Hacker's Typo Botches $1 Billion Bank Heist
March 11, 2016 | Fraud
A spelling mistake in an online bank transfer instruction helped prevent a nearly $US1 billion ($NZD1.5 billion) heist last month involving the Bangladesh central bank and the New York Federal Reserve, banking officials say. Unknown hackers still managed to get away with about $US80 million, one of the largest known bank thefts in history. The hackers breached Bangladesh Bank's systems and stole its credentials for payment transfers, two senior officials at the bank said. They then bombarded the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with n...
Being Alert To Scams
March 11, 2016 | Fraud
An 'investment' is likely to be a scam if you are: Promised very high returns with little risk. These promises are often too good to be true. Given little information in writing. All legitimate investments must have documents explaining the investment. Told the offer is known only to a select few. This is a often ploy to make you feel special. Not told who is behind the offer or given a physical address. Legitimate businesses give names and full addresses. Promised access to 'secret' overseas banking markets supposedly offering very h...
Jail Time For Gambling Receptionist Who Stole $1 Million From Employer
March 4, 2016 | Fraud
An Auckland receptionist who stole more than $1 million from her company to fund her gambling addiction is headed to jail for almost five years. Victoria Tanoi fraudulently obtained the money over five years by accessing the banking and accounting systems of her employer, Portacom New Zealand. She fraudulently accessed Portacom's systems 270 times between 2009 and 2015. The total loss sustained by her employer was $1,037,355.28, of which Tanoi has declined to pay any reparation. In Auckland District Court at her sentencing, her lawyer...
NZ Foreign Exchange Firm Was Running A 'Simple Ponzi Scheme'
February 23, 2016 | Fraud
Christchurch-based Arena Capital, which owes clients $7 million, was running a "simple Ponzi scheme", says a High Court judge. Arena Capital, which traded as BlackfortFX, has been in receivership since last May after the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) froze its assets and was put into liquidation last August. The firm is being probed by both the FMA and the Serious Fraud Office. Liquidators from insolvency firm KordaMentha said last August that the firm marketed itself as a foreign exchange trader and had around 1110 clients. Co-li...
Scammer Uses POS Machine To Steal From Contactless Cards
February 19, 2016 | Fraud
A brazen thief has allegedly been spotted committing a crime which exposes the risks of owning a contactless payment card. The scammer, reportedly photographed in Russia, was seen on a train using a payment device to scan contactless cards through unsuspecting victims' pockets and bags. While contactless card payments can only be made up to £30, devices are able to 'store' more than £400 without a connection to a landline or wireless internet. Shameless: This brazen thief was reportedly spotted in Russia, using a payment device to...
Auckland Airport's Missing $1.8 Million
February 18, 2016 | Fraud
Auckland International Airport has sacked an employee and called in police after finding more than a million dollars has been spent in unexplained transactions. In an announcement late yesterday afternoon the Airport said the "non-executive employee" was also being pursued through the courts over the transactions which added up to at least $1.84 million. The revelation marks the third high-profile case of alleged financial misappropriation to hit large listed companies following earlier cases at SkyCity Entertainment Group and Mighty ...
Fire Service One Of Many Conned By 'Whaling'
February 13, 2016 | Fraud
Newshub has learned of a new form of cyber-attack that's costing New Zealand businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's known as "whaling" and it involves a sophisticated impersonation of chief executives. The Fire Service knows about it all too well, after internet fraudsters conned it out of $52,000 by impersonating its national commander, Paul Baxter. Commander Baxter admitted the con was a real blow to him and the team. "Unfortunately this time around we are really disappointed that we succumbed to that and parted with som...
SkyCity Going After Former Employee Over Financial Irregularities
February 4, 2016 | Fraud
A woman who stole almost $800,000 from a top school is being chased by SkyCity for more than $1.2 million in "unexplained transactions" from when she worked at the company's Hamilton casino. The casino company has lodged a complaint with police about Tessa Grant, 40, who this year pleaded guilty to defrauding Waikato Diocesan School for Girls out of $795,000 to fund her high rolling lifestyle. Grant was with the casino in a senior management role from 2006 to 2014 when her contract was terminated, the company said. Last night, SkyCity...
Internal Affairs Warns Of Inheritance Fraud Scam
February 4, 2016 | Fraud
Internal Affairs has been alerted to a phishing scam that resulted in significant financial loss to the targeted individual. The scammers posed as a terminally ill widow and initiated ongoing correspondence with the victim via Facebook. The widow claimed to have no relatives and stated that she was making the victim the beneficiary of her will. A series of elaborately planned events and communications followed the purported death of the widow. This led to the victim being convinced this was a legitimate inheritance and paying signific...
Stolen Uber Accounts Worth More Than Stolen Credit Cards
January 21, 2016 | Fraud
Cybercriminals don't care that much about your credit card number anymore. Uber, PayPal and even Netflix accounts have become much more valuable to criminals, as evidenced by the price these stolen identifiers now fetch on the so-called "deep Web," according to security company Trend Micro. Stolen Uber account information on underground marketplaces sells for an average of $3.78 per account, while personally identifiable information (PII) was listed for $1 to $3.30 on average, oddly down from $4 per record in 2014, according to data c...