2020 sees a boom in online romance fraud
The UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime says romance fraud has cost victims £63m in 2020.Action Fraud says they have had over 6,000 cases reported to them this year, up more than 800 on 2019. These often result from 'cat-fishing', where a scammer creates a fake profile
Jobseekers warned about fake job scams
Jobseekers are being warned of a large increase in fake job scams with thousands of people estimated to be victims every year.A not-for-profit organisation set up by the Metropolitan Police to monitor scams in the recruitment industry says it has received 800 reports of scams since the start of the
Woman takes son to court over ‘hidden assets’
The ex-wife of a Russian oligarch, who received a UK record divorce settlement, is taking her son to the High Court after claiming he is helping his father hide assets from her.Tatiana Akhmedova was awarded £453 million of Farkhad Akmedov's wealth by the High Court in London in 2016 but
Husband guilty of stalking after bugging wife’s TV
An IT expert has been found guilty of stalking his estranged wife after placing bugging devices behind her TV and in her car, a court has heard.South Tyneside Magistrates' Court was told Stephen Ewart moved out of the family home after wrongly believing his wife Deborah was having an affair
Conflict’s David Johnson featured in new podcast
Conflict International's US Business Manager, David Johnson, is featured in the latest edition of the PI Perspectives podcast available now.In the special show to mark Veteran's Day, David talks about his time serving with the US Army Special Forces and the transition to his investigative business role at Conflict.The podcast
French scammers target UK companies
A number of British companies have reported being duped by French scammers claiming to be professional buyers for hotels and distribution firms.Details of several examples of attempted fraud have been given to the Daily Mail where companies would be approached with orders on credit in an attempt to obtain the
Open Source Intelligence – it’s surprising what you can find
Sky News has published a fascinating podcast going behind the scenes of one of their shared Open Source investigations.It tells the story of how the broadcaster collaborated with The Guardian, Bellingcat and Lighthouse Reports to investigate the UK arms trade and go on to reveal that Russian special forces are
Apple address privacy concerns with new feature
Apple has addressed recent privacy concerns with a new feature in its latest update to their operating software.iOS14 users will now see either a green or orange dot in the top right hand corner of their screen if an app is using either the camera (green) or microphone (orange).Concerns
Can you spot the fake?
The UK's largest pawnbroker has revealed the most commonly copied designer brands after revealing that over £3 billion is unwittingly spent on fake consumer items each year.H&T Pawnbrokers researched Google search volumes for fake alternatives to luxury designer brands and discovered that Yeezy, Balenciaga, Rolex, RayBan and Gucci were the top five
Warning over fake celebrity investment scams
Criminals are using fake celebrity endorsements to lure people into making fraudulent investments, the public has been warned.Online ads and phishing emails featuring the rich and famous have been increasing in recent months, according to the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) who say they have taken down more than 300,000
