Category: Law Enforcement

Social Media Scams: 2019 Update

It seems the internet will never be completely free of scams, fake ads, and outlandish claims by companies and the products they sell. And 2019 is proving to be no different. Here’s the latest on what to look out for when browsing the web, scrolling your Facebook news feed, and clicking on those enticing ads.

1) Although Facebook has pledged to get tough on scammers, millions of users are still being targeted by fraudsters. Harry Rose, editor of Which? magazine, said: “Facebook has promised to tackle scams head-on so we’re disappointed that it took them a full 24 hours to remove our falsified ad, despite many comments flagging that it was fake.” Facebook and other tech companies urgently need to put systems in place to ensure their millions of users are protected from scams that could see them conned out of substantial sums.” A Facebook spokesman said: “We are taking action to stop fraud wherever it appears, and will continue to adapt to the increasingly sophisticated techniques fraudsters use to con people.

Just remember the old adage, if it seems too good to be true it probably is. And follow these rules:

• If an ad is endorsed by a celebrity, do not assume it is genuine.
• Never use a financial service advertised on social media without checking their background.
• Avoid filling out quizzes or surveys that ask you for personal details. They could be used to commit ID fraud, or target you with follow-up scams.
• Do not click, like or share posts you are unsure of. Opening links or downloading attachments could risk installing a virus on your computer.
• Be wary of unusual messages from friends if they contain links to “too good-to-be-true” offers or ask for money – even if the message has been sent via Facebook Messenger. A change in your friend’s style of writing is also a likely sign that it’s not them. Always contact your friend privately to check.
• Check your privacy settings and limit what is publicly visible. Facebook sets your friends list to “public” by default. So if a scammer creates a convincing copy of your account, it’s easier for them to target people on your friends list. Use Facebook’s privacy settings to change it to private or “friends only” instead.
• If you spot a suspicious post on Facebook, report it. Click on the three dots in the top right hand corner of the post and select “Give feedback”.

2) Because Millennials are constantly on social media, it provides the perfect scenario for scammers and fraudulent activity. Recently, Better Business Bureau Northwest + Pacific has seen a rise of scam activity occurring on Snapchat. The scheme targets young adults with an offer to make money through a “sponsorship” or “advertising opportunity.” They instruct the person to send money via gift cards to pay for “advertising” and then scammers request account login information to get on Snapchat and invite that person’s friends to be part of this “opportunity” and keep the scheme going. The victim’s login information is changed so they cannot login to stop it or warn others, leaving the scammer in control of the account until Snapchat is notified.

BBB has already identified these types of scams happening in Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina and New York. Recently the Police Department in Boise, Idaho reported seeing it as well, with a local victim losing thousands of dollars. Because 71% of Snapchat users are between ages 18-29, it’s easy to see why so many young consumers might fall for it.

Anytime someone asks for your login information and/or payment via gift card, it’s a scam. Block that user, delete the message, and report them.
3) The last scam targets users on the other end of the age spectrum. The “Grandparent Scam” has been around for years, but variations keep popping and duping thousands of consumers every year. In 2018, an estimated $1.48 billion was reported stolen, with those over the age of 70 suffering the highest average losses, according to the Federal Trade Commission.


Typically, the victim receives a frantic phone call from a scammer posing as a grandchild or other family member. The “grandchild” explains that he or she is in some kind of trouble and needs help. The “grandchild” pleads to not to tell his or her parents and asks that they wire thousands of dollars for reasons such as posting bail, repairing a car, covering lawyer’s fees or even paying hospital bills. The caller is counting on an instant reaction from the victim by playing the sympathy card.
What you need to do first is verify the caller. Ask a personal question that only your grandchild or family member would know the answer to. Tell them you’ll call back and ask for a number; then contact your grandchild or another family member to determine whether or not the call is legitimate and confirm the whereabouts of the grandchild.
Never send money through wire transfer or other “sketchy” methods, especially to locations overseas. That is a serious red flag. Scammers also commonly use payment via prepaid card or gift cards.
If you do fall victim to the “Grandparent Scam”, report the incident immediately to the BBB Scam Tracker and local police.

SNAPCHAT: What You Need to Know for your investigations

Snapchat gained success soon after its launch due to its one of a kind feature. No matter what type of snap you post, no one could take a screenshot or save it without your knowledge. If you post a picture on your Snapchat account, it stays there for a good 24 hours and then it’s deleted. This feature empowers kids and teens to do and share whatever they want on Snapchat, without fearing to be caught. Which has parents concerned about the safety of their kids.


With users of all ages, it’s risky to let young kids and teens use a social networking app without keeping a check on their activities.
Unfortunately for parents, Snapchat does not provide a feature to view snapchat stories without the user knowing. Your account is protected as long as you have a unique password, are careful who you snap with, and you don’t reveal too much personal information.


But what many folks do not know that there now are multiple ways to spy on snapchat of anyone. Snapchat’s Built-In Spy Feature, Snap Map, gives you an opportunity to spy on your friends and know their location. Many users have probably come across this feature, but you might not think of using it as the Snapchat spy tool.


Snap Map displays information about all your friends who were lately available on Snapchat, and have shared their location with you. If you want to spy anyone or wish to surprise your friends by joining them randomly at a particular spot, Snap Map assists you by showing the recent movements of your friends. Activating this built-in snapchat spy feature is easy to do, would take just a couple of taps from your fingers.


If you want to be a little more incognito when spying, there are several apps available:

SpyAdvice tops all the other spying apps due to its exciting features. You can see complete tracking of all multimedia sent and received via Snapchat, view exact time of sharing of all photos and videos, access deleted media, see a record of recent keystrokes, and have real-time location monitoring with GPS tracking. SpyAdvice is not just a spying app; it is a complete package that enables you to hack someone’s snapchat without them knowing – and get access to every single activity of the user.


If you prefer a free option, checkout Snapch. This spying tool uses various VPNs which entirely masks your presence. Your targeted user will never doubt any external access to its Snapchat activities. Through Snapch, you can freely get your target users snap stories, chat logs, and even login information. This empowers you to get instant access to your target’s Snapchat account instantly without any spy app.


Another option is Snapchat Photo Grabber. Though this tool is not as smart as the others, particularly the SpyAdvice, you can still use it as a quick option to access anyone’s Snapchat account. This handy tool will let you access your target’s snapchat account within minutes.


Although spying is constantly being debated as legal or illegal, sometimes it’s more important to get involved in order to protect your loved ones from bullies, predators, or criminals. Obviously no one is going to share their secret activities with you, therefore, you have a reason to spy on the Snapchat account of anyone you doubt or want to keep protected online. If you wish to protect your child as a worried parent, desire to keep an eye on your spouse, or want your staff to be sincere with their work instead of wasting time on Snapchatting – then it indeed is your right to spy their Snapchat accounts.

About Us:
We have been mining social media since 2007 for our clients. By utilizing best in class software programs, we offer a service called eChatter.
eChatter works with you to obtain your objectives in a fast, accurate and reliable facet. By keeping our strengthened principals, yet evolving with this industry, we lead in social media monitoring. Since 2007, we have been dedicated to providing our customers with the most authentic data.

We offer:
• Deep Web Scans
• Jury Vetting
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• Quick Scan

www.e-chatter.net
(866) 703-8238

Drugs & the Dark Web: Update

Dark web markets are viewed as one of the crucial sources of fentanyl, synthetic opioids, and other illegal drugs. Often produced in China, these drugs are sent to users found on the dark net. The packages flowing from China are blamed for compounding the opioid crisis in the United States. Empire, one of the largest markets still online, features more than 26,000 drug and chemical listings, including over 2,000 opioids, shipped right to a customer’s mailbox.


And although many of the major sites have been shut down, the online trafficking of illegal drugs has not stopped. The fight against online drug sales is a constant cycle: There are raids, sites are taken down, and a few people are arrested. And after a while the trade and markets pop up somewhere else. “The instability has become sort of baked into the dark-web market experience,” said Emily Wilson, an expert on the dark web at the security firm Terbium Labs. “People don’t get quite as scared by it as they did the first few times.”


Silk Road, the original dark net market that came online in 2011, was shut down in 2013. When its creator, Ross Ulbricht, was put in jail, there was a widespread assumption that his failure and punishment would deter imitators. But that was not the case. In 2014, a massive crackdown called Operation Onymous helped arrest 17 people by exploiting a vulnerability in the anonymity software Tor, which serves as the dark web’s fundamental cloaking tool. Yet by 2017, another site, AlphaBay, rose up to become bigger than Silk Road had ever been. The FBI took down Alphabay in July of that year while Dutch police hijacked the second-largest dark-web market, Hansa. The double takedown, called Operation Bayonet, was intended not only to ensnare dark-web buyers and sellers but to scare them, too.
Just recently, global law enforcement announced the takedowns of two of the world’s largest dark-web drug sites, Wall Street Market and Valhalla. And this past week, the FBI and Europol announced their latest win: The takedown of dark-web news and information site DeepDotWeb, which had quietly made millions of dollars from offering promotional links to black market sites in an underground affiliate marketing scheme. “We think it’s going to have a huge impact,” FBI special agent Maggie Blanton, who leads the bureau’s Hi-Tech Organized Crime Unit, told WIRED. “We viewed DeepDotWeb as a gateway to the dark web.”


But despite those wins, new sites keep popping up due to an economy where the demand—drug-addicted users—remains constant or growing. “History has taught us that this ecosystem is very, very resilient,” says Carnegie Mellon computer scientist Nicolas Christin, a longtime dark web researcher. “It’s part of a cycle, and we’re in the chaotic part of the cycle. We’ll have to see how it recovers. But if I were a betting person I would put more money on it recovering than on it dramatically changing.”


Governments have dedicated increasingly substantial resources to fighting dark net markets, especially as their role in the rise of synthetic opioids has become clearer. In early 2018, the F.B.I. created the Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement team, or J-Code, with more than a dozen special agents and staff. Europol has its own dedicated dark web team. During the first few months of 2019, American officials conducted an operation called SaboTor, which focused on the vendors selling drugs on the dark net. There were 61 arrests in just a few weeks. One ring, in the Los Angeles area, was said to be responsible for shipping 1,500 packages of crack, heroin and methamphetamine each month. Richard Downing, who oversees the computer crime section of the Justice Department, said he and his colleagues have focused on techniques that create distrust on the sites by encouraging users to believe that sellers and site administrators have already been compromised and are feeding information to law enforcement.


But despite the numerous shut downs and arrests, data from Chainalysis suggests that before the latest crackdown, transactions on the dark net had recovered to nearly 70% of the previous peak, right before AlphaBay went down, and were growing each month. “After some years now of this cycle, it would be hard to say that it’s likely we’re going to stamp this out completely,” Mr. Downing said. “I am hopeful that our efforts to spread deterrence and mistrust are having an impact on how quickly they come back and how strongly they come back.”


The surviving markets, and new ones that have already popped up, have adopted measures to make them more difficult targets for the authorities. Using alternative cryptocurrencies, like Monero, make transactions harder to track. And DeepDotWeb already has a formidable successor in the social network and news site Dread, which is available only on the dark net. One of the new markets that have emerged recently, Cryptonia, has promised that it has figured out many of the flaws that made previous sites vulnerable to the police. “As geeks, we believe that with the right technology most of these problems can be solved,” the Cryptonia Team Manifesto says. “That’s why we have set out to build the perfect dark net trading platform.”
Most users of the dark web see the attacks as a waste of time. “The war on drugs is a complete failure, a bottomless money pit,” writes one user. But both the FBI and Europol officials see their fights as necessary—even if only to limit the dark web markets’ growth and make it even incrementally harder to buy dangerous drugs like fentanyl online. “Any small win is a victory,” the FBI’s Blanton says. “We care about stopping even one more person from overdosing.”


“Some people you’re not going to deter from going to these markets. But there are a large number of people who would never considering buying drugs on a street corner or from a shady dealer but who will use the perceived anonymity of the internet to do this,” Europol’s Steven Wilson says. “If we can dissuade those people, how many lives to do we end up saving?”

About Us:
We have been mining social media since 2007 for our clients. By utilizing best in class software programs, we offer a service called eChatter.
eChatter works with you to obtain your objectives in a fast, accurate and reliable facet. By keeping our strengthened principals, yet evolving with this industry, we lead in social media monitoring. Since 2007, we have been dedicated to providing our customers with the most authentic data.

www.e-chatter.net
(866) 703-8238