Meet The "AAPL Trading Guru" Who Blew Through 99% Of His AUM, Ending With Just $32,362.84

Several weeks ago we reported the amazing case of one Owen Li, a former portfolio manager of disgraced and incarcerated insider trader Raj Rajaratnam, whose Canarsie Capital had somehow managed to blow through 99.8% of its AUM in 9 months, starting with $100 million in March and finishing, literally, with $200,000, after suffering massive losses during the failed December "Santa Rally." According to a letter he sent to investors, he "truly sorry," for "acting overzealously." Of course, the apology wouldn't get any of the lost money back, giving his investors a lot of time to contemplate just how stupid they were to hand over a hundred million to an incompetent hack whose only virtue was the reputation of being a professional when it comes to investing. A reputation that was clearly false.

Meet the ironically named Roger Bliss: an absolute amateur when it comes to investing, but the very definition of professionalism when it comes to lying, cheating, misrepresenting and stealing the money of gullible investors.

Roger Bliss runs Roger Bliss and Associates Equities, LLC, which is supposedly an "investment club" and has had tremendous success day-trading Apple stock, achieving annual returns for his investors of between 100 to 300%. Bliss tells investors he has never had a trading day in which he has lost money in the past six years. Bliss claims to be managing in excess of$300 million of which approximately $260 million is his own equity in the fund. Bliss also claims there is no risk for investors as he indemnifies them against the loss of their principal.

Bliss operates his purported business out of a large, nice home. He claims to own a vacation property in a resort area in Utah, an airplane, and expensive toys, such as a sailboat and all-terrain vehicles. He tells investors that he enjoys vacations sailing in the Caribbean. Bliss also tells investors and potential investors that he established the investment club with the assistance of attorneys. Bliss claims that due to the size of his accounts, he is regularly audited by the Commission and has twice-yearly telephone conversations with staff at the Commission, thereby creating the appearance of compliance with laws and regulations.

There is only one problem: it is all nothing but one non-stop, epic lie.

As the SEC disclosed three days ago when it charged Roger Bliss and his various fabricated and made up corporate entities, any time investors hope to get rich quick and hand over their money to those who promise untold upside, riskless profits, and boast with a flawless trading history, they will end up even faster dazed, confused and broke with all their money gone, and again, asking themselves just what on earth happened.

In the case of Roger Bliss' investors, here is the true story of how they lost everything just because they believed a sly con man:

• Contrary to Bliss' representations, Bliss' trading has not been profitable. Bliss' brokerage account shows that from January 1, 2012 through January 12, 2015, Bliss incurred losses totaling approximately $3,299,689. That same trading account also showed an ending balance on December 31, 2014 of only $32,362.84. Bliss advanced his scheme by generating falsified trading records and account statements showing successful trading. Bliss also failed to use investor funds for his stated purpose of day-trading.

But before we get into the detail of what Bliss was doing, here is a summary of what he said he was doing.

