate among these hackers. Elite groups such as Masters of Deception conferred a kind of credibility on their .[13] :86,90,117 Elite (e.g. 31337) gives the term leet speak its name. Script kiddie A script kiddie is a non-expert who breaks into computer systems by using pre-packaged automated tools written by others, usually with little understanding of the underlying concept—hence the term script (i.e. a prearranged plan or set of activities) kiddie (i.e. kid, child—an individual lacking knowledge and experience, immature).[12] Neophyte A neophyte, "n00b", or "newbie" is someone who is new to hacking or phreaking and has almost no knowledge or experience of the workings of technology, and hacking.[4] Blue hat A blue hat hacker is someone outside computer security consulting firms who is used to bug test a system prior to its launch, looking for exploits so they can be closed. Microsoft also uses the term BlueHat [14] to represent a series of security briefing events.[15] [16] [17] Hacktivist A hacktivist is a hacker who utilizes technology to announce a social, ideological, religious, or political message. In general, most hacktivism involves website defacement or denial-of-service attacks. In more extreme cases, hacktivism is used as tool for cyberterrorism.

Attacks Computer security Secure operating systems Security architecture Security by design Secure coding Computer insecurity Vulnerability Social engineering Eavesdropping Exploits

Trojans Viruses and worms Denial of service

Payloads

Backdoors Rootkits Keyloggers

A typical approach in an attack on Internet-connected system is: 1. Network enumeration: Discovering information about the intended target. 2. Vulnerability analysis: Identifying potential ways of attack. 3. Exploitation: Attempting to compromise the system by employing the vulnerabilities found through the vulnerability analysis.[18] In order to do so, there are several recurring tools of the trade and techniques used by computer criminals and security experts.


Security exploits A security exploit is a prepared application that takes advantage of a known weakness. Common examples of security exploits are SQL injection, Cross Site Scripting and Cross Site Request Forgery which abuse security holes that may result from substandard programming practice. Other exploits would be able to be used through FTP, HTTP, PHP, SSH, Telnet and some web-pages. These are very common in website/domain hacking.

Techniques Vulnerability scanner A vulnerability scanner is a tool used to quickly check computers on a network for known weaknesses. Hackers also commonly use port scanners. These check to see which ports on a specified computer are "open" or available to access the computer, and sometimes will detect what program or service is listening on that port, and its version number. (Note that firewalls defend computers from intruders by limiting access to ports/machines both inbound and outbound, but can still be circumvented.) cracking cracking is the process of recovering s from data that has been stored in or transmitted by a computer system. A common approach is to repeatedly try guesses for the . Packet sniffer A packet sniffer is an application that captures data packets, which can be used to capture s and other data in transit over the network. Spoofing attack A spoofing attack involves one program, system, or website successfully masquerading as another by falsifying data and thereby being treated as a trusted system by a or another program. The purpose of this is usually to fool programs, systems, or s into revealing confidential information, such as names and s, to the attacker. Rootkit A rootkit is designed to conceal the compromise of a computer's security, and can represent any of a set of programs which work to subvert control of an operating system from its legitimate operators. Usually, a rootkit will obscure its installation and attempt to prevent its removal through a subversion of standard system security. Rootkits may include replacements for system binaries so that it becomes impossible for the legitimate to detect the presence of the intruder on the system by looking at process tables. Social engineering Social engineering is the art of getting persons to reveal sensitive information about a system. This is usually done by impersonating someone or by convincing people to believe you have permissions to obtain such information. Trojan horses A Trojan horse is a program which seems to be doing one thing, but is actually doing another. A trojan horse can be used to set up a back door in a computer system such that the intruder can gain access later. (The name refers to the horse from the Trojan War, with conceptually similar function of deceiving defenders into bringing an intruder inside.) Viruses A virus is a self-replicating program that spreads by inserting copies of itself into other executable code or documents. Therefore, a computer virus behaves in a way similar to a biological virus, which spreads by inserting itself into living cells.

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Hacker (computer security) While some are harmless or mere hoaxes most computer viruses are considered malicious. Worms Like a virus, a worm is also a self-replicating program. A worm differs from a virus in that it propagates through computer networks without intervention. Unlike a virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program. Many people conflate the "virus" and "worm", using them both to describe any self-propagating program. Key loggers A key logger is a tool designed to record ('log') every keystroke on an affected machine for later retrieval. Its purpose is usually to allow the of this tool to gain access to confidential information typed on the affected machine, such as a 's or other private data. Some key loggers uses virus-, trojan-, and rootkit-like methods to remain active and hidden. However, some key loggers are used in legitimate ways and sometimes to even enhance computer security. As an example, a business might have a key logger on a computer used at a point of sale and data collected by the key logger could be used for catching employee fraud.

