OSINT BLOG
The Top Security and Investigation Risks and Threats of 2023
Entering 2023, security leaders are reviewing data from 2022 and looking at the year ahead to identify possible threats and risks on the horizon that could lead to crisis situations for their organizations.
Continue Reading
Fighting Fraud in the Public Sector
Fraud is an increasing and ever-present challenge to investigators, currently estimated to cost the global economy $5.127 trillion USD each year. Fraud comes in many forms, impacting insurance companies, consumers, corporations, and governments. In 2021, the FTC received 2.8 million fraud reports from consumers, amounting to more than $5.8 billion.
Continue Reading
Enhancing Financial Crime Controls with OSINT
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that between 2-5% of the global GDP is laundered globally in one year, totaling $2 trillion US dollars. Financial institutions are bound by laws and regulations intended to stop criminals from disguising illegally obtained funds as legitimate income to combat this criminality.
Continue Reading
Cryptocurrencies: The Evolution of Criminal Funds
In the absence of effective regulation, the criminal use of cryptocurrency is accelerating. Whilst the scale of the criminal use of cryptocurrencies is difficult to determine, it was estimated to be roughly $14 billion worth of transactions in 2021. $14 billion represents only a small share of the overall cryptocurrency market, however, this figure…
Continue Reading
Business Due Diligence: Understanding the Fake Agency Fraud Behind Madbird.
In 2020, the world went into lockdown. During this time, many people lost their jobs and many others began to work from home full-time. During this time, Madbird, a London-based digital design agency, hired roughly 50 remote employees worldwide for management, sales, and design positions. Job ads were posted internationally, promising sponsorship to…
Continue Reading
Money Mules: How Organized Crime Groups Recruit Via Social Media For Money Laundering
When criminals profit from crime, they need to make their money look legitimate. Criminals avoid using their bank accounts to transfer their criminal funds directly as this would easily link them to their criminality. The criminals first want to move the money around to create a complicated trial. To do this, they launder the money, moving it around…
Continue Reading
Proceeds of Crime: Repurposing Criminal Funds to Fight Crime
Almost all criminal activities yield profits. The profits of such criminal activity are referred to as the proceeds of crime. The term ‘proceeds of crime’ includes any property or assets derived from or obtained, directly or indirectly, through the commission of or in connection with a criminal offense. The proceeds of crime include property derived…
Continue Reading
Offshore Leaks: Investigating Dirty Money and White Collar Crime
Tax havens are jurisdictions with significantly low rates of taxation for foreign investors, which may also offer financial secrecy. With the help of white-collar professionals, like lawyers and accountants, the wealthy can avoid taxes by shifting their money offshore and parking it in foreign nations.
Continue Reading
Connecting the Dots: Social Network Analysis in Criminal Investigation
Investigators frequently need to establish if two or more individuals or businesses connected to an investigation are associated with one another in any way. Identifying an association may mean identifying if two people know one another or may involve identifying an array of links between a large group of people within an organized crime group.…
Continue Reading
We’re Booked - Our June 15th Webinar is now full!
Hey everyone, it looks like our free social media webinar (happening this Thursday, June 15th, at 4pm EST) has now filled to capacity! Thanks so much for your continued support, and we can’t wait to share with you valuable intel regarding digital investigations and social media. (Here’s the event page for details.)
Continue Reading