Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

New Delhi: In a massive crackdown, the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of Delhi has uncovered a scam involving fraudulent GST refunds within the Trade &amp; Taxes department of the Delhi Government and arrested a Goods and Service tax officer along with six associates. Seven people were arrested for allegedly running the racket of fake invoices and getting GST refunds from the department. The seven arrested persons include a <keyword id="20263022" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="GST-officer" source="keywords">GST officer</keyword>, three advocates, two transporters, and a fake firm proprietor, informed ACB. According to ACB, They created 96 <keyword id="20867094" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fake-firms" source="keywords">fake firms</keyword>, which were cunningly used to siphon off taxpayer money by claiming fraudulent GST refunds. Shockingly, refunds worth rupees 35.51 crore were approved between 2021 and 2022. In the first year, only refunds worth rupees 7 lakh were approved but later the remaining were approved. The GSTO, identified as Babita Sharma, played a pivotal role in this conspiracy. After being transferred to Ward No. 22 in July 2021, Sharma, in a highly suspicious move, swiftly approved the migration of 53 firms to her ward. These firms, which were later found to be non-existent during a physical verification by GST officials, were mere paper entities, set up solely to claim bogus refunds. Within just 2-3 days of filing refund applications, these refunds were sanctioned without the mandatory verification of Input Tax Credit (ITC), a crucial process to identify fraudulent claims, informed ACB. The fake firms, which supposedly conducted business worth Rs718 crores, were found to be engaged in nothing more than a paper trail of deceit. Some firms even claimed to export medicines and medical items, but a closer inspection revealed that these transactions were built on forged purchase bills. It was found that the same group of offenders operated 23 out of these 96 fake firms. Using common email IDs and mobile numbers, they created fake invoices worth rupees 176.67 crores, pocketing Rs5.81 crores in <keyword id="22769118" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fraudulent-refunds" source="keywords">fraudulent refunds</keyword>. The investigation reveals that over 500 non-existent firms were implicated, and as many as 1,000 bank accounts linked to the scam. The role of other GST officials and proprietors is still under the scanner as the investigation is underway by ACB.

54 Crore GST Refund Scam exposed by Delhi's Anti-Corruption Branch

India, as well as the rest of the world, is witnessing a sharp rise in scam cases and every other day, news reports have some new scam story. Scammers tend to pry on innocent, unsuspecting people and rob them of their hard-earned money in most cases. Now that the date of filing Income Tax Return in India has just passed, scammers have found a new way to cheat people. The <keyword id="19903456" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="income-tax-department" source="keywords">Income Tax department</keyword>, on its official website, issued a warning to <keyword id="20081991" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="taxpayers" source="keywords">taxpayers</keyword> that cautions them to stay safe from <keyword id="20313006" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="scams" source="keywords">scams</keyword>. As per the website, scammers are approaching people via calls and messages. So if you are also waiting for your income tax refund, beware of these two scams. <h2>Scam 1: Fake calls and urgent payment demands</h2> The IT department has made it clear that it does not contact taxpayers via phone to demand immediate payments. Any such calls should be regarded with suspicion and reported to the authorities. "Don't trust unsolicited calls! The Income Tax Department will not call you to make immediate payment," reads a prominent banner on the IT department's official website. This message aims to reassure taxpayers that any pressure to make hasty payments over the phone is a scam. So, what should you do if you encounter a suspicious call? You can report it immediately through the IT department’s official website. This helps authorities track and address these fraudulent activities, protecting more people from falling victim to scams. <h2>Scam 2: <keyword id="21798978" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fraudulent-messages" source="keywords">Fraudulent messages</keyword></h2> In addition to <keyword id="19973064" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="phone-scams" source="keywords">phone scams</keyword>, there has been a surge in fraudulent messages claiming to offer tax refunds. These messages typically inform recipients that their Income Tax Return (<keyword id="19897621" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="itr" source="keywords">ITR</keyword>) has been approved and they are eligible for a refund. For example, Rs 15,000. The message includes a link to 'verify' the account number, but this is a trap designed to steal sensitive information. The IT department has issued a stern warning against such messages, with another banner on their website stating, "Don't fall for fake pop-ups! The Income Tax Department will never contact you through pop-up windows." A<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/top-5-personal-finance-scams-in-india-and-how-to-stay-safe-from-them/articleshow/112169370.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank"> typical scam message</a> might read: "You have been approved an Income Tax Refund of Rs 15,000/-. The amount will be credited to your account shortly. Please verify your account number 5XXXXX6777. If this is not correct, please update your bank account information by visiting the link below. https://bit.ly/20wpUUX" These messages are crafted to appear genuine, but they are fraudulent attempts to obtain personal and financial information. Taxpayers are urged to ignore such messages and refrain from clicking on any links or providing any personal details. The IT department also stressed on the importance of vigilance among taxpayers. You should always verify any communication from the IT department through official channels. The department communicates with taxpayers via their registered email addresses and not through unsolicited phone calls or messages. <h2>How to stay safe</h2><ol><li>Ignore suspicious calls and messages: If you receive a call or message demanding immediate payment or personal information, do not respond. Hang up the phone and do not click on any links in messages.</li><li>Verify through official channels: Cross-check any communication claiming to be from the IT department through their official website or contact their customer service for confirmation.</li><li>Report suspicious activities: Use the official reporting link provided by the IT department to report any suspicious calls or messages. This helps authorities track and prevent further fraudulent activities.</li><li>Do not share sensitive information: Never share your bank account details, credit card information, or any other personal data in response to unsolicited communications.</li></ol> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112216625" title="Thinking of getting a personal loan? Adani group might have something for you" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

