Wamu’s fraud department has a problem sending letters. Just like another reader, Kristin, we posted about, Rob is having trouble disputing fraudulent charges on his account. He followed their every instruction, except to respond to the second letter WaMu sent out. How could Rob do such a foolish thing? Because it never showed up in his mailbox, a point, WaMu seems to think, is owing to, not their incompetence, but Rob’s general lassitude and weakness of character. Or something like that. Here’s Rob’s story…
fraud
FBI Saw Mortgage Crisis Coming, Didn't Stop It
By 8.26.08
The LA Times says that FBI agents told reporters that low interest rates and “soaring home values, [were] starting to attract shady operators and billions in losses were possible.” According to the report, Chris Swecker, the FBI official in charge of criminal investigations, told reporters that the FBI thought it was going to prevent a crisis similar to the S&L debacle.
PayPal Refunds $50 Defraud, Sics Collections On You
By 8.26.08
Last year, Gpotato.com fraudulently took $50 from reader Adam’s Paypal account. He disputed the charge, Paypal agreed it was fraud and returned the funds, and Adam closed the account. Now all of a sudden Paypal’s internal collections agency is calling up Adam and making rude and insistent demands that he pay this $50 immediately.
WaMu: You're Lying About Someone Breaking Into Your iTunes Account
By 8.25.08
WaMu’s crack fraud department is at it again, according to reader Kristin. Someone broke into her iTunes account and bought a couple hundred dollars worth of iTunes gift cards with her debit card information. She disputed the charge and WaMu told her not to worry — they’d take care of it. Two months later, while on a trip to Chicago, WaMu reversed the credits, causing Kristin to become severely overdrawn. No amount of protesting will convince WaMu that she wasn’t lying about the iTunes break-in. Why? Because she never responded to some mail they sent to her old address.
High School Students Bust Restaurants And Grocery Stores For Selling Mislabeled Fish
By 8.22.08
Two high school students decided to see if New Yorkers were really getting what they paid for when they ordered expensive fish. Guess what? Sometimes, they weren’t.
Los Angeles Hospitals Accused Of Using Homeless 'Patients' In Insurance Fraud Scams
By 8.7.08
Hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties submitted phony Medicare and Medi-Cal bills for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of homeless patients—including drug addicts and the mentally ill—recruited from downtown’s Skid Row, state and federal authorities allege.
TJX Credit Card Theft Crew Busted
By 8.5.08
The world’s greatest bank thief is in custody. For ripping off over 45.7 million consumer’s credit cards from TJ Maxx, and other retailers, authorities pressed charges on Miami mastermind Albert Gonzalez and 11 others. The stolen numbers were sold to other scammers who manufactured fake debit cards and drained their victims’ accounts. The breach stemmed mainly from TJ Maxx stores using an unsecured wireless router.
Getting Nigerian Email Scammed, A First-Person Story
By 7.31.08
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you responded to one of those Nigerian scam emails, offering fabulous riches for just a small amount of work? Here’s the story from an unsuspecting college student who totally fell for one. An impecunious immigrant to this country from rural China, he made the perfect target for “Dr. Mike Johnson.” The good doctor was looking to hire some employees. The job? Cashing Traveler’s Cheques and forwarding the money on to Nigeria… In other words, the job was to be a victim of check fraud. Here’s the story…
Viacom Retracts Fraudulent Ownership Claims On Indie Filmmaker's YouTube Clip
By 7.30.08
Last week we told you about how Viacom was sending fraudulent ownership claims to indie filmmakers on YouTube. A few days after our post went up about how they were doing this to animator Joanna Davidovich, a Viacom executive got in touch with her to explain what happened.
Verizon Was The Most Frequent Target For Identity Theft Scams In 2007
By 7.24.08
Identity theft reports to the Federal Trade Commission show that Verizon was the most frequently named company, averaging over 900 events per month in 2007. According to an updated study by Chris Hoofnagle, senior fellow at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, the number of complaints involving Verizon nearly tripled from 2006. Rounding out the top five are AFNI (a collection agency), JP Morgan Chase, AT&T, and Capital One.
Viacom Fraudulently Claims Ownership Of Indie Filmmakers' YouTube Clips
By 7.22.08
Viacom is sending bogus copyright ownership claims and illegal posting notices to independent filmmakers posting their own movies on YouTube. These films contain not one iota of Viacom content. Take, for instance, this lovely short animation, “Juxtaposer,” made by Joanna Davidovich for her senior project. It’s completely her original creation. She has copyrighted it and says that she “only entered into distribution agreements that were nonexclusive.” Yet, the media corporation saw fit to have YouTube tell Joanna, “Viacom has claimed some or all audio and visual content in your video.”
7 Scam Warnings For Online Job Hunters
By 7.21.08
According to legends we’ve heard, it’s possible to find a job by searching online. Flimflammers are also looking for you, looking to defraud job seekers. The BBB has 7 red flags to should watch out for that could indicate that job opportunity is just a scam.
Why No Credit Card Is 100% Safe Against Fraud
By 7.18.08
It seems that there is nothing a consumer can do to completely prevent a merchant from putting an unauthorized charge through on their account. Even if that account is closed or you’re using a “single-use” or “virtual” credit card, fraud-prevention cards with disposable credit card numbers that change after you use them once, you’re not 100% secure. How come? Well, we’ll tell ya.
Bestsmartstore Is A Scam, Check Your Statements For Fake Charges
By 7.16.08
Watch out for fraudulent charges from Bestsmartstore.com on your credit card statements. Consumers are complaining about unauthorized charges for $4.95 or $4.99 for “e books” they never ordered or received. E-books are a favorite tool of online scammers as, if they ever got caught, they could just point to a few PDFs on their computer and say that’s the inventory of their legitimate business. If you get one of these charges, do a chargeback on the card and cancel the card immediately.
Target Discontinues Coupon Due To Rampant Fraud
By 7.7.08
If you downloaded a web coupon that offered $5 off any $25 purchase at Target, you should know that you’ve been had. Someone altered a real coupon—removing the image and the word “toy,” in order to make it seem like it applied to any purchase. The original undoctored coupon, which was e-mailed to 85,000 Target customers, was for $5 off any $25 toy purchase, and Target is now pulling the coupon due to the rampant fraud.
Ex Countrywide Manager Exposes Its Lies
By 6.30.08
A former regional manager for Countrywide Home Loans, the mega mortgage company whose shady mortgage mill came to epitomize the subprime meltdown, went on The Today Show camera to detail some of the company’s questionable practices. Here’s some of the tricks he warned upper management about during his 6-month stint before he was fired for refusing to give loans to unqualified buyers:
By 6.26.08
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eBay says it will improve the consumer protections offered by PayPal. The AP says, “buyers who pay for items with PayPal will be eligible for full refunds, with no cap, if a seller fails to deliver an item as promised.” The changes are expected to take place this fall. [NYT]
Chase Bank Teller Allegedly Fleeces 86-Year-Old Out Of More Than $300,000 In Savings
By 6.24.08
A Chase Bank teller who befriended an 86-year-old senior allegedly fleeced the women out of most of her $400,000 in savings, says the Chicago Sun-Times, and even though the bank caught the teller and fired her… they’re taking a long time to repay the stolen money.
