Category: Scammer

RussianScamCheck.org

Posted on August 21, 2008

Russianscamcheck_logo DATING AD NETWORK — Aug 21 — Interview with Damien Skolnik of RussianScamCheck.com

Q: What was the reason for starting anti-scam services?
A: During the first 2-3 years in [the flower] business we started to note that approximately one of every 20 orders was sent to the address without intended recipient – the person was either not living there, or wasn't ever seen. This situation led us to the conclusion that we are, somehow, helping some people who are trying to earn money by scamming Americans. The service is called RussianScamCheck.org. The main idea of this site is to help our clients to check if their foreign lady isn't a fake. Basically, for $40 our courier delivers one beautifully wrapped rose, with a message on a card to the woman of client's concern. If the girl exist, she opens the door and gets rose and a card, shows us some piece of ID and signs the acknowledgement of receipt. For an additional small charge, courier also makes a photo of this woman and we send it to the client.

Q: With permission from the woman, right?
A: Yes, of course.

Q: Do you have any statistics regarding such scam checks?
A: Approximately 80% of all scam checks we conduct lead to scammers of different kinds. While the other 20% are absolutely normal people, who then become recipients for the gifts and flowers of our clients.

This original exclusive interview was made for daters.ru

Internet Dating Scams Can Get Expensive

Posted on July 28, 2008

Bu011836previewCONSUMER AFFAIRS — July 28 — Annette was lonely. eHarmony.com matched her with a building engineer who was working in Nigeria. Everything was fine until the customs agents in Nigeria confiscated his luggage with $45,000 in travelers' checks. His situation worsened and Annette had wiped out her life savings by wiring $36,300 to Nigeria to help him. Mark Brooks, editor of OnlinePersonalsWatch.com and a consultant for the industry, said every dating Web site has problems with scammers. "This is organized crime. They are targeting lots of different industries, but idating is one of them," Brooks said. "Many of these scammers work together to create enormous fraud rings and share data on how best to scam people", said Scott Olson, VP marketing for iovation, a company that tracks computers so that Web sites can block devices that have a history of being connected with fraud. eHarmony.com clearly states on its Web site that it does not perform background checks. Some Web sites do offer background checks, but Brooks agreed with Posell (eHarmony.com) that most background checks would be costly with little increase in safety. FULL ARTICLE @ CONSUMER AFFAIRS

Mark Brooks: Good background checks cost $100+. Background checks pulling data from online sources can cost as little as $3. iovation offers a solution which allows dating sites to work together to combat scammers, and works in the background. If you'd like to kick some scammer ass, look to iovation. I've helped them sign up numerous dating sites into their 'anti-scammer dating ring' including a top 3 dating site! Disclosure: iovation is an Online Personals Watch sponsor and a client of Courtland Brooks.

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iovation Stops One Million ‘Bad Guys’

Posted on June 10, 2008

BUSINESS WIRE — June 10 — iovation, the device reputation authority for the Internet, has helped customers stop more than a million online fraudulent and abusive activities in the first half of 2008. In Q1 2008, iovation reported performing more than 100m reputation checks on devices coming from the U.S. The U.S. topped the list of countries with the most reputation queries, followed by Canada and the U.K. with 11m and 8m, respectively. For iovation customers in the Online Social Networking sector, devices coming from Belgium had the highest % of denied transactions at 15%. The Philippines and Nigeria followed with 11% and 7%. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WIRE

Mark Brooks: iovation helps internet dating sites share information on the bad guys: scammers, spammers and those that would be abusive towards other users. Devices are identified and associated with behaviors. iovation subscribing companies then have the benefit of that tagging so they can catch the bad guys at the gate. (Full Disclosure: iovation is a client of Courtland Brooks and a sponsor of this blog)

Keep An Eye On Your Wallet

Posted on April 21, 2008

Romancescams_logo
CNN — Apr 21 — With the increased interest in Internet dating comes more people
willing to prey on those looking for love online. Barb Sluppick runs RomanceScams.org, a Web site dedicated to
helping victims of romance fraud, like herself. The site has
had more than 30,000 members since its start in June 2005. Of her 30,000 members, 883 people
have reported their financial losses. They add up to over $8m. There were 206,884 complaints regarding Internet fraud last year,
costing victims more than $239m, according to the FBI Internet
Crime Report. FULL ARTICLE @ CNN

