Tag Archives: united-states
- Return-A-Pet Scam Preys On Victims Of Lost Pets
It’s annual pet scammer week! That’s a lie. But it sure feels like it. Eric Stein was charged with running an investment scam through Return-A-Pet LLC. Return-A-Pet was a New York company that allegedly facilitated the return of lost pets to their owners. Stein was out on supervised release for a previous investment fraud scheme [...]
- Ways to Save Money for Frugal Living While Having Fun and a Budget
You don’t need to be a financial genius or fiscally sound in order to save money. In fact, anyone can save! Anyone with the ability and willingness to save can be a master saver. Taking a few simple ideas and applying them to everyday life can really make a difference over time. A life saver, [...]
- Computer Programmer Charged With Stealing Software Code From Federal Reserve Bank
A complaint unsealed last Wednesday in Manhattan federal court charged Bo Zhang, a computer programmer, with stealing proprietary software code from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where Zhang worked as a contract employee. Janice Fedarcyk, FBI assistant director-in-charge, stated: “Zhang took advantage of the access that came with his trusted position to steal [...]
- Two Plead Guilty To $1 Million Wire Fraud
Two New Jersey men have pleaded guilty for their roles in a scam that used phony identification documents to open multiple checking accounts to launder and steal more than $1 million. The two men, Abiatu Umah and Emmanuel Awa, pleaded guilty in Newark federal court last week to Informations charging them with one count of [...]
- Ponzi Schemes Are The New Black
Thirteen days into the year and I feel like all I’ve written about is Ponzi-scheme after Ponzi-scheme after Ponzi-scheme. Today I bring to you the sentencing of Jenifer Devine, the woman who owned a purported wholesale merchandise broker and admitted to running a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that resulted in over $2 million in losses to [...]
- New Computer Virus Commits Post Transaction Attacks On Your Bank Account
When my grandma, god bless her soul, hears about a new scam, fraud or any form of financial trickery she immediately calls me up and warns me to stop whatever I’m doing and take notes. To her knowledge I don’t belong to more than one social media network, I don’t buy items online, I don’t [...]
- Romanian Citizen Busted For $1.5 Million Fraud Ring Of HSBC Customers
Last Thursday it was announced that Laurentiu Ilian Bulat was arrested yesterday for allegedly participating in a fraud ring that stole at least $1.5 million from HSBC customer bank accounts by installing “skimming” devices on more than 40 ATMs in Manhattan, Long Island, and Westchester, New York. According to the Complaint since May 2011, the [...]
- Your 2012 New Year’s Resolution: Don’t Get Scammed!
History repeats itself. Fact. George Santayana once stated, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This fact holds true with every aspect of one’s life, especially in one’s financial life. And especially in the world of scams. If you’re not up to date and familiar with the latest scams and schemes [...]
- Four Israeli Residents Charged With Phony Lottery Prize Scheme Extradited To US
It was recently announced that four defendants have been extradited from Israel on charges relating to their participation in multiple lottery telemarketing fraud schemes. The schemes targeted elderly victims in the United States and netted millions of dollars in profits. In July of 2009 three of the extradited defendants, Avi Ayache, Yaron Bar, and Ian [...]
- Six Hundred Out Of $74 Million In Ponzi Scheme
Douglas Vaughan faces 10 to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to wire and mail fraud charges that involved his operation of a “Ponzi” scheme where he defrauded around 600 investors of more than $74 million. Vaughan promised extraordinary returns which he obviously did not follow through with. In February of 2011, in an [...]
- Fraudster Deported Back To United States To Face $3.2 Million Fraud Charges
This past New Year’s weekend Joseph Randall Medcalf was deported by Panama officials back to the United States after being charged with defrauding investors of $3.2 million. Medcalf fled the country back in 2008 after filing for personal bankruptcy in 2007 in order to discharge debts related to his scheme. According to the indictment, between [...]
- Attorney Sentenced In $50 Million Bank Fraud
Kevin Harold Lewis was sentenced to 121 months incarceration to be followed by three years of supervised release for bank fraud. Lewis was also ordered to pay $33,826,326 in restitution. An additional amount of restitution will be considered after briefs are filed regarding the loss to Centennial Bank of Cabot, Arkansas. Lewis was ordered to [...]
- University of Georgia Ph.D. Student Sentenced For Fraud And Identity Theft
In early December, Carlton Lewis, a former Ph.D. student was sentenced to 70 months in prison for his role in an identity theft and credit card fraud conspiracy. Throughout the conspiracy, Lewis, who was enrolled as a Ph.D. student at the University of Georgia, provided credit and debit card skimming devices to waitresses working in [...]
- Woman Sentenced For Stealing Identities Of Student Loan Borrowers
Janika Fernae Bates, a resident of Alabama, was sentenced today in the Middle District of Alabama to 94 months in federal prison for stealing identities of student loan borrowers and providing them to a co-conspirator, who used them to file false tax returns, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. On Sept. 23, [...]
- Lebanese Financial Institutions Linked to Hizballah Allegedly Wired Over $300 Million Into The United States In Money Laundering Scheme
Announced earlier last week was the filing of a civil money-laundering and in rem forfeiture complaint alleging a massive, international scheme in which Lebanese financial institutions, including a bank and two exchange houses linked to Hizballah, used the U.S. financial system to launder narcotics trafficking and other criminal proceeds through West Africa and back into [...]