scam

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Mortgage Scammers Prey on Strapped Homeowners
Mortgage Scammers Prey
on Strapped Homeowners
investigation
Sep 24, 2009 7:50 PM CDT

Mortgage Scammers Prey on Strapped Homeowners

So-called rescue firms promise to negotiate lower rates, then take money and run

(Newser) - Mortgage brokers who made a mint during the housing boom setting up homeowners in toxic loans are now profiting from a different sort of shady deal. So-called foreclosure rescue firms are proliferating across the US, taking money upfront and promising to negotiate with homeowners’ banks for better interest rates. Instead,...

Buyers Scammed for Millions in Record EBay Ripoff

Customers paid big bucks for counterfeit products

(Newser) - Consumers around the world were bilked out of millions of dollars for counterfeit golf clubs in the biggest-ever eBay scam, reports the Times of London. The clubs, as well as clothing, accessories and passes for an airline lounge, were auctioned online from 2004-2008 by a criminal network involving crooks from...

Cash4Gold a Scam? Watchdog Site Says So
 Cash4Gold a Scam? 
 Watchdog Site Says So 
ANALYSIS
Sep 4, 2009 9:14 PM CDT

Cash4Gold a Scam? Watchdog Site Says So

Consumerist named, along with ex-employees, in lawsuit

(Newser) - The consumer-watchdog blog Consumerist finds itself among the targets of legal action by Cash4Gold.com, an outfit that promises consumers a good return on unwanted jewelry. After following up on a whistle-blowing complaint posted by an ex-employee, Consumerist has been accused of “a false and defamatory posting” about Cash4Gold,...

Fake GOP Panel Recruits Docs in Health Reform Battle
Fake GOP Panel Recruits Docs in Health Reform Battle
INVESTIGATION
Sep 4, 2009 7:07 AM CDT

Fake GOP Panel Recruits Docs in Health Reform Battle

Fraudulent 'Physicians' Council' uses names without permission

(Newser) - Republican members of Congress have been touting a "Physicians' Council for Responsible Reform," which supposedly consists of 100-odd doctors working with the GOP leadership in the fight against Obamacare. In fact, writes Timothy Noah for Slate, the council doesn't exist; it's a PR exercise, not to mention a...

Trustee Set to Gouge Madoff's Sons, Brother

May ask for $50M of clients' cash back

(Newser) - They're not accused of being in on the fix, but that's not stopping the court-appointed trustee of Bernard Madoff from going after the swindler’s sons and brother, CBS News reports. Trustee Irving Picard will file civil complaints against Mark, Andrew, and Peter Madoff and seek up to $50 million...

Swindlers Are Trying to Tweet You

Scamsters use site to get rich from phony cash-for-tweets schemes

(Newser) - The world's lowlifes are taking full advantage of Twitter's high profile, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Better Business Bureau warns that there has been a surge in scamsters luring people into phony work-from-home schemes. They urge users to be extremely wary of any "cash-for-tweets" scheme offering easy...

NHLers Sue Developer in Porn Party Scam

Players say fraudster promised to build resort with their $25m

(Newser) - A group of NHL players is suing a developer they say blew their cash on X-rated parties for baseball hotshots, the New York Post reports. The 19 current and former Islanders and Rangers players accuse Ken Jowdy of promising to build a luxury resort with their $25 million, and then...

Music Gang Busted in iTunes Royalties Scam

Group boostsrankings, bank accounts by buying their own music with stolen cards

(Newser) - A group of ten British DJs have been arrested for allegedly using stolen credit cards to download their own music from iTunes and Amazon, the Times of London reports. The gang is believed to have made $300,000 in royalties from the $750,000 they spent buying 19 compilations they...

Runaway Brides Scam Desperate Chinese Bachelors

Surplus of men inspires fraudsters to make off with rural families' 'bride prices'

(Newser) - China's one-child policy may have birthed a rising number of pretty and fleet-footed criminals, the Wall Street Journal reports. The traditional preference for boys has caused a surplus of tens of millions of men of marriageable age, mostly in rural areas, and some villages are being scammed by women who...

