Facebook Phishing Via Apps Is Alive and Well
July 16, 2015 | Business Crime
We’ve seen a number of phishing attempts targeting users of Facebook, and just like the campaign we’ve seen in February last year, the scammers have used the Apps feature. The pages you’re about to see below originated from one account, specifically: apps[DOT]facebook[DOT]com/1454467078202373/ “Secure Your Facebook Account” phish These phishing pages range from securing one’s Facebook account, to changing its colour, to grabbing a thousand or more friends—a lure that we’ve see used over and over again in other social sites like ...
Ex Worker Accused Of Setting Up Rival Company
July 13, 2015 | Business Crime
A coffee retailer has accused a former worker of setting up a rival coffee roasting business, stealing confidential information and coffee recipes, and trying to poach its clients. Sune Farrimond stood down from his role as general manager at Caffe Coffee -- part of the Retail Food Group, which owns Gloria Jeans and Esquires coffee shops -- in June 2014, to set up his own boutique coffee roaster. But four months later, Caffe Coffee's lawyers sent him a letter asking him to "immediately cease and desist", accusing him of contacting its...
Caregiver Stole Priceless Family Heirlooms
June 18, 2015 | Business Crime
Priceless family heirlooms were among tens of thousands of dollars worth of jewellery stolen from elderly residents by a woman who recently gained notoriety supplying minors with alcohol. Brownwyn Saunders was on Wednesday sentenced in the Christchurch District Court for stealing more than $30,000 worth of jewellery from two elderly residents during her time working as a caregiver at Ilam Lifegiver Retirement Village. The conviction came just two months after the 46-year-old was fined $2400 on six charges of supplying alcohol to minor...
West Auckland Firm Targeted In $800k Scam
June 12, 2015 | Business Crime
Police are warning the public about a group of international scammers after they recently targeted a local West Auckland firm. Police said the scammers have been able to take over $800,000, through the alleged purchase of shares in an overseas mining firm. The scammers would usually cold call their targets with an offer that sounded too good to be true, and would have sourced contact details from publicly-available shareholder lists, police said. Police said the latest scam involved a company called 'Nomura Financial' based in Hong Ko...
Former NZ Golf Gazette Editor Jailed For Fraud
May 21, 2015 | Business Crime
A well-known figure in the Kiwi golfing community has been sentenced to 23 months imprisonment for double-dipping on credit card transactions and fraudulent business practices. Former NZ Golf Gazette editor Lance Gray Murray, 65, of Auckland pleaded guilty in February to six charges in the Hamilton District Court. They were five representative charges of using a document for pecuniary advantage and one of carrying on business fraudulently. That included making unauthorised client credit card transactions to the tune of almost $95,500 ...
Doggone Dastardly Cyber Stalking
May 18, 2015 | Business Crime
Technology is a wonderful convenience. However convenience isn’t security, and in the wrong hands, even benevolent technology can be twisted. We received a frantic call from a client in desperate need of our Technical Surveillance Countermeasures (TSCM) to combat a cyber-stalker. Three private investigators had looked into her case over the previous 18 months. To their credit, the final two had helped to move the case forward. P.I. #2 uncovered spyware in the client’s computer and phone that may have been used by business rivals to st...
Woman charged with stealing 5000 vials of Propofol Provive
May 12, 2015 | Business Crime
Stuff reports: "A woman is facing charges of stealing 5000 vials of the same general anaesthetic that killed pop star Michael Jackson from Waikato Hospital. Peta Lee Millar, 53, appeared on in the Hamilton District Court on Tuesday. The medication was worth $7000. She is facing two charges: One count of stealing 5000 vials of Propofol Provive, the property of the Waikato District Health Board, between February 1, 2012 and November 10, 2014; and one count of entering a Waikato Hospital medication room without authority and with the i...
Mike Zhao-Beckenridge's Mother Clings to Hope
May 4, 2015 | Business Crime
Where are Mike Zhao-Beckenridge and John Beckenridge ? Beckenridge is an Australian citizen, of Swedish descent, and uses at least three aliases. Police were aware that Beckenridge also went by the names John Lundh, Knut Goran Roland Lundh and John Bradford. It is understood he also used the alias John Locke, but police did not have knowledge of that. Police were not aware of any aliases for Mike, who lived with his stepfather at a Lake Hayes Estate house until a Family Court decision to move the 11-year-old to Invercargill to be with...
Security Companies Hire Hackers, Ex-Spies To Fight Cyber Attacks
April 20, 2015 | Business Crime
Cybersecurity companies have hired hundreds of ex-government sleuths in recent years, capitalizing on the boom in business caused by hackers who stole more than 1 billion records in attacks last year. It's a seller's market for the cyber war's special forces. Just ask Scott Davies, 30, who left a career snooping on Australia's enemies in December for a similar gig at FireEye Inc. Or Brian Varner, 35, who swapped a job with the U.S. Department of Defense breaking into networks in the Middle East and other hot zones to be a security eng...
Exclusive: Stolen Range Rover Back With Owner
March 31, 2015 | Business Crime
The Investigators Investigations are pleased to have assisted in the recovery of a stolen Range Rover back to Buy Right Cars. The Range Rover was stolen from Buy Right Cars' Great South Road, Manukau branch on 9 March 2015. Following a large social-media advertising campaign, with a $5,000 reward being offered, an anonymous male made contact claiming to be in possession of the vehicle. Mike Gillam of The Investigators met with the male at a central location where the vehicle was secured and a reward paid as promised. There are aspects...