Income Tax department issues warning to taxpayers, asks them to stay safe from ITR Refund scams

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In his single largest net-worth whopper, Trump told a bank in 2018 that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-trump-mar-a-lago-club-photos-2018-1">Mar-a-Lago</a> was worth $739M.</li><li>He told the tax man it was worth a fraction of that and now claims it's worth north of $1 billion.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blindsided-trump-fraud-trial-judge-demands-intel-on-perjury-plea-2024-2">Judge Arthur Engoron</a> wanted to set the record straight, once and for all: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-legal-fees-pac-donor-money-personal-cases-2024-2">Donald Trump</a> has been blowing smoke about how much his beloved Mar-a-Lago is worth.In a blistering <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-civil-fraud-verdict-whats-in-judge-engorons-decision-2024-2">verdict in the former president's massive civil fraud trial</a> Friday, the Manhattan-based New York Supreme Court judge took a shot at Trump's previous claims that his Palm Beach, Florida, estate and private club was worth more than $1 billion.Engoron's 92-page verdict notes that in 1995 Trump signed a "Deed of Conservation and Preservation" in which he gave up the right to use Mar-a-Lago for any purpose other than as a social club.A 2002 deed that Trump signed, Engoron wrote in the verdict, gave away, "in perpetuity," the right to use Mar-a-Lago as a single-family residence. In exchange for executing the deed, Trump "paid significantly lower property taxes on Mar-a-Lago," Engoron said."There is no legal gray area surrounding the permanent nature of the deed restrictions," Engoron wrote. "Accordingly, there can be no mistake that Donald Trump's valuation of Mar-a-Lago from 2011- 2021 was fraudulent."Trump, the judge wrote, "insisted that he believed Mar-a-Lago is worth 'between a billion and a billion five' today, which would require not only valuing it as a private residence, which the deed prohibits, but as more than the most expensive private residence listed in the country by approximately 400%."<div type="image" title="Donald Trump wears a tuxedo at a New Year's Eve party he hosted at his Mar-a-Lago resort." height="1667" width="2500" msid="107765954" hostid="261"></div>On the witness stand in November, mid-way through his three-month civil fraud trial, Trump obsessed over the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-fixates-mar-a-lago-value-fraud-trial-testimony-2023-11">valuation of Mar-a-Lago</a>.The Palm Beach estate served as his "winter White House." It remains not only Trump's primary residence but a pricey, well-trafficked social club — a combination that stung him when FBI agents found he'd stashed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cannon-ruling-witness-list-trump-documents-case-2024-2">boxes of classified documents</a> there on moving back from DC, leading to pending criminal charges.Under oath, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatty-trump-has-hard-time-yes-no-questions-witness-stand-2023-11">Trump</a> griped that Mar-a-Lago was worth at least $1 billion and called the judge a "fraud" for not agreeing to that valuation."The fraud is on the court when you rule that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-would-pay-1b-mar-a-lago-fraud-trial-2023-12">Mar-a-Lago is worth</a> $18 million," Trump said on the witness stand in November. "I could give you a quarter of a tennis court that's worth more than that."Trump and his supporters have falsely claimed Engoron valued the property at $18 million in his summary judgment ruling ahead of the trial.In fact, Engoron's earlier decision cited a Palm Beach county tax appraisal, which found Mar-a-Lago to be worth between $18 million and $27 million. Because the estate is zoned as a social club, it carries business expenses that make it less valuable on paper than it would be if it were only a private residence."I specifically said in the summary-judgment decision, I'm not valuating properties," Engoron said on October 2, the first day of the trial. "Please, press, stop saying I'm valuing it at $18 million. There was a tax assessment in that range."New York Attorney General <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ny-ag-trumps-expert-witnesses-helping-case-2023-12">Letitia James</a> sued Trump over allegations that the Republican presidential frontrunner provided false valuations for tax, loan, and insurance purposes.To secure and maintain his loans, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-ny-fraud-verdict-could-kill-the-trump-organization-2023-12">Trump Organization</a> prepared statements of financial condition — documents that show Trump's assets, liabilities, and bottom line. Between 2011 and 2021, those documents stated that Mar-a-Lago was worth between about $350 million and $740 million.James has countered that the club generated annual revenues of less than $25 million and that Trump should have told banks it was worth closer to $75 million.In the trial, Trump switched back to claiming Mar-a-Lago was worth much more. A Palm Beach-based real estate agent who testified as an expert witness for Trump's defense team claimed it was worth as much as $1.2 billion — but his analysis didn't account for the costs of running the place as a business.In Friday's scathing verdict that punishes a decade of deceit, Engoron slammed Trump, his two eldest sons, and his namesake company with a nearly $364 million cash penalty.While Trump is personally on the hook for almost $355 million of that penalty, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/eric-donald-trump-jr-penalties-fraud-trial-verdict-2024-2">Donald Trump, Jr., and Eric Trump</a> must pay $4 million each. And former Trump CFO <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-fraud-trial-weisselberg-perjury-hardly-surprising-ny-says-2024-2">Allen Weisselberg</a> $1 million.

