Fraud

Wine scammer pleads guilty to setting California cellar fire

Tom Barlow Nov 18th 2009 @ 2:00PM EST Filed Under: Food, Fraud

The largest wine scam in the history of the United States was partly resolved this week with Mark Anderson's plea of guilty to numerous counts associated with torching a wine storage facility in the San Francisco area in 2005 to cover the tracks of his wholesale theft.

The blaze destroyed 6 million bottles of top-drawer wines worth an estimated quarter of a billion dollars.

Continue reading Wine scammer pleads guilty to setting California cellar fire

Hanging up on Rachel: Robo-calls have been banned, yet the phones keep ringing

Mitch Lipka Nov 17th 2009 @ 6:00AM EST Filed Under: Technology, Fraud, Consumer Ally

"Hi. This is Rachel from Cardholder Services." It's safe to say that millions of Americans have received a call from Rachel or one of her robo-calling cohorts at some point. In fact, there have been so many complaints about calls from robo-dialers with pre-recorded announcements that the government has almost entirely banned them.

As of September 1, the Federal Trade Commission barred all prerecorded telemarketing calls unless a consumer gives their written permission to receive them furst. Robo-soliciting over cell phones was already prohibited by the Federal Communications Commission several years ago.

Just don't tell that to Rachel. She doesn't appear to be slowing down -- and, at least for the time being, no one can stop her because it's not clear where she comes from.

Continue reading Hanging up on Rachel: Robo-calls have been banned, yet the phones keep ringing

'Who's Who' ripoff preys on your ego

Barbara Bartlein Nov 16th 2009 @ 1:00PM EST Filed Under: Saving Money, Fraud

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3417/3396540397_009a24dcac.jpg

I must be really important, because two "Who's Who" publications have chosen me for inclusion in their publications. The e-mails arrived in my mailbox this week.

They read, "Recently you were selected as an inductee into Who's Who. In spite of this, we have yet to receive your information in order to build your basic membership profile. In the business and professional world it isn't what you know, it's who you know...and who knows you. Social and business networking is the modern standard in developing relationships throughout the world. The potential for recognition and developing networks within a community of 400,000 working professionals in numerous fields on a global scale is unlimited."

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Steer clear of auto warranty deals: Missouri AG sues 6

Mitch Lipka Nov 13th 2009 @ 3:30PM EST Filed Under: Transportation, Fraud, Consumer Ally

Extended warranties of all sorts have always been a dicey proposition, but when it comes to extended auto warranties many don't even appear to be warranties at all.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster took aim at the industry this week by suing six companies that market the so-called warranties and warning the public that what is being pitched isn't what you end up with. He said the industry is "rife with fraud."

Koster said what consumers are actually buying into are limited "service contracts" or "automotive additives" deals rather than a traditional warranty. That was done to avoid consumer protections otherwise afforded by law, he said in a news release.

The contracts are filled with catches. Among them:

A 30 to 90 day (or 1,000 miles) timeframe when you can't make a claim.
Promotion of a 7-year, 100,000 miles warranty extension that doesn't note coverage is limited to the declining value of the car. (In other words, Koster said, "The coverage may soon be less than the price paid by the consumer for the contact).
Sending an additive to be put into your car immediately to activate coverage without noting that its use negates the ability to cancel.

Continue reading Steer clear of auto warranty deals: Missouri AG sues 6

Bad actors continue to prey on seniors

Amy Pyle Nov 4th 2009 @ 5:00PM EST Filed Under: Banks, Borrowing, Home, Insurance, Real Estate, Retire, Fraud, Mortgages

Bad actors have solidly shifted their attention to reverse mortgages, causing a top consumer organization to warn seniors to choose such loans carefully.

A new report by the National Consumer Law Center likens the aggressive lending practices in today's reverse mortgage lending to those common in the sub-prime mortgage heyday -- featuring some of the same players.

"Well-funded marketing campaigns and perverse incentives to brokers are targeting seniors' home equity and using reverse mortgages as their tools," attorney Tara Twomey said in the NCLC news release.

Continue reading Bad actors continue to prey on seniors

'Hot' products to avoid online

Laura Heller Nov 3rd 2009 @ 3:30PM EST Filed Under: Shopping, Fraud, Black Friday

Retail theft is on the rise, but not from hard pressed consumers looking to make ends meet. Rather, organized groups or gangs are hitting stores, stealing large quantities and reselling the goods, often online.

Anyone looking for a deal should be wary, a lot of those too good to be true prices, really are. Popular product categories like electronics are popular "hot" items, but health and beauty products and pharmaceutical items are increasingly being stolen and resold.

The National Retail Federation issued a helpful alert this week along with a detailed list of products, including many popular brand names.

