Four Of The World’s Largest Container Manufacturing Companies And Seven Of Their Executives Indicted For A Global Conspiracy Affecting Billions Of Dollars of Commerce

The U.S. Justice Department released the information below:

Seven Chinese executives and four of the world’s largest shipping container manufacturing companies were indicted for conspiring to restrict the output of — and fix the prices of — nearly all of the world’s standard unrefrigerated shipping containers for over four years, spanning as early as November 2019 to at least January 2024, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The multi-year conspiracy roughly doubled the prices of standard shipping containers between 2019 and 2021, increasing the container manufacturers’ profits approximately one hundredfold during the COVID-19 pandemic and global supply chain crisis. One executive, Vick Nam Hing Ma, was arrested and his extradition to the United States is pending. Six executive co-defendants remain at large.

Defendant Vick Nam Hing Ma, also known as “Vick Ma”, “馬南慶” and “马南庆” in Chinese, 54, of the People’s Republic of China, was employed by Singamas Container Holdings Ltd. as Marketing Director. He was arrested on April 14, 2026, in France and his extradition to the United States is pending. Following Ma’s arrest, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California unsealed today a superseding indictment charging Ma and 10 of his co-conspirators for conspiring to restrict the output of—and fix the price of — nearly all the world’s standard unrefrigerated shipping containers (also known as standard dry containers), the intermodal containers which carry billions of dollars of goods across the oceans to American households each year. In total, the superseding indictment charges 11 defendants, including 10 of Ma’s co-conspirators:

• Singamas Container Holdings Ltd. (Singamas) also known as “胜狮货柜企业有限公司” in Chinese, was a publicly traded company, organized and existing under the laws of Hong Kong in the People’s Republic of China. Singamas was engaged in the business of manufacturing dry shipping containers and selling them to customers in the United States and elsewhere.
• China International Marine Containers (Group) Co., Ltd. (CIMC), also known as “中国国际海运集装箱（集团）股份有限公司” in Chinese, was a publicly traded company, organized and existing under the laws of the People’s Republic of China. CIMC was engaged in the business of manufacturing dry shipping containers and selling them to customers in the United States and elsewhere.
• Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment Co., Ltd., also known as “上海寰宇物流装备有限公司” in Chinese, was a company organized and existing under the laws of the People’s Republic of China. Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Dong Fang”) owned, managed, and did business as a brand of shipping containers called Dong Fang International Containers, also known as “DF”, “DFIC”, or Dong Fang. Dong Fang was engaged in the business of manufacturing dry shipping containers and selling them to customers in the United States and elsewhere.
• CXIC Group Containers Co. Ltd. (CXIC) also known as “新华昌集团有限公司” in Chinese, was a company organized and existing under the laws of the People’s Republic of China. CXIC was engaged in the business of manufacturing dry shipping containers and selling them to customers in the United States and elsewhere.
• Siong Seng Teo, 71, also known as “張松聲” and “张松声” in Chinese, and “S. Teo,” was employed by Singamas as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. Teo is believed to be a resident of the Republic of Singapore.
• Boliang Mai, 67, also known as “麦伯良” in Chinese, was employed by CIMC in various senior roles. From August 2015 through July 2020, Mai served as President and Chief Executive Officer of CIMC. From August 2020 through the rest of the period covered by the Superseding Indictment, he served as Chairman and CEO of CIMC. Mai is believed to be a resident of the People’s Republic of China.
• Tianhua Huang, 62, also known as “黄田化” in Chinese and “T.H. Huang,” was employed by CIMC as Vice President. Huang is believed to be a resident of the People’s Republic of China.
• Yongbo Wan, 47, also known as “万永波” in Chinese, was employed by CIMC as General Manager of CIMC’s Operation Management Center. Wan is believed to be a resident of the People’s Republic of China.
• Qianmin Li, 62, also known as “李前敏” in Chinese, was employed by Dong Fang as General Manager. Li is believed to be a resident of the People’s Republic of China.
• Yuqiang Zhang, 49, also known as “张钰强” in Chinese and “James Zhang,” was employed by CXIC as CEO. Zhang is believed to be a resident of the People’s Republic of China.

“Cheaters never prosper,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. “This Department of Justice is ensuring that when American pocketbooks are pilfered, accountability will follow. And yet the last administration saw fit to prioritize the weaponization of the Department through novel criminal prosecution theories rather than focus on criminal actors most responsible for manipulating markets to profit from a global pandemic. Thankfully, this Department has righted that wrong, eliminating the weaponization of Government and prioritizing ensuring affordability for all Americans.”