Trump fraud trial judge says there's 'no mistake' the former president's Mar-a-Lago price-tag was 'fraudulent'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Some Instacart customers are being overcharged by hundreds or thousands of dollars.</li><li>Shoppers who steal orders or add unauthorized items to them are part of the issue.</li></ul>Some <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-is-reportedly-planning-an-ipo-for-real-this-time-2023-8">Instacart</a> customers are losing hundreds of dollars on orders that never arrived, according to local news reports.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-shoppers-forbidden-from-giving-customers-paper-receipts-2023-8">Instacart users</a> say they have lost or had to recoup hundreds or even thousands of dollars when their orders of groceries and other retail goods never showed up. The causes seem to include <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-shoppers-wait-in-parking-lots-to-claim-orders-2023-7">Instacart shoppers</a> who start shopping customer orders but then take the goods for themselves and, in some cases, add more items, according to the news reports.The problem is particularly pronounced for Instacart customers who link the app to their bank account, Zelle, Paypal, or similar payment services where users usually hold a balance, Dave Hatter, a cybersecurity consultant with Cincinnati-based Intrust IT, told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wlwt.com/article/instacart-scam-affecting-local-shoppers-people-hundreds/44872418">local TV station WLWT.</a>"Just like you can get a bad Uber driver, you can get a bad Instacart shopper," Hatter said.WLWT cited one customer in Northern Kentucky who recently placed an order worth about $200 at a local Kroger through Instacart. The customer reportedly got a notification that the shopper was on the way with the order. But they never received it, according to WLWT, and her bank account was charged for it."I don't think there's any way you can avoid this kind of scam if you're going to use a service like this, especially when you have what are essentially third-party contractors that are probably getting extremely light vetting along the way," Hatter added.Instacart told Insider that it runs background checks on its shoppers. The company also said shoppers can be deactivated for "fraudulent activity, violating applicable laws, failing to meet acceptable standards of service, or any other misuse of the platform." Kroger did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.One Texas family <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fox4news.com/news/on-your-side-north-texas-family-warns-of-instacart-scam">told TV station KDFW</a> in May that they were charged roughly $850 after an Instacart shopper reportedly never delivered their grocery order. Later, they realized that the shopper added more than $600 worth of products they never requested to their order, which initially totaled $225. Kroger, where the order was supposed to be completed, told KDFW at the time that it was refunding the family.A more extreme case this month involved an Ohio shopper whom <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-kroger-customer-was-charged-278325-for-her-grocery-order-2023-8">Instacart reportedly charged almost $2,800</a> — 10 times the value of her actual order. Kroger said at the time that it processed an expedited refund for the customer and offered her a gift card.Instacart shoppers have had to contend with declining earnings lately. Besides less demand for grocery delivery, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-cuts-minimum-base-pay-for-drivers-2023-7">Instacart cut base pay</a> to $4 per order from $7, Insider reported last month. The cut is forcing some <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-shoppers-say-they-cant-keep-working-after-pay-cut-2023-8">Instacart contractors to look for other jobs.</a>Are you an Instacart shopper or customer with a story to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@insider.com.

Some Instacart customers are losing hundreds of dollars to scammers after connecting bank accounts or Paypal to the app

