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The Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU) is now saving in excess of £315 million for clients thanks to its ongoing financial fraud prevention work.
With more than 335,000 compromised cards and card numbers recovered, the DCPCU – a specialist police squad that tackles cheque and card fraud crime in the UK – has just marked its seventh anniversary.
The squad was launched on 29 April 2002 as a two-year pilot and, following the successful conclusion of this trial, it was established as a permanent policing unit with an ongoing brief to help stamp out organized credit/debit card and cheque fraud.
http://www.info4security.com/story.asp?sectioncode=10&storycode=4122218&c=1
Small non-profit organizations are very vulnerable to fraud.  When I say small, I mean small: organizations that raise less than $100,000 per year and have only one paid staff person or no paid staff persons. I’m talking about neighborhood associations, sports and recreation leagues and all manner of civic, political and religious groups.
These small organizations are vulnerable to fraud for three reasons:
1. The person responsible for collecting and disbursing funds is also the individual who provides the financial reports.
2. Many small organizations raise much of their funds in cash. Cash is more easily misappropriated than checks.
3. Small non-profits are run by trusting and committed individuals. Sadly these individuals tend to be too trusting.
Here are some sadly typical fraud scenarios:
1. Cash collected at fund raising events is siphoned off by the organization’s treasurer or some other individual with access to cash collections.
2. The treasurer writes checks to themselves out of the organization’s checking account.
3. The treasurer makes unauthorized and inappropriate payments to vendors for products and services for their use rather than the organizations.
There are three relatively inexpensive and effective ways to prevent and detect these common frauds;
1. Proper Control of Bank Statements
2. Requiring two signatures on every check
3. Preparation of Budgets
http://www.read-this-online.com/235/protecting-small-non-profits-from-fraud-an-ounce-of-prevention/
With all the risks facing businesses of all sizes in this turbulent economy, it might be easy to overlook one of the very oldest: fraud.
But as quickly as new banking and security technologies emerge, con artists are developing their own methods to penetrate financial transactions of all shapes and sizes — in Kitsap County and everywhere.
Companies lose billions of dollars every year due to payment fraud. While it’s easy to believe this couldn’t happen to small- to mid-market businesses, 72 percent of the participants in a recent study conducted by Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) reported that they had been the victims of attempted or actual payment fraud.
Even though checks are used with decreasing regularity, instances of check fraud continue to increase, making it still the most popular form of payment fraud. In fact, 41 percent of all organizations responding to the AFP study reported an increase in incidences of check fraud.
Electronic payment systems offer even more opportunity for criminals to commit payment fraud, including improperly using Automated Clearing House, credit/debit cards and wire transfers. Viral attacks to gain valuable account information appear in many forms, including e-mails and viruses, such as phishing and using “Trojans.”
Phishing e-mails include links to fake websites that ask for personal information to be used to loot personal bank accounts. “Trojan” attacks enter malicious or harmful codes into apparently harmless files for downloading; once opened, the malicious code collects unauthorized information to be exploited for various purposes. These and other electronic attacks will become even more sophisticated as the criminals’ technology advances.
Dontbeavictim.org is a free information provider to aid individuals and businesses. The site provides completely free information on background checks, self defense, safety and security, and other vital tips to help avert and counteract potentially life threatening and otherwise costly situations.
 
 
The USA has one of the highest crime rates among other developed countries. Identity theft and white collar is on the increase. Without proper background checking procedures, you or your business can become victims of costly and potentially life destroying criminal activities. A recent study demonstrated that:
 
- 95% of all companies are victims of theft, and yet only 10% ever discover it.
- 30% of all business failures are caused by employee theft.
- 39% of all Background Checks had at least one serious flag.
 
Millions of dollars have reportedly been lost due to fraud and misrepresentation; these crimes are often due to lackluster background checking procedures which can result in employees with less than desirable backgrounds and identities working within important roles where they have access to accounting or employee information.
 
http://pr-canada.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=94429&Itemid=34
According to McAfee Avert Labs, an online security company, spammers began pumping out e-mails as soon as the first accounts of swine flu were reported, accounting for 2 percent of all spam messages. ¬†The messages include such subject lines as, “Madonna caught swine flu!” and “Swine flu in Hollywood!”¬† McAfee said the e-mails do not contain malware but often link to online pharmacies that Kopko said may not deliver the goods you order or may deliver ineffective or harmful drugs.
According to F-Secure Corp., another online security company, more than 250 Web sites with the term “swine flu” have been registered in the first few days of the outbreak.
 
Click Forensics Inc. today released industry pay-per-click (PPC) fraud figures for the first quarter 2009 from the search advertising industry’s leading independent click fraud reporting service – the Click Fraud Index® (www.ClickFraudIndex.com). Now in its fourth year, the Click Fraud Index provides statistically significant industry PPC data collected from online advertising campaigns for both large and small advertisers across all leading search engines. Traffic across more than 300 ad networks is also reflected in the data. Key findings for Q1 2009 include:
-The overall industry average click fraud rate was 13.8 percent for Q1 2009. That’s down from 17.1 percent reported for Q4 2008 and from the 16.3 percent rate reported for Q1 2008.
-Click fraud traffic from malicious scripted programs increased in Q1 2009. Unlike botnets or malware, these new threats exist as simple Javascript programs that execute upon a page view or site visit. Ad networks were found to be especially vulnerable to these attacks during the quarter.
In Q1 2009, the greatest percentage of click fraud originating from countries outside the U.S. came from Canada, United Kingdom and Germany.
In October 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it is delaying enforcement of the Red Flag rules six months to May 1, 2009. The reason for the delay is uncertainty over who is covered. Just who is covered (and therefore liable for failure to comply) is still somewhat confusing. However, if you’re not sure you’re covered, particularly if you’re a SaaS site, you’d better check out the rules carefully in order to avoid liability for failure to comply. The Red Flag rules were adopted in 2003 to combat identity theft.Finally published in 2007, the Red Flag rules require financial institutions and “creditors” with “covered accounts” to establish identity theft prevention programs to identify, detect and respond to patterns, practices or specific activities that could indicate a customer-account holder has been victimized by — or is engaged in — identity theft.
The Red Flag Rules are aimed primarily at traditional financial institutions. The catch is that many small ecommerce businesses may be classified as “creditors” with “covered accounts” — and as a result they be surprised that the rules apply to them.
Conclusion:
SaaS sites and any ecommerce site that offers services or products on a subscription basis should review applicability of the Red Flag rules very carefully.
Although the compliance deadline for the Red Flag rules has been extended to May 1, 2009, sites that are covered should begin the implementation of their identity theft prevention program as soon as possible. The FTC and other consumer groups are expected to monitor closely the implementation of these programs after the compliance deadline.
Failure to comply may result in civil lawsuits by consumers for actual damages — and if actual damages can’t be proved, nominal damages. Civil litigants may also recover punitive damages and attorney’s fees. In addition, The FTC may initiate administrative proceedings.
http://www.bharatbhasha.com/ebusiness.php/130373
SaaS sites and any ecommerce site that offers services or products on a subscription basis should review applicability of the Red Flag rules very carefully.