George W. Bush"s Chief Strategist Blasts Jeb Bush For For "Kissing The Ring" Of Billionaires

Matthew Dowd, who was chief strategist for George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign, on Sunday ripped Republican presidential hopefuls for lowering themselves to “kiss the ring” of billionaires like Las Vegas casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson.

During a Sunday panel segment on ABC’s This Week, host George Stephanopolous noted that many potential 2016 candidates like former Gov. Jeb Bush, Gov. Scott Walker, Gov. John Kasich and Gov. Chris Christie had already met with Adelson.

“I think it’s ridiculous that these candidates for president are trumping out to Las Vegas to go kiss the ring of a billionaire casino owner,” Dowd said. “And they think that’s somehow going to help them get elected president.”

“I think money matters so much less than your own capacity as a candidate,” he continued. “What is your message? What’s your vision for the country.”

“They would be much better off spending time back where they live — instead of flying to Las Vegas — and figuring out what’s their message, what’s their vision, and how are they going to covey that to the American public.”

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George W. Bush"s Chief Strategist Blasts Jeb Bush For For "Kissing The Ring" Of Billionaires

The Fifth Ring: How Conspiracy Theories are Born

As we all know, there was a glitch in the Olympic opening ceremonies yesterday. But not everyone saw it:

Somehow it seemed fitting when a set of floating snowflakes suddenly transformed themselves into Olympic rings — but only four of them. The fifth snowflake never changed.

Russian television viewers, however, saw all five rings, as the show’s producer Konstantin Ernst recognized the malfunction shortly before it occurred and immediately ordered an image from rehearsals to be transmitted in its place. “It would be ridiculous to focus on the ring that would not open,” said Ernst later. “It would be silly.”

That’s quick thinking! But I suspect it’s going to give birth to a thousand conspiracy theories. After all, millions of Russians saw all five rings, so why are all the Americans and Europeans saying there were only four? It must be Photoshop trickery from Westerners designed to make Russia the butt of jokes. Right?

MoJo Blogs and Articles | Mother Jones

The Fifth Ring: How Conspiracy Theories are Born

Bikini Clad Girls For Knockout Ring Girl Competition At MGM Grand Las Vegas

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Bikini Clad Girls For Knockout Ring Girl Competition At MGM Grand Las Vegas

George Washington"s Long Island Spy Ring

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George Washington"s Long Island Spy Ring

International Fraud Ring Recruited Short-Term Visa Holders

International Fraud Ring Recruited Short-Term Visa Holders
http://thedailynewsreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/47cfe__yermek-dossymbekov-hovhannes-harutyunyan.-alisher-omarov

A crime ring enlisted holders of short-term visas to commit fraud on a massive scale.

Hovhannes Harutyunyan, center, an Armenian who was living in Burbank, California, is one of the architects of a fraud ring that enlisted visa holders like Yermek Dossymbekov, left, and Alisher Omarov to commit crimes. If you have information on the case, contact the San Diego FBI at (858) 320-1800.

10/25/13

The recruitment pitch to students on short-term visas must have seemed irresistible: give us your good name and some help in our fraud scheme, and we’ll put money—potentially thousands of dollars—in your wallet before your return trip home.

In charges unsealed late last month in San Diego, FBI agents and their law enforcement partners named dozens of young visa holders from former Soviet-bloc countries who took the bait and became willing co-conspirators in a range of elaborate fraud schemes. In four separate indictments, a federal grand jury laid bare how a Los Angeles-based Armenian crime ring ran scams in L.A. and San Diego that relied on a steady tide of accomplices whose time was short in the U.S. While the crimes themselves were not especially novel—identity theft, bank fraud, tax fraud—the explicit recruitment of co-conspirators with expiring visas was a twist.

“The J-1 visa holders are a commodity in these cases,” said Special Agent Davene Butler, who works in our San Diego Division. She described how a few masterminds enlisted young accomplices to do much of the legwork in their fraud schemes—opening bank accounts and securing apartments and post office boxes to route proceeds from bogus tax returns, for example. By the time a scam came to light, the “foot soldiers” holding J-1 and F-1 visas—which allow foreigners to study and travel in the U.S. for brief periods—would be long gone. “They were essential in the schemes,” Butler said.