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Mastercard, an international card-payment-services company, interacts with banks worldwide.</li><li>The company has used AI to try to identify when customers may be about to be defrauded.</li></ul>For "CXO AI Playbook," Business Insider takes a look at mini case studies about AI adoption across industries, company sizes, and technology DNA. We've asked each of the featured companies to tell us about the problems they're trying to solve with AI, who's making these decisions internally, and their vision for using AI in the future.Since 1966, Mastercard has been a provider of payment-card services to the world's biggest banks and millions of consumers. The company is adapting to the constantly evolving threats scammers and criminals pose to its customers.<h2 id="ec04abf8-6dc5-4015-93f4-02f9ad5ed95c">Situation analysis: What problem was the company trying to solve?</h2>"For decades, payment fraud used to be people using your card details that they'd either bought, found, or counterfeited, either in person or online," Chris Reid, the executive vice president of identity solutions at Mastercard, told Business Insider.But trends in payment fraud have changed — and banks and card providers have to keep up. One of the key new trends in fraud, Reid said, is what's known as authorized-push-payment fraud, where a scammer persuades someone to send them money by pretending to be a reliable figure, such as a bank, public authority, or romantic partner.Understanding when a card user is about to send a lot of money — and lose it — to a scammer is tricky, Reid said. "How can we detect you are a victim or about to be a victim of crime?" he asked. The company believes artificial intelligence can help identify when that fraud is about to occur.<h2 id="b3cf2d12-27c1-409c-b92f-616d9a187a34">Key staff and partners</h2>The development of an AI fraud-detection system began as a pilot program in the UK. At Mastercard, the teams working on the project included Reid's identity group, the security and cyberinnovation team, and the open-banking team, which works on connecting competing banks with one another.<div type="image" title="chris reid headshot" height="1463" width="1951" msid="111691425" hostid="261" sizebytes="75034"></div>Reid said he believed the work couldn't have been done without buy-in from banks in the UK, including Lloyds Bank, NatWest, and TSB Bank, which put aside their rivalries to work together."This only works when we all come together," Reid said. "The nice thing we see around fraud and security is, every day, the banks are competing to win. On fraud and security, we're all competing to beat fraudsters."<h2 id="6fd30701-463a-4b66-b855-30c65acda283">AI in action</h2>With the support of those banks, the teams at Mastercard began developing an AI system to identify signs in the accounts of both victims and scammers that someone was about to be defrauded."We give our bank customers a three-dimensional view of the two accounts in question," Reid said.Mastercard's AI system is trained on data from both legitimate and fraudulent payment activities. Using this information, it monitors and identifies suspicious transaction behaviors and looks at data, such as payee names, to identify suspect transactions.It can also look at secondary and tertiary relationships linked to a fraudster's bank account."Crime needs to find a way out of the legitimate financial ecosystem," Reid said. "You tend to find funds flow out into various mule or drop accounts."The system provides an AI-powered risk score for transactions and accounts in real time, alerting the banks if Mastercard suspects a payment is being made to a known fraudster.<h2 id="0de6e3ad-c6e8-47ff-8ec6-6585acb0a367">Did it work, and how did leaders know?</h2>Reid said TSB "has been really transparent in helping us understand the efficacy of the solution."Based on the scale of the fraud prevented among TSB's customers, if it was extrapolated across the UK banking sector, "everything else being equal," the AI system would save an estimated £100 million, or $126 million, in the UK alone, Reid told BI.He added that Mastercard's tech was "really good" at identifying "impersonation scams, romance scams, and purchase scams."<h2 id="4b10d7e8-3d1f-4e76-a240-334aa7a6ce4a">What's next?</h2>Mastercard needs to keep up with scammers, Reid said."Fraud is an incredibly successful industry," he added. "Fraudsters are investing in product development and their own efficiency."For that reason, Mastercard plans to expand its AI systems. Currently, the system provides an AI-identified risk score for the potential victim's account. By the end of 2024, Mastercard wants to provide a risk score for scamming suspects to try to raise awareness among banks about their customers."That doubles the ability for us to stop the money getting to the criminals," he said. "We can tell the scammer's bank, 'This is a high-risk transaction; you might want to delay releasing the funds."Mastercard is also working to create more practical applications for the risk score, which is useful to banks at a high level but perhaps not for rank-and-file bank employees tasked with supporting victims."Contact-center agents, in this case, are trained and knowledgeable in fraud, but we need to be able to turn the score into something that's useful," he said. "We're working to be able to ultimately stop that crime."We want to hear from you. If you are interested in sharing your company's AI journey, email <a target="_blank" href="mailto:jhood@businessinsider.com">jhood@businessinsider.com</a>.

Mastercard's AI system is helping banks keep fraudsters in check — and it could save millions of dollars