“Global price-fixing cartels strike at the heart of our economic liberty. The defendants held hostage the world’s supply of ocean shipping containers during the Covid pandemic when our supply chains needed it the most. They stole from everyday Americans who paid more and waited longer for vital goods as a result,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division is committed to protecting consumers and holding accountable anyone — anywhere in the world — who exploits Americans for ill-gotten gains.”

“The charges we announced today are possible only because of the dedicated men and women of the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office and our partners in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the General Services Administration Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Daniel W. Glad for Criminal Enforcement of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Working together, these law enforcement professionals conducted a thorough, speedy investigation and stand ready to prove the allegations in the indictment.”

“These defendants, as alleged, sought to exploit a global pandemic to increase their own profits. Their illegal agreement to fix prices and limit supply of these shipping containers resulted in the American consumer paying more and waiting longer for critical goods,” said U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian for the Northern District of California. “We will not tolerate any attempt to manipulate the free markets and will continue to work with our partners at the Antitrust Division to protect the public from these defendants and others like them.”

“The FBI remains committed to protecting the American people from global entities illegally conspiring to engage in price fixing,” said Operations Director Joe Perez of the FBI’s Criminal and Cyber Branch. “We are proud to work with our partners to ensure that criminals seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of consumers are brought to justice.”

“These charges represent the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General’s commitment to work with the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and our law enforcement partners to prosecute individuals and companies who restrict trade for personal benefit,” said Executive Special Agent in Charge Kevin Cloninger of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. “We will continue to pursue and bring to justice those that conspire to engage in anticompetitive practices and harm U.S. citizens.”

“We will continue working with law enforcement partners to protect our supply chain and aggressively investigate all allegations of price fixing,” said Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Jason Suffredini of the U.S. General Services Administration Office of Inspector General.

As alleged in the superseding indictment, as early as March 2019, several of the conspirators began discussing a scheme to restrict the output and fix the prices of standard dry shipping containers. On or about Nov. 14, 2019, Yongbo Wan and Tianhua Huang of CIMC, Qianmin Li of Dong Fang, Yuqiang Zhang of CXIC, and a co-conspiring executive of Co-Conspirator Company A met at CIMC’s headquarters in the city of Shenzhen. The goal of the agreement was to raise the price of standard dry shipping containers. To do so, they agreed to restrict CIMC’s, Dong Fang’s, CXIC’s, and Co-Conspirator Company A’s output of standard dry shipping containers by various means, including:

• Limiting the number of shifts and hours that each production line for standard dry containers could run per day;
• Installing 87 video surveillance cameras on all 49 dry container production lines to ensure that the companies did not exceed the agreed-upon limitations;
• Not building any new container manufacturing factories; and
• Establishing a fund that included a mechanism to penalize financially any cheating on the output-restriction agreement.

The participants contemplated that Singamas and Co-Conspirator Company B would join the output-restriction agreement later. Those companies did so by at least as early as March 2020.

Throughout their conspiracy, the conspirators refined the operation of the output-restriction agreement. By September 2020, the conspirators agreed to restrict how many standard dry shipping containers the company conspirators would manufacture for particular customers. These customers included major U.S.-based container lessors, shipping lines, and logistics companies, in addition to container lessors, shipping lines, and logistics companies based in Europe, the People’s Republic of China, and elsewhere. And from at least as early as September 2022 until at least as late as November 2023, the conspirators agreed to cap the total cargo volume of containers that the company conspirators produced. On or about November 20, 2023, for example, Vick Ma of Singamas co-presented to his CEO, co-defendant Siong Seng Teo, the conspiracy’s “Total Allowable capacity” and “allowable quota” for production — organized by each company conspirator and its factory lines.

As further alleged in the indictment, the profits of CIMC’s container manufacturing business segment increased nearly one hundredfold from about $19.8 million USD in 2019, to about $288 million USD in 2020, to about $1.75 billion USD in 2021. Singamas’s net income increased from a loss of about $110 million USD in 2019, to profits of about $4.6 million in 2020 and about $186.8 million in 2021.

The superseding indictment charges the defendants with a conspiracy in restraint of trade in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act (15 U.S.C. § 1). A violation of the Sherman Act carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine for individuals, and a maximum penalty of a $100 million fine for corporations. The fines may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime if either amount is greater than the statutory maximum fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Matthew Chou, Daniel Twomey, Albert Sambat, and Christopher J. Carlberg of the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office are prosecuting the case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California and the Antitrust Division’s International Section. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and U.S. General Services Administration Office of Inspector General investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and French authorities provided significant assistance in securing the arrest of Vick Ma.

