PatrickPretty.com

Day: August 11, 2010

  • KABOOM! Vladislav Horohorin Arrested In France On U.S. Warrant After Undercover Operation On Forums; Secret Service Will Traverse The Globe ‘In Pursuit Of Online Criminals,’ Agency Says

    EDITOR’S NOTE: The arrest of Vladislav Horohorin is notable on a number of levels. First, the arrest in Europe was a result of an online fraud scheme that allegedly crossed international borders and made its way to the United States, where criminal charges were filed.  At the same time, the crime allegedly involved the transfer of money though international payment processors. Perhaps more than anything, however, the case against Horohorin  demonstrates that the U.S. Secret Service is “plugged into” forums that promote international lawlessness. His arrest is very bad news for credit-card crooks and HYIP and autosurf Ponzi schemers — and their corrupt colleagues.

    Here, now, the story on the arrest of Horohorin . . .

    A credit-card trafficker based in Russia has been arrested in France on U.S. charges after the U.S. Secret Service infiltrated an online scheme operating internationally through Internet forums, the Justice Department said.

    Undercover Secret Service agents “negotiated the sale of numerous stolen credit card dumps,” the Justice Department said.

    Vladislav Anatolievich Horohorin, 27, was arrested in Nice.  He was indicted under seal in November 2009 on U.S. charges of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. The seal was lifted today.

    Authorities said they believed he was “one of the most prolific sellers of stolen data” in the world, noting Horohorin was known in web forums as “BadB.” He lived in Moscow, and was a citizen of both Israel and the Ukraine.

    The Justice Department revealed today that the U.S. Secret Service used an “online undercover identity” to interact with operators of the international scheme, which featured the sale of stolen credit-card information known as “dumps.”

    Payments were transferred through online currency services, including a service known as “Webmoney” that was hosted in Russia, the Justice Department said.

    “Cyber criminals who target U.S citizens should not fool themselves into believing they can elude justice simply because they commit crimes outside of our borders,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer.  “As this and so many other cases demonstrate, working hand in hand with our partners around the globe, we will do everything in our power to bring these criminals to the United States to answer for their alleged crimes.”

    Horohorin was arrested Aug. 7 as he attempted to board a flight to Moscow. He will be extradited to the United States, the Justice Department said.

    A top Secret Service official said the agency would be relentless in its pursuit of cyber-criminals.

    “This arrest is an illustration of the success that comes from international law enforcement and private sector partnerships and confirms the Secret Service commitment to traversing the globe in pursuit of online criminals,” said Michael Merritt, assistant director for investigations.

    In August 2008, Merritt was among the officials who announced the seizure of tens of millions of dollars in the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme.

    Assisting the Secret Service in the Horohorin probe were the French Police Nationale Aux Frontiers, the Netherlands Police Agency National Crime Squad High Tech Crime Unit, and the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office.

    Horohorin was one of the founders of a network known as CarderPlanet, a forum through which criminals sold stolen financial data to other criminals.

    Using his “BadB” forum identity, Horohorin “advertised the availability of stolen credit card information through these web forums, and directed purchasers to create accounts at “dumps.name,” a fully-automated dumps vending website operated by Horohorin and hosted outside the United States,” the Justice Department said.

    “The website was designed to assist in the exchange of funds for the stolen credit card information,” the Justice Department said.

  • KABOOM! FTC Says ‘Medical Discount’ Hucksters Used Images Of Obama, Words From Congressional Speech To Fleece Customers; Receiver Already Has Seized Website; Feds, 24 States Launch Fraud Crackdown

    The FTC said today that images of President Obama were used to help a bogus "medical discount plan" trick customers into believing they were purchasing health insurance.

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Some readers will recall that one of the Secret Service’s allegations in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi case is that pitchmen tried to sanitize the scheme by making false claims that ASD President Andy Bowdoin had received an award for business acumen from President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

    Others will recall that Mantria Corp. — implicated in a Ponzi scheme by the SEC — used images of former President Clinton and other world figures to sanitize a “green” energy scheme.

    Now comes word that the FTC has brought a fraud case against a company amid allegations it used images of President Obama, the White House, the U.S. Capitol and lawmakers to sanitize a bogus “medical discount plan”  marketed as health insurance.

    Here, now, the story . . .

    A company that used images of President Obama and the White House — along with logos that resembled the logos of government agencies — has been charged by the Federal Trade Commission with marketing a bogus “medical discount plan” as healthcare insurance.

    At least two other firms and their operators and associates have been charged separately with running discount scams, and a nationwide crackdown involving at least 24 states is under way. The FTC has dubbed the sweep “Operation Health Care Hustle.”

    “With so many Americans struggling to deal with the costs of health care, these medical discount benefit plans sound appealing because they masquerade as health insurance,” said David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “But they are not insurance. They don’t offer the benefits of health insurance, and victims don’t know they’ve been ripped off until after they’ve tried to use the service and paid their bill.”

    The fraud case against Health Care One LLC and associated firms illustrates the dangers not only of promoting scams, but also of of trying to recruit customers into them by implying a product or service is endorsed by the President, members of Congress or the government in general.

    Indeed, Health Care One’s website already has been seized by a court-appointed receiver — and content that once appeared on the site and affiliated sites has vanished. In a remarkable news presentation today, the FTC released a video pitch used by the company.

    Healthcare One LLC used images of the White House while scamming customers, the FTC said.

    The pitch features video of Obama addressing Congress about healthcare issues on Sept. 9, 2009. Heathcare One makes Obama the star of the video, showcasing remarks in which the President stated, “No one should go broke because they get sick.” Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are in the background of the video.

    The video then cuts away to a passage in which Obama said, “That is heartbreaking. It is wrong, and no one should be treated that way in the United States of America.”

    The video then quickly cuts away again to an image of the U.S. Capitol. Official-looking logos appear on the screen, along with the words “REGISTRATION NOW OPEN[:] NATIONAL HEALTHCARE DISCOUNT PROGRAM[:] FOR ALL UNINSURED AMERICANS.”

    A narrator simultaneously declares that “registration is now open for a national healthcare discount program.” The narrator — as an image of the White House replaces an image of the Capitol — goes on to say that “Citizens4Healthcare is now authorized to offer you savings of 20 to 60 percent on doctors, hospitals, prescription drugs and more.”

    As the video proceeds, the narrator declares that “there are daily registration limits for this program, so call now for immediate acceptance . . .”

    Healthcare One was specifically charged with claiming it sold health insurance when it did not — and of misleading the public into thinking it was affiliated with the federal government.

    “Defendants’ advertisements lead consumers to reasonably believe that Health Care One’s program is affiliated with, or endorsed or sponsored by, the federal government,” the FTC said.

    “It is not,” the agency said flatly in court filings, accusing the company of selling a scam.

    Read more about “Operation Health Care Hustle.” (Look in the upper-right corner of the screen when you land on the FTC page. You”ll find links to other cases announced today — and also a link to the video cited above.)