Common Fraud Schemes

    
Common Fraud Schemes

The FBI is warning the public about an ongoing scheme involving jury service. Please be aware that individuals identifying themselves as U.S. court employees have been contacting citizens by phone and advising them that they have been selected for jury duty. These individuals ask citizens to verify names and social security numbers and then ask for their credit card numbers. If the request is refused, citizens are then threatened with fines. Details    
Common Fraud Scams
-     Telemarketing Fraud
-     Fraud Alert
-     Nigerian Letter or 419 Fraud
-     Impersonation/Identity Fraud
-     Advance Fee Scheme
-     Health Insurance
-     Redemption/Strawman/Bond Fraud
Investment Related Scams
-     Letter of Credit Fraud
-     Prime Bank Note
-     Ponzi Scheme
-     Pyramid Scheme
Internet Scams
-     Internet Auction Fraud
-     Non-Delivery of Merchandise
-     Credit Card Fraud
-     Investment Fraud
-     Business Fraud
-     Nigerian Letter Scam
Fraud Target: Senior Citizens
-     Health Insurance Fraud
-     Counterfeit Prescription Drugs
-     Funeral and Cemetery Fraud
-     Fraudulent "Anti-Aging" Products
-     Telemarketing Fraud
-     Internet Fraud
-     Investment Schemes
-     Reverse Mortgage Scams

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Telemarketing Fraud

When you send money to people you do not know personally or give personal or financial information to unknown callers, you increase your chances of becoming a victim of telemarketing fraud.

• Warning signs -- what a caller may tell you:
• You must act 'now' or the offer won't be good."
• You've won a 'free' gift, vacation, or prize." But you have to pay for "postage and handling" or other charges.
• You must send money, give a credit card or bank account number, or have a check picked up by courier." You may hear this before you have had a chance to consider the offer carefully.
• You don't need to check out the company with anyone." The callers say you do not need to speak to anyone including your family, lawyer, accountant, local Better Business Bureau, or consumer protection agency.
• You don't need any written information about their company or their references."
• You can't afford to miss this 'high-profit, no-risk' offer."
• If you hear these--or similar--"lines" from a telephone salesperson, just say "no thank you," and hang up the phone.
• Some Tips to Avoid Telemarketing Fraud:
• It's very difficult to get your money back if you've been cheated over the phone. Before you buy anything by telephone, remember:
• Don't buy from an unfamiliar company. Legitimate businesses understand that you want more information about their company and are happy to comply.
• Always ask for and wait until you receive written material about any offer or charity. If you get brochures about costly investments, ask someone whose financial advice you trust to review them. But, unfortunately, beware -- not everything written down is true.
• Always check out unfamiliar companies with your local consumer protection agency, Better Business Bureau, state Attorney General, the National Fraud Information Center, or other watchdog groups. Unfortunately, not all bad businesses can be identified through these organizations.
• Obtain a salesperson's name, business identity, telephone number, street address, mailing address, and business license number before you transact business. Some con artists give out false names, telephone numbers, addresses, and business license numbers. Verify the accuracy of these items.
• Before you give money to a charity or make an investment, find out what percentage of the money is paid in commissions and what percentage actually goes to the charity or investment.
• Before you send money, ask yourself a simple question. "What guarantee do I really have that this solicitor will use my money in the manner we agreed upon?"
• You must not be asked to pay in advance for services. Pay services only after they are delivered.
• Some con artists will send a messenger to your home to pick up money, claiming it is part of their service to you. In reality, they are taking your money without leaving any trace of who they are or where they can be reached.
• Always take your time making a decision. Legitimate companies won't pressure you to make a snap Don't pay for a "free prize." If a caller tells you the payment is for taxes, he or she is violating federal law.
• Before you receive your next sales pitch, decide what your limits are -- the kinds of financial information you will and won't give out on the telephone.
• It's never rude to wait and think about an offer. Be sure to talk over big investments offered by telephone salespeople with a trusted friend, family member, or financial advisor.
• Never respond to an offer you don't understand thoroughly.
• Never send money or give out personal information such as credit card numbers and expiration dates, bank account numbers, dates of birth, or social security numbers to unfamiliar companies or unknown persons.
• Your personal information is often brokered to telemarketers through third parties.
• If you have information about a fraud report it to state, local, or federal law enforcement agencies.

Nigerian Letter or "419" Fraud

Nigerian letter frauds combine the threat of impersonation fraud with a variation of an advance fee scheme in which a letter, mailed from Nigeria, offers the recipient the "opportunity" to share in a percentage of millions of dollars that the author, a self-proclaimed government official, is trying to transfer illegally out of Nigeria. The recipient is encouraged to send information to the author, such as blank letterhead stationery, bank name and account numbers and other identifying information using a facsimile number provided in the letter. Some of these letters have also been received via E-mail through the Internet. The scheme relies on convincing a willing victim, who has demonstrated a "propensity for larceny" by responding to the invitation, to send money to the author of the letter in Nigeria in several installments of increasing amounts for a variety of reasons.

Payment of taxes, bribes to government officials, and legal fees are often described in great detail with the promise that all expenses will be reimbursed as soon as the funds are spirited out of Nigeria. In actuality, the millions of dollars do not exist and the victim eventually ends up with nothing but loss. Once the victim stops sending money, the perpetrators have been known to use the personal information and checks that they received to impersonate the victim, draining bank accounts and credit card balances until the victim's assets are taken in their entirety. While such an invitation impresses most law-abiding citizens as a laughable hoax, millions of dollars in losses are caused by these schemes annually. Some victims have been lured to Nigeria, where they have been imprisoned against their will, in addition to losing large sums of money. The Nigerian government is not sympathetic to victims of these schemes, since the victim actually conspires to remove funds from Nigeria in a manner that is contrary to Nigerian law. The schemes themselves violate section 419 of the Nigerian criminal code, hence the label "419 fraud."