Mark Brooks: What is your internet dating site doing to combat scammers? Your comments please…

Legislator Wants Background Checks In Florida

Posted on April 8, 2008

Paragraf TAMPA BAY — Apr 7 — Rep. Kevin Ambler wants to pass a bill (HB 411) requiring dating sites to do a criminal background checks — or disclose that they don't — when dealing with paying Florida customers. The sites also would have to describe how the checks were done, that the checks are incomplete, and provide safety tips. However, industry lobbyists and critical lawmakers say that imperfections in searching criminal records still will give hopeful singles false confidence. The bill could raise costs for companies and customers. New Jersey made itself the first state to require the disclosure this year. Match.com says promising the background checks and disclosure is misleading. Lobbyists said the bill totally ignores a greater risk, the wide array of free social networking sites. Jennifer Green, a Match.com lobbyist, told a House committee on March 19 that the company has 1-million users, but only 60,000 paid members who would fall under the law. Green said Match.com would be fine with legislation that requires safety warnings but that the company finds the criminal check requirement off-point.

The full article was originally published at Tampa Bay News, but is no longer available.

Mark Brooks: Criminal checks are a differentiator for next generation dating sites.  This legislation calls for dating sites to post a prominent warning on their site if they don't do background checks. I think the average dating site user wouldn't expect a dating site to offer background checks by default. I doubt they would all pay an additional $20 for a check, either. Your comments please.

Losses Rise In Online Scams

Posted on April 4, 2008

ASSOCIATED PRESS — Apr 3 — Money lost in Internet-related crimes hit
a new high last year, topping about $240m, according to a government
report showing increases in scams involving pets, check-cashing schemes
and online dating. The report, based on data from the Internet Crime
Complaint Center, shows men lost more than women on average — $765
compared to $552 for women. The amounts lost increased with age.
Victims in their 20s lost $385 on average while people over 60 reported
lost an average $760 per scam.

Registry CrimSAFE Helps Online Dating Reduce Liability

Posted on March 31, 2008

National_background_data RETAILS SOLUTIONS ONLINE — Mar 30 — National Background Data (NBD) announced Registry CrimSAFE, a new criminal background screening service. Registry CrimSAFE increases the effectiveness of criminal background screenings by removing subjectivity from the screening process and enforcing consistent screening decisions. For example, in some states a Driving Under the Influence violation is a misdemeanor while other states deem it a felony. Registry CrimSAFE enables organizations to predetermine how to handle different types of offenses. These predetermined policies are applied on every criminal screening, enforcing consistent decisions throughout an organization.

The full article was originally published at Retail Solutions Online, but is no longer available.

Iovation Partners With PayByCash

Posted on March 13, 2008

Iovationlogo
BUSINESS WIRE — Mar 13 — PayByCash, a global payments provider, and iovation, the
device reputation authority of the Internet, partners to help online businesses combat payment and credit card
fraud. Under the partnership, PayByCash will offer iovation’s real-time
ReputationManager™ device reputation fraud management service as a part
of its online payment services to protect massively multiplayer online
games (MMOs) and other online merchants from all forms of payment
fraud. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WIRE

 Mark Brooks: iovation is also working with a number of internet
dating sites to help combat fraud and scammers. (Full Disclosure:
iovation is a client of Courtland Brooks)

Scams Cost Canada $450M

Posted on March 6, 2008

SUN MEDIA — Mar 6 — A new survey estimates 1M Canadians are scammed out of $450 million every year. The most common scams are phoney lotteries or prizes that ask for money up front, the infamous Nigerian letter scam and work-from-home schemes. Internet dating sites have become an avenue for fraud. The scam artist may spend months cultivating a relationship before asking for money for a personal crisis or airline fare.

The full article was originally published at London Free Press, but is no longer available.

iovation Awarded Patent For Network Security And Fraud Detection Technology

Posted on December 9, 2007

Iovation PRESS RELEASE — Dec 4 — iovation, the device reputation authority for the Internet, has been awarded a patent by the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice (USPTO) entitled Network Security and Fraud Detection System and Method, U.S. Patent No. 7,272,728.  iovation manages the reputation of millions of Internet-enabled devices worldwide, allowing its customers to control online fraud and abuse while benefiting from sharing device reputation intelligence. 

The full article was originally published at iovation website, but is no longer available.