The online world is rife with fraud, and an investigator's ability to identify patterns used by scammers is critical.
Take, for example, the website usabankaccounts.com. The fraudsters have already misspelled the name of the financial institution they are imitating, U.S. Bank. One glance at their site is like a greatest hits album of fraud—SSNs, fake Amazon reviews, and social media accounts are all up for grabs. They scammers even have a U.S. bank banner on the website.
While usabankaccounts.com claims a home base of London, backend analysis reveals addresses in Malaysia, such as L4-E-2, Level 4,Enterprise 4, Technology Park Malaysia, Bukit Jalil. This raises red flags, as Malaysia is known to host fake companies dedicated to defrauding people overseas. Notably, these scams are part of a broader network often linked to human trafficking and forced labor in scam compounds across Southeast Asia.
A deeper look at the L4-E-2, Level 4, Enterprise 4,Technology Park Malaysia, Bukit Jalil address shows that it was linked to many different scams.
As we continued to look at usabankaccounts, we saw how they use multiple bots on X to push their illegal products. Often, when there are multiple numbers after a username on X it is an indicator of a bot on the platform.
Another red flag: usabankaccounts lists a Gmail address as its primary contact. Legitimate businesses almost always use email addresses tied to their official domain. The use of free, anonymous services like Gmail or WhatsApp, especially in a financial context, is frequently associated with scams, fraud rings, or illicit operations, as it makes tracing the sender significantly more difficult.
It’s important to note that while much of the evidence here points to Malaysia, this doesn’t necessarily mean the scammers are based there. The address may be used as a front. There have been documented cases of scammers—such as groups operating out of Nigeria—leveraging Malaysian addresses to mask their true location and avoid detection.
We identified a website called smartlazyhustlers that uses the Malaysia address. The website offers a gmail contact, which we found elsewhere on a website, where they commented on how to create a fake Bitcoin website.
In the comment, the person also says, "If you love my Cap crested with Smart Lazy Hustler, reach out and I will deliver yours to you. It goes for $20 or 8,000 Naira."
The naira is the currency of Nigeria.
In the age of AI, scams like these are becoming increasingly common and more convincing. The more you understand how these schemes operate, the better equipped you are to spot the red flags, protect yourself, and help others avoid falling victim.
