Posted on 02/23/2006 4:21:47 AM PST by Liz
Hundreds of Ukrainian spammers, Latvian "phishers" and Russian "spoofers" used a crooked Midtown Manhattan father-mother-son team to wire a whopping $21 million in stolen cyber-dollars back to Eastern Europe..... stolen money directly out of the pockets of American victims of online ID theft.....
The cyber-thieves "phish" for your account numbers through bogus banking-related e-mails, or through "spoof" banking Web sites — prize their anonymity, and so can't send the money back to their native countries through legitimate banks.....they rely on unlicensed, illegal money-transfer companies — which charge large commissions, ask no questions and keep few records — like the alleged family of cyber-bag-men indicted yesterday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The father is Ukrainian national Vadim Vassilenko, 39. The mother is Russian national Yelena Barysheva, 40.....who told investigators her customers had a perfectly legitimate reason for using fictitious names. "American companies discriminate against Russian names," she claimed.
Barysheva's son, Alexey Baryshev, 21, allegedly on the payroll.....believed to be on the lam in Europe.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America By Robert I. Friedman Published by Little, Brown
Robert Friedman's book is the first to describe in detail the Russian mobsters who have established criminal enterprises throughout the world. His prose sometimes makes it sound like a sequel to Pulp Fiction.
A Russian killer in Brooklyn murders a boy, he writes, "by picking him up like a ragdoll with one hand and plunging a knife into his heart with the other." But more than any other reporter he reveals how sophisticated, ruthless, rich, and multinational Russian criminals have become.
Among other things, he writes, they have arranged the sale of military helicopters and a submarine for the Colombia drug barons, and they have acquired influence over the American National Hockey League by threatening players from Eastern Europe and Russia and extorting money from them.
They have infiltrated the international financial system, rigging share prices and buying banks in Hungary, Israel, and California. Now they are expanding into Nigeria, South Africa, and Australia.
www.indystar.com
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THIS IS REALLY FRUSTRATING AND 'BUGMENOT' IS WORKING LESS AND LESS THESE DAYS.
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Pishing and spoofing are real problems for anyone who uses either EBay or PayPal, especially sellers of property. Last year I sold three items on eBay and took payment through PayPal once. Since then I have received several bogus pishing e-mails from entities purporting to be either eBay or PayPal that have accurately copied the eBay and PayPal formats and have attempted to obtain personal confidential financial information from me. The e-mail generally says it comes from the security division of the noted organization, that a third party has attempted to access my account, and that my account will be terminated within a week if I do not provide them with the requested information.
Neither eBay nor PayPal generally sends out this type of inquiry. If any of you receives such a thing, DO NOT RESPOND TO IT and do not use any of the links it provides. Instead, go to the eBay or PayPal website and check your account to see if you have any messages. Also, contact the organization and forward the dubious e-mail to them. Remember, both eBay and PayPal rely on the integrity of their systems to attract customers and legitimately make money, meaning both have a powerful interest in stopping this type of activity.
These bums are so arrogant----some have received E-Bay spoofs without ever having shopped there.
The crooks apparently feel they don't even have to try to look authentic.
The bank spoofs are sophmoric-----just a plain email without logo or bank imprint.
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