• Roger S. Bliss . Age 56 and a resident of Bountiful, Utah. Bliss purports to run an investment club and to be responsible for day-trading the investment club's assets for profit. From approximately 2008 to the present, Bliss has been offering and selling investments to individuals and has been offering investment advice.
• Roger Bliss has been day trading Apple Inc. stock since 2008.
• Bliss claims that friends asked him to trade funds on their behalf, but Bliss declined at first. According to Bliss, he taught investment seminars and traded for his own account for about a year until he felt comfortable enough with his proficiency and results to trade with his friends' money.
• Bliss claims that he consulted attorneys and decided to structure his program as an investment club because this would not require him to be registered as an  investment adviser or broker dealer.
• Bliss is currently soliciting investors and offering them memberships in his "investment club."
• Bliss represents to investors and potential investors that his investment club operates as a limited liability company.
• Bliss tells investors and potential investors that he maintains an equity position greater than 50% of the total value ofthe investment club's assets, which he says is a requirement of an unregistered investment club. Bliss claims his investment club has thirty to thirty-five investors and holds over $300 million in funds, ofwhich approximately $260 million consists of Bliss' personal funds.
• Bliss has represented to investors that he holds the investment club funds in four to sixteen accounts held at TD Ameritrade ("TDA''). Bliss states that he trades only AAPL stock, which is the largest capitalized stock in the U.S. markets.
• Bliss claims to have an excellent trading record and that he has never had a trading day where he lost money in the past six years. Bliss represents that investors can expect to earn a 100% return on investment each year, but that returns will likely be higher because he has made 200% and 300% returns for investors for a number of years. Bliss claims that one couple invested $300,000 with him approximately six years ago which Bliss was able to grow to between $20 and $30 million through his trading activities.
• Bliss represents to investors and potential investors that when he trades other people's money, he takes "50% of the upside" so that earnings are split. Bliss provides  written agreements to investors which state that Bliss "accrues 50% of all profits generated for his management and investing skill."
• Bliss asserts to investors and potential investors that they need only contribute money, that Bliss will combine their money with other investor monies and Bliss'  personal monies into a pooled fund to make profits through day-trading AAPL stock.
• Bliss tells investors that he will conduct all trading on behalf of the pooled fund, that he will manage all the assets of the pooled fund, and that he and the investors will share in the profits from the pooled fund.
• According to Bliss, the remaining 50% of profits are shared by investment club members, based on their percentage of equity in the club. Even after the 50% split, Bliss represents to investors they will still earn at least a 100% return on their investment because Bliss is actually earning a 200% to 600% total annual return.
• Bliss guarantees to investors and potential investors that he will indemnify all investment club members for any loss to principal. He has stated that he indemnifies investment club members from any loss "just because I can." Bliss provides written agreements to his investors which state that "Roger Bliss shall indemnify Club members from any losses to the initial contribution to equity."
• Bliss tells investors and potential investors that the Commission audits his trading accounts a few times each year and that the Commission calls him twice each year as part of the Commission's anti-money laundering efforts, due to the sheer size of Bliss' accounts.
• Bliss provides account statements to his investment club members through a website (www.millcreekequities.com or blissclubllc.com) accessible by members with a password. Bliss originally used the website, www.millcreekequities.com, which displayed the logo ofThinkOrSwim, a brokerage firm that was acquired by TDA in 2011. Bliss stopped using the site after the website host notified Bliss on December 17, 2014 that using ThinkOrSwim's logo was a trademark violation. Bliss started using the website blissclubllc.com in January 2015.
• Bliss provided a document to at least one investor that purportedly represented an account statement for one of Bliss' TDA accounts. The document was dated January 8, 2015 and showed a balance of over $85 million in the account. The statement showed a profit for YTD 2015 (a period of 5 trading days) of over $4.9 million. Bliss provided a false account number on the purported statement.
• Statements provided to one investor through the website, blissclubllc.com, showed that from December 18, 2014 through January 23, 2015, the investor's account balance increased in value from $550,000 to over $650,000. Another investor deposited $400,000 with Bliss on January 15, 2015 and the investor's account balance shown on the blissclubllc.com website as of January 30, 2015 was $448,244, an increase of$48,244.
• Bliss attests to investors that the statements on the website show investment club members how much money they hold in the investment club, their deposits and  withdrawals, and their earnings.
• From December 18, 2014 to the present, Bliss has raised at least $950,000 from at least two investors. In addition, during 2014, Bliss deposited approximately $7,421,000 from his bank account to his TDA account. These deposits appear to be from investors.
• Bliss continues to solicit investments. In January 2015, Bliss represented to TDA that he planned to add $2 to $3 million to his account.

As noted earlier, all of this was lies. Contrary to Bliss' representations, his brokerage records show that Bliss suffered substantial losses for the years 2012 through the present. Bliss' account suffered a loss of $718,982 in 2012; $1,195,111 in 2013; and $1,364,593 in 2014. From January 1, 2015 to January 15, 2015, the account lost $19,004. The total loss from 2012 to the present is $3,297,690. That same trading account also showed an ending balance on December 31, 2014 of only $32,362.84. In other words, Bliss had managed to burn through nearly 100% of his entire assets under management.