Notable security hackers • Kevin Mitnick is a computer security consultant and author, formerly the most wanted computer criminal in United States history.[19] • Eric Corley (also known as Emmanuel Goldstein) is the long standing publisher of 2600: The Hacker Quarterly. He is also the founder of the H.O.P.E. conferences. He has been part of the hacker community since the late '70s. • Gordon Lyon, known by the handle Fyodor, authored the Nmap Security Scanner as well as many network security books and web sites. He is a founding member of the Honeynet Project and Vice President of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. • Solar Designer is the pseudonym of the founder of the Openwall Project. • Michał Zalewski (lcamtuf) is a prominent security researcher. • Gary McKinnon is a British hacker facing extradition to the United States to face charges of perpetrating what has been described as the "biggest military computer hack of all time".[20]

Hacking and the media Hacker magazines The most notable hacker-oriented magazine publications are Phrack, Hakin9 and 2600: The Hacker Quarterly. While the information contained in hacker magazines and ezines was often outdated, they improved the reputations of those who contributed by documenting their successes.[8]

Hackers in fiction Hackers often show an interest in fictional cyberpunk and cyberculture literature and movies. Absorption of fictional pseudonyms, symbols, values, and metaphors from these fictional works is very common. Books portraying hackers: • The cyberpunk novels of William Gibson — especially the Sprawl Trilogy — are very popular with hackers.[21] • Merlin, the protagonist of the second series in The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny is a young immmortal hacker-mage prince who has the ability to traverse shadow dimensions. • Hackers (short stories) • Snow Crash • Helba from the .hack manga and anime series. • Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

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• Rice Tea by Julien McArdle • Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson Films also portray hackers: • • • • • •

Cypher Tron WarGames The Matrix series Hackers Swordfish

• • • • • •

The Net The Net 2.0 Antitrust Enemy of the State Sneakers Untraceable

• • • • •

Firewall Die Hard "4": Live Free or Die Hard Eagle Eye Take Down Weird Science

• Pirates of silicon valley (related to hacker like Steve Jobs, not crackers)

Non-fiction books • • • • • • • •

Hacking: The Art of Exploitation, Second Edition by Jon Erickson The Hacker Crackdown The Art of Intrusion by Kevin D. Mitnick The Art of Deception by Kevin D. Mitnick Takedown The Hacker's Handbook The Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll Underground by Suelette Dreyfus

Fiction books • Ender's Game • Neuromancer • Evil Genius (novel)

References Taylor, 1999 Taylor, Paul A. (1999). Hackers. Routledge. ISBN 9780415180726. [1] Sterling, Bruce (1993). "Part 2(d)". The Hacker Crackdown. McLean, Virginia: IndyPublish.com. p. 61. ISBN 1-4043-0641-2. [2] Blomquist, Brian (May 29, 1999). " FBI's Web Site Socked as Hackers Target Feds (http:/ / archive. nypost. com/ a/ 475198)". New York Post. Retrieved on October 21, 2008. [3] S. Raymond, Eric. "Jargon File: Cracker" (http:/ / catb. org/ jargon/ html/ C/ cracker. html). . Retrieved 2010-05-08. "Coined ca. 1985 by hackers in defense against journalistic misuse of hacker" [4] Moore, Robert (2006). Cybercrime: Investigating High-Technology Computer Crime (1st ed.). Cincinnati, Ohio: Anderson Publishing. ISBN 9781593453039. [5] Kizza, Joseph M. (2005). Computer Network Security. New York, LLC: Springer-Verlag. [6] TAP Magazine Archive. http:/ / servv89pn0aj. sn. sourcedns. com/ ~gbpprorg/ 2600/ TAP/ [7] Tim Jordan, Paul A. Taylor (2004). Hacktivism and Cyberwars. Routledge. pp. 133–134. ISBN 9780415260039. "Wild West imagery has permeated discussions of cybercultures." [8] Thomas, Douglas. Hacker Culture. University of Minnesota Press. p. 90. ISBN 9780816633463. [9] Clifford, Ralph D. (2006). Cybercrime:The Investigation, Prosecution and Defense of a Computer-Related Crime Second Edition. Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press. [10] Wilhelm, Douglas. "2". Professional Penetration Testing. Syngress Press. pp. 503. ISBN 9781597494250. [11] http:/ / www. eccouncil. org/ [12] Andress, Mandy; Cox, Phil; Tittel, Ed. CIW Security Professional. New York, NY: Hungry Minds, Inc.. p. 10. ISBN 0764548220. [13] Thomas, Douglas (2002). Hacker Culture. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9780816633463. [14] http:/ / www. microsoft. com/ technet/ security/ bluehat/ default. mspx

