http://consumer-fraud-blog.com Just another WordPress weblog Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:42:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Local police in Connecticut are warning residents to beware of storm-related scams. According to an NBC affiliate in Connecticut, police departments around the state are warning residents to be wary of contractors or other imposter professionals offering to complete services in the wake of the massive wind and rain storm over ... http://consumer-fraud-blog.com/2010/03/17/connecticut-residents-to-be-wary-of-storm-related-scams/ Consumers were defrauded on the Internet twice as much in 2009 as they were the previous year. According to a Financial Times report, consumers reported losing at least $560 million online last year. In 2008, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received complaints totaling $265 million in losses. Experts believe that Internet ... http://consumer-fraud-blog.com/2010/03/15/internet-crimes-on-the-rise/ A report by a court-appointed examiner on the collapse of Lehman Brothers may prove to aid prosecutors bring criminal cases against the bank's former executives. The 2,200-page report could lay the groundwork for felony charges under securities fraud laws, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or New York's Martin Act. The report details how Lehman ... http://consumer-fraud-blog.com/2010/03/15/report-may-aid-prosecutors-file-charges-against-lehman-brothers/ An oil and gas company owned by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been sued in connection to a fraud case. In a federal lawsuit filed earlier this week in Dallas, the AP reports, Jones' Blue Star Oil and Gas company knowingly did business with a man it knew was defrauding ... http://consumer-fraud-blog.com/2010/03/12/cowboys-owner-jerry-jones-oil-company-sued-in-fraud-case/ Consumers are being warned to be vigilant of those attempting to collect "zombie" debts. Zombie debts are those which have gone uncollected for years. These debts are often sold by collection companies for pennies on the dollar. Those buying them, however, are being accused of resorting to aggressive and illegal practices to ... http://consumer-fraud-blog.com/2010/03/12/zombie-debt-collectors-resort-to-aggressive-sometimes-illegal-tactics/ LifeLock has agreed to pay $12 million to settle charges thats it made false claims about its identity theft-protection services. In a record-breaking settlement reached with the Federal Trade Commission and state Attorneys General, LifeLock will pay $11 million to the FTC and another $1 million to states which filed lawsuits ... http://consumer-fraud-blog.com/2010/03/10/lifelock-settles-ftc-charges-of-false-advertising/ FTC statistics show New York City residents are among the least likely to fall victim to fraud, with Washington State at the top spot. Scammers successfully ripped off more than 1.3 million consumers across the country, but the city didn't even make the list of the top 50 complaint centers. US consumers ... http://consumer-fraud-blog.com/2010/03/10/ftc-report-shows-new-yorkers-less-likely-to-be-scammed/ A Wisconsin man convicted on charges he ran a mortgage fraud ring in the Minnesota Twin Cities region faces criminal charges for an incident at a hotel earlier this year. According to Pioneer Press, Frederick Deen was sentenced to 24 months in prison for masterminding a $20 million mortgage fraud scheme ... http://consumer-fraud-blog.com/2010/03/09/twin-cities-mortgage-fraud-mastermind-sentenced-faces-additional-charges/ The US Attorney's Office in Alexandria, Virginia has reorganized its fraud unit to deal with the onslaught of fraud cases arising from the Great Recession bailouts. US Attorney Neil H. MacBride has renamed the fraud unit the Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Unit and appointed Michael Dry as its coordinator. Dry is ... http://consumer-fraud-blog.com/2010/03/08/us-attorney%e2%80%99s-office-prepares-to-handle-recession-bailout-fraud-cases/ A self-proclaimed psychic who claimed he culd predict swings in the stock market has been charged with federal counts of investor fraud. According to an ABC News report, Sean David Morton has been charged with running a multi-million-dollar investment fraud ring. Morton claimed he has psychic powers which could only benefit investors ... http://consumer-fraud-blog.com/2010/03/07/sec-charges-self-proclaimed-psychic-was-running-a-scam/