Articles Posted in Fraud

Denise L. Evan’s Real Estate Advice has posted an article about a new money scam that has been going around.

The scam works when an “overseas buyer” contacts a real estate agent and puts an offer in on an expensive house for sale. The buyer says they don’t need to see the house before signing the contract because the online information is so thorough. So they sign the purchase contract and even put down a large deposit. When they send the check to the real estate agent, it looks legitimate–and is even the trust account of a large law firm. If the agent were to contact the law firm they would be told both the account and the account holder are legitimate. The check is even bigger than the money deposit amount and doesn’t seem suspicious in any way.

The instructions that come along with the check say that a portion is to be used for the earnest money, and the balance should be sent to another account that the buyer will use to buy furnishings for the house.

Our friend Denise Richardson of givembackmycredit.com has posted an interesting article about how you can avoid internet scams and various other acts of fraud that are used by con artists posing as internet daters. The tips she lists come from Ms. Casey Jones, creator of Women Against Con Men (WAC-M). WAC-M was created to encourage individuals to fight back against being victimized by repeat serial con men.

Online dating sites are continuing to grow in popularity, but it’s important to remember that just because you’re being honest about yourself, it doesn’t necessarily mean the other person is. Here are some basic guidelines of things to avoid and to do when using online dating websites.

1. Don’t over share! There’s no need to put personal information such as your phone number, IM screename, work location, or a link to your Facebook profile. You can provide those details to the person after you’ve met face to face and have an idea of their character. It’s a good idea to steer clear of anyone who presses you for personal information while you’re chatting online and haven’t met.

Yahoo!Finance has posted an article that gives insight into how social networking websites can work against you in several situations, including debt collection, employment prospects and scams that can lead to identity theft.

Jobseekers should automatically assume that potential employers will do a Google search of their name and often social networking sites are some of the first results. You should take down questionable material and pictures. Or just set your profile(s) to private. Even established employees can sabotage themselves by posting negative material about their company or boss on sites such as Twitter. It’s also important to remember that even material you set to private is still on the internet and thusly still accessible.

Social networking sites are also being used by debt collectors to track down debtors.

“If they don’t have a good phone number or the mail’s being returned, a lot of them use Facebook to find out if they have a different address or their employment information.”

WSFA.com has posted a news article that warns consumers to be cautious when making donations to aid those affected by the recent earthquake in Haiti. Attorney General Troy King gives several good tips to prevent people from accidentally donating to fraudulant organizations and scammers. These tips can prevent identity theft.

First, it’s best to give in the form of a check or money order that is made payable to a charitable organization. Don’t donate cash. You should never give personal information to anyone who contacts you through email, text message or phone call. Only give information to authentic charitable organizations that you personally researched and initiated contact with.

Feel free to ask how your contribution will be used and be concerned if the answer seems hesitant. Decline to donate they seem to be pressuring you to do it in a hurry. Be wary of any organization who offers to come to your home to retrieve donations, or appears at your home asking for donations. Lastly, be apprehensive of charitable organizations who claim to donate 100% of the proceeds to the cause. “Even non-profit organizations have, although minimal, administrative expenses.”

Our friend Denise Richardson, of givemebackmycredit.com, has posted a helpful article on how to avoid being the victim of identity theft scammers during the upcoming 2010 census. Richardson warns that scammers can use a variety of methods to gain access to your information. The Census Bureau has strict guidelines it must adhere to when conducting a census and being familiar with some of them will help you protect yourself.

For example, census questionnaires are always mailed directly to you “so be wary of anyone trying to tell you that they have the questionnaire in their possession.” If you don’t complete your form and mail it back in, a census bureau employee might show up at your home.

Census workers must carry an official government badge that clearly identifies them. This badge includes the individual’s name, so you can ask for a second form of identification with their name on it for comparison. Along with the badge, a legitimate census worker carries a confidentiality notice and a binder containing a list of the people they must contact regarding the census. He might also have a small, handheld device or and an official census canvas bag.

Census employees also will not ask to enter your home and only ask for general information, such as age, race, gender and name. The only financial information they might ask about is salary range. Also, official census employees will not ask for you to pay them a fee or give a donation. The easiest solution to avoid this potential type of scammer is to mail your questionnaire back in.

Mortgage News Daily has posted an article about the SEC’s charges of fraud against three executives’ activities at New Century Mortgage.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Brad Morrice, former Chief Executive; Patti Dodge the former CFO and former Controller David Kenneally of covering up the “rapidly declining financial condition of their firm before it filed for bankruptcy in April, 2007.”

They are officially charged with not keeping investors informed about the company’s financial condition, accounting violations and causing “substantial investor losses.”

The Michigan Collection Law Blog has posted an article that gives consumers some excellent pointers on how to protect yourself from fraud…and avoid identity theft in the process.

. 1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put “PHOTO ID REQUIRED” or “SEE ID.”

2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the “For” line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. Your credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won’t have access to it.

The Health Care Lawyer Blog has posted an article about the amount of health care funding that could be saved from fraud every year. There is about $75-$250 billion “floating about in the health care system.” Around 3-10% of that is lost to fraudsters annually.

these numbers make clear that health care fraud is not just committed by a few scattered criminals masquerading as health care providers. Instead, such fraud is pervasive and extends all the way from Pfizer boardrooms to infusion clinics.

The article lists five ways to curb health care fraud:

-“The government should scrutinize individuals and entities that want to participate as providers and suppliers, BEFORE they enroll.”