Hacker (computer security) [15] "Blue hat hacker Definition" (http:/ / www. pcmag. com/ encyclopedia_term/ 0,2542,t=blue+ hat+ hacker& i=56321,00. asp). PC Magazine Encyclopedia. . Retrieved 31 May 2010. "A security professional invited by Microsoft to find vulnerabilities in Windows." [16] Fried, Ina (June 15, 2005). ""Blue Hat" summit meant to reveal ways of the other side" (http:/ / news. cnet. com/ Microsoft-meets-the-hackers/ 2009-1002_3-5747813. html). Microsoft meets the hackers. CNET News. . Retrieved 31 May 2010. [17] Markoff, John (October 17, 2005). "At Microsoft, Interlopers Sound Off on Security" (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2005/ 10/ 17/ technology/ 17hackers. html?pagewanted=1& _r=1). New York Times. . Retrieved 31 May 2010. [18] Hacking approach (http:/ / www. informit. com/ articles/ article. aspx?p=25916) [19] United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California (9 August 1999). "Kevin Mitnick sentenced to nearly four years in prison; computer hacker ordered to pay restitution ..." (http:/ / www. usdoj. gov/ criminal/ cybercrime/ mitnick. htm). Press release. . Retrieved 10 April 2010. [20] Boyd, Clark (30 July 2008). "Profile: Gary McKinnon" (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 2/ hi/ technology/ 4715612. stm). BBC News. . Retrieved 2008-11-15. [21] Staples, Brent (May 11, 2003). "A Prince of Cyberpunk Fiction Moves Into the Mainstream" (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2003/ 05/ 11/ opinion/ 11SUN3. html?ex=1367985600& en=9714db46bfff633a& ei=5007& partner=LAND). . Retrieved 2008-08-30. "Mr. Gibson's novels and short stories are worshiped by hackers"

Related literature • Kevin Beaver. Hacking For Dummies (http://books.google.com/books?id=ulZ7ln6ORBAC&lpg=PP1& ots=BbHPy4NvPN&dq=Kevin Beaver.Hacking For Dummies.&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false). ISBN 978-0764557842. • Richard Conway, Julian Cordingley. Code Hacking: A Developer's Guide to Network Security. ISBN 978-1584503149. • “Dot.Con: The Dangers of Cyber Crime and a Call for Proactive Solutions,” (http://www.idoub.com/doc/ 14361572/Dotcon-Dangers-of-Cybercrime-by-Johanna-Granville) by Johanna Granville, Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 49, no. 1. (Winter 2003), pp. 102–109. • Katie Hafner & John Markoff (1991). Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-68322-5. • David H. Freeman & Charles C. Mann (1997). @ Large: The Strange Case of the World's Biggest Internet Invasion. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-82464-7. • Suelette Dreyfus (1997). Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier. Mandarin. ISBN 1-86330-595-5. • Bill Apro & Graeme Hammond (2005). Hackers: The Hunt for Australia's Most Infamous Computer Cracker. Five Mile Press. ISBN 1-74124-722-5. • Stuart McClure, Joel Scambray & George Kurtz (1999). Hacking Exposed. Mcgraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-212127-0. • Michael Gregg (2006). Certfied Ethical Hacker. Pearson. ISBN 978-0789735317. • Clifford Stoll (1990). The Cuckoo's Egg. The Bodley Head Ltd. ISBN 0-370-31433-6.

External links • CNN Tech PCWorld Staff (November 2001). Timeline: A 40-year history of hacking from 1960 to 2001 (http:// archives.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/11/19/hack.history.idg/) • Discovery Channel Documentary. History of Hacking Documentary video (http://vodpod.com/watch/ 31369-discovery-channel-the-history-of-hacking-documentary)

