Blog / Fraud
Getting the run around from your bank on fraud? Use certified mail.
Mar 3, 2008 by Tom Fragala
There is a post on the Consumerist blog about a person that is having trouble getting a credit posted for losses from account fraud. Essentially, the person says the bank is messing around claiming paperwork on the fraud wasn't received, and the...
Identity theft top complaint: FTC releases annual report
Feb 15, 2008 by Tom Fragala
The Federal Trade Commision released it's annual publication "Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data" for January-December 2007. The number one complaint category, 4 times more than number 2, is, of course, identity theft. The FTC today released the list of top consumer...
Using A Uni-Ball 207 to Write Checks: Does It Matter
Nov 11, 2007 by Tom Fragala
There is a marketing compaign now produced by Sanford for their Uni-Ball pens called "Secure Your Signature". Specifically, it focuses on their Uni-Ball 207 pen which they say has special ink that embeds itself into the paper fibers on your...
FBI Announces Number to Report Wildfire Disaster Related Fraud
Oct 25, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Whenever there is a natural disaster, the fraudsters appear. The FBI issued a warning to the public concerning potential disaster related fraud schemes in connection with the recent Southern California wildfires, often fake charities. More information concerning potential scams is...
Bogus checks, wire transfer fraud and scams
Sep 29, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Ed Dickson, over at the Fraudwar blog, has an article that I wish citizen could read and every law enforcement officer would be trained on. It’s about this amorphous set of fraud and scams that are similar at one level, although they appear...
NetBank Fails, FDIC Insurance Reminder
Sep 28, 2007 by Tom Fragala
This is not something you want to see when you visit your bank’s website: NetBank, an internet-only bank with $2.5 BILLION in assets was shut down today. That’s right, shut down without warning to the depositors and customers. Customers that...
FBI Releases 2006 Crime Statistics
Sep 25, 2007 by Tom Fragala
The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently published its annual crime report, Crime in the United States, 2006. It may be more notable for what is excluded, rather than what it reports. Identity theft: Not included. Embezzlement, confidence games, forgery, check...
What Does Internet Dating Have To Do With Identity Theft?
Jul 29, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
MSNBC had an interesting Dateline show recently about catching ID thieves. The show created a fake online electronics store and advertised it as one that accepts stolen credit cards to pay for merchandise. Apparently such stores exist, so no one became suspicious. When the news crew tracked the...
It's Not Easy to Catch a Thief
Jul 20, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Identity thieves are not often caught and prosecuted. This article from Concord Monitor Online explains the frustrating issues involved by recounting one woman’s attempt to get justice after she became an identity thief victim. "If somebody had a credit card...
How the Pros Protect Themselves
Jul 16, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Here’s a great article about how the tech experts protect themselves from identity theft and other fraud. The article features tips from Frank Abagnale, a former identity thief turned FBI consultant on white collar crime. These days, Mr. Abagnale never uses a debit...
Killer-For-Hire Scam
Jul 15, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
According to a news story from Pennsylvania, scammers are convincing professionals that they have been hired to kill them. Apparently the scammers will search the internet for information and contact information on their subjects. They use the information they find to scare them by...
The Most Important Opt-Out to Prevent Identity Theft
Jul 14, 2007 by Tom Fragala
I just found out I was victimized by ID theft again. The same MO: stolen “convenience” checks from my mailbox. This time it was convenience checks for my Citibank credit card, similar to the Wells Fargo convenience checks on my home...
Now Phishing Sites Can Be Created in 2 Seconds?
Jul 14, 2007 by Tom Fragala
The TrendMicro Anti-Malware Blog points to a rather creepy new technology for hackers: Approximately two seconds is now all it takes to create phishing sites with the use of a new “plug and play” phishing kit that malicious users have fashioned...
FBI Fraud Alert: Internet-based Scams and Fraud
Jul 9, 2007 by Tom Fragala
The FBI issued a fraud alert today. They did a good job of boiling down the most common fraud schemes into eight key questions. If you do anything on the Internet related to purchases, auctions, lotteries, or jobs/employment please read this: IF YOU ANSWER “YES”...
Social Security Scam
Jul 9, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Beware of a new scam where a caller claims to be from the Social Security Administration and offers to increase your benefits. They are using scare tactics to pressure individuals to give out their bank account numbers. A Social Security spokesperson...