In mid-March, a scammer in California tried to buy $150 worth of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trying-wingstop-first-time-review-photos-2022-9">Wingstop</a> using my debit card. Aside from being impressed at the sheer size of the order, I was relieved because Citibank, which issued my card, declined the transaction on the spot and alerted me to the fraud. In minutes I was able to shut off my card, heading off any more purchases by the scammers, and order a new card. All's well that ends well.When I went to Buenos Aires in April, I figured I might <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/why-was-my-credit-card-declined">run into a similar situation</a>. Sure, the banks say you don't have to call ahead when you travel anymore, but I assumed I'd still have some purchase flagged as potential fraud, as had happened in past trips abroad. Miraculously, everything went off without a hitch. I don't know how JPMorgan Chase knew that I would spend $200 on Botox in Argentina, but it did. (No, I didn't book my flight on the same card, and whatever, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/botox-injections-fillers-plastic-surgery-gen-z-social-media-filters-2024-5">everybody gets Botox now</a>.)It's great that banks and credit-card companies are getting better at discerning which payments are fraudulent and which are legit. Many people have some horror story about having their credit card stolen or having their own legitimate transactions flagged as suspicious. And it's nice not to have to spend 20 minutes on the phone before a vacation explaining where you're going and when. Credit-card fraud protection is still far from perfect, but there's no denying that the technology is improving. On the flip side, it's also kind of wild to consider just how much financial institutions must know about you to make the right calls.I was curious about how it all works — and, frankly, a little creeped out. So I reached out to some credit-card companies and academics to learn more. Why don't people have to alert their credit-card companies about travel anymore? And, more broadly, just how have banks gotten so good at figuring out what's normal about our spending habits and what isn't?The Federal Trade Commission receives thousands of card-fraud complaints each year. The Nilson Report, which tracks the card industry, says payment-card fraud resulted in $33 billion in losses worldwide in 2022 and $13.6 billion in losses in the US. As such, credit-card issuers and banks are keen to do what they can to spot fraud. They want to keep their customers happy, and, more importantly, they want to stem their losses. In the US, the major credit-card issuers and banks <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/credit-card-lost-stolen-what-to-do">generally have a zero-liability policy</a>, which means that when a customer gets scammed, the organization, not the customer, has to eat the cost.Years ago, whether a transaction went through was based on things like whether a physical card was present, whether you had enough money to make the purchase, and (if the cashier wanted to look) whether your signature on the receipt matched the one on the back of your card. In some cases, the cashier may have even asked for ID or called the bank to verify the funds. We've come a long way from those bad old days by using the same tools that power most innovations: data and computers. Credit-card companies and banks know a lot about us — where we shop, when we spend, and how much we're usually willing to pay for things — and they're getting better and better at turning that knowledge into action. While it's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/generative-ai-exaggeration-openai-nvidia-microsoft-chatgpt-jobs-investors-markets-2024-3">all the rage to talk about newfangled forms of artificial intelligence</a>, fraud detection owes a lot to machine learning, a field within AI that's been around for years. A bunch of data gets dumped into computer systems, and algorithms figure out patterns and relationships. The algorithms create decision trees to predict the likelihood of different outcomes and identify what may be considered normal or fishy. It's not that your credit-card company knows that you, specifically, would blow a bunch of cash on A and not on B — it knows that customers with your profile are in the "likes A" camp and not the "likes B" one."It's looking at what's happening that is very much out of the ordinary for your general behaviors," said Tina Eide, an executive vice president of global fraud risk at American Express. "And when I talk about general behaviors, it is generalized, right? It is not down to the specific purchase or to the specific merchant." Eide added, "The models are evaluating a trillion dollars' worth of transactions a year."The machines know more now than ever. Mike Lemberger, Visa's regional risk officer for North America, said that over the past five years the number of data points people generate with their credit cards has grown tremendously. People are increasingly using cards over cash. And they don't just have a physical card they're pulling out at the store — they've got their card credentials in their Amazon account, Netflix account, iPhone, etc. The more purchases the card issuer can analyze, the more accurate the fraud detection will be."Visa, we don't have consumer information — that's your financial institution that has that — but what we have is this triangulation of all these data points," Lemberger said. "We can create more and better scores, layer on top of that machine learning and AI abilities, and it becomes a much, much more powerful predictor, which we then feed into all of our partners to say, 'Hey guys, if you want to make the best decisions, here's a whole bunch of really good information.'"Visa isn't going to block your card directly, but it'll alert your bank that your purchase looks suspicious or that fraud has been detected at the merchant you're dealing with.This all seemed pretty simple until I talked to Yann-Aël Le Borgne and Gianluca Bontempi, a pair of researchers at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium who <a target="_blank" href="https://fraud-detection-handbook.github.io/fraud-detection-handbook/Foreword.html#authors">work on machine learning and card fraud</a>. They emphasized the vast scale of this fraud-detection technology. Companies and their algorithms are ingesting millions of transactions and creating so many decision trees to categorize certain activities that it can defy human logic, they said. Basically, the computer may be right that your transaction looks funky even if it's made in your home city at a fairly innocuous vendor, or it may be right that the transaction is fine even though it's made in a faraway place — but when humans try to figure out what did or didn't sound the alarm, nobody will really be able to pinpoint why."Machines can consider many more features, and at the end of the day it's not clear if all those features have meaning for humans," Bontempi said. "Humans are used to working with two, three features, at most five features, while machines can work with hundreds of features. So there are really different levels between what a machine can do."There are human-written rules, which are generally interpretable, and there are machine-written rules, which can be a black box. They're more accurate, but they may be harder, if not impossible, for people to reverse engineer. And banks may be using several different algorithms, making this even more complicated. Data scientists are the ultimate decision-makers, but the information they're dealing with is based on highly complex tech. When I explained to experts my somewhat embarrassing wings-versus-wrinkles conundrum and asked what may have triggered one alert and not the other, they offered up different explanations. Eide, from American Express, said that even though I hadn't booked my trip to Argentina with the credit card I used to buy the Botox, something else had probably tipped off the system that I was there. I realized I'd also bought a package of spin classes in Buenos Aires on my phone with the same card. I had also paid for a meal in the city. Lemberger, from Visa, emphasized that it's about all the data and spending patterns and said that given my spending patterns, the Botox likely matched my profile more than the massive delivery order."I hate to say this to you, but at the end of the day, all these data points build personas. Just like in marketing somebody would use personas to market to you, we're using that same technology to protect you," he said. "And the fact is that we use those data points to not just secure you but the whole ecosystem."At some point it occurred to me that the supercomputers that credit-card companies and banks are working with could know more about me than I even know or understand about myself."It's probable that the exact reason why a transaction caused your card to be blocked has no straightforward interpretation," Le Borgne said.I also asked whether there was a big difference in credit-card protections and debit protections and was told not really — maybe banks will be a little more restrictive about credit because they're technically lending you money that's not limited by your actual cash balance. I also asked if companies don't worry about preclearing travel because they don't care as much about losing money to fraud anymore, to which the answer was a hard no."At the end of the day, somebody's got to pay for the fraudulent activity," Lemberger said. Credit-card companies will give you your money back if you're a victim of fraud, but they'll find another place to recoup that money, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/credit-card-late-fees-cap-swipe-mastercard-visa-jpmorgan-rewards-2024-4">just as they always do</a>.Instinctually, I am not a technology-is-awesome person — if the AI really is going to kill us, I feel like we should unplug it. I'm not super freaked out about the privacy stuff, but I also don't love the idea that AmEx and JPMorgan and Citi have me so pegged. But it's cool that companies really are making fraud detection better, especially in a world where fraudsters themselves are constantly getting better. I don't want to be like "Yay, banks!" but maybe here the answer really is a little "Yay, banks!" At least that's the case until the next major data-privacy breach, at which point I will regret everything.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/emily-stewart">Emily Stewart</a> is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.

