Social Media and Insurance Crimes

Ever have a claim that’s just a little “off”? Something about it just doesn’t sit right. If you need to get to the bottom of it, you might end up hiring a private investigator to track down possible insurance fraud. One of the best places to start is in social media for insurance crimes!

Joseph Jones is one such investigator. The Californian PI and vice president of Bosco Legal Services solves cases through a mixture of extensive online searches and surveillance. The 30-year-old holds degrees in social and behavioral sciences and psychology, plus multiple certifications in open source and cyber intelligence.

“What we’re able to provide in the way of evidence, it’s so good. It started with your typical workers’ comp issue, where someone claims they have neck and back problems and they really don’t, or your car accidents. That’s like the bread and butter – those are the cases that come constantly.”

The firm gets deep into social media, spending hours trawling for information on a person, often through friends’ and acquaintances’ pages – searching for comments, pictures or videos that might incriminate the claimant.

Jones finds that social media users will post information for their friends that contradicts what they’re trying to claim from their insurers, including: vacations, physical fitness, social events, hobbies, employment, and potentially incriminating places they frequently visit.

Jones said 10-20 hours of targeted online investigations can often yield more than a week’s worth of surveillance. But when social media fails, there are always the private eye fall-backs, like tailing, watching, interviewing and doorknocking.

Need a clearer picture? Let’s start with a story. There was a young lady who slipped and fell in a retail store. She alleged multiple injuries, including permanently disabling back issues. Her lawsuit claimed that her life would never be the same, and she sought damages of more than $100,000 from the store.

With access to multiple media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, the social media investigator learned that the “horribly injured plaintiff” was a college cheerleader, softball player and highly engaged in her sorority – all current activities. Targeted surveillance was ordered which produced a comprehensive video of the individual’s activities, in full color and including a smiling, very active and very healthy plaintiff.

When the investigation was shared with the judge, the suit was dismissed. The case ultimately closed for $2,500 in paid medical expenses.

Sadly, there are thousands of stories like this. The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud in North America estimated $80 billion per year in insurance fraud in 2016. 2017 surveys by Insurance Research Council revealed that 24% of Americans believe it’s “ok to pad an insurance claim.”

Although insurance fraud is not going away anytime soon, today’s technology makes fraud detection and prevention a much greater reality, and social media investigations play a large role in that.

There are over 200 well-known social media websites with the top four being Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute of the day, with 400 million photos uploaded to Snapchat daily. Amazingly, people using these sites have no concerns about the content or what the content can reveal about their activities. And it’s all public information, there for the world to see.

When a Facebook post shows a claimant with a supposed knee injury in a bowling league, complete with pictures of scorecards, including dates and times, it’s not difficult to have an investigator at the bowling alley on league night, video camera in hand to confirm the activities. That’s the kind of material people post on social media. It’s an open book!

Social media investigations are an evolving tool in the fight against insurance fraud. Professional investigators are best equipped to handle this – they have the technology and the expertise that adjusters simply don’t have, along with the contractual obligation to defend clients in case of mistakes. This type of investigation is proving to be a valuable tool in the claim handling process.

Fake Accounts on Social Media

Facebook admits to as many as 270 million fake or clone accounts

Have you ever had your friends tell you they received a new friend request from you? And then you think…wait, I didn’t send that! You’ve most likely been cloned on Facebook. And you’re not alone.

All these accounts belong to customers of a company named Devumi that has collected millions of dollars in a shadowy global marketplace for social media fraud. Devumi sells Twitter followers and retweets to celebrities, businesses and anyone who wants to appear more popular or exert influence online. Drawing on an estimated stock of at least 3.5 million automated accounts, the company has provided customers with more than 200 million Twitter followers, a New York Times investigation found.

Fake accounts, deployed by governments, criminals and entrepreneurs, now infest social media networks. By some calculations, as many as 48 million of Twitter’s reported active users — nearly 15 percent — are automated accounts designed to simulate real people.

