This new kind of credit card being shown off at trade shows is designed to prevent against loss due to identity theft by incorporating a security key fob with a credit card. The idea is that when you buy online, swipe at the store, or take money out of the ATM, you hit a button to randomly generate a unique, disposable key code. Enter that code to verify the transaction. This way, someone would actually have to steal your physical credit card to conduct fraud. Best of all, it’s the same size and thickness as a regular credit card.
fraud
New York Sues First American For Conspiring With WaMu To Inflate Home Appraisals
By 11.1.07
New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, announced today that he’s suing one of the nation’s largest real estate appraisal firms for conspiring with Washington Mutual to artificially inflate appraisals.
Woman Exploited Bug On QVC Website To Steal Over $400k In Merchandise
By 10.31.07
A North Carolina woman named Quantina Moore-Perry pleaded guilty to wire fraud last week for stealing $412,000 worth of merchandise from television retailer QVC in 2005. She discovered and exploited a bug in QVC’s online ordering system, where she would still receive the merchandise without being charged if she canceled the order immediately after placing it. She would then sell the items on eBay.
UPDATE: Amex Slaps Best Buy, Obtains Refund For Reader's Box Of Tile Hard Drive
By 10.30.07
We love a happy ending. Sam has written in with the good news that Amex was able to get a full refund from Best Buy after they sold him a box of bathroom tiles instead of a hard drive.
Top 10 Consumer Frauds
By 10.29.07
An estimated 30.2 million Americans were victims of fraud last year, which is about 13.5% of the adult population, according to the just released results of the 2005 FTC Consumer Fraud Survey. (Yes, it takes them two years to get the results out the door).
Best Buy Sells You A Box Of Bathroom Tiles Instead Of Hard Drive, Won't Issue Refund
By 10.29.07
Sam says that he went to BestBuy.com and bought a hard drive for in-store pick up. What he got was a box of bathroom tiles. Now Best Buy is saying he’d better take it up with manufacturer and that they’re not going to issue a refund and that Sam should just take his loss. We don’t think he should. We think it’s not legal to sell someone a box full of bathroom tiles instead of a hard drive.
T-Mobile Demands $1,100 From Defrauded Customer
By 10.27.07
T-Mobile is demanding that reader Motoko, a victim of fraud, immediately pay $1,100 before she can port her number to rival Sprint. Last month, Motoko discovered erroneous charges on her bill totaling $1,766; T-Mobile readily admitted that the charges were fraudulent, and told the BBB and Consumerist that Motoko would receive an immediate refund. Instead of a refund, T-Mobile sent Motoko’s another bill and suspended her service. Now, almost a full month after T-Mobile’s PR henchmen at Waggener Edstrom claimed that the company had provided a “satisfactory resolution,” Motoko checked in with another update:
T-Mobile has only given me a partial amount of the credit they promised me in the BBB response. I’ve only gotten $454 back out of the $1,766. Their new response on the BBB website states that my October bill will reflect the full reimbursement of my credit. Unfortunately, the October bill is still $1,100+ and it shows that the second fraudulent line is still active.
36% Of Identity Thieves Are Women
By 10.23.07
The Economic Crime Institute at Utica College was allowed to look through Secret Service files and they found some interesting real statistics about identity theft that tell a different story from what we usually hear. Based on their data slices:
The $400,000 Wedding Florist Lawsuit: Dirty Vases and Brown, Wilted Flowers
By 10.22.07
We briefly mentioned a lawsuit in which a bride (who happens to be a lawyer) was suing her florist for $400,000 after she was disappointed with the wedding flowers she paid $30,000 for.
Porn Spammers Get 5 Years In Prison
By 10.17.07
Kilbride and Schaffer began spamming in 2003, sending out millions of spam messages advertising hard-core porn sites. The messages contained graphic images that were visible to whoever opened the e-mail. Later in 2003, the two men began using servers in Amsterdam to make messages they were sending from Phoenix appear to be coming from outside the United States.
Mortgage Office Manager Charged With ID Theft, Grand Larceny
By 10.17.07
A branch manager of a Queens, NY mortgage company has been caught opening fake Home Depot accounts using personal information obtained from loan applications and has been charged with grand larceny, says the NYT.
Mr. Milton is an immigrant from Bangladesh who was granted political asylum by the United States who had a cable television program in Queens for fellow immigrants from his homeland, the police said.
By 10.15.07
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How filing a fraud alert with each of the three major credit bureaus works, as told by a blogger who recently had to go through the process. [No Credit Needed]
How To Spot Fake Craigslist And eBay Listings
By 10.12.07
Planning on doing some buying or selling online? Wired offers some tips on how to spot scammers when you’re on eBay or Craigslist.
6 Online Shopping Scams To Watch Out For
By 10.11.07
1. Missing Auction Goods – Auction fraud represents over a third of Internet scam complaints every year. Your safest bet is to pay with plastic so you gain the protections of the Fair Credit Billing Act. When plastic’s not an option, setting up an account through PayPal or BillPay that connects to your credit card is the next best bet.
T-Mobile's Satisfactory Resolution: Cut The Phone Line, Refuse To Refund $1,766 In Erroneous Charges
By 10.7.07
Remember Motoko? T-Mobile sent her a $1,169.84 bill littered with charges from an unidentified number. When Motoko called to complain, T-Mobile admitted that the charges were likely fraudulent, but encouraged Motoko to pay the bill anyway. After posting Motoko’s story, T-Mobile’s PR watchdogs at Waggener Edstrom got in touch and claimed that the situation was satisfactorily resolved. We updated the post accordingly. Well, Motoko sent us a followup email, and here is her version of T-Mobile’s satisfactory resolution:
T-Mobile ended up cutting my line for nonpayment. They simply refused to investigate the matter or to call me back.
SEC Cracking Down On Stock Spam
By 10.5.07
The SEC doesn’t like stock spam. They’ve suspended trading in three companies as part of an anti-spam initiative, meant to deter e-mail campaigns that defraud investors.
Unable To Overcome Stain Of Breaking Into Mentally Disabled Customer's Home And Stealing $70,000, Dealership Closes
By 10.4.07
Remember that Seattle used car dealership that broke into a mentally disabled customer’s house and stole $70,000, and turned out to have a history of on the job drug-use, shady tactics, and abusing mentally handicapped customers? Seems the new owners were never able to overcome those little besmirches on its good name and the dealerships are closing. Huling Bros, consider this your auto de fe.