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Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors Confidence trick Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=415713020 Contributors: 10lbs of potatoes, 16@r, 17helpmeout21, 4waldopepper, A. B., ARUNKUMAR P.R, Aatox, Abscissa, AbsolutDan, Acebrock, Active Banana, Adam Conover, Addled1, iral Norton, Ados, Aidyonline, Airplaneman, Alan Liefting, Alansohn, Albepang, Alec Tgint, Aleksandr Grigoryev, Alexius08, AlistairMcMillan, AllenHansen, Alpha Quadrant, Altenmann, Alvis, Amcfarlanee, Anabus, Anatolyb, AndarielHalo, AndreTorres95, Andycjp, Antonio ak57, Aosman, Apiroglu, Aravn, Argolin, Arienh4, Arloz, Armour Hotdog, Atomheart, Avengerx, Azhyd, Barefootguru, Bastique, Bdve, Bebop, Beland, Benji64, Bhadani, BigC9heese, BigCow, BillFlis, Binadot, Biruitorul, Black Falcon, BlongerBros, Bloodplace44, Bobjuch, Bobmack89x, Boccobrock, Bongwarrior, Bootleg42, Boredzo, Born2x, Bowlhover, BradBeattie, Bravo009, Brazzy, Brequinda, Brusk, BryanG, Btball, Bubba73, Bunco man, Butterboy, Bwithh, CNerd2025, CNichols, California-View, Caliga10, Calliopejen1, Caltas, Camus21, Camw, CapitalR, Carax, Cardshark, Cardsplayer4life, Carminetzato, Cassowary, Cavan, Ccacsmss, Ch604, Cham Zord, Chris 42, Chris the speller, Chrylis, Claude girardin, CliffC, Closedmouth, Cmdrjameson, Cobra libre, Coder Dan, Coewiddabikdik, Colipon, Comradeash, ConradPino, Corti, CovertS, Coyoteofftherez, Crazygoblin, Csawww, Cspalletta, Curps, Czolgolz, DJD, DO11.10, Damian Yerrick, Damian.kelleher, Daniel J. 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Article Sources and Contributors OllieFury, Parkwells, PatrickFisher, Paul A, Penbat, Piledhigheranddeeper, Plazak, Poeloq, Postdlf, Pseudo-Richard, , RepublicanJacobite, RexNL, Rich Farmbrough, Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ), Roswell native, Roundhouse0, Ryan946, Samtheboy, Scwlong, SigPig, SirFozzie, Skookum1, Skrapion, Skysmith, SlamDiego, Slinga, SmartGuy, Steampowered, Struway, StudierMalMarburg, Sunderland06, Svetovid, Tedder, Teethmonkey, The Rambling Man, Thermaland, UnitedStatesian, Varlaam, Watchingthevitalsigns, Will Beback, Wizardman, Woohookitty, Ye Olde Luke, Yksin, Zero Gravitas, Zé da Silva, 240 anonymous edits Franchise fraud Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=413771774 Contributors: Bearcat, CliffC, DozenAttempts, Gene93k, John of Reading, Materialscientist, Nothingofwater, Rjwilmsi, Ron Ritzman, Uncle G, Wuhwuzdat, 8 anonymous edits White-collar crime Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=414270508 Contributors: .Absolution., Abc518, 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Article Sources and Contributors Tomheinan, Tommy2010, Tony1, TonyW, Tpbradbury, Travelbird, Tregoweth, Treisijs, Tuntable, Twat1234567890, TwilligToves, Tylerwillis, Unixslug, Vald, Veinor, Versus22, Vikreykja, Vindi293, Vineetcoolguy, Vsmith, Vuo, Wavelength, Wayward, Webrunner69, WhisperToMe, Whittlepedia, Who, WikHead, Wiki alf, WikiLaurent, Wikibob, Wildwik, William Avery, Wiseguy2tri, Wocky, WolfmanSF, Wpedzich, Wrs1864, X!, Xp54321, YetAnotherAuthor, Yngvarr, YourEyesOnly, Yuhaian, Z10x, ZEUHUD, Zap Rowsdower, ZeWrestler, Zgadot, Zhen-Xjell, Zigamorph, Ziva 89, Zoicon5, ZonedoutWeb, Zragon, Zyschqual, Zzuuzz, Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason, ‫א רמות‬., 에멜무지로, 1824 anonymous edits Penetration test Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=414623378 Contributors: 2mcm, Aapo Laitinen, Adfectio, Ajcblyth, Alejos, AlistairMcMillan, AllanBz, Amalas, Ankit bond2005, Atlant, Beland, Bobrayner, Bulzeeb, C. 