Clever Criminals Use Charities to Verify Credit Cards
Jul 6, 2007 by Tom Fragala
This from the Symantec Security Response Blog Carders attempting to verify that a stolen credit card is legitimate and active have begun donating money to charity. By attempting to pay small amounts of money to various charities, including well known...
Debt Elimination Can Cause Major Headaches
Jul 5, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Here’s another scheme that I often see. Many of my clients have complained that debt elimination (also called debt settlement) companies take their money and run. The victims I’ve worked with were lucky that they only lost money, because according to...
Scamming the Scammers
Jul 3, 2007 by Tom Fragala
The New York Times has an article about a group of folks whose hobby is fooling and embarrassing “419” scammers. You know, those emails you get (often called Nigerian or 419 schemes) usually about some overseas money that you are...
Synthetic Identity Theft
Jun 29, 2007 by Tom Fragala
We have blogged about this before and inside the industry this term is getting a lot of play. The mainstream media is starting to pick up on synthetic ID theft. Simply put, it means an imposter uses different parts of...
Tips for Teens Which Are Prime Targets of ID Theft
Jun 26, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
An article gives tips to teens to keep them safe from ID thieves. With the popularity of myspace and the fact that teens often post their personal information onto the Web, it’s easy for them to become victims. Teens need...
Don't Trust Your Caller ID
Jun 25, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Here’s a great blog by Susan Brenner that gives a lot of information about caller ID spoofing that can be used to steal identities or even worse. The spoofing is being used to commit identity theft and other types of fraud, though,...
32% of Americans Haven't Checked Their Credit Report
Jun 22, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
According to a national poll by Bankrate, Inc, it’s true. Digital50.com reports that Bankrate also found that 45% of Americans don’t know their credit score. I can understand those not wanting to pay for a credit score, so it makes sense that...
ID Theft Victim Chases Down Thief
Jun 19, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Here’s a great story about an ID theft victim that took matters into her own hands and single-handedly tracked the thief that stole her identity.She actually chased the thief down and waited for police to arrive. It’s a great story,...
Pin or No Pin - Which is Safer?
Jun 16, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
I often get the question, “should I enter my pin number at the store for extra security with my debit card?”. The answer is contrary to what you might think. Don't use your pin number! A question and answer column sums it...
Correlation Between Being In Debt and Becoming An ID Theft Victim
Jun 12, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Do you know that the more in debt you are, the more likely you are to become an identity theft victim. That’s because when you’re in debt and sinking quickly, you are more likely to chase financing deals in a...
Creative ID Thieves Target Real Estate
Jun 11, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
High foreclosure rates in neighborhoods can many times be blamed on identity thieves. Here's an article that talks about how they do it. The thief in this case is a mortgage broker that bought and sold homes, but usually under...
An Uncreative Plan from the Presidential Identity Theft Task Force
Jun 10, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
An article criticized the Presidential Identity Theft Task Force for some of the issues we’ve been blogging about for a while. The article sums up the report of the task force’s findings as this: The report focuses on four main...
Beware of Scams with Craigslist
Jun 1, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Craigslist.com is a website that lets sellers post ads for free. A man selling a truck on Craigslist was almost bilked by a variation of the Nigerian 419 scam that I’ve blogged about previously. A buyer named “Jimmy Davis” wanted to buy...
Teens Are Key Targets for ID Thieves
May 26, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Identity thieves go after the identities of teens and young children because they know they have a lot of time before the victim will check his credit - often the thief can use the fraudulent ID for many years before...
The Jury Duty Scam Keeps on Coming
May 24, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
I constantly hear rumblings about the Jury Duty Scam and Tom Fragala has blogged about it previously on this site. Based on this article it sounds like the residents of Florida are getting hit hard by it. According to the investigators, scheme artists are calling victims...
InfoUSA Knowingly Sells Lists of Elderly to Criminals
May 22, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
An article in The New York Times describes a truly harmful practice. Companies that maintain data on individuals often create lists of the elderly, those with cancer, even those that gamble and then sell those lists to companies that have been known to commit fraud. An unethical...
Beware of Social Security Card Scam
May 21, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
A new scam is surfacing in Maine where the caller tries to convince the person on the other end of the phone that his social security card is no longer valid and that a new one needs to be reissued. It...
