FTC's Top Scams of 2022

My favorite conversation related to fraud was last month during a short business call. I can't even remember what the task item was about, specifically, unless I looked through my notes, but I remember the woman's voice, her comments, and the feeling I had.

It was interesting to me, as she was about to ask for a piece of identifying information, for her due-diligence, and she almost made a mistake. She paused, and stopped, and asked a different question, which I answered.

I caught her mistake though, and commented on it. I told her I was glad she had switched gear.

She said "I know, the other thing, well there are higher risks in that."

I said: "I know!" Plus something about high need for privacy due to my work.

She then shared a story, about her female friend who worked in Government. The branch she was a part of, she could not even give out her work email, as all information, creates a risk, a vulnerability.

I thanked her for sharing that story and JOKED with her in appreciation: "I have never felt so heard, seen, nor understood in my life." Obviously, that's a huge exaggeration, of the small feeling that I had.

She got it though. She knows about security, risks, vulnerabilities, safety.

We all can improve in these areas. Here is FTC's fraud stats from last year.

FTC's Top Scams of 2022

The top scams of 2022

Last Year lost 8.8 Billion Due to Fraud. We must report EVERY ACTOR & EVERY INCIDENT

We must all do our part to report fraud & scammers, daily. I know it can feel like a hassle to professionals, especially those who consult, or work in small teams. Kevin Mitnick + other USA top security professionals state: reporting does feel like a hassle for employees, co.'s, victims, but it's necessary, and over time, statistically it DOES reduce threats.

Scammers are real people, like you & me, only something went wrong in their lives. They have either abnormal or antisocial (criminal) psychology. Even if they believe they started out because they were "a victim" themselves, either they were, or that's the Narcissist in them speaking (Hero-Victim-Antagonist).

Their ongoing behaviors are criminal & hurt countless innocent ppl. (Mariana Van Zeller interviewed one scammer, who started out needing to pay exorbitant medical bills for her sick father. She kept at the scam, because it was lucrative, affording her a lifestyle she could never imagine before, where she called her work The Game. She was heartless in her cruelty in her actions re: stealing from innocent people (similar to Dr. Danielle Robert's heartless cruelty in branding humans - she could see no wrong in the coercion, manipulation, abuse & trafficking she is part of).

I know in the US, Threat Actors from Silicon Valley 2006-2015, were engineers/developers; doing it because they liked it, b/c their "friends" did it, and for perceived slights, which were often untrue (not real; their mental disorder or group slander/libel).

In 2016-2017, Threat Actors in Virginia that I filed against, had criminal records. It took until 2021 in TX, to find out they work for Traffickers & Domestic Terrorists.

In 2020-2021 in TX, Threat Actors recruited from Colleges, incl. University of Texas at Austin. From Hostels, Night Clubs, Recovery Clinics, Jails, Shelters. They use advanced marketing & Language Structures of Manipulation, Power & Control. They're ALL misinformed. Their tech, is advanced, but the application used, any 3-6 yo child can be taught, easy to implement. Actors told me they signed NDA. They couldn't get jobs elsewhere. They did it to be paid in BitCoin + Drugs. Advanced Actors also paid in Points, Cred, Cash.

Please check your email headers (download the .eml file & change it to .txt). Please block and report the senders & callers. Please be informed on: If You See Something Say Something (DHS) & report all people who fit the behaviors of what to look out for.

Please report people at work, who are committing crimes on the inside. People talk at company parties & social events. People brag. People work together in teams. Their psychology is all distinct, if you're trained.

Otherwise it's also transparent, if you're aware. All you have to do is to watch, listen, and report, just as an act of awareness, nothing more than that.

You know who the perpetrators are. You could help save yourself from theft & loss and help others, including last year's 8.8 Billion.

https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2023/02/ftc-crunches-2022-numbers-see-where-scammers-continue-crunch-consumers?utm_source=govdelivery

This post had 11,244 impressions. #NXIVM #NicoleMorin #Twitter #LinkedIn

This post had 11,244 impressions earlier this week. Yet no comments, no likes, no messages, no increased followers nor connections. That is out of alignment with every A/B study. Let's circle back as to why, and please respond if you know more, can expand my understanding, or can help. Thank you.

I worked with the Marketing Director of BuyerLink, billionaire Payam Zamani's corp. His Dir was involved in making Starbucks a recognized brand, BEFORE it was a household name. Those types of mentors I worked with, contributed to the successes of any project I've had. As stated in an earlier post, b/c of their insight & what they taught me, I've never "lost" in totality; only some partial losses as one piece of ongoing case work. More than those few incidents, I have experienced DELAYS when perpetrators attempted to affect my work.

In December I was locked out of Twitter for two weeks after I posted about Nicole Morin. In January I was locked out of LinkedIn for a week, and it took buying a new computer to get back in. I sent LinkedIn the fraudulent notices I received, pretending to be from them, as well as the headers & IP traces. They were coming from a tech firm in Ontario, who was committing illegal fraud, impersonation, and affected my account. They committed a crime, and I hope Canada's Minister of Justice, frowns upon that.

An impression is different than a view and different than an open.

In marketing, to make one "sale", it's 100 cold calls, 10 conservations, 1 sale. In email marketing, it's about 1 sale to every 1,000 valid email addresses. My statistics, have always been higher (a) b/c of that Director I knew + other brilliant leaders who helped me along the way (if I worked w/you in a long term W2 assignment, you know who you are; thank you for your guidance); & (b) as I'm old school, focused on relationships. I'm generally more word of mouth, keeping my foundation w/people I know, trust, have worked with in the past.

I'm missing 8 emails from January attack. I'm missing a handful of emails from December attack.

If you're one of those people, reach out to me again. I want to connect with you.