How did Bliss end up collecting so much money in the first place? Bliss represented to investors that all monies invested will be pooled together with other investor funds and his personal funds into a brokerage account to trade AAPL stock for profit. During December 2014 and January 2015, Bliss collected at least $950,000 from investors.

Investors wired monies to Bliss' personal bank account at Wells Fargo Bank. Bliss represented he would transfer those investor funds to his brokerage account(s) to be used for trading, and in fact told two investors that investment monies would be transferred from Bliss' bank account to his trading account(s) within one day.

Unfortunately for his investors, like every other trading fraud, instead of using the deposited money to trade, Bliss promptly pulled them out for his own personal use.

TDA brokerage records show that from October 28, 2014 to January 6, 2015, Bliss made no deposits into his brokerage account, even though he received a cash investment of$350,000 on December 18,2014 and told the investor he would transfer the funds to his brokerage account and begin trading with the funds the following day. Likewise, Bliss collected $400,000 from another investor on January 15, 2015, the same day his TDA account was closed. Bliss has not deposited the $400,000 into another brokerage account. Bliss did not deposit funds into his TDA account, as represented to investors in December 2014 and January 2015. Although Bliss made a deposit of $900,000 to his TDA  account on January 6, 2015, he almost immediately withdrew $350,000 on January 8, 2015. Bliss had just $563,359 in his sole trading account at TDA on January 15,2015, the day TDA closed the account. Although Bliss opened a brokerage account at TradeStation Group, Inc. on January 14, 2015, he had executed no trades in the account as of January 30, 2015. Therefore, Bliss has not been day trading investor funds, as represented.

A sucker is born every minute, and when it comes the "trading" of Bliss, an endless line of suckers was lining around the block just waiting to give their money to the con man. Why?

Simple: they believed his lies about his past trading success. In the words of the SEC:

• Bliss tells investors and potential investors that, although he has made bad trades, he has never had a trading day where he has suffered a loss in the past six years.
• Bliss claims that he has made at least a 100% return each year, and has made 200% to 300% returns in several years for investment club members. Bliss claims that he actually makes double those returns through his day-trading, but the 100% to 300% returns represent the 50% split to investment club members.
• Bliss has provided written statements to potential investors purporting to show substantial profits in the millions of dollars. Bliss told at least one investor in January 2015 that he averaged profits of about $920,000 per day, and that he was averaging profits of over $2 million per day during 2015 in his investment club.
• Bliss appears to have a computer program that he uses to generate fictitious trading records and account statements. Bliss invites potential investors to his home office, which has five to ten computer monitors purportedly displaying stock trading activity.
• In January 2015, Bliss provided an investor with a purported account statement for a TDA account. The statement purported to show trading activity for one day, January 8, 2015. Bliss told the investor the statement showed one of the investment club's actual trading accounts with a balance of$85,278,933, a profit for the day of $1,479,473, and a year-to-date profit of $4,959,290. As noted above, the statement did not represent actual trading by Bliss.
• Bliss provides investors with purported account information through a secure website (www.millcreekequities.com or blissclubllc.com) accessible by password. Bliss represents that the website shows account information for each investment club member.
• One investor's transaction history from December 18,2014 to January 23, 2015 showed total deposits of$550,000 and a profit for that time frame of$101,360.92. Another investor's account information showed that the $400,000 he invested was deposited into the brokerage account for trading on January 16,2015, and that he had earned over $48,000 by January 30, 2015.
• In correspondence with the web site host for his website, Bliss represented that he uses the secure website to mentor traders to report virtual trading results as they  learn, thereby indicating the information contained in the website is not actual trading data. The account statements and information provided to investors by Bliss are fabricated. Bliss misrepresents that they are actual trading records.