Businesses Scammed with Fake Invoices
May 17, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
I’ve blogged before that identity thieves often target businesses by creating fake checks in the business’ name and cashing them. Another twist that I’m hearing more and more about are scammers sending fake invoices in the hopes that a business will go...
Now They're Coming Out of the Woodwork to Confess
May 15, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Here’s another account from an identity thief on how he did it. James Jackson is in prison now, but he claims to have stolen the identities of such celebrities as Danny De Vito, Mel Gibson and a federal judge. I don’t...
ID Thief Gives Whole New Perspective
May 10, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
I found a really interesting article on ID theft that provides a whole different perspective – it’s from the ID thief’s point of view. The thief tells how he did it so that the public can learn from it (but only after...
Debit Card Scam Uncovered on Campus
May 8, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Three Penn State Berks students were arrested for their part in a debit card scam. They had convinced other students to hand over their ATM cards, and wait a few days before claiming their card was stolen. Meanwhile the students in charge of the...
Scams That Target Those With Bad Credit
May 6, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
I read an excellent blog with a summary of scams that target individuals and businesses with less-than-stellar credit. Scammers know that as your credit score goes down, your options for credit do too. They feed upon the desperation of an individual with a...
$9,000 Mistake in Medical Bill
May 4, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
A father found that a Denver hospital over-charged for his son’s hospital stay by $9,000. When he examined the bill he found huge over-charges mostly related to medications. Not many people scrutinize their hospital bills. They think the insurance companies are...
Virginia Tech Shootings Scam
May 3, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Beware of ANY emails regarding the recent Virginia Tech shootings. There is a scam that comes by email claiming to have video from the shootings. If you open up the email to watch the video you actually download a computer...
Medical Facilities are Cracking Down
May 1, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
More and more hospitals and medical facilities are requiring photo identification when they check patients in. Medical identity theft is growing and the results are serious. Read more about what it is and its consequences in a past medical id theft...
Car Dealership Loses Out to Identity Theft - Aided by Its Own Salesman
Apr 30, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
A used-car dealership was burned by one of its own salesmen recently. Evidently the salesman conspired with a man that bought two trucks from the dealership using a stolen identity. Unfortunately the dealership figures that there may be more fraudulent sales by the...
You Can Never Hear This Too Often...Don't Accept Collect Calls From a Jail!
Apr 28, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Inmates in one jail have come up with a plan to "gain control of the phone line to make long-distance and collect calls on the victim's dime", and I'm thinking it may be just a matter of time before inmates...
Credit Repair Scams
Apr 26, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
If you have negative marks on your credit, the thought of removing the information can sound really appealing. Before you pay a credit repair company to work its magic, beware of the way they do it. The most common strategy...
Waiters in 40 Restaurants Aided Identity Theft Ring
Apr 25, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
If you ate in a restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown, NY City, Florida, New Hampshire, New Jersey or Connecticut recently, check your credit card statement carefully because you may be a victim of credit card fraud. Waiters in 40 restaurants skimmed information from...
More on Medical ID Theft
Apr 23, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
In a past I’ve blogged about medical identity theft and how it can become a very serious form of fraud if the thief using your medical insurance is treated for a serious health condition. Not only can the you be turned down for life insurance...
Corporations Are Victims Too
Apr 21, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
With all the warnings to individuals about preventing identity theft, corporations don’t get much attention but they can be victims just as easily. Corporations make good targets when their financial information is easy to obtain and they don’t have a solid checks and...
Update on My Recent Identity Theft
Apr 19, 2007 by Tom Fragala
I just updated the blog post about the fraud I suffered this week. The story gets worse....
A Victim Again: Fraudulent Home Equity Check
Apr 17, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Not a good way start to the day. I got a call at work this morning (9am PDT) from someone claiming to be from the Wells Fargo fraud department. I have several accounts at Wells, including checking, mortgage and home equity...
Good Should Come From This Victim's Experience
Apr 16, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
There is an article on Myrtle Beach online that serves as a good reminder of just how much the victim goes through when an identity has been stolen. The thief opened credit card accounts in the victim’s name and paid the...
Medicare Scam
Apr 15, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
The elderly are targets of a scam in Iowa, according to KHQA 7 online, where the caller claims to represent Medicare and asks for personal information. Victims have been known to give social security and bank account numbers. Medicare doesn't...
