fraud

Researchers at security firm Finjan have discovered details of a new type of banking Trojan horse that doesn't just steal your bank log-in credentials but actually steals money from your account while you are logged in and displays a fake balance.

The bank Trojan, dubbed URLZone, has features designed to thwart fraud detection systems which are triggered by unusual transactions, Yuval Ben-Itzhak, chief technology officer at Finjan, said in an interview Tuesday. For instance, the software is programmed to calculate on-the-fly how much money to steal from an account based on how much money is available.

It exploits a … Read more

A year after the state of New York won its case against Dell and Dell Financial Services, the company will now pay up.

The PC maker will fork over $4 million to settle a case initially filed in 2007, New York's Office of the Attorney General said Tuesday. The initial suit brought by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo accused Dell of fraud, false advertising, and deceptive business practices, including offering misleading financing, and failing to honor rebates, warranties, and service contracts.

Cuomo won the suit in May 2008, when the company was found guilty of the accusations listed above as … Read more

A 28-year-old Miami man who made millions breaking into computer networks and stealing credit card numbers pleaded guilty on Friday and agreed to forfeit more than $2.7 million in restitution, as well as a condo, jewelry, and a car.

Albert Gonzalez, a former federal government informant and the alleged ringleader of one of the largest known identity theft cases in U.S. history, pleaded guilty as expected to 19 counts of conspiracy, computer fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft related to theft of credit and debit card data from TJX Companies (owner of T.J.… Read more

It's no secret that criminals are stealing credit card and bank account data and selling it underground. But most people would find it shocking to learn just how little their sensitive personal information costs.

Symantec on Thursday is launching its Norton Online Risk Calculator, a tool that people can use to see how much their online information is worth on the black market. The tool also offers a risk rating based on demographics, online activity, and estimated value of online information.

I tried the tool when I was initially briefed on it a few months ago and was surveyed … Read more

If you're worried about surreptitious key-logging software recording your every keystroke, Keystroke Interference could be the handy security utility you've been looking for. Instead of trying to detect or disable keyloggers, it interferes with what they record as your keystrokes, inserting a random sequence of additional characters based on a proprietary algorithm.

Keystroke Interference has no interface, and is visible only as an icon in your system tray and Start menu. To get it to run at start-up, you must manually place it in your Startup folder. It also offers no configurable options. However, we didn't notice … Read more

Lori Drew, the woman convicted of using a hoax MySpace profile to harass a teenage girl to the point of suicide, was acquitted by a Los Angeles judge on Thursday, Wired reported.

Judge George Wu overturned Drew's guilty verdict, which was issued in November, saying that if Drew had been convicted of a felony in the case, she would already have been sentenced. But because she was convicted of three misdemeanors--a significantly lighter offense than prosecutors originally sought--the constitutionality of the guilty verdict was less clear.

Drew, a Missouri resident, had been convicted of three misdemeanor counts of "… Read more

As the new owners of the Pirate Bay take over they will have to eventually change things and sell out. So Rafe has dubbed them as Cruiseship Bay. We also discuss the pyrrhic victory of RIAA over Usenet.com and Rafe and Natali hate some more on Verizon.

RIAA triumphs in Usenet copyright case http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10276607-93.html

Cash for Pirate Bay file-sharers http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8128551.stm

Twitter reworks following lists, adds functionality http://news.cnet.com/8301-13515_3-10276568-26.html… Read more

Max Ray Vision, aka "Iceman," pleaded guilty on Monday to two counts of wire fraud stemming from the theft of nearly 2 million credit card numbers and $86 million in alleged fraudulent purchases.

Vision faces up to 60 years in prison when he is sentenced in October in federal court in Pittsburgh, according to federal public defender Michael Novara.

Vision was arrested in September 2007 and accused of operating an underground forum called "Carders Market" where cybercriminals bought and sold stolen credit card numbers and other data. He was targeted as part of a sting operation … Read more

Seven online merchants operating more than 40 Web sites have agreed to pay a $765,000 settlement following an investigation by the New York State Attorney General's office, the AG's office said.

"These companies engaged in the worst kinds of consumer fraud, from classic bait-and-switch schemes to blatant lies and bullying sales tactics," New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a news release that went out Thursday. "Let this be a message to online merchants everywhere: such abuse of consumers and violation of the law will not be tolerated."

All of the companies were based in Brooklyn, and while their names invoke digital photography, many also sell gear ranging from projectors to HDTVs and computers.

Five of the companies--Best Price Camera, Foto Connection, 1 Way Photo, 86th Street Photo, and Broadway Photo--agreed to change their business practices, according to the release, while the other two--Camera Wiz and Sonic Photo--will close. A full list (PDF) of the companies and Web sites involved in the settlement is available at HDGuru.com.… Read more