Two years ago, we told you about the not-at-all a discount retailer called USA Discounters that targeted active-duty servicemembers, and not only trapped a number of them in high-cost installment payment plans but then sued customers who fell behind, knowing it was highly unlikely the customer would ever be able to defend themselves. Since then, the company has changed its name, only to go bankrupt, but that hasn’t stopped prosecutors from coming after it. Today, the defunct retailer reached a multi-state settlement deal that could result in USA Discounters customers receiving millions of dollars in forgiven debt. [More]
scams
Scammy, Bankrupt “USA Discounters” To Pay $96M For Targeting, Then Suing Armed Forces Customers
By 9.30.16
Listen To This Creepy Robocall & See Why 750K People Want Free Robo-Blocking Tools
By 9.27.16
As if auto-dialed, pre-recorded robocalls weren’t bad enough, scammers are now blasting out robocalls that use poorly synthesized text-to-talk programs in an effort to try to frighten people into thinking they are being sued. [More]
Why Did A Stranger Send Me A Fake Rolex Watch?
By 9.26.16
It’s not every day that you get a package out of the blue from someone you’ve never met, containing an expensive (looking) watch. So when that exact situation happened to a California woman recently, she had a sneaking suspicion that something was fishy — and she was right. [More]
Man Behind $31 Million Mortgage Telemarketing Scam Sentenced To 16 Years In Prison
By 9.16.16
A California man has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for his part in what prosecutors believe is the largest mortgage modification scam in history, defrauding victims out of $31 million. [More]
Man Accused Of Using Phone Dating Services To Scam Women… Again
By 9.12.16
A New Jersey man who was previously convicted of using telephone dating services to scam women out of hundreds of thousands of dollars has been accused of doing pretty much the same thing while he was on probation for the first scheme. [More]
Ohio Psychic Accused Of Swindling Clients Out Of $1.5M In Cash, Gift Cards
By 9.7.16
An Ohio woman who called herself a psychic apparently didn’t see a criminal indictment with more than two dozen charges attached to it in the stars. She stands accused of convincing clients to fork over about $1.5 million in cash, gift cards, jewelry, and cars. [More]
2 Men Accused Of Using ATM Skimmer To Take $500K From US Bank Customers
By 9.2.16
If you’re hitting the road this holiday weekend, you might find yourself visiting some unfamiliar gas stations, ATMs, or kiosks that accept credit cards. The recent arrest in California of two men who are accused of draining $500,000 from US Bank customers’ accounts should remind people across the country and all over the world: be careful where you swipe your debit card, and be protective of your PIN. [More]
Let’s Review: You Will Never Have To Send $6K In iTunes Gift Cards To The IRS
By 8.31.16
When you owe money to the Internal Revenue Service, they don’t call you up. Instead, they send letters through the mail. Yet people send thousands of dollars every day to scammers in faraway call centers who claim to represent the federal government. If you don’t know that the call is a scam, it can be super scary to be threatened with seven years in prison over the phone. [More]
Walmart Worker Turns Herself In To Police After Accepting $1,000 In Movie Prop Cash
By 8.24.16
When a movie or TV show needs stacks of cash for a scene, they don’t usually withdraw millions from the bank and hope no one walks away with it. Instead, they use prop money that will pass for the real thing on camera, but that any cashier with eyes would immediately notice is fake. So when some Walmart shoppers in Georgia managed to buy $1,000 of stuff with fake movie money, police were suspicious about the cashier’s involvement. [More]
Man Accused Of Stealing Thousands Of Dollars From Women He Met Online
By 8.22.16
There might be plenty of fish in the sea for daters to choose from, but there are a few that if caught, should probably be thrown right back. For example, a man accused of stealing thousands of dollars from women he met and wooed online. [More]
Theater Producer Accused Of Scamming Investors Out Of $165K For Fake Broadway Play
By 8.19.16
It sounds like something out of a Broadway musical: a producer approaches investors, hyping a fantastic, inspirational show about a famous opera singer, starring a famous actress. Only this was real life, with a real person accused of scamming seven people out of $165,000. [More]
Wine Shop Owner Admits Scamming Customers Out Of $45M In Ponzi Scheme
By 8.16.16
Though the words “Ponzi scheme” may conjure images of Bernie Madoff ripping off big investment funds, the scam can come in many shapes in sizes… or liquids, as a case out of California involving a wine shop owner accused of stealing $45 million in undelivered products shows. [More]
As Floods Ravage Louisiana, Here’s How To Avoid Home Repair & Charity Scams
By 8.15.16
As you have no doubt already heard, flood waters are wreaking havoc in Louisiana, displacing many thousands of residents and doing untold damage to their homes. When the waters eventually recede and people return home, there will inevitably be scammers ready to take advantage of their situation; just as there will be bogus charities and other fraudsters waiting to cash in on the good will of other Americans. [More]
AT&T Penalized $7.75 Million For Allowing Scammers To Charge Bogus “Directory Assistance Service” Fees
By 8.8.16
Nearly two years after AT&T was hit with a $105 million settlement over bill-cramming — the practice of letting third parties place questionable or false charges on customers’ phone bills — the Federal Communications Commission says the company has agreed to pay another $7.5 million to close the book on additional cramming accusations involving a bogus directory assistance service. [More]
The IRS And The Cops Do Not Really Take Payment In iTunes Gift Cards Over The Phone
By 7.7.16
It’s easy to say that you’d never fall for a phone scam: everyone who really has fallen for a scam probably would have said the same thing before it happened to them. Yet one way to protect people from scams is to spread a very simple message among the people you know and love who are less savvy about the Internet and about scams than you are. Tell them that no matter what anyone on the phone says, neither jails nor the IRS accepts iTunes gift cards as a form of payment. [More]
Best-Selling Author & Convicted Liar Kevin Trudeau Makes Pitch To Supreme Court
By 7.7.16
Two years after being sentenced to a decade in federal prison for repeatedly defrauding American consumers, best-selling liar Kevin Trudeau is hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court will take a different view of his case than all of the previous courts. [More]
Retailer That Overcharged, Sued Servicemembers Makes Deal To Settle State Lawsuit
By 7.1.16
USA Discounters, the not-at-all discount retailer that went bankrupt last year amid accusations of running a financing scam on customers, is looking to close at least one state investigations with a proposal that would provide a bit of relief to some customers sued by USA Discounters. [More]
Buddhist Leaders Telling NYC Tourists To Beware Fake Monks Who Solicit Donations
By 6.27.16
Just because someone is dressed like the kind of person you may trust, you should always know exactly who it is you’re handing your money to. That’s the warning Buddhist leaders are issuing to tourists visiting New York City, telling them to watch out for fake monks who are pushing people into giving them donations for temples that don’t exist. [More]