Mystery Shopping Meets the Nigerian Scam
Apr 13, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Just when I thought I had seen everything, it got worse! I've blogged on mystery shopping fraud and also nigerian money scams, but now to make matters worse, the two have combined to really take advantage of consumers! According to...
eBay Buyers Beware - Even The Experienced Ones
Apr 11, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
I’m a big fan of Clark Howard – a consumer advocate with a nationally syndicated radio show. He’s alerting eBay buyers to a new scam that is successfully duping even experienced buyers. In his March newsletter, he explains how it’s done. Scammers build up...
Beware of ATM Scams
Apr 10, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Some identity thieves will stand extremely close to you while you’re using your ATM card and watch as you put in your pin. If you become distracted after your PIN is entered and your ATM card is still in the...
Vishing Is Now a Common Tool for ID Thieves
Apr 9, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
According to an earlier blog of mine, vishing is an effective way to steal a victim’s identity. Scammers can create any phone number to show up on caller ID, which creates a lot of new opportunities for identity theft. For...
Stiffer Penalties for Identity Theft on the Elderly
Apr 3, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Great news! Acccording to All Headline News Media Corp, Tallahassee, FL (AHN) - If you steal someone's identity in Florida, you may be charged with a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. But if you steal...
The FTC Investigates Mystery Shopping Complaints
Apr 2, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
A while back I blogged about mystery shopping and all the scams that go along with it. It looks like the FTC is also leery of the scams associated with the industry. According to this FTC announcement, the FTC is charging multiple companies...
A Mistake From The White House May Lead to Identity Theft
Apr 2, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
You can only do so much to prevent identity theft. Take this article from US News and World Report, for example. A mundane trip manifest of reporters who traveled to Latin America with President Bush has turned colossally controversial because...
Tips to Protect the Deceased's Identity
Apr 1, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
To add to Tom's blog about scammers stealing the identities of the deceased, here are some more tips from an id theft article in the Times-Picayune. Send copies of the death certificate to all three credit-reporting agencies, as well as...
Identity Thieves Target The Dead
Mar 29, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Identity thieves will swoop in on the dead because for them, the best identity theft victim is one that no longer needs his credit and won't ever realize it's been stolen! Here's how one thief in Louisiana managed to grab...
Be Careful When You Write A Check
Mar 27, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
I counseled a fraud victim recently that wrote a check to a stranger that came to the door selling Mary Kay. My client bought a small item from the woman and wrote a $5 check. It turned out that the...
Financial Aid and Scholarship Scams
Mar 26, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
I've worked with a number of clients that have paid companies to search for college scholarships and fill out financial aid forms on their behalf, but I’ve never heard anything positive about the companies they’ve paid to help them. There’s...
Utility Worker Charged With ID Theft
Mar 25, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Here's a chilling reminder that you can never be too careful - but sometimes you don't have a choice. This utility worker had access to all kinds of information for each customer and she chose to help herself to at...
Texas Bill Would Extend The Statute Of Limitations In ID Theft Cases
Mar 24, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
According to the article, Workers' Comp, Identity Theft Bills Pass Texas House, an identity theft bill in Texas will give law enforcement more time to investigate and prosecute identity theft. HB 887 would extend the statute of limitations from three...
Credit Card Industry Says Restaurants are Data Sieve
Mar 24, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Electronic payment processors, including Visa and Mastercard, say that restaurants are the biggest source of credit card data breaches and security leaks. In a way, no surprise since there are millions of restaurants, many of which are small operations, that...
Credit Card Skimming at Gas Station
Mar 18, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Here’s an interesting story that gives insight into identity theft by way of card skimming. According to the 680 news in Seattle, Three men from the G-T-A are facing 80 fraud charges related to a debit card skimming scam in...
Job Applicants Beware of Identity Theft Risk
Mar 17, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
In Colorado a couple of years ago, a man and woman posted a want ad in local newspapers for an assistant position. Applicants were interviewed and then asked to fill out an application, complete with social security number. It turns...
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center 2006 Annual Report
Mar 16, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Press release from the FBI today. They released the 2006 annual report from their Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.IC3.gov). I haven’t read the report yet but a a couple of things I noticed in the news release. There were 207,000 complaints...