Again: one epic, non-stop lie. In fact, it was so bad that the registration for the only limited liability company known to be operated by Bliss, "Roger Bliss and Associates Equities, LLC," expired in May 2014!

However what is most confusing, and most shocking, is just how willing everyone was to give Bliss not pocket money but tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars to "manage" without any actual diligence, or any background check. All that was necessary was for the con man to "create the appearance of legitimacy" and "creating the appearance of compliance with laws and regulations."

And in a world in which "appearance" trumps substance any day, and is all that matters, in which the very market itself is one big manipulated lie but "appears" to be at an all time high, who can blame the countless naive, gullible dreamers who bet it all on a "get rich scheme", ignored every clear sign the dream was too goot to be true... and lost everything.

Besides themselves, of course.

Source: SEC

Comments

[czarangelus]

Who do these small time pikers think Goldman Sachs extracts their untold billions from?

[booboo]

"Bliss tells investors he has never had a trading day in which he has lost (his) money   in the past six years"

There, fixed it.

[pemdas]

In his day job he works for the fed.

[Save_America1st]

Newly discovered Live footage from his video blog of the actual day when he lost 100 million dollars...bad day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYrpROr9Gmk

[Greenskeeper_Carl]

I'm sorry, but anyone who falls for that kind of shit deserves to lose their money. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

[NoDebt]

And "investment club", huh?  What kind of securities registration is that again?

[TheFourthStooge-ing]

"That's crime business, Robin."
-- Batman

[SafelyGraze]

"Bliss suffered substantial losses for the years 2012 through the present"

rookie

hugs,
usg
_{losing money for more than a century} 

[TwoShortPlanks]

Sorry, shameless, off topic, repeated post

Hope everyone is well. TSP Update

I promised some people I’d give an update along the way. This relates back to a post on my Blog titled ‘Multiple Irons In Multiple Fires’; ie. what do you do once you have your PMs in place?

‘Profiteering From Diminishing Budgets’
http://twoshortplanksunplugged.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/profiteering-from-diminishing-budgets.html

[cro_maat]

TSP - Sounds great. Good to see you in the Hedge again and glad you are doing well. I too sell technology in a diminishing budget environment and lead with free consulting followed by delivering true value at a great price because I don't get greedy when I scale across an enterprise.

[TwoShortPlanks]

Thanks CM. Yeah, these are interesting times I must say.

[cnmcdee]

This guy might / might not goto jail.

But when the federal government does it to the entire US population and has grandma eating cat food - they won't

[Arius]

TSP - it appears as if you found the exact wrong thread to post it ... coincidence?

[TwoShortPlanks]

LOL, didn't see that one *face-palm*

[armageddon addahere]

That sounds too good to be true! I want in on it!

(sarkylert)

[toys for tits]

"NO GIRLS ALLOWED"

along with a secret password.

[RafterManFMJ]

I agree, GKCarl.

This is what my Father referred to as "Bought learning."

[Professorlocknload]

Yeah, rafter, I always called it hard knock tuition.

[0b1knob]

Owen Li-ed?

[StychoKiller]

So, Ignorance of Bliss is downright painful!! :>D

[Fractal Parasite]

“Aaaaand ... it's gone!” (classic)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DT7bX-B1Mg

[SofaPapa]

What he was claiming goes farther than "too good to be true".  He was claiming that the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny were all his personal buddies.  How could anyone who believed a story like his ever have the money to invest in the first place?  That's the head scratcher.

[TheFourthStooge-ing]

Well, sure, but look how many people still vote in presidential elections.

[fascismlover]

there is a wolf available for every group of sheep

[Chief Wonder Bread]

Actually, his vics don't "deserve to lose their money". Where do you think his marks come from? Wharton School grads?

Unfortunately, this goyim-land is easy pickins' for the Talmudicists and their ilk. Don't despise the victims, denounce the perps of the interest-rate suppression these last six years which has denied countless retirees of a safe livable income. 

