I had a job Interview on May 1st at the National White Collar Crime Center in Fairmont WV. I had to drive the 250 miles to get there. While I was there (in the wrong building) I submitted my paperwork to volunteer for the NWCCC, the National White Collar Crime Consortium. In the lobby of the correct building (finally) I picked up a free copy of their magazine, "The Informant:The magazine for professionals who support the prevention, investigation, or prosecution of economic and high-tech crime".

So I got in the snail mail today the next issue, Vol.2, No.1, March-June 2006. OH boy, I'm on their list! Yay! (reallly!)

This magazine has LOTS of good stuff regarding Internet Crime, fraud, and how to report possible crimes. The current issue features Shaquille O'Neal attending a NW3C STOP course.

BTW, the NWCCC offers classes in Internet fraud. Sadly, none of them are in my area, Cleveland.

So I thought maybe I could start a new forum here in which I relate some of the stories in the magazine. This stuff is really fascinainting, and scary at the same time.

Here's a few stories from the new March June issue.

For further info:

NW3C website is here.
ICCC (Internet Crime Complaint Center) website is here.
National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance is here.

I just discovered the magazines are online at the NWCCC website in Adobe .pdf. The current Mar-Jun 2006 issue is here.
You will need to scroll down a little bit.


Oooooo, here's a good one: Women and White Collar Crime. They do stupid things too, I guess. 'Nuff Said. GO here.

There are unscrupulous people (Ooooops, almost caled them "scumbags") out there that are trying to cash in on the recent mine disaster in Sago WV, where 13 miners died....


ATTENTION - E-MAIL SOLICITATION OF FUNDS FOR A
MINER HURT IN A WEST VIRGINIA MINE DISASTER
January 11, 2006 -- On January 3, 2006, an explosion occurred
in the Sago Coal Mine, located in West Virginia, trapping 13 miners.
Randal McCloy, Jr., is the only survivor of the disaster. The FBI
has become aware of a spam e-mail soliciting funds for the medical
care of Randal McCloy, Jr. The e-mail purports to be from Dr.
Lawrence Roberts, who is one of the main physicians in charge of
McCloy. The e-mail address is “dr_lawrenceroberts@yahoo.
com.co.in” and recipients are requested to respond to the e-mail
if they are interested in making a donation.

Oh boy, just what I need. I don't get enough of these things.

NIGERIAN 419 SCAM - NEW SOPHISTICATED TECHNIQUE
March 7, 2006 -- A typical phishing scam is a three step process:
1. The phisher deploys a Web site which mimics portions of a
legitimate financial institution or other e-commerce Web site.
2. The phisher crafts an e-mail message which appears to be from
the organization represented on the phishing Web site. The e-mail
message notifies the potential victim of a problem with their account
and instructs them to login to the phishing site where the
account information will be “verified”.
3. Utilizing spam, the phisher sends this e-mail to hundreds of
thousands of potential victims. If the victim falls for the scam, they
end up divulging their account, credit card, and other identity theft
related information. This information is then collected by the phisher
and used to commit credit card fraud and other identity theft
related offenses.
The FBI has become aware of a new phishing technique that adds
another step to the process. It utilizes the login credentials entered
by the victim to connect to the authentic Web site and downloads
unique identifying victim information such as first and last name.
This data is then used to populate portions of the phishing Web
site. By doing so, the phishing site appears more legitimate; therefore,
the victim is more likely to divulge sensitive information.

In this latest version of the scam, first reported by the FBI in November,
the recipient is directed to open a bank account at a Suffolk
England Bank and is provided a link to the bank’s Web site. After
clicking the link, the victim is directed to a professional-looking
bank Web site which appears to be that of Suffolk England Bank;
however, it is actually a replica of the true bank site. Within hours
after opening the account, a balance of millions of dollars appears
to have been deposited in the victim’s account. When attempting
to transfer or withdraw funds from the account, the victim receives
a notice requiring certain “fees” to be paid. The victim is then instructed
to wire transfer the fees to Africa. If the victim makes an
inquiry concerning the wire transfer, they are given instructions for
a Bank of China branch in London and provided some reason justifying
why the Suffolk England Bank cannot handle the transfer.

Review of the wiring instructions indicated the funds are actually
being transferred to the Bank of China in Beijing.