Compensation for ID Theft Victims in West Virginia
Mar 16, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
ID theft victims would get access to financial help from the state Crime Victims Compensation Fund under a bill that passed the Legislature. In a nutshell, The fund, which is filled with levied fines and federal grants, helps crime victims...
The First Identity Theft Conviction in the Swift Raid
Mar 15, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
A federal jury found a Swift plant employee guilty of identity theft for using a fraudulent social security number to get her job. The employee was the first to be tried for identity theft since the illegal immigrant raids on...
A Very Unlucky Lottery Winner!
Mar 14, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Poor Guy. According to this reader's comment, a lottery winner's picture was recently posted in the Morning Sentinel newspaper in Maine along with his social security number and other personal information. How could that have happened? Two big thumbs down...
Who is Really Motivated to Pursue ID Thieves?
Mar 14, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
This article from the NY Times explains some of the reasons that ID Theft is as prevalent as it is. There are plenty of victims—credit card companies, banks, the consumer and the merchant—but there’s not much of an incentive to...
Daylight Saving Time Provokes Scams
Mar 11, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Beware of email scams related to the daylight saving jump. Because daylight savings is taking place three weeks sooner than usual, it may cause some problems for computers and electronic devices. Daylight savings has received some media hype and that...
FBI Shuts Down Fraud Ring That Falsified 14,000 Identities
Mar 9, 2007 by Tom Fragala
An example of just how widespread SSN fraud is, how it is used and the connection to illegal immigrants. From an FBI press release March 6, 2007: United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced that JESUS JAIME MARTINEZ, age 22,...
WSJ: Skimming Fraud Gets More Sophisticated
Mar 8, 2007 by Tom Fragala
The Wall Street Journal has a story on skimming devices on point-of-sale systems like the fraud scheme which happened at the Stop & Shop stores recently. The article highlights the weaknesses at the POS at retail locations. Another reminder to...
FBI 2006 Financial Crimes Report: Data Source Disputed
Mar 8, 2007 by Tom Fragala
On March 7th, the FBI released their annual financial crimes report. This report blew me away for a number of reasons. It includes a number of fascinating data points with regards to FBI’s impact on identity theft. And, from what...
Senator Wayne Allard's Fight Against SSN Theft
Mar 4, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Senator Wayne Allard (R-Colorado) gets it! He knows that a number of illegal aliens can use the same social security number to get a job and then never pay the income taxes which leaves the victim and eventually the country...
Another Twist on ATM Tampering
Mar 2, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Be leery if an ATM machine seems to swallow your card—you may be just about to become an identity theft victim. According to the Hillsboro Argus in Oregon, ATMs can be rigged by thieves to hold onto your ATM card...
Vishing: A New Name for an Old Trick
Feb 27, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Vishing refers to voice-phishing to get a victim’s vital information. It happens when an identity thief poses as a customer service rep from a bank or credit card company and calls to ask the victim to verify their information. The...
My Former Bank's Response To ID Theft Questions
Feb 17, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
One of my biggest concerns of identity theft is a drained bank or investment account. Years ago when I researched identity theft, I had a lot of questions for my bank. I asked what my liability would be if someone...
How ATM Skimming Scams Work (Video)
Feb 17, 2007 by Tom Fragala
This video (from the UK) shows how an ATM skimming scheme can steal your ATM card number and PIN. The moral is watch out for shady looking ATM machines and put your hand and body over the keypad while you...
Scam Series: Skimming and ATM Card Cleaning
Feb 13, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
When I think of skimming, I think of waiters and credit cards. As the story goes, once the waiter is out of your sight, he runs the credit card through a reader that read your credit card account number. The...
Mystery Shopping Is A Great Front for Identity Thieves
Feb 8, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
The first sign of a scam is that you can make a lot of money for only a little work. Mystery shopping happens to be one of those nebulous terms that make people think they can get paid very well...
A Series on Scams
Feb 8, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Scams come in all shapes and sizes and are a lot of times used to commit identity theft. I want to alert the public to some very creative scams in hopes that individuals will recognize a scam for what it...
Watch Your Assets: Gochex, Son of Qchex, Arrives
Feb 2, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Neovi, Inc., the company behind the notorious Qchex has launched an ever-so-slightly revised new service called gochex. Qchex was the service that enabled vast fraudulent activity and was shutdown by the Federal Trade Commission. My most recent post explaining this...