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My preschooler is now a homeowner, and other tales of fraud

Sarah Gilbert Oct 28th 2009 @ 12:30PM EST Filed Under: Borrowing, Home, Kids and Money, Ripoffs and Scams, Tax, Fraud, Mortgages, Taxes-tax credits

Homebuyers did not have to truly be first-timers in order to qualify for the "first time homebuyer" tax credit, expiring Nov. 30; they only had to meet the limitation of not having owned a primary residence for the past three years, with income limits of $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for married taxpayers.

According to the Treasury Department, however, 4-year-olds (and other individuals incapable of legally signing a purchase agreement) don't count.

In an Internal Audit Report meant to assess the 2008 filings in anticipation of a surge in claims for the 2009 tax season, as many as 90,000 claims were determined to be potentially ineligible, and 528 of those were to homebuyers under 18.

The federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers is $8,000.

Continue reading My preschooler is now a homeowner, and other tales of fraud

Rent-a-Husband allegedly divorces investors

Tom Kraeutler Oct 21st 2009 @ 2:30PM EST Filed Under: Home, Fraud, Recession, Investing, Consumer Complaints

Home repair contractor Kaile Warren had a rags-to-riches story that was enviable. The former homeless home improver credits "divine intervention" with giving him the idea for a home improvement company and brand name that would ultimately place him on a national stage that included appearances on Oprah, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and the CBS Early Show, to name a few.

But according to an investigative report by USA Today, Warren has all but crashed and burned taking more than a dozen investors with him who poured an estimated $4.5 million into his Rent-A-Husband chain of home improvement franchises.

Today, Warren is reportedly more than $3 million in debt with assets of just $145,000, faces investor complaints, one lawsuit, and investigation by the Maine Division of Securities.

Here's a video by USA Today on the story:

Continue reading Rent-a-Husband allegedly divorces investors

MoneyGram hit with $18 million fine for looking the other way while consumers got scammed

Mitch Lipka Oct 20th 2009 @ 5:00PM EST Filed Under: Ripoffs and Scams, Fraud, Consumer Ally

MoneyGram International, Inc., has agreed to pay $18 million to settle federal charges that the money transfer service allowed itself to be a conduit for con artists who allegedly bilked people out of tens of millions of dollars.

The money will be used to help consumers recoup some of their losses, the Federal Trade Commission said. MoneyGram is also being required to install an anti-fraud program and monitor its agents, the FTC said.

According to the FTC, between 2004 and 2008, MoneyGram agents helped criminals make away with $84 million wired to Canada and around the U.S.

Having money sent by a wire transfer service is a common method used in a variety of scams, mainly those requiring an upfront payment to participate. Consumers likely lost considerably more, the FTC said.

Continue reading MoneyGram hit with $18 million fine for looking the other way while consumers got scammed

Fake lotto winner causes riot at Burlington Coat Factory

Josh Smith Oct 16th 2009 @ 11:00AM EST Filed Under: Extracurriculars, Shopping, Fraud

Imagine you're minding your own business looking for a new coat at Burlington Coat Factory on an idle Tuesday afternoon when a stretch Hummer Limo rolls up and out jumps Linda Brown, 45, who tells the entire store that she won a $1.5 million lottery prize and wanted to spend $500 on everyone in the store.

Sounds a little too good to be true doesn't it? After all, stories like this only happen in the movies, but lo and behold, Brown began paying for purchase after purchase using her debit card while the store became crowded with friends and family who had been alerted to the once-in-a-lifetime deal. The Columbus Dispatch reports that by 2 p.m. word had spread to so many shoppers that the lines wove through the entire store!

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Consumer groups urge Congress to regulate dealer financing

David Schepp Oct 15th 2009 @ 4:00PM EST Filed Under: Saving Money, Shopping, Transportation, Fraud, Personal loans

Anyone who has ever bought a car and had the purchase financed by a dealership knows what a sweaty-palm experience it can be.

Even the savviest of consumers are likely to blanch after the credit manager runs all the numbers and comes up with a payment that seems way higher than anticipated. And what about all those extra costs? Are they really legit?

It's these concerns and more that are the impetus behind several groups' opposition to an auto-dealer exemption from legislation being fashioned by Congress to create a new consumer watchdog agency. Members of the House Financial Services Committee are expected to vote on the legislation Thursday.

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Drivers beware: Latest insurance scam could cost you

Mitch Lipka Oct 7th 2009 @ 5:45PM EST Filed Under: Insurance, Ripoffs and Scams, Fraud, Consumer Ally, Insurance-car

Crooks really don't know any bounds to how low they can go. Video aired on Good Morning America showing members of an insurance fraud ring setting up motorists -- mainly women -- for collisions is a demonstration of the depths they are willing to plumb.

The crooks stage accidents that make the victim look to be at fault and then, working with doctors who write up bogus medical reports, they go on to collect big insurance payouts. Video footage of the scammers in action shows just how devious the criminals are and how reckless they are with other people's lives. What's scarier, according to the report, is this type of crime appears to be on the increase.

Continue reading Drivers beware: Latest insurance scam could cost you

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