[Greenskeeper_Carl]

I'm not despising the victims. I'm not defending the perp. I'm simply stating that if you are dumb enough to give someone, or something , like that your money, you kinda deserve it. Kinda like if I were to walk through a section 8 housing neighborhood in Detroit at night with 100$ bills covering my body and got mugged, I would kinda have it coming there too. The same principal applies.

[Chief Wonder Bread]

Carl your analogy is strained. A primal fear would prevent even advanced dementia patients from doing that. On the other hand, there are plenty of hard-working people who have scraped and saved all their lives for a nest egg but have little sophistication with finance who can and have fallen victim and entrusted their life savings to such predatory creeps as this who know how to put on a veneer of respectability and success to impress a certain percentage of the general population. I accept you're not despising these victims, some of them may even deserve it - those who were expecting outsize returns - but there are many other who simply don't have a clue.

[SmackDaddy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkoPq5AOCOA

[Chief Wonder Bread]

How 'bout just stupid? Peeps are frequently born stupid, unlike fat and drunk (left-hand side of a normal distribution - somebody has to occupy that space). Don't even stupid people deserve not to be ripped off of their retirement savings, representing a life-time of hard work?

[DontGive]

1) Nobody deserves shit

2) Stupid/smart etc; ripping people off is an equal opportunity gig

[monoloco]

I wonder if any of those suckers ever heard the name Bernie Madoff?

[Payne]

Figure there are at least 1000 that have not been caught.  He will plead out and do 2 years in jail. 

[Handful of Dust]

The law does not apply to the upper 1% and financial institutions..

[OldPhart]

We Madoff-Blissed some folks...Doing God's work.

[Jadr]

Corzined needs to be part of that description too.

[Leveraged Algorithm]

Just saints believing saints - hope he paid his tithing.......

[Leveraged Algorithm]

You see - if Mormons don't pay their tihing they can go to hell........

[supercelld]

I'm making over $7k a month working part time. I kept hearing other people tell me how much money they can make online so I decided to look into it. Well, it was all true and has totally changed my life. This is what I do... www.globe-report.com

[SickDollar]

off topic: Just this weekend Bank of America laying off 250 Charlotte workers in mortgage servicing unit

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2015/02/11/5508597/bank-of-america-layi...

Yahoo - 100 to 200 but mostly in Canada

United Airlines - 1,150 Jobs at 16 US Airports:

Target Corp. - 550 in the Twin Cities

Kennametal Inc. - Offering Buyouts to 1,000 Workers

FMC Technologies - 2,000

Gray Line Bus Company - 150 Tour Guides?

Suwannee Valley Transit - 6

Trenton School District NJ - 113 Layoffs Poss.

General Motors Trotwood - 30+

Global Oil Layoffs Exceeds 100,000

Sanofi in Massachusetts - 100

Halliburton Co. - 5,000 to 6,500

[Dr. Engali]

No worries, El Peesidente says the shadow of the crisis is behind us.

[Save_America1st]

yeah, that's like telling everyone the hurricane is over while you're in the eye of the storm. 

[Seasmoke]

It sure is. And to the right of us. And the left of us. And right in front of us !!!!!

[Handful of Dust]

Moar green shoots.

[RafterManFMJ]

It doesnt matter; they'll be hiring for 500K new infantry positoins soon...

[XqWretch]

Ignorance is Bliss?

[insanelysane]

These "investors" brought a smile to someone's face so it was all worth it.

[RafterManFMJ]

Why hello there! My name is Bliss, all the way from Bountiful, and boy have I got a cannot lose proposition for you!  I'm so damn successful I vacation in the Caribbean, and have an ATV! Now, if you'd like to potentially achieve that pinnacle of success, and stop having to eat mayonnaise sandwiches for dinner, well, have I got a deal for you!  I phone the SEC at least twice per year, so you know I'm legit!

####

The more I reflect on it, the more I laugh. You lost money to this guy? Fuck you.  