Banks have finally fixed the single most annoying thing about credit cards

<keyword id="35210" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sebi" source="Orion">Sebi</keyword> on Wednesday ordered the attachment of bank and demat accounts of <keyword id="7428433" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="shivi-holdings" source="Orion">Shivi Holdings</keyword> to recover Rs 5.35 crore in a matter related to fund diversion case of <keyword id="223505" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="religare-finvest" source="Orion">Religare Finvest</keyword>. Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL) is a subsidiary of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL). The recovery proceedings against Shivi Holdings have been initiated to recover Rs 5.35 crore, which includes interests, all costs, charges and expenses etc, the <keyword id="6355630" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="securities-and-exchange-board-of-india" source="Orion">Securities and Exchange Board of India</keyword> (Sebi) said in the attachment order. In its notice, Sebi asked all the banks, depositories and mutual funds not to allow any debit from the accounts of Shivi Holdings. However, credits have been allowed. Further, the market watchdog has directed all banks to attach all accounts, including lockers, of all the defaulter. Last month, Sebi had ordered banks and depositories to attach bank and demat accounts of erstwhile promoters of Religare Enterprises -- Shivinder Mohan Singh and four other entities to recover Rs 32.10 crore in the same matter. The entities are -- Malav Holdings, RHC Holding, ANR Securities and Religare Corporate Services (now known as Finserve Shared Services). They were also the former promoters of REL. The case relates to the diversion of funds to the tune of Rs 2,473.66 crore of Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL), a subsidiary of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL), during FY 2014-15 till FY 2017-18, in the garb of loans through layers of entities for the ultimate benefits of entities controlled by the erstwhile promoters -- Singh brothers. Sebi noted that these diverted funds never came back to RFL. The diversion of funds was never disclosed to the shareholders of REL, which misled them to remain invested in the shares of REL or deal in the securities of REL. Thus, the apparent diversion of funds led to indirect manipulation of the price of shares of REL, Sebi said in its order. By indulging in such acts, they violated the provisions of PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) norms. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/from-cheaper-smartphones-to-100-5g-labs-here-are-the-top-tech-announcements-in-budget-2023-24/articleshow/97527763.cms">From cheaper smartphones to 100 5G labs, here are the top tech announcements in Budget 2023-24</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/government-to-set-up-three-centres-of-excellence-in-artificial-intelligence/articleshow/97520242.cms"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/government-to-set-up-three-centres-of-excellence-in-artificial-intelligence/articleshow/97520242.cms">Budget 2023 gives a boost to artificial intelligence – government to set up three centers of excellence</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/after-iphones-apple-reportedly-starts-manufacturing-components-for-airpods-in-india/articleshow/97515033.cms">After iPhones, Apple reportedly starts manufacturing components for AirPods in India</a>

Religare Finvest case: Sebi orders attachment of bank, demat accounts of Shivi Holdings

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An Instagram influencer was sentenced to five years in prison for fraudulently obtaining over $1 million.</li><li>Danielle Miller stole the identities of others to obtain pandemic-related loans, prosecutors said.</li></ul>Instagram influencer Danielle Miller was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday for fraudulently obtaining pandemic-related loans and using the money to fund a luxury lifestyle, according to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/social-media-influencer-sentenced-five-years-prison-15-million-covid-19-relief-fraud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">US Attorney's Office for Massachusetts</a>.The 32-year-old used the stolen identities of more than 10 people to obtain over $1 million in Covid loans between July 2020 and May 2021, the Attorney's Office said, using counterfeit driver's licenses with her photo but her victims' names."Ms. Miller isn't an influencer, she is a convicted felon," Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in the statement."In a quest for fleeting social media stardom, Ms. Miller relied on fraud to fund a lavish lifestyle of private jets, luxury apartments, and other accouterments of wealth." Levy said, adding that the sentencing should show that creating a high-society social media identity off the backs of "hardworking taxpayers" is a "path to prison, not fleeting fame."Miller seemingly used the money to fund an extravagant lifestyle, which she flaunted on her Instagram account.In one instance she used a counterfeit ID to charter a private jet from Florida to California, where she booked a luxury hotel room under the same name, the Attorney's Office said. Miller has <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thedaniellenicolemiller/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">over 34,000 followers on Instagram</a>, where she is followed by <a href="https://www.insider.com/anna-delvey-writes-about-inventing-anna-and-life-in-jail-2022-2">Anna Sorokin, a convicted fraudster</a> who infiltrated upper-class New York society circles by posing as a wealthy heiress.Miller <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/danielle-miller-scammer.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">told New York Magazine</a> in an interview last year that she considered herself to be a "con artist" who is "really charismatic" and good with people.She was arrested in May 2021 and indicted by a grand jury a couple of months later.In March, Miller pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated identity theft, as well as three counts of wire fraud.This week District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV sentenced Miller to five years in prison and three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay restitution, with the exact amount yet to be determined.Miller was recently ordered to forfeit some of the luxury items she fraudulently obtained, including a Rolex watch, a Louis Vuitton bag, and several Rimowa suitcases, as Insider's <a href="https://www.insider.com/danielle-miller-covid-fund-relief-loan-scam-con-artist-luxury-2023-8">Kieran Press-Reynolds reported</a>.The US government also seized more than $600,000 from Miller's residence and bank accounts, according to the <a href="https://www.forfeiture.gov/pdf/USAO/OfficialNotification.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Notice of Forfeiture</a>.

