What do Europeans, Americans and Australians have in common? Scammed $50M by fake e-stores

What do Europeans, Americans and Australians have in common? Scammed $50M by fake e-stores

May 8, 2024 at 07:26PM

BogusBazaar, an organized crime ring, has scammed over 850,000 individuals in Western Europe, Australia, and America, amassing around $50 million over three years. Perpetrators have evaded law enforcement by using a network of fraudulent shopping websites. They utilize fraudulent e-commerce stores to steal credit card data and sell counterfeit goods. Operating mainly from the US and utilizing WordPress and Cloudflare, they continue to engage in fraudulent activities. The report has been shared with authorities and internet providers, but the crime ring remains operational.

Key takeaways from the meeting notes are as follows:

– A criminal group known as BogusBazaar has defrauded approximately 850,000 individuals across Western Europe, Australia, and America, garnering tens of millions of dollars through deceptive online shopping websites.
– The scammers have managed to largely evade law enforcement despite accumulating significant revenue, particularly from fake online storefronts using 22,500 domains.
– These fraudsters primarily focus on stealing credit card data through the operation of fraudulent webshops, also incorporating spoofed payment services such as PayPal and Stripe to gather sensitive information.
– The organized criminal network not only acquires credit card details but also sells counterfeit items to unsuspecting consumers who may never receive their purchases or end up with fake products.
– BogusBazaar utilizes decentralized operations, with servers mainly hosted in the US and employing Cloudflare, as well as utilizing platforms like WordPress with the WooCommerce plugin for the creation of fake online stores.
– The report mentions that most franchisees associated with BogusBazaar are situated in China, and despite SRLabs’ findings being shared with authorities and internet providers, the criminal group is believed to still be operating numerous fraudulent websites.

I hope this summary provides a clear overview of the key points from the meeting notes. Please let me know if there is anything else you require.

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