[g speed]

Chinese investors --ya think?

[August]

Just Saints helping Saints.

[debtor of last ...]

So solly. Canaly is dead.

[Yen Cross]

   I'd be checking pet stores for large purchases of Alligators and Crocodiles. I wonder if he knows Jon Corzine?

 Probably not... You have to steal at least a $B to be in that club...

[Joebloinvestor]

If you have someone else managing your money, you have too much of it.

[SmackDaddy]

it makes you wonder how these fucktards get the money in the first place...

[DontGive]

They made that money through our firm "You Fucked Investment Club, LLC" (YFIC). We generate 1000%yoy for our club members, this Bliss dude is an ameteur.

[Automatic Choke]

does anybody think anymore?

[ThroxxOfVron]

Huh?  Wait....um, whut???

Rhetorical question?

Burrrp.  ( canned laughter fades to theme from Three's Commpanee... )

[TheFourthStooge-ing]

.

does anybody think anymore?

That would be unpatriotic, US citizenly speaking.

[StychoKiller]

Meh, lots of blobbing up to do! :>D

[Dr. Engali]

There is no shortage of stupid people out there. How they end up with that kind of money to give a guy like this is beyond me.

[Winston Churchill]

When I look at a couple  of my clients,I wonder the same sometimes Doc.

Luck doesn't cut it.

[Yen Cross]

 Private crowdfunding ain't what it used to be Doc. Articles like this make me laugh!

SEC and equity crowdfunding: It’s a disaster waiting to happen.

 First of all, nothing can be enforced or verified. Secondly accreditation is a joke!

[insanelysane]

Local high school student died in a car crash and another student set up a crowdfunding site in the dead student's name.  Parents of dead student contacted police because they never got a dime.  I think the police went after the student but I am thinking no crime was committed.

[Yen Cross]

 I was referring to the VC equity sharing model. The Tesla,Faceplant, Zinga, Camera on A Stick, models.

 How many of those investors were accredited?  The offerings were sanctioned on margin by the SEC to a group of "Market Makers" so it makes it OKAY to take Grandmas  S.S.money.

 That situation sounds interesting. I wouldn't speculate until the facts are released.

[TheFourthStooge-ing]

.

I was referring to the VC equity sharing model. The Tesla,Faceplant, Zinga, Camera on A Stick, models.

 How many of those investors were accredited?

Sounds like the kind of thing they'd know about at The Accredited Times.

http://accredited-times.com/

If anyone would know, they would.

[red1chief]

The article answers your question: "And in a world in which "appearance" trumps substance any day, and is all that matters..." Lots of people make a lot of money who are empty suits playing the social status game.

[Chippewa Partners]

This cat makes Virtu look like a piker!

[Skateboarder]

Sucks for the suckers, but this fool's scheme aint even peanuts in comparison to the big enchilada.

[wissen dass scheiBe]

Me thinks its time for a pictorial hall of shame for these b.s. traders.

The top of the list should be that fucktard Twitter hedge fund manager, in high def so all can see the blackheads on his bulbous fucktard nose.

[alexcojones]

In a KingDumb of Morons, Bliss is Both Cheap and Very Very Expensive.

"Nobody ever went broke Under estimating the intelligence of the American Public." - HL Mencken

H. L. Mencken Quotes

[red1chief]

I still can't figure out why most of the public is extremely stupid, yet this empire is unbelievably powerful.

[Arius]

because it aint run by "we the people" ?

when it collapses "we the people" will get the blame though ...

[Bangin7GramRocks]

This cock knocker should not even face charges. In my area, there used to be a group of hustlers who would stop at convenience stores in a white van. They would expain to a mark that they had "extra" $2000 stereo speakers because their "boss" made a mistake. They would sell these awesome speakers to the mark for $300. Any asshole who bought the empty wood speaker cases couldn't go to the cops because they willingly bought stolen property. These "investors" who went chasing 100 to 300% returns with 0 risk should just take the beat and move on. They got hustled and should learn a lesson!