Instagram influencer sentenced to 5 years in prison for using fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief loans for luxury lifestyle, travel

Sebi on Monday ordered the attachment of bank and demat accounts of <keyword id="31906" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sahara-group" source="Orion">Sahara Group</keyword> firm, its chief <keyword id="31933" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="subrata-roy" source="Orion">Subrata Roy</keyword> and others to recover Rs 6.42 crore for violating regulatory norms in the issuance of optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCDs). The recovery proceedings against five entities -- <keyword id="486078" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sahara-india-real-estate-corporation" source="Orion">Sahara India Real Estate Corporation</keyword> (now known as Sahara Commodity Services Corporation), Subrata Roy, <keyword id="1595961" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="ashok-roy-choudhary" source="Orion">Ashok Roy Choudhary</keyword>, Ravi Shanker <keyword id="20551" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="dubey" source="Orion">Dubey</keyword> and Vandana <keyword id="15888278" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="bharrgava" source="Orion">Bharrgava</keyword> -- for Rs 6.42 crore, includes interest, all costs, charges and expenses, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in the attachment order. In its notice, Sebi asked all banks, depositories and mutual funds not to allow any debit from accounts of Sahara India Real Estate Corp, Subrata Roy, Ashok Roy Choudhary, Dubey and Bharrgava. However, credits have been permitted. Further, the market watchdog has directed all banks to attach all accounts, including lockers, of the defaulters. The regulator, in its order in June, levied a fine totalling Rs 6 crore on Sahara India Real Estate Corp, Subrata Roy, Ashok Roy Choudhary, Dubey and Bharrgava. The case relates to the issuance of OFCDs by Sahara India Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation during 2008-09. They raised money through the public issue of securities by issuing OFCDs without following the various procedures intended to protect the interest of the investors, in respect of public issues, prescribed under the norms, as per Sebi order. According to Sebi, the subscription towards the OFCDs was solicited by the two companies from the general public throughout the country, without adequately informing them about the risks involved in the instruments. The issuance was allegedly done in contravention of the provisions of the Sebi's ICDR (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations and PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices). SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/capital-intensive-cyclical-and-value-stocks-to-continue-their-outperformance/articleshow/95659482.cms">Capital-intensive, cyclical and value stocks to continue their outperformance</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/top-five-billionaires-in-2022-elon-musk-gautam-adani-and-bill-gates/articleshow/96509847.cms">After a round of musical chairs, Musk, Gates and Adani are among 2022’s top 5 billionaires</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/sah-polymers-ipo-to-open-on-dec-30-price-band-set-at-61-65-a-share/articleshow/96514593.cms">Sah Polymers IPO to open on Dec 30, price band set at ₹61-65 a share</a>

SEBI orders attachment of bank, demat accounts of Sahara group firm, Subrata Roy and others

<ul><li>A man from Pune has reportedly lost ₹2.1 crore to a <keyword id="20049228" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="fake-investment-scam" source="Orion">fake investment scam</keyword>.</li><li>The victim reportedly joined an investment group after noticing an advertisement on a social media platform.</li><li>The invested amount includes a loan of ₹70 lakh and proceeds from sale of property.</li></ul> In yet another online scam, a Pune man reportedly lost a huge amount in a new <keyword id="4505806" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fake-investment" source="Orion">fake investment</keyword> scam. A 45-year-old clinical researcher has reportedly lost ₹2.1 crore over the span of a month. According to a<a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/pune-researcher-loses-rs-2-1-crore-to-cyber-fraud-9090110/"> report</a> by The Indian Express, the victim fell prey to a fake <keyword id="903234" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="investment-scam" source="Orion">investment scam</keyword>, where the scammers used the name of a well-known US-based venture capital fund to deceive the victim. The victim has registered a complaint with the Wakad police station in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What is the fake investment scam?" comment="subhead" text="What is the fake investment scam?">What is the fake investment scam?</cmsannotation> The victim started investing in the stock market in 2023 as he was working from home. In November 2023, the victim came across an advertisement on a social media platform. In this advertisement, a share market investment platform was advertised and the name of a well-known venture capital firm based out of the US was mentioned alongside. The platform offered online tutorials for share market investment and promised to help the victim build a good investment portfolio. When he clicked the ad, the victim was redirected to a WhatsApp group, which he joined. The admins of the group then shared online tutorials and guides for investment. The members were also encouraged to join the company’s platform for investment. The victim was then directed to download an application on their phone and then asked to make large investments on the application. Over the next few weeks, the victim reportedly transferred ₹2.15 crore to the platform to make investments. This includes money received from sale of property and loans worth ₹70 lakh taken for investments. The victim was then reportedly asked to invest an additional ₹4.33 crore in an initial public offering (IPO) of an oil company. When the victim was unable to do so, he was informed that his initial investment had been frozen. The victim then tried to call the numbers that he had communicated with on WhatsApp, but was unable to do so. Upon further investigation, he found that the platform had no connection to the venture capital fund. Upon realising this, the victim approached the police, who found the fraudsters had created fake social media profiles to scam the victim. Initial investigation has revealed that the fraudulent accounts are located in Delhi, Mumbai, Noida, Rajasthan and Telangana. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="How to protect yourself from such scams" comment="subhead" text="How to protect yourself from such scams">How to protect yourself from such scams</cmsannotation> Here are some ways you can protect yourself from such scams – <ul><li>Do not click on investment advertisements you see on social media or other websites. If possible, report them to the platform.</li><li>Do not join groups on social media platforms if you do not know the person or the organisation running it.</li><li>Avoid dealing with unknown platforms offering high return on investments.</li><li>Use well-known and reliable platforms to invest in the stock market.</li><li>Do not invest in unknown platforms without proper verification.</li></ul> SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/upi-in-2024-five-rule-changes-that-you-need-to-know/articleshow/106508333.cms">UPI in 2024 – Five rule changes that you need to know</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-galaxy-s24-pre-reservation-starts-how-to-pre-book-benefits-and-more/articleshow/106505615.cms">Samsung Galaxy S24 pre-reservation starts – How to pre-book, benefits and more</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/new-upcoming-smartphones-in-india-in-2024-apple-samsung-google-mobiles-in-the-list/slidelist/106489936.cms">Apple to Samsung and many more – smartphones set for launch in 2024</a>