Scammers Target Panicky Job Hunters
Scammers Target
Panicky Job Hunters
May 26, 2009 2:10 AM CDT

Scammers Target Panicky Job Hunters

Experts warn work-from-home frauds are mushrooming as unemployment rises

(Newser) - Scammers are taking advantage of the recession to con people desperately seeking work out of what little cash they have left, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Watchdog groups warn that phony work-from-home offers promising quick cash in return for an initial outlay of money are proliferating, and that some fraudsters are...

Top Traits That Mean You're a Sucker

Researchers find a fifth of people are most likely to be fooled by fraudsters

(Newser) - British researchers have identified several traits that make a person more likely to be sucked in by a scam, the Daily Telegraph reports. The country's fraud watchdog warns that while nobody is immune to being conned, the following traits make around a fifth of the population most vulnerable:
  • An inability
...

E-Vigilantes Punk Scammers, Just for the Fun of It

Baiters delight in wasting crooks' time

(Newser) - Bait scammers are turning predators into prey, Ars Technica reports. “419 scammers” are crooks who demand upfront payment in return for money or services they never provide, but vigilantes are turning the tables by sending them on wild safaris or furtively coaching them into foolish practices—some spending as...

NY Attorney Beat, Suffocated Family Over Hours

Gig was about to be up on Parente investor scam, investigators believe

(Newser) - A New York attorney beat and suffocated his wife and two daughters in a horrific attack that took hours, police told the New York Daily News. He then fatally slashed himself in a Baltimore hotel room where the four bodies were found. Investigators believe William Parente, 59, was ripping off...

Oprah's Not Giving You $1M, FBI Warns Marks

Bogus email asks for cash payment to attend Oprah 'giveaway'

(Newser) - The FBI has warned that Oprah Winfrey isn't really giving anybody $1 million, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Scamsters have been sending people emails about a supposed "Oprah Winfrey Millionaire Contest Show." Recipients are told they have been nominated to attend a special show where the host will hand...

Madoff Victims Trustee Eyes Brother's Bucks

New focus on Peter as trustee seeks to compensate swindle victims

(Newser) - A federal court official may seek to claw back any funds transferred by Bernard Madoff's swindle company to his brother, reports the New York Post. The new focus on Madoff's sibling, an officer in his firm, was revealed in a letter to an attorney representing a New York law student....

Email Scam May Be Behind Murders at NFL Player's House

Vilma not suspected in deaths at NY condo

(Newser) - Investigators suspect two African immigrants slain at a Long Island condo owned by an NFL player may have been killed as revenge for an Internet scam, police said today. Sekou Sakor and Ansu Keita were each shot in the head sometime Thursday night at a condominium in Woodbury, NY, owned...

Scammed Law Student Wins Freeze of Madoff Bro Funds

Peter Madoff had 'full knowledge' of scam, lawsuit charges

(Newser) - A Brooklyn law student who lost a $500,000 inheritance in the Bernard Madoff scam has won a court order freezing the assets of the swindler's brother, reports Reuters. Peter Madoff was in charge the student's trust, which he invested in Madoff's s scheme. Peter Madoff was an executive officer...

Scammers Set Sights on Desperate Homeowners

Calif. AG: Be 'deeply skeptical' of offers to help refinance

(Newser) - A record 5.4 million homeowners across the country are behind on their mortgages, and scam artists are looking to cash in, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Ads offering help lowering mortgage payments are everywhere. But these "loan negotiators" usually provide services that homeowners can handle on their own,...

Feds Now Scrambling to Freeze Ruth Madoff's Millions

(Newser) - Federal investigators are scrambling "around the clock" to freeze Ruth Madoff's $93 million in assets before it disappears, sources told the New York Post. "The US attorneys will tell a judge in the next week or so that they believe Mrs. Madoff's assets are derived from ill-gotten gains...

Madoff Aide Generated Fake Papers for Scam: Workers

Feds continue to hunt for cohorts

(Newser) - A longtime Bernie Madoff aide generated fake trading tickets for the accused swindler to use to document trades that never took place, workers have told federal authorities. The employees were instructed to research stock trade prices, then create bogus tickets showing purported trades and fake profits in line with made-up...

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