[Livermore Legend]

".......These "investors" who went chasing 100 to 300% returns with 0 risk should just take the beat and move on. They got hustled and should learn a lesson!......"

"Nuff Said".

[sunkeye]

Hey man shit happens.

[q99x2]

I have an investment formula that returns 17,487% per year. I call it statistock. And I ain't letting anyone see it ever bitchez.

[Bangin7GramRocks]

Those returns sound appealing to me. Could I convince you to let me in on this? Maybe just a taste? 

[Yen Cross]

 OWEN Li? Those {Irish Chinese} make the Vikings look like {choir boys}...

[Winston Churchill]

Welsh Chinese, please.

[Quinvarius]

He can be the next  Martin Armstrong when he gets out of prison.

[seek]

Given his location, I wonder if he may have been fleecing members of a local Mormon temple. I've seen this particular scam several times in Arizona, they tend to be extremely trusting of fellow members of the church and a wolf can swoop in and pull off scams like these. It literally never occurs to them that a sociopath might join and pretend to be faithful while performing a long con.

[Blano]

One of the best American Greed shows on CNBC  (I know, I know) was a Mormon elder in Utah who ripped off the flock to the tune of hundreds of millions. Balls of steel the guy had. 

[Leveraged Algorithm]

The Utah State Prison is full of these guys but they are attending church meetings while serving their time.....  Helps the gang members see the light.  Need more bankers now.

[TheFourthStooge-ing]

Bliss was simply a small businessman, an entrepreneur in the latest, greatest industrial boom the US has ever seen. In both domestic and overseas markets, nobody can beat 'americans' when it comes to the manufacture of bullshit.

[KuriousKat]

Thieves come in all flavors..Here the ones to be really scared of from Basket Robbers..The Dick n Praelenes flavor

Where is Elliot Ness whe we need him?

Kaspersky says 300 million possibly Triple heisted from Banks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/world/bank-hackers-steal-millions-via-...

Bank Hackers Steal Millions via Malware

By DAVID E. SANGER and NICOLE PERLROTHFEB. 14, 2015

“The goal was to mimic their activities,” said Sergey Golovanov of Kaspersky, about how the thieves targeted bank employees. Credit Raphael Satter/Associated Press

PALO ALTO, Calif. — In late 2013, an A.T.M. in Kiev started dispensing cash at seemingly random times of day. No one had put in a card or touched a button. Cameras showed that the piles of money had been swept up by customers who appeared lucky to be there at the right moment.

But when a Russian cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky Lab, was called to Ukraine to investigate, it discovered that the errant machine was the least of the bank’s problems.

The bank’s internal computers, used by employees who process daily transfers and conduct bookkeeping, had been penetrated by malware that allowed cybercriminals to record their every move. The malicious software lurked for months, sending back video feeds and images that told a criminal group — including Russians, Chinese and Europeans — how the bank conducted its daily routines, according to the investigators.

Then the group impersonated bank officers, not only turning on various cash machines, but also transferring millions of dollars from banks in Russia, Japan, Switzerland, the United States and the Netherlands into dummy accounts set up in other countries.

Since late 2013, an unknown group of hackers has reportedly stolen $300 million ­— possibly as much as triple that amount — from banks across the world, with the majority of the victims in Russia. The attacks continue, all using roughly the same modus operandi:

BANK COMPUTERS

Hackers send email containing a malware program called Carbanak to hundreds of bank employees, hoping to infect a bank’s administrative computer.

HACKER

ADMIN PC

Programs installed by the malware record keystrokes and take screen shots of the bank’s computers, so that hackers can learn bank procedures. They also enable hackers to control the banks’ computers remotely.