The charges announced on September 26 named 55 individuals and followed a two-year investigation led by the San Diego FBI, local authorities, and the IRS, which paid out more than $ 7 million in bogus tax refunds. About half of those charged were arrested last month in a nationwide sweep, but more than 25 remain at large, including 24 who are believed to have left the country. The FBI is asking for the public’s help locating some of the suspects, including one of the crime ring’s main architects, Hovhannes Harutyunyan, 34, an Armenian whose last known address was in Burbank, California.

The charges show four primary schemes. Here’s how they worked:

• Using stolen identities, the crime ring filed about 2,000 fraudulent tax returns claiming more than $ 20 million in refunds. J-1 students obtained addresses and bank accounts for the fraudulent refunds to be sent.


• Conspirators set up bank accounts and began writing checks back and forth to create a good transaction history, which banks rewarded by shortening or eliminating holds on deposited checks. Then the so-called “seed” accounts wrote bad checks to 60 “bust-out” accounts, which paid out more than $ 680,000.


• Conspirators obtained personal information about the identities and accounts of wealthy bank customers and disguised themselves as the account holders. They practiced forging documents and impersonating the account holders, and succeeded in obtaining $ 551,842. They laundered the money by purchasing gold with the stolen funds.


• Conspirators obtained pre-paid debit cards in the names of identity theft victims and opened bank accounts in the names of visa holders who sold their account information before leaving the U.S. They then filed more than 400 fraudulent tax returns seeking more than $ 3 million.

“This investigation involved multiple complex fraudulent schemes resulting in significant losses to financial institutions and American taxpayers,” said San Diego FBI Special Agent in Charge Daphne Hearn.

Agent Butler said the charges and arrests send a message that these schemes are not without consequences. Those who have already fled won’t find it easy to get back to the U.S. “And they won’t be able to tell their friends that they can come to the U.S., commit fraud, get some quick cash, and that nothing will happen to them,” she said.

If you have any information about these cases, please contact the FBI at (858) 320-1800 or online at tips.fbi.gov.

Resource:
- Press release

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Microsoft and FBI Take Down Global Cyber Crime Ring

What’s This?

By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2013-06-06 17:36:16 UTC

Microsoft, working along with the FBI and 80 authorities from across the world, took down the vast majority of computers that were part of a malicious botnet network known as “Citadel.”

The Citadel botnets were one of the biggest cyber crime rings, allegedly responsible for stealing more than $ 500 million from the bank accounts of more than 5 million infected computers over the past 18 months.

The network was made of at least 1,400 botnets, which are an army of infected computers used by hackers to exfiltrate data, attack other computers and commit other types of cybercrimes. According to Reuters, Microsoft took down more than 1,000 of them, while the company later claimed that it had taken down more than 1,400.

“The bad guys will feel the punch in the gut,” Richard Boscovich, a spokesman for Microsoft’s digital crimes unit told Reuters.

The “bad guys” behind Citadel, however, are still unknown. The coordinated takedown, while it didn’t completely shut down the infrastructure, has at least significantly disrupted it. This marked the first time a private company and law enforcement agencies have collaborated to take down a global cyber ring like the Citadel botnets.

SEE ALSO: Global Cyberattack Hits 350 Victims, 40 Countries

Authorities believe the hackers behind Citadel reside in Eastern Europe. In fact, the Citadel malware is designed not to operate in Russia and Ukraine, probably because its operators reside in one of those countries and don’t want to provoke local authorities. Their ring leader allegedly goes by the name of Aquabox and works with at least 81 other conspirators.

The Citadel malware was mainly spread via pirated versions of Microsoft Windows. Once the virus infected a computer, it stole banking credentials and used those to syphon money from some of the World’s largest banking institutions like Bank of America, HSBC, Wells Fargo and other financial companies such as Paypal or American Express.

The botnets were mainly located within the United States, but also in Western Europe, Hong Kong, India and Australia.

Image via iStockphoto, bjdlzx

Topics: botnets, cybercrime, FBI, Microsoft, U.S., US & World, World

Mashable

Microsoft and FBI Take Down Global Cyber Crime Ring