In November, Facebook disclosed to investors that it had at least twice as many fake users as it previously estimated, indicating that up to 60 million automated accounts may roam the world’s largest social media platform. These fake accounts, known as bots, can help sway advertising audiences and reshape political debates. They can defraud businesses and ruin reputations.

Devumi’s founder, German Calas, denied that his company sold fake followers and said he knew nothing about social identities stolen from real users. “The allegations are false, and we do not have knowledge of any such activity,” Mr. Calas said in an email exchange in November.

The Times reviewed business and court records showing that Devumi has more than 200,000 customers, including reality television stars, professional athletes, comedians, TED speakers, pastors and models. In most cases, the records show, they purchased their own followers. In others, their employees, agents, public relations companies, family members or friends did the buying. For just pennies each — sometimes even less — Devumi offers Twitter followers, views on YouTube, and endorsements on LinkedIn, the professional-networking site.

“Social media is a virtual world that is filled with half bots, half real people,” said Rami Essaid, the founder of Distil Networks, a cybersecurity company that specializes in eradicating bot networks. “You can’t take any tweet at face value. And not everything is what it seems.”

Buying Bots

Most of Devumi’s best-known buyers are selling products, services or themselves on social media. Some claim to buy followers because they were curious about how it worked, or felt pressure to generate high follower counts for themselves or their customers. “Everyone does it,” said the actress Deirdre Lovejoy, a Devumi customer.

While some said they believed Devumi was supplying real potential fans or customers, others acknowledged that they knew or suspected they were getting fake accounts. Several said they regretted their purchases.

“It’s fraud,” said James Cracknell, a British rower and Olympic gold medalist who bought 50,000 followers from Devumi. “People who judge by how many likes or how many followers, it’s not a healthy thing.”

Several Devumi customers acknowledged that they bought bots because their careers had come to depend, in part, on the appearance of social media influence. “No one will take you seriously if you don’t have a noteworthy presence,” said Jason Schenker, an economist who specializes in economic forecasting and has purchased at least 260,000 followers.

Devumi also sells bots to reality television stars, who can parlay fame into endorsement and appearance fees. Sonja Morgan, a cast member on the Bravo show “The Real Housewives of New York City,” uses her Devumi-boosted Twitter feed to promote her fashion line, a shopping app and a website that sells personalized “video shout-outs.”

While Devumi sells millions of followers directly to celebrities and influencers, its customers also include marketing and public relations agencies, which buy followers for their own customers. Phil Pallen, a brand strategist based in Los Angeles, offers customers “growth & ad campaigns” on social media. At least a dozen times, company records show, Mr. Pallen has paid Devumi to deliver those results. Beginning in 2014, for example, he purchased tens of thousands of followers for Lori Greiner, the inventor and “Shark Tank” co-host.

Mr. Pallen at first denied buying those followers. After The Times contacted Ms. Greiner, Mr. Pallen said he had “experimented” with the company but “stopped using it long ago.” A lawyer for Ms. Greiner said she had asked him to stop after learning of the first purchases.

Still, records show, Mr. Pallen bought Ms. Greiner more Devumi followers in 2016.

Think you’ve been hacked? Check for this:

Your name, birthday, email or password has been changed
Someone sent out friend requests to people you don’t know
Messages have been sent from your account, but you didn’t write them
Posts are appearing on your timeline that you didn’t post

To secure your account:

Go to Settings – A new menu will pop up. Choose Security and Login, then Where You’re Logged in From. A list of all of the devices that you’ve logged into and their locations will pop up. If there is a login you don’t recognize, chances are you may have been hacked. If you see anything that isn’t you, click Not You? on the right side of the log. Then click Secure Account. Facebook will then walk you through the steps of securing your account after running a diagnostic on your account.

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

· Jury Monitoring

· Quick Scan

www.e-chatter.net

(866) 703-8238

Inside the Dark Web

What you Need to Know

The dark web is just that…dark. This part of the web is only accessible through special software and allows buyers and sellers to remain anonymous or untraceable. And you know what that means…a lot of suspicious and illegal activity.

Accessing this invisible part of the internet – where you can buy almost anything – requires the use of an anonymizing browser called Tor. It routes your web page requests through a series of proxy servers operated by thousands of volunteers around the globe, rendering your IP address unidentifiable and untraceable. Tor works like magic, but the search results are unpredictable, unreliable and maddeningly slow.

But if you are willing to wait, the dark web provides a plethora of illegal opportunities…and plenty of people are taking advantage. Here you can buy credit card numbers, all manner of drugs, guns, counterfeit money, stolen subscription credentials, hacked Netflix accounts and software that helps you break into other people’s computers.

Beneath the Surface

Dark web sites look pretty much like any other site, but there are some important differences. One is the naming structure. Instead of ending in .com or .org, dark web sites end in .onion. That’s “a special-use top level domain suffix designating an anonymous hidden service reachable via the Tor network,” according to Wikipedia.

Dark web sites also use a scrambled naming structure that creates URLs that are often impossible to remember. For example, a popular commerce site called Dream Market goes by the unintelligible address of “eajwlvm3z2lcca76.onion.”

The cryptocurrency factor

The dark web has flourished thanks to bitcoin, the crypto-currency that enables two parties to conduct a transaction without knowing each other’s identity. “Bitcoin has been a major factor in the growth of the dark web, and the dark web has been a big factor in the growth of bitcoin,” says Patrick Tiquet, Director of Security & Architecture at Keeper Security. Nearly all dark web commerce sites conduct transactions in bitcoin or some variant, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe to do business there.

Dark web commerce sites have the same features as other e-retail operations, including ratings/reviews, shopping carts and forums, but there are notable differences.
Quality control – When both buyers and sellers are anonymous, the credibility of any ratings system is dubious. Ratings are easily manipulated, and even sellers with long track records have been known to suddenly disappear with their customers’ crypto-coins, only to set up shop later under a different alias.

Shipping – Completing a transaction is no guarantee that the goods will arrive. Some shipments need to cross international borders, and customs officials are cracking down on suspicious packages. The dark web news site Deep.Dot.Web is full of stories of buyers who have been arrested or jailed for attempted purchases.

The good side

On a more positive note, there’s also material that you would be surprised to find on the public web, such as links to full-text editions of hard-to-find books, collections of political news from mainstream websites and a guide to the steam tunnels under the Virginia Tech campus. You can conduct discussions about current events anonymously on Intel Exchange.

“More and more legitimate web companies are starting to have presences there,” Tiquet said. “It shows that they’re aware, they’re cutting edge and in the know.”

There’s also plenty of practical value for some organizations. Law enforcement agencies keep an ear to the ground on the dark web looking for stolen data from security breaches that might lead to the perpetrators. Many mainstream media organizations monitor whistleblower sites looking for news.

Keeper’s Patrick Tiquet checks in regularly because it’s important for him to be on top of what’s happening in the hacker underground. “I use the dark web for threat analysis and keeping an eye on what’s going on,” he said. “I use this information to gain insight on what hackers are targeting.”

If you find your own information on the dark web, there’s not much you can do about it, but at least you’ll know you’ve been compromised. Bottom line: If you can tolerate the lousy performance, unpredictable availability, and occasional shock factor of the dark web, it’s worth a visit. Just don’t buy anything there.

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.

We offer:

· Deep Web Scans

· Jury Vetting

· Jury Monitoring

· Quick Scan

www.e-chatter.net

(866) 703-8238

Social Media and the Selling of Drugs to Kids

Drug dealers are increasingly using social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat to sell illegal substances to young people, some as young as 13. Experts have warned the “disturbing” trend rapidly growing in the last year and a half with young people buying illicit substances from strangers and meeting up with them.