ADMIN PC

HACKER

By mimicking the bank procedures they have learned, hackers direct the banks’ computers to steal money in a variety of ways:

Transferring money into hackers’ fraudulent

bank accounts

Using e-payment systems to send money to

fraudulent accounts overseas

Directing A.T.M.s to dispense money at set

times and locations

Source: Kaspersky Lab

In a report to be published on Monday, and provided in advance to The New York Times, Kaspersky Lab says that the scope of this attack on more than 100 banks and other financial institutions in 30 nations could make it one of the largest bank thefts ever — and one conducted without the usual signs of robbery.

The Moscow-based firm says that because of nondisclosure agreements with the banks that were hit, it cannot name them. Officials at the White House and the F.B.I. have been briefed on the findings, but say that it will take time to confirm them and assess the losses.

Kaspersky Lab says it has seen evidence of $300 million in theft through clients, and believes the total could be triple that. But that projection is impossible to verify because the thefts were limited to $10 million a transaction, though some banks were hit several times. In many cases the hauls were more modest, presumably to avoid setting off alarms.

Thats one way to make it to the .1 percent, or nuke a nations finances.. in the meantime I will keep mine inside the matress.

[Handful of Dust]

"If you don't hold it, you don't own it."

Hard lesson for some to learn.

[rzero]

He didn't even have the decency to simply steal all of the money. He had to lose a ton of it convincing himself he actually knew how to trade. When you see guys like this that appear to have absolutely no exit strategy in a con that has a 100% chance of eventually blowing up, you have to think they gave up before the con even started, and decided to go out with a bang. Although spending the last years of your life in prison is more of a whimper than a bang.

[R19]

Someone should do exactly this, but with MSFT because it's a better company!

[Miss Expectations]

Nothing enables a liar quite like believing them.  Here's Stephen Glass... who started with small lies and kept on going:

https://vimeo.com/30824692

(Tipped off by Mark Steyn:http://www.steynonline.com/6794/shattered-glass)

[RaceToTheBottom]

He better hope he is incarcerated, cause some guy is going to use him as target practice with exploding bullets.

Even if his "clients" were dumb, they may be dumb and good shots

[SmedleyButlersGhost]

Jamie diamond. Blankenshit. Madoff Corzine etc etc

A lot of bad shots out there

[red1chief]

And Peter Shrift has an offshore ooooohhhrow bank that has consistently made huge sums. He's legit 'cause he's on talk shows and doesn't like the Fed and debt.

[Chat_noir]

Ignorance is Bliss

[Fred Hayek]

Did none of these "investors" ever see an episode of American Greed on CNBC?  Ponzi and Madoff had more plausible cover stories than this "I only trade apple stock and I never lose" fairy tale.  My god.

[are we there yet]

Bliss should stay away from nail gun stores.

[fed_depression]

The funny thing is he could have done this just by buying apple dips, LOL.

[Clowns on Acid]

A mini Corzine....

[Panic Mode]

This time I am really really really truly truly truly sorry.

[Jack Daniels Esq]

Africans moar bigger thieves - Barry & Elon

[WTFUD]

The sheep/muppets were in sheer bliss until the realisation they were sheared/fleeced.
Still this is no different to what Dr. FED is doing to sheep every day on a grander scale and without knowledge of their participation.

[prudent_investor]

I believe that the first warnign sign is when in Investment field someone tell  you that he/she had no loss making periods (whatever days, month or year) or what you can not loose the money, If someone say something so stupid- than it is a fake -100% fake.

Read here about individual stocks valuation:
http://prudentvalueinvestor.blogspot.com/2015/02/linkedin-corporation-ln...

[starman]

Well he wont have to pay to much taxes on he's gains.

[Livermore Legend]

As I explained in "Delusions 2014", the film "Wolf of Wall Street", ala Jesse, explains how and why they are "Suckers":

"They want SOMETHING for NOTHING".....

This is Human Nature, and there is no means by which to prevent its repitition again and again.

The old saying that "Day Traders Die Broke" is indeed quite true; and while the "Answers" to the Market are NOT Mathematical, the reason that saying is true, is indeed Mathematical.