If you reached out to identify #NXVIM members (1 of 2 posts had photos), REACH OUT TO ME AGAIN. Closing the case matters to me. I received 2 restraining orders from Judge L against their members who failed due diligence in 2018 & I need to renew. I have enough data, but there's an aspect that's BIGGER than my small case. ID can help more globally: NXIVM was indicted for trafficking, and use technology to commit crime. IDing members, bridges a gap between my case & tech they use to hurt others.

The case regarding #NicoleMorin, is my top priority this year, more important than anything I've worked on since I first worked with a District Attorney in 1998. Out of all my assignments helping corporations, reporting fraud & helping some families affected by fraud over 25 years, Morin is THE MOST IMPORTANT. As NXIVM traffics, they are a part.

Threat Actors ARE on US Soil

Thanks for this. This is great. Except for, many cyber criminals ARE in the US. I've been filming & photographing a large group that traffics, since 2021. They're here, on our soil. I also met many perpetrators, in Silicon Valley. I was the Financial Controller for several major tech companies 2006-2010, working with thousands of engineers. When I achieved exit, hackers would come up to me, and give me bits of info. It always disturbed me, until I got curious, then decided to research what they were doing.One perpetrator from DC in 2021, said his father was Secret Service, and he and his friends, were exploiting some of that technology. He was an actual Influencer, and told me he marketed his brand, which was about art, tattoos, lifestyle. He formed teams of volunteers/gamers for the Domestic Terrorist Organization he worked for, utilizing Serious Games. They physically followed & technologically breached, specific individuals who fit their attack criteria. It was for profit. The targets were chosen due to their finances, their politics, their media, or for revenge. He told me he marketed and amassed a group of 1,200 Players, willing to wreak havoc.

In 2021, I spoke to a former Advertising Director living in Virginia. He admitted to me that he has a gambling addiction & engages in this type of gaming to feed his habit, for pay, and for revenge. He described women the way Narcissists do, on an extreme scale of love v hate. He told me he formed gaming teams of 1,000 players per game. He said their goal is to make money through fraud, earn points, and then kill their target within 2-3 months, making it look like suicide. He writes books, which are his trophies. One per victim.

In 2015 I spoke with a Real Estate Co-Owner in San Francisco. He told me he had a rough childhood in New York, was befriended by a male leader in mafia. He told me his job was to go to homes as a teen, and the men he was with, would beat or kill the individuals in those homes, who had debt. He told me he wanted to get out of the violent part of it, and so found BitCoin. He said he now forms teams to harass & steal from people, using technology.

In 2021 in Texas to DC, a caravan I was recording, were immigrants, from Mexico, Brazil, New Zealand, other countries. One GM who forms teams stated she brings individuals over from Australia to play in US illegal tournaments. One immigrant in DC, told me he was hired to write for a Foundation that Traffics, and that if he did what they said, they would help him with US citizenship.

This is happening HERE on US soil by Citizens & Immigrants, working for organized crime. They do use their devices from their home countries. They also use VPN's. I was able to interview a small handful of Threat Actors, who told me that they had felonies, and after they got out of prison, could not get hired elsewhere, unless menial work. One started working for organized crime, paying him $50/hour. One woman stated she earned $10K per deliverable.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7034190068508450816/

Interview with Criminal Contractor, Washington DC June 2021

This article, a fine example of organized crime & retaliation.In DC June 2021, a man from Maryland approached me, asking me who I worked for. He seemed to be referring to the crime report I turned in to AG, that was accepted. I told him I had ID's with two gov offices, but was non specific, as those are related to my work re: victims of crime. I did not give him the answer he wanted, nor was detailed enough for him. (If he was anyone in government or important, he'd already have known.)

There were social dynamics at play. If I was alone, I never would have let that man come physically close to me. But I was with a group of individuals; he came up to one of them, in order to talk to me. He looked at me, said even though I didn't answer him, it didn't matter who I did or did not work for, as "They" have connections in all places. When he said this, it made me curious enough to bite. I asked him what he did. He said he was a contractor. He said he "cleaned" things up for wealthy people.

What he was talking about, is what I believe to be organized crime for hire & public corruption. Including "cleaning things up", where murders are made to look like suicides.

Victims & Journalists murdered for doing the right thing & speaking out.

I interviewed Actors in Texas & DC, when I turned in a report to The Attorney General. Some of the mentally ill members, were more open about their tech & chemicals they use to make it look like suicide, like an rx that if injected, will stop the heart and not register on a chemical test (MD confirmed this). Some seemed to not know what they were getting into when they signed their contract & NDA, and assumed, I didn't have a foundation in what they meant, so didn't think the reference they used, would give it away.

A small handful of the white collar criminals (engineers) did explain processes to me in a way that was pointed enough & clear, for me to understand. Others were non-verbal, their actions displaying what they were doing: pointing to a piece of tech, or to a bag of "herbs" (not herbs) or rx where the label explained it. A few, used synonyms, thinking they were getting one over on me.

Ultimately, they communicated with me as a part of them liked me enough or rapport built was enough. More than that, I think it was about THEM, LIKING what they did + their narcissistic need for glory. There are also language structures, which can trigger answers based on the criminal's disorder.

I've been researching Threat Actors who financially traffic since they committed a crime in SF in 2012 & recurring crimes since.

They are connected to drug trafficking, sex trafficking, murder-for-hire, where I didn't find out about all of that until TX/DC.

They hate the press & their victims who lived, or spoke out against them.

"Nearly half of the journalists who were killed last year were not on assignment when they were targeted, the U.N. said, and were slain in their homes, while traveling or in various public places."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/killings-of-journalists-and-media-workers-surged-50-percent-in-2022-un-says/