News

She messaged you first. Four professional photos of an attractive Russian woman, a warm opening line, and within 48 hours she was calling you “her kind soul.” Three weeks later you were looking at a bank transfer form for a girl you had never met, sending money to cover her visa paperwork. By the time […]

She matched with him on a dating app on a quiet Sunday night. His profile looked normal. Not too polished. Not too strange. He said he was an engineer working outside the country. He liked dogs, old movies, and simple family life. He asked real questions. He remembered small details. He did not ask for […]

He spent four months and roughly $3,200 exchanging messages with a woman on an agency-based Russian dating site. Long letters, translated by the platform, detailed her childhood, her ambitions, her feelings for him. Then he asked to move the conversation to email. She said the site’s terms did not allow it. When he finally found […]

The profile looked genuine. Four photos, each from a slightly different angle, each with the kind of natural lighting and small imperfections that real selfies have. She said she was 31, an architect in St. Petersburg, recently single, and she messaged him first. After two months of daily messages, he agreed to send $1,800 for […]

He had been talking to her for six weeks. She was 34, a civil engineer in Moscow, recently divorced, no children. The photos were high quality but not obviously professional. She remembered his dog’s name. She asked about his mother’s health. Then, three days before she was supposed to fly to meet him, her bank […]

The digital era brings unprecedented convenience but equally significant risks, especially in cyber security and personal data protection. Now, with simmering geopolitical tension, actors like Russian scammers have mastered the art of cyber espionage and social manipulation, creating formidable risks to U.S. government personnel. This paper demonstrates how scammers use this and several other manipulative […]

A new case emanating from Russia shows that there is a reason to travel advisory to high-risk countries. Correspondents to NBC News Courtney Kube and Mosheh Gains report that U.S. soldier Staff Sgt. Gordon Black has been detained after taking an unauthorized trip to Vladivostok, Russia. Assigned to South Korea, the trip was personal: he […]

The SWIFT bank code network and monetary system is a networked set of banking information transfers organized worldwide. It is, in fact, the most widely used network, and suspending Russia from it surely has several consequences for scams. Through the role of SWIFT and its troubles, we will show you the justification for the suspension. […]

Scientific progress is an asset that facilitates various financial operations, allowing the existence of several transaction channels that streamline money transfers. However, these channels are well-organized structures that do not favor fraud. What is the purpose of Western Union? Why has it suspended its transactions in Russia? Western Union: A Highly Effective Transaction Channel Western […]

If you want to find the happiness of love nowadays, just go online, where there’s an almost unlimited choice of potential fairy-tale princes and princesses worldwide. But beware! Hearts yearning for love are ready to believe all promises and calls – no matter how improbable. These love-starved hearts fall prey to various scammers who use […]