Pune man loses ₹2 crore to fake investment scam – what it is and how to protect yourself

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The American Hospital Association's PAC lost more than $12,000.</li><li>It told federal regulators that someone used fake checks to steal from its account.</li></ul>The American Hospital Association's powerhouse political committee recently needed emergency financial care.In a letter to federal regulators, American Hospital Association PAC's treasurer acknowledged that the committee lost $12,650 in what its treasurer, Melinda Reid Hatton, described as a case of "fraudulent activity" involving fake checks. "The checks were written using the Committee's bank account and routing number, but are in the name of a 'Wendy Naylor,' listing an address in Florida," Hatton <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23288432-letter-from-american-hospital-association-pac">wrote to Federal Election Commission officials</a> on November 7. "These are not real Committee checks, nor were they written on actual Committee check stock."It's unclear who "Wendy Naylor" is or whether she's a real person. And while Hatton indicated that her PAC isn't certain who stole the money, she told federal officials there is "no reason to believe or suspect that anyone from American Hospital Association or the Committee participated in the fraud," which took place in July.American Hospital Association PAC "promptly notified law enforcement after learning of the fraud," Hatton noted. "The Committee has taken steps to prevent further instances of fraud, including initiating a '<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/positive-pay.asp">positive pay</a>' system on its account."Hatton indicated that the American Hospital Association's PAC has yet to recover $7,650 worth of the money it initially lost.American Hospital Association spokesman Colin Milligan declined further comment when reached Tuesday by Insider.<div type="image" title="American Hospital Association PAC filing" height="1988" width="2292" msid="95387252" hostid="261" sizebytes="191832"></div>In recent years, theft from political committees has become endemic in the United States.Dozens of other federal political committees — including President <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-campaign-money-stolen-pacs-political-committees-theft-embezzlement-2021-2">Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign</a> and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/republican-national-committee-theft-fraud-money-fec-elections-2021-5">Republican National Committee</a> — have lost money at the hands of thieves and embezzlers, an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-campaign-money-stolen-pacs-political-committees-theft-embezzlement-2021-2">Insider investigation last year</a> revealed.Thieves this year even <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kanye-west-president-campaign-money-thieves-2022-11">jacked several thousand dollars</a> from Kanye West's old 2020 presidential campaign committee.Poor financial controls and lax security measures often contributed to political committees losing money.<h2>Big political money player</h2>Founded in the late 1970s, the American Hospital Association PAC is one of the nation's most prolific special interest political committees.It's decidedly bipartisan, and during the past two decades, it's spread at least $2 million each two-year election cycle to hundreds of federal-level candidates and committees, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/american-hospital-assn/C00106146/summary/2022">according to</a> nonpartisan money-in-politics research organization OpenSecrets.For example, the American Hospital Association PAC has contributed $30,000 each to the National Republican Congressional Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during the 2021-2022 election cycle, according to federal records.It's also recently contributed four- or five-figure amounts to the leadership PACs of lawmakers across the ideological spectrum, from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican of California, to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat of New York. The American Hospital Association <a href="https://www.aha.org/about">counts</a> "nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members" among its membership.In addition to making political contributions to politicians through its PAC, the American Hospital Association is one of the nation's <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/top-spenders">most powerful lobbying forces</a>, regularly spending $20 million or more annually to influence federal lawmakers and agencies, <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?id=D000000116">according to</a> OpenSecrets.

You Searched For "fraudulent bank account" and got 11 results

54 Crore GST Refund Scam exposed by Delhi's Anti-Corruption Branch

ANI

Income Tax department issues warning to taxpayers, asks them to stay safe from ITR Refund scams

Divyanshi Sharma

Trump fraud trial judge says there's 'no mistake' the former president's Mar-a-Lago price-tag was 'fraudulent'

Jacob Shamsian,Laura Italiano…

Some Instacart customers are losing hundreds of dollars to scammers after connecting bank accounts or Paypal to the app

Alex Bitter

Mastercard's AI system is helping banks keep fraudsters in check — and it could save millions of dollars

Chris Stokel-Walker

Banks have finally fixed the single most annoying thing about credit cards

Emily Stewart

Religare Finvest case: Sebi orders attachment of bank, demat accounts of Shivi Holdings

PTI

Instagram influencer sentenced to 5 years in prison for using fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief loans for luxury lifestyle, travel

Rebecca Rommen

SEBI orders attachment of bank, demat accounts of Sahara group firm, Subrata Roy and others

PTI

Pune man loses ₹2 crore to fake investment scam – what it is and how to protect yourself

Sourabh Jain

American Hospital Association's political committee falls victim to 'fraudulent activity'

Dave Levinthal

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides