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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Wednesday, November 13, 2019 Cybercrimes on the rise due to sophisticated scams By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press PORTLAND — On Dec. 14, 2018, Aaron Cole was about to buy a new house and received an email that he thought was from his title company, directing him to make a $123,000 deposit. Cole complied, not realiz- ing that a sophisticated hacker network had likely been spy- ing on his communications with the title company and that although the email looked like others he had received from the title company, this time, the email address was slightly different. A week later, the title com- pany called, advising him it was time to send money. The Oregon man suddenly real- ized he had given away his family’s life savings to crimi- nals. The money was from the sale of their former house. “It was the worst feeling,” Cole said Friday. “And then having to go home and tell my wife that I just gave away all the money. She could tell right when I walked in the house and just sat down, and I just couldn’t come up with the words to tell her.” In 2015, $220 million was lost to wire fraud in the United States. In 2019, losses will surpass $1.5 billion, according AP Photo/Andrew Selsky FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge George Chamberlin, left, speaks in Portland to reporters about the rise of cybercrime in Oregon. He was joined by Gabriel Gundersen, an FBI supervisory special agent with the Oregon Cyber Task Force, center, and Loren Cannon, FBI special agent in charge of the Portland Division. to WFG National Title Insur- ance Company. In the past, attempts to trick people were often clumsy, FBI agents told jour- nalists on Friday. Now they can be sophisticated. If people are asked via email to transfer money under a deadline, they should not rush and instead call a known number of the person the email is purport- edly from and confirm the request, the agents said. “The emails have got- ten well-crafted and quite Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY detailed. They’re highly tai- lored to that particular vic- tim,” said Gabriel Gundersen, an FBI supervisory special agent with the Oregon Cyber Task Force. “It’s a social engi- neering piece, where they’re coercing a victim to do some- thing based on an artifi- cial agenda or an artificial timeline.” In one of the largest cases of its kind in U.S. history, fed- eral authorities in Los Ange- les announced an indictment in August charging 80 people, Senators introduce Owyhee bill By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press Partly sunny Increasing cloudiness Mostly cloudy with a shower Mostly sunny Sun and areas of high clouds PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 51° 33° 47° 34° 55° 38° 56° 40° 65° 47° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 49° 32° 47° 33° 57° 34° 55° 36° OREGON FORECAST 63° 44° ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 57/45 52/35 51/31 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 46/34 Lewiston 56/42 47/33 Astoria 59/45 Pullman Yakima 48/32 56/37 53/34 Portland Hermiston 59/45 The Dalles 49/32 Salem Corvallis 57/39 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 54/32 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 56/42 60/35 59/40 Ontario 57/29 Caldwell Burns 43° 26° 52° 34° 74° (1999) 8° (2014) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 57/41 Trace Trace 0.45" 4.94" 6.46" 7.73" WINDS (in mph) 56/30 60/26 0.03" 0.03" 0.50" 11.34" 8.25" 10.49" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 52/30 58/41 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 51/33 53/37 43° 27° 51° 34° 80° (1999) 7° (1955) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 55/36 Aberdeen 44/30 45/34 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 57/43 Today Medford 66/40 Thu. NE 4-8 N 4-8 Boardman Pendleton VAR 2-4 NNW 4-8 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 63/32 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 6:51 a.m. 4:27 p.m. 5:31 p.m. 7:51 a.m. Last New First Full Nov 19 Nov 26 Dec 3 Dec 11 most of them Nigerians, with stealing $6 million in an email scam and money laundering network. George Chamber- lin, assistant special FBI agent in charge of the Portland divi- sion, said such cases can take years to develop. Partnerships between vic- tims, local law enforcement, the FBI and its field offices overseas, and law enforce- ment in other countries is crit- ical to combatting this trans- national crime, said Loren Cannon, the FBI’s special agent in charge of the Port- land office. In Oregon, losses sur- passed $24 million from com- puter-related crimes from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30 of this year. For all of last year, $23.5 mil- lion was stolen, the FBI said. Most of the money has been lost in so-called busi- ness email compromise scams, in which organized crime groups trick victims into making wire transfers to bank accounts controlled by the criminals. Cole, from the Portland suburb of Oregon City, was lucky. His title firm, WFG National Title Insurance Company, hired him — for the same amount of money he lost — to be a spokes- man to warn others about cyber scams. ONTARIO — U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore., on Nov. 7 intro- duced legislation that would designate more than 1.1 mil- lion acres of the Owyhee River Canyonlands in Mal- heur County as wilderness. The area is important to the local economy because it includes significant graz- ing land, recreation destina- tions and other assets. Recent research there has focused on preserving sage grouse and other wildlife habitat, and native grasses. The Malheur County Community Empower- ment for the Owyhee Act — largely a result of collab- oration among ranchers, con- servation groups, university researchers and others — aims to maintain and improve rangeland, preserve grazing, and protect areas important to wildlife and recreation. The legislation supports science-based adaptive man- agement of federal lands “to make efficient ranching a continued conservation tool and ensure real-time manage- ment responses to threats on the ecological integrity of the lands,” the senators said in a joint statement. Adaptive management aims to encourage flexibility by allowing for adjustments based on current or recent results. To help ensure man- agement actions produce eco- logical improvements, the legislation calls for creating a monitoring network of ranch- ers, businesses, environmen- tal groups and land managers. Grazing would be allowed to continue, including in newly designated wilderness areas. The legislation would provide funding for research, active-management activi- ties and monitoring as well as enforcement of anticipated uses. It would also maintain existing roads, and estab- lish “loop roads” to encour- age tourism while improving access for firefighting. The legislation would not create a national monument, amend the Taylor Grazing Act, impede current proj- ects, impact water rights or irrigation districts, or affect management of Owyhee Reservoir. It would give wilderness protection to parts of the Trout Creek Mountains, Cas- tle Rock, Leslie Gulch, Hon- eycombs, Three Forks and Jordan Craters. Wild and Scenic River management would be used on 14.7 miles of the Owyhee River below Owyhee Reservoir. The legislation “ensures the safeguarded protections of desert wildlife habitat, native and rare plants, and vast wild places for future generations to enjoy” while also making sure ecological health drives management, Friends of the Owyhee said in an online newsletter. NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 90° in San Bernardino, Calif. Low -16° in Cotton, Minn. BRIEFLY GOP mailer mimics Census form NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY PORTLAND — The Republican National Committee is sending mailers to some Ore- gon voters that mimic the look of a U.S. Cen- sus form and solicit donations for President Trump’s re-election. KGW-TV reported Tuesday the mailers are labeled “2019 Congressional District Census” but are not from the U.S. Census Bureau. The survey asks the person’s age, politi- cal preference and whether they plan on sup- porting Donald Trump in the 2020 Presiden- tial election. The mailer also includes questions about domestic issues, national defense and immigration. Officials in Montana last month issued a warning about the mailers. Legitimate census survey documents are postmarked from the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Census Bureau. In an email to KGW, a Republican National Committee says the mailers are clearly marked as being from the GOP. Police: Woman passenger in truck that ran her over PORTLAND — Authorities say a woman killed in a hit-and-run was a passenger in the same truck that ran her over. The woman was found dead about 2:20 a.m. Monday in Portland. After investigating, authorities believe the woman was a passenger in a white pickup but, for some reason, fell out onto the road. The truck then ran the woman over before fleeing the scene. The woman’s identity has not yet been determined. — Associated Press Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s 50s ice 60s cold front E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. 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