Beware of Class-Action Lawsuits Offering Rewards, Especially Baby Products
Jan 31, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
If you get information of a class-action lawsuit against a baby product manufacturer, beware!! It may be a scam designed to find out your child’s vital information including social security number and name – all the information an identity thief...
RationalFX: A Stunning New Work-at-home Scam (REVISED)
Jan 16, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Update 1/23/07: It appears a real company called RationalFX was the target itself of corporate ID theft and was incorrectly shown here to be the scammers themselves. RationalFX (at www.rationalFX.com) is a legitimate business and a victim of phishing attacks....
Nigerian Advance Fee Scam Targets B&B Owners
Dec 30, 2006 by Michelle Pastor
Just heard an interesting twist on an old scam. The Nigerian scam, also known as the advance fee scam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_fee_fraud), gets a lot of press but surprisingly it’s still a very successful scam. A new variation of the scam targets...
Illegal Immigrants and Identity Theft
Dec 17, 2006 by Michelle Pastor
According to the Denver Post, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has made identity theft the primary focus for the first time in its December 12th raid on illegal immigrants working at Swift meat-packing plants. ICE officials detained an undetermined number...
Another Database With Your Information - Keep An Eye On It!
Nov 15, 2006 by Michelle Pastor
ChexSystems is another database that we, as consumers, can access. This is the database that banks and credit unions use when they decide whether or not to let you open a savings or checking account. ChexSystems generates a Consumer Report...
High Foreclosure Rate in Colorado is Linked to ID Theft
Nov 8, 2006 by Michelle Pastor
Here in Colorado, we're not proud of it, but we have the worst foreclosure rate in the nation. It's been a real concern so officials investigated, and their findings surprised me! According to an October 29 article in the Denver...
Qchex and Neovi Inc. Shutdown by FTC: FINALLY
Oct 2, 2006 by Tom Fragala
I’ve been warning people about Qchex for years! Way back when I was blogging at scamsafe.com, and more recent in August here on this blog! Finally the someone takes action—way to go FTC. Every American is safer today, believe me....
Consumer Protections on ATM-Debit Card Fraud
Sep 30, 2006 by Tom Fragala
What protections do you have when fraud is committed using your ATM-Debit card? Will Visa and Mastercard's zero-liability always apply? (Since it is a debit card, it has Visa or Mastercard logo so it can be used like a credit...
14,000 Phishing Sites in July--An All-time Record
Sep 12, 2006 by Tom Fragala
Over 14,000 phishing websites were detected in July. And this represents over 154 “brands” (Paypal, banks, credit unions, etc.). Got this from Computerworld. The number of phishing sites -- or fraudulent Web sites try to fool people into handing over...
Jarrod Hunt is Violating Copyright Law and Stealing My Content
Sep 9, 2006 by Tom Fragala
Jarrod Hunt of Version2 Web Development, Textlinkbrokers, and 360 Enterprises is stealing my content, in clear violation of U.S. federal copyright law. He’s responsible for a splog located at charliesidentitytheftblog.com (no I won’t link to it). He steals my blog...
What is pretexting? How is it related to identity theft?
Sep 8, 2006 by Tom Fragala
I wrote a post about this in April of 2004 on my first identity theft blog, scamsafe.com. You can find the pretext article here....
Some thoughts on the H-P board scandal
Sep 8, 2006 by Tom Fragala
I’ll assume you are aware of what is going on over in the Hewlett-Packard board room. I won’t opine on it directly. But I will add this. Pretexting is not identity theft. Pre-texting is a method, a means to gather...
Data brokers commit fraud to steal telephone data says AT&T
Aug 23, 2006 by Tom Fragala
The AP via Cnet.com reports that AT&T filed suit against 25 data brokers that fraudulently gets access to private phone records. Hey, this is nothing new. All a data broker, or private investigator, has to do is pre-texting: pretend to be...
Qchex: a scary online check company
Aug 18, 2006 by Tom Fragala
Ted Richardson has a post on Qchex. I blogged about them in May 2005 over on scamsafe.com. They make it criminally easy to commit check fraud, or even worse, demand draft fraud. I was even contacted by NBC television about...