Anyone with information in connection with this investigation, or other antitrust and competition crimes, should contact the Antitrust Division’s Complaint Center by visiting www.justice.gov/atr/report-violations. Whistleblowers who voluntarily report original information about antitrust and related offenses that result in criminal fines or other recoveries of at least $1 million may be eligible to receive a whistleblower reward. Whistleblower awards can range from 15 to 30 percent of the money collected. For more information on the Antitrust Whistleblower Rewards Program, including a link to submit reports, visit www.justice.gov/atr/whistleblower-rewards.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.                                                                     

My Crime Beat Column To Appear In The South Philly Review Beginning in June

Beginning in June my Crime Beat column will appear weekly in the South Philly Review.

In my column I’ll cover crime news, crime issues and crime prevention. I’ll go out on ride-alongs with patrol officers and report on crime scenes, and I’ll interview senior police officials, detectives, federal agents, prosecutors, crime victims and others.

As a life-long South Philadelphian, I’m happy to return to the Review so my column will reach my friends, family members and neighbors who live in South Philly, as well as the other 64,000 weekly Review readers.

Returning to the Review is like coming home. After writing news and features for Defense Department magazines as a Defense Department civilian employee, my first newspaper pieces appeared in the Review in 1993. 

I’m particularly proud of being the first reporter to attend the pilot class of the Philadelphia Civilian Police Academy. On assignment from the Review in 1994, I attended the Police Academy course and wrote an 11-part series on police training and operations. 

I went on to write for the Philadelphia Daily News, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Times and Philadelphia Weekly, but it is good to come home to South Philadelphia's weekly newspaper. 

You will be able to link to my Review Crime Beat columns here.  

In addition to my Review Crime Beat column, I will also continue to be a contributing writer to Counterterrorism magazine, Philly Daily and Broad + Liberty.

Note: You can read the first part of my Review Police Academy series below:    

My Crime Fiction: 'Jadroll'

 The story below is another chapter in my progressing crime novel. 

The story originally appeared in American Crime Magazine

You can read the earlier chapters via the links below:

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The Rigano Murders'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'From South Philly To Sicily'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Salvie Shotgun'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Nick The Broker'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Upton "Uppercut" Clarke'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'The Face'

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: 'Three Soldiers'

Jadrool

By Paul Davis

“Joey Acker, a New York Gambone organized crime family associate, asked Jimmy Conti if he liked spy movies,” Salvatore Stillitano told me as we sat in his late grandmother’s kitchen in her old South Philly rowhome.     

“Jimmy said yeah, James Bond and stuff and Acker explained to Jimmy that real spies were quiet and silently observed and then reported to the good guys.

Acker, a slim man with a hawk nose, was a gambler and friend of Conti’s mother. When he heard that Jimmy Conti was working at a Philly mob hangout in Wildwood, New Jersey, Acker told his Gambone captain, and the captain told Acker to use the dumb kid to get information on what the Philly mobsters in Wildwood were doing.     

“Jimmy was a nice guy but dimwitted. He believed Acker. But hey, Jimmy really was a jadrool," Stillitano said.

Being half Italian on my late mother’s side and having grown up in an Italian American neighborhood in South Philadelphia, I knew what a jadroll was.

A jadrool was Italian for a cucumber, but in South Philly, the name was also an insult. In South Philly, a jadroll   was a bum or an idiot.

Salvatore Stillitano, a former caporegime in the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra organized crime family who became a cooperating government witness against his former mobsters in the 1980s, continued to tell me about his life and his late father’s life in Cosa Nostra.

I published our previous interview sessions in my crime column in the local paper.

 

Jimmy Conti was a skinny, likable young man with wispy dark hair who lived with his elderly mother and worked at Butch’s bar in Wildwood, New Jersey. Owned and operated by Michael “Butch” Romano, a former professional heavyweight boxer known as “Butch the Butcher,” and a made member of the Philly Cosa Nostra crime family.

Romano liked the dopey kid and gave him a job as a dish watcher, janitor and gofer. Romano didn’t pay Conti much, but Conti would have worked there without pay, just so he could hang around the hoodlums who hung out there.

The bar, known for its roast beef, roast pork and meatball sandwiches, was always crowded during the summer months at the popular seaside resort town.

The bar was also the headquarters of Anthony “Tony Ball-Peen” Gina, a Philadelphia Cosa Nostra organized crime family soldier. Although he was a thin 5’5 man, Gina was feared. He was bad tempered and violent. Gina, a former professional boxer, was the number two man under Nunzio “Nick the Broker” Stillitano, the caporegime (captain) of Wildwood and the surrounding area.

Nick Stillitano was often on the road, promoting prize fights and illegal gambling across the U.S., or overseas managing gambling junkets for high rolling gamblers for Philly Cosa Nostra boss Angello Bruno.

Gina was Stillitano’s street boss, overseeing illegal gambling, loansharking, extortion and the infiltration of local unions. He was also the acting captain when Stillitnao was out of town.

The Wildwood Cosa Nosta soldiers and criminal associates made most of their money during the summer months when people flocked to the Wildwood boardwalk and the beaches.

In the summer or 1972, a young Salvatore Stillitano, known as “Salvie Shotgun,” "South Philly Sal," and Nick’s kid,” sat with Gina at his table in Butch’s. Gina, his father’s best friend, was like an uncle to Salvatore.

After Gina collected an envelope from one of his associates, he called over Conti.

“Hey, boy! C’mere.” Gina yelled out.

Conti approached sheepishly to Gina’s table where the volatile mobster sat with Stillitano.

“Get me a roast pork sandwich,” Gina ordered. “Do you think you can handle that complicated order?”

Stillitano and the mobsters at the bar laughed.

A minute later Conti rushed out of the back kitchen and laid a roast beef sandwich on the table.

“I said I wanted a roast pork, ya fuckin’ jadrool!”

“I’ll eat it, Tony,” Stillitano said.

“Now go get me a roast pork sandwich!”

Butch Romano who peered out of the kitchen door when he heard Gina hollering, quickly brought out a roast pork sandwich for Gina.

“Thanks, Butch. Why do you keep this fuckin’ jadrool around?

Romano shrugged.   

From that day on, everyone referred to Conti as the jadrool.   

Conti liked taking the bus to a roadside diner outside of Wildwood. There he met Acker for lunch or dinner. Acker treated Conti with the kind of respect no one else did.

Conti also liked playing the spy. He listened to the Philly family wiseguys talk business and gossip and he then slipped into the bar’s small men's room and sat on a toilet in a stall and wrote down what he thought his friend Acker wanted to know.

But during one meeting at the diner, a local crook named Micky Slaughter saw the jadroll with a Gambone gambler.

Slaughter had often visited Butch’s and slipped Gina an envelope filled with money he was kicking up to the Stillitano crew. He had seen the kid there and heard the guys call him a jadrool.

The Irish thief and extortionist asked one of the mob guys what a jadrool was and the insulting name was explained to him.

Slaughter drove to Wildwood and parked near Butch’s. He was thankful that Gina was there along with Salvie Shotgun. He sat at Gina’s table and whispered that he saw Conti meeting with Acker at the diner.

Gina motioned Romano over and told him to close the bar early. Romano cleared out his regular customers along with Slaughter, leaving only him, Gina and Stillitano.

Romano said that the kid spying on them made sense as the Gambone mobsters always seemed to be one step ahead of them, and the Gambone’s probably passed on tips to the New Jersey State Police. The state troopers then disrupted their criminal operations and made arrests.  

“But the kid is a jadroll. Can he really be passing on information,” Gina asked.   

“Yeah, the kid is jadroll,” Romano said. “But I’ve seen him take notes when I wanted items from the store, and he always got the orders right.”

“Call the jadroll in, and then do what’s right.”

“Yeah,” Romano replied.

Romano went to the phone and called Conti’s mother’s apartment. Conti answered. Romano said he needed him to come to bar.

A half-hour later, Conti knocked on the bar door. Romano unlocked the door and let Conti in.

Conti never saw Romano swing a left hook that dropped him to the floor. Romano picked Conti up by his shirt and went through the dazed kid’s pockets. Romano found a slim notebook and swiftly went through some of the pages. He then handed the notebook to Gina.

“You rat son of a bitch,” Gina exclaimed as he read Conti’s notes. “You fuckin’ jadroll!”

Romano took Conti by one arm and Stillitano grabbed the other arm and they pushed him into the men’s room. Conti began to plead, but Romano pulled out his .38 revolver from his pocket and shot Conti twice in the head.

Conti died instantly and slid down the wall.

When Romano and Stillitano came out of the men’s room, they looked at Gina.

 “Never trust a jadroll,” Gina said.

 © 2026 Paul Davis 

Note: You can read my other crime fiction stories via the link below:

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction Stories 

The Mayor Was A Spy: Arcadia, California, Mayor Federally Charged With Acting As Illegal Agent Of The People’s Republic of China

 The U.S. Justice Department released the information below:

The mayor of Arcadia, California, has been charged in federal court with acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Justice Department announced today.

Eileen Wang, 58, of Arcadia, is charged via information with one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government.

In a related filing, Wang has agreed to plead guilty to the felony count, which comes with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

She is expected to make her initial appearance this afternoon in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Wang is expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks.

Wang was elected in November 2022 to the Arcadia City Council, a five-person governing body from which the mayor is selected on a rotating basis.

“Individuals elected to public office in the United States should act only for the people of the United States that they represent,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “It is deeply concerning that someone who previously received and executed directives from PRC government officials is now in a position of public trust at all, but particularly so because that relationship with that foreign government had never been disclosed.”

“Individuals in our country who covertly do the bidding of foreign governments undermine our democracy,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “This plea agreement is the latest success in our determination to defend the homeland against China’s efforts to corrupt our institutions.”

“By her own admission, Eileen Wang secretly served the interests of the Chinese government,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “Let this serve as a clear warning: individuals who act on behalf of foreign governments to influence our democracy will be identified, investigated, and brought to justice. Protecting the rule of law and the transparency of our democratic process remains at the core of the FBI’s mission, and we will continue working alongside our partners to safeguard the integrity of our elections and keep hostile actors from undermining the voices of the American people.”

According to her plea agreement, from late 2020 through 2022, Wang and Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 65, of Chino Hills, California, worked at the direction and control of PRC government officials and coordinated with U.S.-based individuals to promote the PRC’s interests by, among other things, promoting pro-PRC propaganda in the United States. Sun is serving a four-year federal prison sentence after he pleaded guilty in October 2025 to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.

Wang and Sun worked together to operate U.S. News Center, a website that purported to be a news source for the local Chinese American community. Wang and Sun received and executed directives from PRC government officials to post pro-PRC content on the website.

For example, in June 2021, a PRC official contacted Wang and other individuals via the WeChat encrypted messaging application with pre-written news articles, including a PRC official-written essay in the Los Angeles Times that stated: “China’s Stance on the Xinjiang Issue – There is no genocide in Xinjiang; there is no such thing as ‘forced labor’ in any production activity, including cotton production. Spreading such rumor to do defame China, destroy Xinjiang’s safety and stability, weaken local economy, suppress China’s development[.]”

Minutes later, Wang posted the article on her own website and responded to the PRC official with a link to the article on her website. The others in the group chat did the same. The PRC official responded: “So fast, thank you everyone.”

In August 2021, Wang and three other members of the same group chat shared links to the same article on their respective “news” websites, after which the PRC official thanked them for their “reporting.” At the PRC official’s request, Wang made edits to the article, sent the official a link to the article reflecting the requested change, then sent the official a screenshot showing the article had been viewed 15,128 times. In response, the official messaged, “Great!,” Wang replied, “Thank you leader.”

In November 2021, Wang communicated with John Chen, a high-level member of the PRC intelligence apparatus, who regularly attended elite Chinese Communist Party functions, including military parades, and met personally with PRC President Xi Jinping, according to court documents. Wang asked Chen to post a “news” article from her website, and wrote, “This is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to send.”

Chen was sentenced in November 2024 to 20 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in the Southern District of New York to acting as an illegal agent of the PRC and conspiracy to bribe a public official.   

Wang admitted in her plea agreement that she did not notify the Attorney General that she was acting in the United States as an agent of the PRC, that she was located in the United States when she engaged in these acts, and that did she not disclose on her website that some of its content had been posted at the direction of members of the PRC government.

The FBI is investigating this matter.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda B. Elbogen for the Central District of California is prosecuting this case, with assistance from Trial Attorney Garrett Coyle of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section in the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.                                                                                

Celebrate And Honor Armed Forces Day

 

Staying At The Ocean Hotel And Casino In Atlantic City

I spent Thursday evening and Friday morning in the fabulous Ocean Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City with my wife.  

Our room was on the 41^st floor and the view of Atlantic City and the Atlantic Ocean from our floor to ceiling window was breathtaking.

I was up early Friday morning, and I watched the sun rise over the ocean. It reminded me of my Navy days at sea.    

In another room was my son, daughter-in-law, my grandson and our youngest granddaughter. 

We were in Atlantic City to attend my oldest granddaughter’s graduation ceremony from Stockton University. 

We are so proud of her.                                            

My Philly Daily Crime Beat Column: Gone Phishing — Online Scammers Are Looking To Put A Hook In You

Philly Daily ran my Crime Beat column today on phishing and other online scams 

You can read the column via the link below or the following text:

Davis: Gone phishing — Online scammers are looking to put a hook in you - Philly Daily

While taking a walk through my South Philadelphia neighborhood on a fine day with a fine cigar last week, I ran into a man who works in the computer security field.

Knowing that I write a column about crime, he spoke to me about the various computer scams that crooks are using to con people out of their money these days.

A couple of days later I thought of our conversation when I read the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s alert about “Phishing” scams.

On May 7^th the Attorney General put out an alert notice that asked Pennsylvania residents if they had ever received an email invitation to an event, conference, or birthday party from a friend or acquaintance using a digital invitation or a social planning platform?

“Attorney General Dave Sunday (seen in the above photo) is alerting Pennsylvanians of a new scam in which consumers receive email invitations from compromised accounts belonging to friends or acquaintances. These emails often include a link prompting recipients to view the invitation and RSVP,” the notice stated.

The alert notice explained that when clicking the link, users may be asked to log in or connect using a Google, Apple, Microsoft, or similar online account. Doing so can result in malware being installed on your device or your email credentials being stolen. Legitimate invitation platforms will not require you to sign in simply to view an invitation. 

“Scammers are constantly evolving their tactics to appear more credible and trustworthy,” Sunday said. “If you receive an unexpected invitation that requires you to log in or provide personal information, take a moment to verify it directly with the sender – that extra step can protect your personal data and prevent serious harm.”

The Attorney General’s Office explains how to spot these scams:

Verify the invitation with the sender of the email via a text or telephone call.

• Legitimate invites will never ask you to enter a password and rarely will ask you to download anything.
• Hover over links to confirm they lead to a legitimate website – if you’re unsure, do not click.
• Be cautious of generic invites.

The Attorney General’s Office offers advice on what to do if one thinks that their email may have been compromised:

• Change your email password immediately.
• Enable two-step authentication for your email account.
• Report email to your provider as a phishing attempt or scam.

“Consumers with any questions or believe they may have been involved in a scam should contact the Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection by visiting the website, by emailing scams@attorneygeneral.gov or by calling the office at 1-800-441-2555.

 

On a national level, the FBI warns that “phishing schemes often use “spoofing” techniques to lure you in and get you to take the bait,” (as phishing is akin to fishing, get it?)

“These scams are designed to trick you into giving information to criminals that they shouldn’t have access to,” the FBI explained. “In a phishing scam, you might receive an email that appears to be from a legitimate business and is asking you to update or verify your personal information by replying to the email or visiting a website. The web address might look similar to one you’ve used before. The email may be convincing enough to get you to take the action requested.”

But once you click on that link, the FBI warns, you’re sent to a spoofed website that might look nearly identical to the real thing - like your bank or credit card site - and asked to enter sensitive information like passwords, credit card numbers, banking PINs, etc. These fake websites are used solely to steal your information.

Phishing has evolved and now has several variations that use similar techniques:

• Vishing scams happen over the phone, voice email, or VoIP (voice over internet protocol) calls.

• Smishing scams happen through SMS (text) messages.                                                            
• Pharming scams happen when malicious code is installed on your computer to redirect you to fake websites. Remember that companies generally don’t contact you to ask for your username or password.
• Don’t click on anything in an unsolicited email or text message. Look up the company’s phone number on your own (don’t use the one a potential scammer is providing) and call the company to ask if the request is legitimate.
• Carefully examine the email address, URL, and spelling used in any correspondence. Scammers use slight differences to trick your eye and gain your trust.
• Be careful what you download. Never open an email attachment from someone you don’t know and be wary of email attachments forwarded to you.
• Set up two-factor (or multi-factor) authentication on any account that allows it and never disable it.
• Be careful with what information you share online or on social media. By openly sharing things like pet names, schools you attended, family members, and your birthday, you can give a scammer all the information they need to guess your password or answer your security questions.

Paul Davis’s Crime Beat column appears here each week. He is also a contributor to Broad + Liberty and Counterterrorism magazine. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com.