How are children being targeted?

Instagram and Snapchat are the most popular platforms for drug dealers to use although similar activity has been reported on Facebook. Young people are being attracted by hashtags and emojis used by dealers alongside images of the drugs they offer. They then provide alternative contact details such as Wickr, an encrypted messaging app which authorities cannot trace.

Encounters between dealers and customers are particularly risky when they do not know each other because if they know you, there is less chance of being ripped off or facing violence according to Nick Hickmott, from the charity, Young Addaction. The availability of local drug dealers is usually spread by word of mouth with the most popular drugs sold being “party drugs” such as MDMA and ecstasy although benzodiazepines such as Xanax, which is often used to self-medicate depression and anxiety, are commonly sold.

In Chicago police arrested 50 people, including a Chicago Public Schools teacher, and have warrants for another 18 after infiltrating secret Facebook groups selling illegal drugs and guns, police said. The arrests came after police infiltrated dozens of secret Facebook groups that require approval by a group administrator to see. Police began their investigation in February after receiving information from a confidential informant. Daniel Caponigri, a first-year physical elementary teacher at Chicago’s George Leland Elementary, was arrested at CPS school for selling drugs.

Who is selling them?

Children as young as 12 are being forced to sell Class A drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine themselves, often because they have parents who are habitual drug users and subsequently lead a chaotic lifestyle.

For example, around 4,000 teenagers from London are trafficked into selling drugs in more rural towns and cities every year, which has become so prevalent that it has been given its own name’ “county lines,” in reference to the dedicated mobile phones or “lines” that they use to carry out their sales across the country.

Many of the girls who are sent are often sexually assaulted and or abused.

They are also driving up the use of guns, acid and knives in attacks across the country, according to a former Senior Official at the National Crime Agency with 85% carrying knives, 74% referencing guns and 25% reporting acid attacks. Other incidents included kidnapping, robbery and assault with nine reported deaths so far being related to drug gangs.

Who should be responsible for stopping this?

Many believe that the social media platforms themselves should be responsible for shutting down the dealers’ accounts.

“Facebook has a responsibility to the people they serve to ensure these type of things don’t happen, quite frankly they have not been very friendly to law enforcement to prevent these things,” said Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. Johnson said his investigators received no cooperation from Facebook during its 10 month investigation.

Police said undercover officers infiltrated dozens of private invitation only secret groups on Facebook that were selling drugs and firearms. “Many with serial numbers scratched out and some with magazines capable for holding more than 30 rounds of ammo, most fully loaded ready to use at the time of purchase,” said Chicago Police Organized Crime Chief Anthony Riccio The kind of guns, police say, that are regularly used in Chicago’s shootings. Police arranged the purchase of 18 illegal firearms and $45,000 dollars’ worth of drugs. Police said all kinds of illegal trafficking is done through dozens and dozens of invitation-only secret groups that are not visible on a regular Facebook page.

In a written response, a Facebook spokesperson says, “We are investigating this report now as it is the first time we have been alerted to it. We do not allow the sale of guns or drugs on our platform. We routinely work with law enforcement.”

Chicago police said they asked for help from Facebook, but did not get any cooperation. Johnson said Chicago police have recovered 8,600 firearms off the streets this year and have made nearly 30 percent more gun arrests than last year. Chicago Police Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that the department and Facebook would be meeting in January to better collaborate on stopping illegal activity.

A spokesperson for Instagram said that they are required to follow the law in regards to the sale of illegal drugs and reports are reviewed constantly and removed as quickly as possible when considered necessary.

Snapchat also said it took responsibility in creating a safe and secure experience seriously and has an active safety team which responds to any concerns within 24 hours. They also said that there was no place for selling drugs on Snapchat.

Although others suggest that rather than giving social media the near-impossible job of monitoring such behavior, more education should be put in place for young people online.

