Complete DHS Report for January 9, 2017
Daily Report
Top Stories
• A
Mission, Texas-based businessman pleaded guilty January 3 to using the U.S.
banking system to help three former governors from Mexico launder tens of
millions of dollars. – San Antonio Express-News See item 3 below in the
Financial Services Sector
• TransUnion, Equifax, Inc., and their subsidiaries were ordered January 3 to pay more than $17.6 million in restitution to consumers and $5.5 million in fines for misleading consumers about the usefulness and actual cost of credit scores the companies sold. – U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau See item 5 below in the Financial Services Sector
• An electrical malfunction at the Blucher Poole Wastewater Treatment Plant in Bloomington, Indiana, caused 104,500 gallons of untreated wastewater to be released into Bean Blossom Creek January 5. – WBIW 1340 AM Bedford
14. January 5, WBIW 1340
AM Bedford – (Indiana) CBU officials respond to wastewater release at
Blucher Poole Wastewater Treatment Plant. An electrical malfunction related
to the pumping system at the Blucher Poole Wastewater Treatment Plant in
Bloomington, Indiana, caused 104,500 gallons of untreated wastewater to be
released into Bean Blossom Creek January 5. The cause of the electrical failure
remains under investigation. Source: http://www.wbiw.com/local/archive/2017/01/cbu-officials-respond-to-wastewater-release-at-blucher-poole-wastewater-treatment-plant.php
• The State of Michigan removed the director of the Unemployment Insurance Agency January 5 after a review uncovered that 93% of fraud allegations against over 22,000 unemployment insurance applicants were false. – Detroit Free Press
17. January 5, Detroit
Free Press – (Michigan) Chief of Mich. unemployment agency out amid
false fraud allegations. The State of Michigan removed the director of the
Unemployment Insurance Agency January 5 after a review performed partly at the
request of the Federal Government uncovered that 93% of fraud allegations the
agency made against over 22,000 unemployment insurance applicants from October
2013 – October 2015 were false, resulting in more than $15 million being
unlawfully taken from claimants through wage garnishees, seizures of income tax
returns, and other methods in 2015 alone. Michigan officials report that around
$5.4 million has been refunded to 2,571 claimants wrongly accused of fraud.
Financial Services Sector
3. January 5, San Antonio
Express-News – (International) Valley businessman pleads guilty in
Mexico corruption probe. A Mission, Texas-based businessman pleaded guilty
January 3 to using the U.S. banking system to help former governors from
Coahuila, Aguascalientes, and Tamaulipas, Mexico, launder tens of millions of
dollars by compelling the officials to direct inflated payments for road work
to the defendant’s Mexican asphalt company, which the defendant subsequently
moved to his account for his U.S. firm, Rodmax Inc. The defendant had the
exclusive rights to sell a certain kind of paving machine and paid bribes to
the Mexican government representatives in exchange for contracts to perform the
road work. Source: http://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Valley-businessman-pleads-guilty-as-part-of-10834876.php
4. January
4, WABC 7 New York – (New Jersey) Police investigating ATM skimming
incidents at banks in New Jersey. New Jersey authorities are investigating
after recent ATM skimming incidents at banks across the State, including the
Lakeland Bank branch in Oak Ridge from December 2016 – January 2017, as well as
at banks in Bloomingdale and Lincoln Park. More than 100 potential victims of these
ATM skimming incidents have been identified to date. Source: http://abc7ny.com/news/thieves-using-skimmers-to-steal-customers-account-info-at-nj-banks/1686118/
5. January 3, U.S.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – (National) CFPB orders TransUnion
and Equifax to pay for deceiving consumers in marketing credit scores and
credit products. The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
January 3 ordered TransUnion, Equifax, Inc., and their subsidiaries to pay more
than $17.6 million in restitution to consumers and fines worth $5.5 million to
the CFPB for misleading consumers about the usefulness and actual cost of
credit scores the companies sold by leading consumers to think they were the
same credit scores lenders commonly used to make credit decisions, and for
persuading consumers to pay expensive recurring fees for credit scores and
credit-related products that the firm’s falsely claimed were free or low-cost,
from at least July 2011 – March 2014. As part of the settlement, TransUnion and
Equifax must clearly notify consumers about the nature of credit scores they
are selling, must obtain the consumer’s consent prior to enrolling them in any
credit-related product with a negative option feature, and must offer consumers
a simple way to cancel the purchase of any credit-related product. Source: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-transunion-and-equifax-pay-deceiving-consumers-marketing-credit-scores-and-credit-products/
Information Technology Sector
19. January 5,
SecurityWeek – (International) KillDisk malware targets Linux machines. ESET
security researchers reported that the KillDisk malware recently observed
adding encryption capabilities and behaving like ransomware is now targeting
Linux systems, including workstations and servers. The Linux variant of the
malware overwrites the bootloader entries and displays the ransom text within
the GRUB bootloader
20. January 5,
SecurityWeek – (International) “MM Core” APT malware now targets United
States. Forcepoint security researchers reported that two new versions of
the malware “MM Core,” dubbed BigBoss and SillyGoose, have been used to target
the news and media, government (defense), oil and gas, and telecommunications
industries in Africa and the U.S. The trojan was designed to collect
information on the infected computer and set up a backdoor for remote access.
Communications Sector
See item 20 above in the Information Technology
Sector