Trapwire Stratfor Email 51

Re: [CT] [OS] CHINA/CSM - Alibaba says China police arrest 36 in fraud probe

Released on 2012-08-12 08:00 GMT
Email-ID 	1548232
Date 	2011-07-05 07:22:59
From 	richmond@stratfor.com
To 	ct@stratfor.com, eastasia@stratfor.com
List-Name 	ct@stratfor.com
I agree with Alibaba and had flagged that too. I didn't see the mention
of trapwire in the story on Cisco. Maybe I missed it. Yes, keep me
posted on any questions and I'll see what my contact can dig up.

On 7/4/11 11:18 PM, Sean Noonan wrote:

This is also a pretty good CSM topic. some college kids running a scam
through Alibaba (chinese ebay), took in a good amount of money.

If we had some good 'redism' related incidents, maybe I could write on
that, but we'd need some very concise points to make.

Let me know what you guys think of this and the surveillance camera
topic.

Jen, I assume that Trapwire is a competitor to Cisco, but I'm not sure.
I don't know if trapwire makes the actual cameras or just does the
analysis. I won't have real questions till morning.

On 7/2/11 11:00 AM, Kevin Stech wrote:

Alibaba says China police arrest 36 in fraud probe

02 July 2011 - 08H10

http://www.france24.com/en/20110702-alibaba-says-china-police-arrest-36-fraud-probe



AFP - Police have arrested 36 people in southeast China following an
investigation into fraud on e-commerce site Alibaba.com and other
websites that duped buyers out of more than $6 million.



Alizila.com, Alibaba's corporate news website, reported earlier this
week the suspects were detained in Fujian province's Putian city in
April. John Spelich, the firm's spokesman, confirmed the report to AFP
on Saturday.



The people arrested allegedly operated a criminal gang that used fake
IDs to open more than 100 "Gold Supplier" accounts on Alibaba.com.
This designation is given to those certified as highly trusted
suppliers by the firm.



This allowed the suspects to pose as legitimate companies selling to
overseas businesses that source goods through Alibaba.com. Police said
the alleged scammers also used other international trading websites.



Alibaba.com, based in the eastern city of Hangzhou, has grown into one
of China's largest Internet companies by matching mainland
manufacturers and wholesalers with buyers around the world.



But its reputation took a hit in February when the firm announced the
resignation of chief executive David Wei and head of operations Elvis
Lee after fraud was uncovered on the site.



Wei and Lee were not involved in the scams but resigned because they
took responsibility for "systemic breakdowns" that allowed the fraud
to happen, Alibaba said at the time.



But according to the Alizila report, the fraud was "sometimes abetted
by Alibaba.com employees." But Spelich said Saturday none of the 36
arrested worked at the company.



He added the number of fraud complaints received by the website in
June was down 70 percent from February after Alibaba toughened
procedures and other security measures.



The report said Alibaba had refunded $1.9 million to those who lost
their money to the alleged scammers.

Click here to find out more!



Kevin Stech

Director of Research | STRATFOR

kevin.stech@stratfor.com

+1 (512) 744-4086



--

Sean Noonan

Tactical Analyst

Office: +1 512-279-9479

Mobile: +1 512-758-5967

Strategic Forecasting, Inc.

www.stratfor.com

--
Jennifer Richmond
STRATFOR
China Director
Director of International Projects
(512) 422-9335
richmond@stratfor.com
www.stratfor.com