Harry Sumnall, a Professor in substance abuse at the Public Health Institute believes that more research into the trend is needed and believes a better idea would be to ensure young people are educated on the dangers of taking and buying drugs online alongside general internet safety education.

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.

We offer:

· Deep Web Scans

· Jury Vetting

· Jury Monitoring

· Quick Scan

www.e-chatter.net

(866) 703-8238

How Law Enforcement Uses Social Media

Through trial and error, local law enforcement agencies are now using social media as a communication tool to build public trust and catch criminals. Online, officers can ask communities to assist in investigations, relay information to the public during crises and praise themselves and others in jobs well done.

In Alachua County and its surrounding counties, small and large law enforcement agencies alike often have at least a Facebook page, if not several accounts, to communicate with the public.

Lauri Stevens, founder of LAwS Communications, advises law enforcement agencies on how to use social media to their benefit. “Social media is a police tool, just like a Taser or any other tool that they have,” Stevens said.

In a 2016 survey of law enforcement’s use of social media, the Urban Institute found that 91% of agencies used social media to inform people of public safety concerns, and 89% used it for community outreach and engagement.

What are the Risks?

KiDeuk Kim, senior research associate at the Urban Institute, said using social media has its liabilities, including posting inaccurate information, failing to update posted information and unnecessarily revealing the identities of victims.

In June a former Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer posted a picture of a 3-year-old girl whose father left her in a car when he fled police. The picture shows the girl holding a plush dog with a deputy sitting behind her. The girl’s mother commented on Facebook, “This is my daughter and I thank the ASO for taking care of her until I arrived.”

While the photo was able to highlight the work of deputies on the scene, it could have gone terribly wrong. A parent or guardian should be notified before a posting featuring their child is published due to the child being too young to give consent.

How to Connect with Residents

Officer Ben Tobias, Public Information Officer for the Gainesville Police Department commented, “People don’t want to hear, ‘The police say this, and the police say this’. They want to know that their police department and their police officers are human beings as well, with feelings and emotions.”

On Twitter, public information officers use a lighter approach when it comes to posts. Mugshots are shared with hashtags like #GlamourShot and #DontPassGo.

Chris Sims, a former Alachua County Sheriff’s Office public information officer, said the agency hasn’t received complaints from suspects or other citizens about their poking fun, and he added that it helps draw people in to further connect with the agency.

“It may not be the story that triggers that response from the citizen, but they see the funny hashtag and they kind of giggle at it or go, ‘Oh, look, they’re with the times,’ or what have you, and all of a sudden they read our story,” Sims said.

Social Media Monitoring

In Overland Park, Kansas gunman Matthew Riehl opened fire on deputies in Colorado as they came to his home, filming the whole thing on Periscope. He killed one deputy and wounded four others. He also shot two civilians. NBC News reported Riehl had previously posted anti-law enforcement videos, including one where he was running for sheriff.

Overland Park police said if people make threats against police on social media they look into it, especially if a specific officer is referenced. If videos with anti-law enforcement messages are posted, they make nearby departments aware.

Officer John Lacey, with Overland Park Police said, “If someone is saying things about police departments, ‘I want to shoot a cop, I want to do bodily harm.’ I usually get that information and transfer it to our detective division and let them take a look at it.” Lacey monitors the Overland Park Police social media accounts and said they focus on being moderate, transparent and approachable.

Lacey and four or five detectives use social media in investigations as well. They are looking at people who are trying to solicit children, things of that sort,” said Lacey. Last month, Lacey said tips came in as posts when Mikayla Norris disappeared from the Jack Stack at 95th and Metcalf. The department posted her photo, vehicle description, its license tag plate and information came in on their Facebook timeline.

Next month, Lacey will also be teaching other departments across the state of Kansas how to use social media to their advantage.

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.

We offer:

· Deep Web Scans

· Jury Vetting

· Jury Monitoring

· Quick Scan

www.e-chatter.net

(866) 703-8238