Did the “love of your life” scam thousand of dollars from you? Did someone promise that you could make the big bucks working from home? If you answered yes to one of these schemes, federal regulators may be looking for you following the conviction of three Nigerian nationals who allegedly scammed thousands of consumers with internet-based financial fraud schemes. [More]
fraud
My Identity Was Stolen, Then TransUnion Let The Fraudster Unfreeze My Accounts
By 2.8.17
One of the smart things to do when your identity has been stolen is to contact the three major credit reporting agencies — TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian — to discuss placing a temporary fraud alert and credit freeze on your accounts. But as one Consumerist reader found out, all it takes to remove those restrictions is the same information that any good ID thief already knows about you. [More]
Spinal Tap Reunites… To Take Movie Distributor To Court Over $400M
By 2.8.17
The three core members of legendary fictional heavy metal band Spin̈al Tap have reunited, not for a new album, movie, or tour, but to sue a film distributor for $400 million. [More]
Odds Against Tom Brady’s Stolen Super Bowl Jersey Ending Up On eBay
By 2.7.17
There are a few things that shouldn’t need to be said, and yet, someone ends up saying it anyway. Like, “Resistance is futile,” “One does not simply walk into Mordor,” or, “You won’t get away with selling Tom Brady’s missing Super Bowl jersey on eBay.” [More]
Why Is Credit-Card Fraud Still Rising In The New Chip Era?
By 2.1.17
For years, American consumers have waited for safer credit cards with embedded chips that make them more difficult to clone, and which can require a unique PIN or a signature to use. Now that these cards are finally in widespread use, and retailers are begrudgingly shifting over to new card-readers, why is identity fraud still on the rise? [More]
Alleged Sellers Of Magic Disease-Curing Laser Arrested, Indicted For Fraud
By 1.31.17
There are medical conditions that can be treated with lasers. Laser eye surgery is safe and commonplace, for example. Skin disorders and arthritis pain can be treated with lasers, too. However, what you can’t do is cure every disease known to medicine by paying thousands of dollars for a handheld laser from some dude in South Dakota. [More]
Feds: Fraudsters Claimed To Own $17M Worth Of Property, Preyed On Tenants
By 1.26.17
There’s a lot of work that goes in to owning a property and renting it out to tenants, but in return, landlords can charge deposits and collect rent. Two Florida residents took the “work” part out of the equation, federal prosecutors claim, and instead just pretended they owned $17 million worth of property so they could demand money from tenants. [More]
Tax Season Is Now Open: Here’s Why You Should File ASAP
By 1.24.17
As of today, tax season is officially open! While you might want to file as early as you can if you’re expecting a refund, there’s also a very good reason why you should file as soon as you have your documents in order: to block overseas identity thieves from doing it first. [More]
Here’s What $20M Cash Stuffed Inside A Box Spring Looks Like
By 1.24.17
It is a rule universally acknowledged in crime writing that if you stash your ill-gotten gains under the mattress, someone is eventually going to find it. Just like the $20 million in cash hidden in a box spring that federal agents found in Massachusetts this week. [More]
3 Takata Execs Face Criminal Charges Over Handling Of Deadly Airbag Defect
By 1.13.17
For the second time in one week federal authorities have taken the rare step of bringing criminal charges against auto industry executives for alleged wrongdoing. Today, the Justice Department announced criminal indictments against a trio of execs at auto parts maker Takata for their involvement with the shrapnel-shooting airbags that have been linked to at least 11 deaths. [More]
Feds Bring Criminal Charges Against 6 Volkswagen Executives
By 1.11.17
In a rare instance of criminal charges being brought against executives at one of the world’s largest car companies, federal authorities have indicted six Volkswagen employees involved in the decade-long “Dieselgate” scandal and cover-up. [More]
CA Man Who Posed As Immigration Lawyer Charged With Defrauding Consumers
By 12.8.16
Two weeks after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, along with a number of immigration advocates, warned all consumers about the possible increased risk of immigration fraud following the recent presidential election, his counterpart in California charged the owner of one such operation that allegedly defrauded countless immigrants. [More]
Amazon Plans To Escalate War On Fakes In 2017
By 11.28.16
Rampant counterfeiting among Amazon Marketplace sellers is holding the retailer back. There are companies that simply won’t agree to sell their merchandise on the site, given the the company’s known issues with counterfeits, and the concern that genuine and knock-off merchandise could be co-mingled in Amazon warehouses. The online retail giant is now preparing a very public war on counterfeit merchandise. [More]
Immigrants Face Uptick Of Attempted Fraud
By 11.22.16
Just as when the U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked four months ago on the White House’s hopes to enact large-scale immigration reforms, the recent presidential election has left millions of immigrants uncertain about their status making them potential targets for fraudsters. [More]
Trump University Fraud Lawsuits Settled For $25 Million
By 11.18.16
Ten days before President-elect Donald Trump was set to go to trial on one of three fraud lawsuits involving his defunct Trump University, the parties involved in all of these cases have reached a settlement worth $25 million. [More]
Dodge Ram Owners Accuse Chrysler Of Cheating On Emissions
By 11.14.16
Owners of Dodge Ram trucks are now claiming that Fiat Chrysler installed so-called “defeat device” technology — though different from what was found in Volkswagen’s ongoing “Dieselgate” scandal — that was allegedly designed to do a bad job of restricting emissions. [More]
Professional Pooper Scooper Accused Of Impersonating Secret Service Agent To Score Hotel Discount
By 10.27.16 — Updated: 10.31.16
A Pennsylvania man who reportedly runs a business picking up dog droppings has apparently stepped into a major mess of his own making. According to federal prosecutors, he used forged documents to pretend to be a Secret Service agent to score a discount hotel room and then to try to get out of a traffic violation. [More]
Feds Arrest 61 For Alleged Indian Call Center Scam That Bilked Millions From Consumers
By 10.27.16 — Updated: 10.31.16
Earlier this month, police in India detained hundreds of employees in three different call centers for allegedly proliferating a scam that involved calling unsuspecting consumers masquerading as employees with the Internal Revenue Service and threatening to arrest if the person didn’t pay up. This week, federal authorities in the U.S. followed up on the case, ending a three-year investigation by arresting dozens of people in the U.S. and India for allegedly scamming tens of thousands of consumers out of millions of dollars through the sophisticated call center scheme. [More]
