Links in “Financial Crime”

A man handed a note to teller of a Delaware bank demanding cash, but as he made his getaway, bank employees activated a security device known as the "mantrap," which locked the suspect between the interior and exterior doors of the bank. From the looks of his mugshot, the alleged robber was not happy about this. [8/25/14]

Scam operators running the so-called "Bill Payment Government Assistance Program" targeted distressed borrowers with promises of paying off the consumer's debt for an advance service charge of $900 to $1,100. Their YouTube video purported an endorsement from the president with a recording of him saying "I approve this message." The FTC is seeking to shut the operators down. [8/25/14]

Loan fraud is the charge being brought against a former assistant manager and four members, including four police officers, of the Wilkes-Barre City Employees FCU. Prosecutors have not yet released information as to the number and amount of the fraudulent loans. The former manager, Jim Payne, committed suicide five months ago after it was rumored he was the target of an FBI probe. [8/22/14]

Minnesota debt collector gets shut down by the state, but apparently the credit sensitive information he had, such as social security numbers, bank account info, and dates of birth, was too tempting to resist. He would impersonate his victims to take over and steal directly from their accounts. He is looking at 175 months in prison. [8/22/14]

Bank of America settles for $9.65 billion in penalties and $7 billion in restitution for its sale of unsound mortgage-backed securities. BofA's total tab for regulatory fines since the financial crisis is $70 billion. [8/22/14]

NCUA has received approximately $5.4 million in restitution from a fraud case brought by the U. S. Attorney’s office which was won against BCTT Federal Credit Union in Binghamton, NY. The credit union was liquidated in 2011 and during the review process NCUA discovered that a member and her son obtained over $14 million in fraudulent loans. [8/15/14]

Over the course of two years Duane Akuffo created 17 false auto loan applications, which led to a plunder of more than $357,000. [8/13/14]

No, we're not just talking the World Cup losses. Brazil's unique Boleto payment system, which is used for 100% of business-to-business payments, made it the ideal target for cyber criminals, who have potentially stolen $3.75 billion. [8/12/14]

Undaunted by more sophisticated currency, counterfeiters continue their efforts to produce higher quality bogus bills to slip into the economy. More than $88 million in counterfeit currency was confiscated in 2013, an increase of 9% over 2012. [8/11/14]

Reports of potentially the largest breach ever are emerging that a Russian crime ring has stolen 1.2 billion password and username combinations and more than 500 million email addresses. [8/7/14]