Auction fraud is huge
Aug 18, 2006 by Tom Fragala
It’s not news that Internet auctions is a huge business. So is auction fraud. In 2005, it was the second more reported fraud complaint, after identity theft, according to the FTC. There are lots of ways you can get burned...
Trivia: Which U.S. law protects you from check fraud?
Aug 11, 2006 by Tom Fragala
What is the name of the U.S. federal law that protects consumers from check fraud and limits your liability (for non-electronic transactions)? Submit your guess via email (see left sidebar) and wait for the answer next week. (I will update this article)....
A foreign check cashing scam: InDigit
Aug 10, 2006 by Tom Fragala
Updates below… I probably receive two dozen emails a week from people asking about check cashing and work at home scams. There are hundreds or even thousands of these running simultaneously and they aggressively target people in the U.S. Often,...
Lottery scams show no let up
Aug 7, 2006 by Tom Fragala
Lottery scams, especially international lottery schemes, have been around a long time. The Internet makes it easier for the fraudsters to reach the public. A Canadian lottery outfit is warning Americans to watch out for a lottery letter scam. Typically these dirtbags will...
SEC nails insurance firm that defrauded 57,000 in military
Aug 7, 2006 by Tom Fragala
ConsumerAffairs.com has the full details. The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed suit against a Waco, Texas, insurance company and its affiliates for targeting American military personnel with a deceptive sales program that misleadingly suggested that investing in the company's...
Nigeria cracking down on 419/advance fee scams?
Aug 7, 2006 by Tom Fragala
Fraudwar has a post that gives me hope that Nigeria is going to crack down on the massive market for fraud there. Nigeria has been a nexus for fraud against people and businesses in the U.S. for decades. Scams like...
New IL law makes pretexting illegal and helps fight ID theft
Jul 6, 2006 by Tom Fragala
Chicago Sun-Times reports that the Illinois Governor has signed into law a bill that makes pretexting illegal. Pretexting in this context is pretending you are someone you are not in order steal sensitive personal information—identity theft. ...
Brilliant Article Gets Inside 419 Advance-fee Scam
May 25, 2006 by Tom Fragala
Mitchell Zuckoff wrote a pheomenal article in the The New Yorker that takes you deep inside an international advance-fee scam (also known as a Nigerian or 419 scheme). The victim (or accomplice depending on your interpretation) is a man in his sixties,...
Reporting online and telemarketing scams in US and Canada
May 23, 2006 by Tom Fragala
If you fall victim to fraud over the Internet or by telephone, in addition to reporting such crimes to your local law enforcement, here’s what you can do to help catch the criminals or at least help alert the government to...
Operation Global Con: 3 million victims and $1 billion in losses
May 23, 2006 by Tom Fragala
From U.S. Newswire, a press release announcing a crack down on a huge number of scams in the U.S. The fraudulent schemes investigated accounted for nearly 3 million victims through criminals operating in the US, Canada, Cost Rica and Holland....
American Express Card Fraud Liability
May 13, 2006 by Tom Fragala
It’s pretty well known that Mastercard and Visa provide voluntary zero-liability for fraud victims. I’m often asked about American Express. Here’s the scoop with an American Express card, from the American Express website: Use the American Express® Card online or...
All your accounts are at risk
May 7, 2006 by Tom Fragala
This article on News-Record.com tells a grave tale. A man had over $26,000 drained from a Merrill Lynch financial account (which had check writing capabilities). The criminals wrote fraudulent, counterfeit checks against this account for over a year. Some of...
Free California Senior Summit Announced
May 3, 2006 by Tom Fragala
From the California Department of Consumer Affairs: The California Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) is preparing to host a first-of-its-kind senior summit to address financial, physical and emotional abuse of the elderly.Senior Summit 2006: Protecting and Serving California's Aging Population...
Federal Agencies Release Report on Scholarship Fraud
May 3, 2006 by Tom Fragala
The Federal Trade Commision web site announced that the Fifth Annual Report to Congress on Scholarship Fraud was released by three federal agencies. Each year, millions of students seek help in financing their college education, and some fall prey to...
Identity Theft Crimes Rarely Solved
Apr 28, 2006 by Tom Fragala
Click2Houston.com has an article on fraud and ID theft in Houston: “HPD records show in the last year, only 2 percent of forgery and counterfeiting cases and only 12 percent of fraud cases were actually solved.”...