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 …
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 …
As of November 3, 2011 more than 135 million professionals around the world utilize LinkedIn.com and more than 14 million students and recent college graduates around the world are LinkedIn members as of October 2011 (Source). Many internet users don’t recognized LinkedIn as a major social networking site because users don’t utilize the site daily …
I’d like to have a show of hands of how many of our readers use Facebook. ::slowly raises hand:: Ok, good. Now that we’re all sitting at our desk/couch/phone raising our hands to a screen, put them down, you look pathetic. ::slowly puts own hand down:: On a serious note, a LOT of us use …
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 …
A few weeks ago Steve came to me and said, “hey, do you think you could find the cheapest cell phone service for someone that talks less than 120 minutes a month using the site ConsumerCellular.com?” “Of course,” I thought. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! I started my search by heading over to ConsumerCellular.com where they provide a …
If you have a child and are saving for their college fund, chances are you’ve heard of the company Upromise. Upromise is a company that offers consumers a membership service that allows them to save money for college. When consumers make a purchase or buy a service from a Upromise partner merchant they then receive …
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 …
Earlier in December the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent a letter to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) expressing concern that the organization’s plan to dramatically expand the domain name system could leave consumers more vulnerable to online fraud and undermine law enforcers’ ability to track down online scammers. ICANN is the …
From May 2009 through November of 2011 it’s been alleged that two men, Tavon Dameon Davis and Bruce Eric Byrd, among others were involved in a scheme to steal money orders and checks from rent deposit boxes at apartment complexes, then deposit the funds into fraudulent business savings, checking and payroll accounts at banks. The …