"Thanks for the Nightmares!" A Deep Dive into Technology Crime
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In a session that had many virtual attendees joking about having nightmares tonight, going completely off the grid and hiding under blankets, Walt Manning, CEO of Techno-Crime Institute, told a story about darknet, cryptocurrency, encrypted messaging apps, burner phones, ransomware and more at the 33rd Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference.
In his session, "You're in Charge: Are You Ready for a Techno-Crime Challenge," Manning discussed the above and offered this piece of advice: "This is not the fraud of the future - this is the fraud of right now. And if you're not prepared, you need to be prepared because it's already happening."
Manning spun a tale of Ricardo, Selena and Janice so intertwined and complicated that it's incredibly interesting and even more difficult to follow. He began with Ricardo seeking "more" during the pandemic and discovering the possibility of selling log-in credentials through the dark web. He went into a popular forum on the dark web and started asking questions. “Janice” responded to his inquiries and offered suggestions for moving forward with this fraud. Ricardo recruits Carl, a coworker from his IT department, by befriending and developing rapport with him, and utilizing his cousin Selena, to ultimately obtain Carl’s log-in information. And thus, Ricardo found himself thrust into a world of encryption, burner phones, cryptocurrency and fraud through the dark web.
Manning shared this extensive story to show that techno-crime leaves an intimidatingly complicated trail to follow, with the goal to prepare fraud examiners for the difficulties in investigating these cases.
"According to Digital Shadows, there are over 15 billion credentials available for sale on the dark net," says Manning. The depth of personal information from every data breach you’ve ever read or heard about available for sale on the dark web is beyond the scope of imagination. Manning touches on all the types of information from all the breaches – social security numbers, bank account information, personal identification data, counterfeit currencies and more.
Among the many recommendations Manning made throughout the session, the two he made with most sincerity were to always use a VPN for your own security and use an email program that offers encryption. He says, as fraud examiners we must remember “This is happening right now. Sometimes you have to think like a crook to catch a crook. The answers aren’t easy and even the easy answers aren’t the right answers, but you’ve got to start thinking about where your evidence is.”
“It is our job to have the knowledge and expertise, or at least the access to someone who can come in and tell us how we can solve this case. Because the techno-criminals have already evolved with the technology.”
And now, please excuse me while I go hide under a blanket.