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Zephyrad, Zragon, 1128 anonymous edits Pig in a poke Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=408111821 Contributors: 6birc, Aldaron, Altenmann, Alygator, Arohemq, Ataru, Badger Drink, BiT, BigHaz, Blahblah, Bongomatic, Carnildo, ClaesWallin, Colin Kimbrell, Dan.Armstrong, Dismas, Eixo, Eleassar, Emberstrife, Emcmanus, Espoo, Everyking, George6996, GregorB, IByte, Invertzoo, John M Baker, Joriki, Jpetrov, Kansoku, Kanuk2001, Kivima1, Krun, LilHelpa, Lohengrin1991, Male1979, Matthew Platts, McGeddon, Michae2109, Mnemo, Nikola Smolenski, OwenBlacker, Pboy2k5, Pedant, Penbat, Petri Krohn, Phydeaux, Piledhigheranddeeper, PillowCaseLaw, RagingR2, Rantamm, Rjwilmsi, Rubensni, Rugops, Toon81, Vrenator, Waltloc, Woohookitty, Wwitb, 77 anonymous edits Thai gem scam Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=392463160 Contributors: (aeropagitica), Acentam, Ahoerstemeier, Alucard (Dr.), Blaxthos, Born2x, Bubbha, Bz2, Calliopejen1, Chl, CorbinSimpson, Dasani, Dominus, Doseiai2, Drewshaker, Fourohfour, Galaxiaad, Jaeryn, Kjkolb, Longhair, Malaysiacapitalist, Matthew Platts, Modster, Paul 012, Penbat, Rhrad, Vegaswikian, Vuo, WhisperToMe, Woohookitty, Zragon, 26 anonymous edits White van speaker scam Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=415627640 Contributors: 12b3, Adamsyd83, AdjustShift, Advanced Information, Aef123, Aitias, AjSC1976, Alanhenning, Alexdi, Alvis, Amalthea, Amritesh Kala, Animum, Anna Lincoln, Armenia1915, Ataru, Audiopimp, Awiseman, AznBurger, Badger Drink, Belg4mit, Bingobangobongoboo, Binksternet, Bjdehut, Blabag, Blah28948, Bloodshedder, Bongwarrior, Brick Thrower, Bsadowski1, Calgary, Catgut, Causa sui, Chaparyan, Chris radcliff, Chrisnel, Clemcheng, Closedmouth, CobraBK, ContiAWB, Cormacmccoy, Ctjf83, DJ Clayworth, DanMS, Davewho2, Deconstructhis, Denmarkaudio, Dffgd, Dismas, Dominus, , Drmchsr, Dudeyowuzup, E-Kartoffel, Echuck215, Emoxley, Falcon8765, Faradayplank, Fjsjfgsfgsgsg, Foetusized, Gaelen S., Galaxiaad, Genius101, 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Article Sources and Contributors Kaszeta, Kesac, Kittybrewster, Kubigula, Lexistaylor, Macktheknight, Marcwiki75, Martin451, Matthewhardy86, McGeddon, MeltBanana, Mrand, Neelix, Netsnipe, Nhra428, Nil Einne, Nobull1, NotAnonymous0, Nroper17, Obesa, Oceanrider2003, Olinross, Oneiros, OverlordQ, Paulie420, Pbwiki101, Penbat, Pfredd, Piercejenn, PrestonH, QueenCake, RJaguar3, Ramaramarama1112, RaymondHeng, Recognizance, Remarkable53, Rhrad, Rich Farmbrough, RobertMfromLI, Rrburke, Sanbeg, Scrawlspacer, Seaphoto, Seba5618, Seth slackware, Smith Jones, Snigbrook, Springnuts, StaticGull, Stinkyloot138, Suprwhtboy, Swedhombre, Sylvene, Tabletop, Tacoekkel, Tanthalas39, Thumperward, Tktktk, Toptechn007, Tsani WPB, Tubeyes, Tumeke1234, VMS Mosaic, Valhallasw, Versageek, Versus22, Vossman, WikiDropper, Wikimelbourne2006, Wjhonson, Woohookitty, Wvs479, Xiong Chiamiov, 509 anonymous edits Badger game Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=390960352 Contributors: A dingo2000, ACSE, Alvis, Ataru, Brian Kendig, Bushwacka1973, Classicrockfan42, Cosiosco, DagErlingSmørgrav, Dale Arnett, David Gerard, Dethme0w, Dismas, DocWatson42, ElectricSkrill, Graham1973, Great Scott, Hellno2, Hu, Karada, Longhair, NuclearWarfare, Penbat, Psiphiorg, Rjwilmsi, Sambc, Septemberfourth476, Sjc, Smart guy39, SohanDsouza, Struway, Tamfang, The Anome, The Epopt, TheIncredibleEdibleOompaLoompa, Tyciol, UltimatePyro, Whouk, 39 anonymous edits Clip t Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=381229379 Contributors: 28bytes, Able Clerk, Ataru, Beyondbelief11, Bigbucksyo, Bradeos Graphon, David Justin, Downtown sound, EdX20, Enzo Aquarius, Fivemack, Galaxiaad, Gtrmp, Hayaclayton, Hertz1888, IRP, Jujubean55, Karada, Ladii artiste, MCB, Master of Pies, Neelix, Nunquam Dormio, OrangePeel, Penbat, Pointer1, Queenmomcat, Roswell Crash Survivor, SchuminWeb, Sgt. Muffles, SilkTork, ThaddeusB, The Anome, Thumperward, Tyciol, Yamla, Yonskii, Zane McFate, 45 anonymous edits Insurance fraud Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=413983878 Contributors: Andymadigan, BartlebyScrivener, Brunton, Captain panda, Chabaka, CliffC, Discospinster, Dkboone, Dmol, Eisolson, Flowanda, Geoinline, Gwguffey, Hu12, Insfraud, Intrigue, Iottiak, Jonsg, Looie496, MER-C, Madines, Nagle, Napkin65, Nicholas Weiner, Nsigniacorp, Oblivious6, Piano non troppo, Pnm, R'n'B, Charlie, Rharun, Rjwilmsi, Sardanaphalus, Seivad, StephenBuxton, Truthincorporated, Vala M, Wavelength, Whartspike, WikiLaurent, Wolftengu, Wrightbus, 60 anonymous edits Fiddle game Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=410941613 Contributors: Alan Liefting, Daemon8666, Ettrig, Hq3473, Icarus3, LilHelpa, Lucky 6.9, Penbat, Wasell, Woohookitty, 1 anonymous edits Pigeon drop Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=401879229 Contributors: Ashmoo, Asoupster, Ataru, Cvaneg, D.brodale, DS1953, Dino, Earle Martin, Eekerz, Fæ, McGeddon, Mintrick, Nicolasmontoya, NormanEinstein, Penbat, Pilomotor, Robofish, Spetey, Surturz, Tamfang, Tktktk, Travis Wells, Zephyrad, 19 anonymous edits Art student scam Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=415236020 Contributors: AMuseo, Arbitrarily0, Arxiloxos, Avraham, Bielle, Binksternet, CasualObserver'48, Cla68, Cmadler, tnono, Epbr123, Epeefleche, Esemono, Factomancer, Fences and windows, Future Perfect at Sunrise, Gidonb, Gilabrand, GoingBatty, GregorB, Ground Zero, Hans Adler, Hmbr, Huey45, Kindzmarauli, Marokwitz, Mbz1, Mimo77777, Mohamed Magdy, Mooncow, MoondyneAWB, Mycomp, Noon, Nyttend, Oboler, Owen214, Pablo X, Penbat, Peter cohen, Piledhigheranddeeper, Plot Spoiler, Preciseaccuracy, Robofish, RomaC, Sandstein, Shuki, Silver seren, Slatersteven, Smallman12q, Tiamut, Truthkeeper88, Ucucha, Unomi, WTucker, Wnt, Woohookitty, ZScarpia, Zero0000, ‫ילוקורב‬, 10 anonymous edits Psychic surgery Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=411925682 Contributors: ***Ria777, 293.xx.xxx.xx, Ahoerstemeier, Alison, Angel2000, Antelan, Arbustoo, Arcsincostan, Avb, Axl, Bobbaxter, CDN99, Calton, Catherineyronwode, ConfuciusOrnis, Cricketgirl, Daoken, Decora, Digwuren, DocJohnny, Dougweller, Dpbsmith, Dreadstar, Dryman, Editor2020, Enric Naval, Farseer, Figma, FirstPrinciples, Flyers13, Foofbun, Gaffa11, Gaius Cornelius, Gary D, Geni, Gillyweed, GirasoleDE, Glloq, Graham87, Hydrargyrum, IPSOS, Ibbn, Icairns, Jeff Silvers, Jeffq, Jennylen, Jkoudys, Jni, John Nevard, Jorge Stolfi, K2709, Kirbytime, Krylonblue83, Librarian2, Lucyintheskywithdada, Mandarax, Martinphi, Mmoyer, Modemac, Moncrief, Morven, Moshe Constantine Hassan Al-Silverburg, Nealparr, Nightscream, Noclevername, Ollj, Pakaran, Perfectblue97, Random 39849958, Reinis, Rich Farmbrough, Rjwilmsi, RogueNinja, Sapphic, Simpsons 2006, Spiritinwales, Teernstra, Ttonyb1, USN1977, Vogensen, YUL89YYZ, 86 anonymous edits Organized crime Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=412750883 Contributors: -Majestic-, 203.109.250.xxx, 4twenty42o, 5 albert square, AB, ACSE, Accurizer, Adam McMaster, Adashiel, Addshore, Aetheling, Agtaz, AjitPD, Alansohn, Alex Destructive, Alphachimp, Angel ivanov angelov, Antandrus, Apfox, Arminius, Ash, Ask123, Atif.t2, Aunit36, Avenged Eightfold, Avilena, BAlliNX3, BD2412, Babbage, Balsa10, Basey555, Bdragon, Begbiepwns, Beland, Belomorkanal, Bencherlite, Benstown, Benvogel, Bggoldie, Big Adamsky, Big Bird, Bjf, BlackLocust, Bletch, Bobmack89x, Bobo192, Bogey97, Bradleylewis, Brthomps, Bsheppard, Caldwell malt, Calimie, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Canihaveacookie, Canterbury Tail, Cbcohen, Ccacsmss, Cedrus-Libani, Chanyangyond, Charles Luciano, Cheque some, ChiMama, Chico714, ChildCareI, Chovain, Chrylis, ClickRick, CliffC, Colette Green, Contributor168, Conversion script, Coolcaesar, CosineKitty, CrimestoppersUK, Cronian, Cubs Fan, D. 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Article Sources and Contributors Shizzle5, Shlomke, Sietse Snel, Silverjonny, Simetrical, Singularity42, Sjc, Sjö, Skarebo, Skyclown, Smalljim, SmartGuy, Snapperman2, SorryGuy, SouthernNights, Souvikmaitra, SpanishCastleMagic, Spartaz, Spectre9, SpeedyGonsales, Spiffyjeff, SpuriousQ, Steinzo, Stephenb, Stev0, Stevegallery, Sturm55, Stymiee, Swartzturfle, Swiggum, Sylent, TeaDrinker, Tellyaddict, TexasAndroid, The Evil IP address, The Gilly, The Halo, The Nut, The Rambling Man, The Thing That Should Not Be, The Utahraptor, The.Truth, TheFeds, Thingg, Thiseye, Thmgroup, Thompcha, Tiddly Tom, Tnt7973, Toddst1, Tommy2010, Tony1, Trödel, TwistOfCain, TylerKnew, U.S.A.U.S.A.U.S.A., Uknowit, Umich21, Vaheterdu, Veinor, Versus22, Visualize, Vkey0234, Voyagerfan5761, Wavelength, Wdfarmer, Webhat, West.andrew.g, WhatamIdoing, WikHead, Wikiklrsc, Wikipe-tan, Wikipeditor, Willie the Walrein, Willking1979, Wisq, Wknight94, Wohlstand, Woohookitty, Wpbl, Wtlegis, Wtmitchell, Wuzur, Xezbeth, YUL89YYZ, Yachtsman1, Yupik, ZeWrestler, Zeitgeist248, Zigger, Zoicon5, Zondor, Zwiki, Zzuuzz, 1096 anonymous edits Money laundering Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=415466183 Contributors: (;D- hymyilevä takapiru, 121a0012, 206209nyc, Aeonx, Agtaz, Alakritz, AlexPlank, Alinor, Alsandro, Altenmann, Andreas Toth, Andrew Reynolds, Andrewpmk, Andy marshall81, Andy120290, Antfern, AnthonyQBachler, Anurag Garg, Apollo1758, Autiger, AutoGeek, AxelBoldt, Baby Jenga, Baldhur, Barney Gumble, Barras, Beagel, Bforsyth, Bmicomp, Bob Weiss, Bobmack89x, Bongwarrior, BorgQueen, Borgx, CLW, CWii, CalvinGraham, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Cantus, Captain02, Cassowary, Casull, Cburnett, Centrx, Chaldean, Chancemill, ChildofMidnight, Chipuni, Chris Caven, Chrism, Chronulator, Circeus, Conversion script, Copylaw, Crackerbelly, Crimson 05, Cybercobra, Cyfal, DC, DJA05, DMCer, Dantadd, Darklilac, Darrenhusted, Dave420, Daveswagon, David Winch, DavidLevinson, DavidP73, DavidwinchUK, DeadEyeArrow, 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Antandrus, Aruton, AubreyEllenShomo, Audry2, BD2412, Bettername, Big Adamsky, Binksternet, BinoChrist, Bob A, Bobmack89x, Cadjani, Cailil, Canterbury Tail, Cavenba, Cdcon, Cirt, Conscious, Creatednew, Diddi, DocWatson42, DonCalo, DrDeke, Dtobias, Dukeleto, Emufarmers, Feldspaar, Fieldday-sunday, FrederickFolger, Freerick, Fubar Obfusco, Ghetteaux, Giraffedata, Gizzakk, Goingwithout2001, Goldenglove, Goodraise, HH88, Hairy Dude, Harksaw, Hrdudeness, Hushpuckena, Husond, Inkstersco, IronGargoyle, Jagged 85, Jagreuben, J411, JohnCD, Jpm2112, Karada, Keilana, Kerotan, Kmarinas86, Koven.rm, Kransky, KuroiShiroi, La goutte de pluie, Lanius, Lotje, Lowellian, Lucky13pjn, Marilynniisflyyy, Mastercheif, Mayumashu, Michael Essmeyer, Mindunder36, Moonriddengirl, ONEder Boy, Paradigmbuff, Patrick, Pdcook, Penbat, Pnm, Postdlf, Proboscis monkey, Quercus basaseachicensis, RA0808, RasqualTwilight, Reedy, Rockpocket, Sardanaphalus, Sasquatch, Scott Sanchez, Secretlondon, Shilonite, Shinmawa, Snideology, Spettro9, Stevey7788, Sweetfreek, Thumperward, Tide rolls, Tobogganoggin, Tompagenet, Valentinejoesmith, Variable, Vhsjordan24, Vsb, Wellreadone, Whosyourjudas, Yiyun, Yopure, Ysangkok, Zack, 184 anonymous edits Hacker (computer security) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=414678252 Contributors: 007exterminator, 5 albert square, 7OA, A. 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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors File:Hutchenspiel 2008.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Hutchenspiel_2008.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: :Holger.Ellgaard Image:Hieronymus Bosch 051.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Hieronymus_Bosch_051.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: AndreasPraefcke, EDUCA33E, MU, Mattes, Nobelium, PKM, Vincent Steenberg, 5 anonymous edits File:ChristianFarlaCupsandBalls.JPG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:ChristianFarlaCupsandBalls.JPG License: Public Domain Contributors: :MagicErik File:Shell game.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Shell_game.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: :Postdlf File:Conjurer Bosch.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Conjurer_Bosch.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Original er was AxelBoldt at en.wikipedia Later versions were ed by AlexOvShaolin at en.wikipedia. Image:Three Card Monte.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Three_Card_Monte.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 Contributors: ZioDave File:Warsaw 1944 by Bałuk - 26196.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Warsaw_1944_by_Bałuk_-_26196.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Jarekt, Panek File:Auction.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Auction.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Che, Eldred, 3 anonymous edits File:Expérience de Milgram.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Expérience_de_Milgram.png License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: :Paulr Image:Ponzi_bw_e.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ponzi_bw_e.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: :Yayoirc File:Pyramid scheme.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pyramid_scheme.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Security and Exchange commission, U.S. Federal Govt.This vector version by w::MysidMysid File:Pyramid8Ball.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pyramid8Ball.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: :Stannered File:Soapy_Smith_1898.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Soapy_Smith_1898.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: :Simplicius File:Soapy Smith parlor Skagway 2009.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Soapy_Smith_parlor_Skagway_2009.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Contributors: :Notyourbroom Image:Skaguay News July 15 1898.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Skaguay_News_July_15_1898.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Bunco man File:Soapy Smith grave Skagway 2009.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Soapy_Smith_grave_Skagway_2009.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Contributors: :Notyourbroom File:Frank Reid Grave 1 Skagway 2009.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Frank_Reid_Grave_1_Skagway_2009.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Contributors: :Notyourbroom Image:Scale of justice 2.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Scale_of_justice_2.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: :DTR Image:PhishingTrustedBank.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:PhishingTrustedBank.png License: Public Domain Contributors: :Andrew Levine Image:Phishing chart.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Phishing_chart.png License: Public Domain Contributors: Original er was ZeWrestler at en.wikipedia File:Presentation Image Grid 1 JPG.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Presentation_Image_Grid_1_JPG.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Contributors: :Senctisn File:Western Union, Avenue de Choisy, Paris 13.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Western_Union,_Avenue_de_Choisy,_Paris_13.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: :Mu File:Firefox 2.0.0.1 Phising Alert.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Firefox_2.0.0.1_Phising_Alert.png License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: AVRS, KErosEnE, PolhoNinja, the dot File:AlCaponemugshotD.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:AlCaponemugshotD.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Don-kun, Infrogmation, Movieevery, Túrelio, 3 anonymous edits File:Charles Luciano.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Charles_Luciano.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: New York Police Department

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183

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