FCC Pressures Carriers to Block Robocalls
The FCC is putting new pressure on both wireless carriers and traditional phone companies to give customers technology to block unwanted robocalls. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has told the carriers that they need to give their customers the option to block robocalls, which have become the largest source of complaints that the commission receives. The FCC […]
Seven Jailed in Massive Phone Fraud Scam
Authorities in the U.K. have sentenced seven people to prison for their part in running a wide-ranging phone fraud scam that cost victims more than £1.3 million over the course of several years. The scheme that the gang ran is a common and highly successful one that involves making calls to potential victims and telling them that […]
FTC Shuts Down Fake Charity Phone Scam
Phone fraud comes in many forms, as most crimes do, and it’s not always obvious that a particular version is actually a crime. The FTC has just shut down a company that was running a specific kind of phone fraud scam that involved pressuring victims to make donations to a fake charity for disabled people […]
Phone Fraud Scam Targets College Students For ‘Federal Student Tax’
The Federal Trade Commission is warning about a new variant on phone fraud scams that attempts to bully college students into paying a non-existent student tax. The scam is similar to many of the IRS phone scams that have been ongoing for several years, but with the novelty of pressuring students who likely are much […]
On the Wire Podcast: David Dewey on Phone Fraud
Dennis Fisher talks with David Dewey, director of research at Pindrop, about the data in the 2016 Phone Fraud Report. Since 2013 there has been a 45 percent increase in phone fraud and now more than one in every 2,000 calls to corporate call centers is fraudulent. This kind of fraud is costing business as […]
Data Shows Phone Fraud Costing Businesses as Much as $27M a Year
Last year, about one in every 1,700 calls to a corporate call center in the United States was from a fraudster, and those malicious calls can cost large organizations as much as $27 million per year, new research shows. The rate of phone fraud in corporate call centers has jumped by more than 45 percent in the last […]
On the Wire Podcast: Chris Hadnagy
In this episode of the On the Wire podcast, Dennis Fisher talks with Chris Hadnagy of Social-Engineer Inc., about the concept of social engineering, how he got into the field, and how social engineering techniques are used by attackers. Chris talks about the way phishing has evolved in recent years, the rise of phone fraud […]
Jolly Roger and the Rise of the Anti-Bot Bots
A bot that started as a way for one man to annoy and frustrate telemarketers and robocallers has now developed into a subscription service for consumers and businesses who have had enough of the unsolicited and sometimes fraudulent calls. The Jolly Roger Telephone Co. is the creation of Roger Anderson, a phone industry veteran who […]
Hear a Real Bank Phone Fraud Call From a Fake Cop
The ongoing problem of fraudsters targeting senior citizens with sophisticated phone scams has taken a new turn, as the criminals have begun using a technique that involves them showing up at victims’ homes to collect their debit cards. The scam is an extension of a common phone fraud technique in which criminals call victims–typically senior […]