Some Tips to Avoid Nigerian Letter or "419" Fraud:

• If you receive a letter from Nigeria asking you to send personal or banking information, do not reply in any manner. Send the letter to the U.S. Secret Service, your local FBI office, or the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. You can also register a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel.
• If you know someone who is corresponding in one of these schemes, encourage that person to contact the FBI or the U.S. Secret Service as soon as possible.
• Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as Nigerian or foreign government officials asking for your help in placing large sums of money in overseas bank accounts.
• Do not believe the promise of large sums of money for your cooperation.
• Guard your account information carefully.

Impersonation/Identity Fraud

Impersonation fraud occurs when someone assumes your identity to perform a fraud or other criminal act. Criminals can get the information they need to assume your identity from a variety of sources, such as the theft of your wallet, your trash, or from credit or bank information. They may approach you in person, by telephone, or on the Internet and ask you for the information.

The sources of information about you are so numerous that you cannot prevent the theft of your identity. But you can minimize your risk of loss by following a few simple hints.

Some Tips to Avoid Impersonation/Identity Fraud:

•  Never throw away ATM receipts, credit statements, credit cards, or bank statements in a usable form.
•  Never give your credit card number over the telephone unless you make the call.
•  Reconcile your bank account monthly and notify your bank of discrepancies immediately.
•  Keep a list of telephone numbers to call to report the loss or theft of your wallet, credit cards, etc.
•  Report unauthorized financial transactions to your bank, credit card company, and the police as soon as you detect them.
•  Review a copy of your credit report at least once each year. Notify the credit bureau in writing of any questionable entries and follow through until they are explained or removed.
•  If your identity has been assumed, ask the credit bureau to print a statement to that effect in your credit report.
• If you know of anyone who receives mail from credit card companies or banks in the names of others, report it to local or federal law enforcement authorities.

Advance Fee Scheme

An advance fee scheme occurs when the victim pays money to someone in anticipation of receiving something of greater value, such as a loan, contract, investment, or gift, and then receives little or nothing in return.

The variety of advance fee schemes is limited only by the imagination of the con artists who offer them. They may involve the sale of products or services, the offering of investments, lottery winnings, "found money," or many other "opportunities." Clever con artists will offer to find financing arrangements for their clients who pay a "finder's fee" in advance. They require their clients to sign contracts in which they agree to pay the fee when they are introduced to the financing source. Victims often learn that they are ineligible for financing only after they have paid the "finder" according to the contract. Such agreements may be legal unless it can be shown that the "finder" never had the intention or the ability to provide financing for the victims.

Some Tips to Avoid the Advanced Fee Schemes:

If the offer of an "opportunity" appears too good to be true, it probably is. Follow common business practice. For example, legitimate business is rarely conducted in cash on a street corner.

• Know who you are dealing with. If you have not heard of a person or company that you intend to do business with, learn more about them. Depending on the amount of money that you intend to spend, you may want to visit the business location, check with the Better Business Bureau, or consult with your bank, an attorney, or the police.
• Make sure you fully understand any business agreement that you enter into. If the terms are complex, have them reviewed by a competent attorney.
• Be wary of businesses that operate out of post office boxes or mail drops and do not have a street address, or of dealing with persons who do not have a direct telephone line, who are never "in" when you call, but always return your call later.
• Be wary of business deals that require you to sign nondisclosure or noncircumvention agreements that are designed to prevent you from independently verifying the bona fides of the people with whom you intend to do business. Con artists often use noncircumvention agreements to threaten their victims with civil suit if they report their losses to law enforcement.

Common Health Insurance Frauds

Medical Equipment Fraud:

Equipment manufacturers offer "free" products to individuals. Insurers are then charged for products that were not needed and/or may not have been delivered.

"Rolling Lab" Schemes:

Unnecessary and sometimes fake tests are given to individuals at health clubs, retirement homes, or shopping malls and billed to insurance companies or Medicare.

Services Not Performed:
Customers or providers bill insurers for services never rendered by changing bills or submitting fake ones.

Medicare Fraud:

Medicare fraud can take the form of any of the health insurance frauds described above. Senior citizens are frequent targets of Medicare schemes, especially by medical equipment manufacturers who offer seniors free medical products in exchange for their Medicare numbers. Because a physician has to sign a form certifying that equipment or testing is needed before Medicare pays for it, con artists fake signatures or bribe corrupt doctors to sign the forms. Once a signature is in place, the manufacturers bill Medicare for merchandise or service that was not needed or was not ordered.

Some Tips to Avoid the Health Insurance Fraud:

• Never sign blank insurance claim forms.
• Never give blanket authorization to a medical provider to bill for services rendered.
• Ask your medical providers what they will charge and what you will be expected to pay out-of-pocket.
• Carefully review your insurer's explanation of the benefits statement. Call your insurer and provider if you have questions.
• Do not do business with door-to-door or telephone salespeople who tell you that services of medical equipment are free.
• Give your insurance/Medicare identification only to those who have provided you with medical services.
• Keep accurate records of all health care appointments.
• Know if your physician ordered equipment for you.

Redemption/Strawman/Bond Fraud

Proponents of this scheme will claim that the U.S. Government or the Treasury Department controls bank accounts—often referred to as “U.S. Treasury Direct Accounts”—for all U.S. citizens that can be accessed by submitting paperwork with state and federal authorities. Individuals promoting this scam frequently cite various discredited legal theories and may refer to the scheme as “Redemption,” “Strawman,” or “Acceptance for Value.” Trainers and websites will often charge large fees for “kits” that teach individuals how to perpetrate this scheme. They will often imply that others have had great success in discharging debt and purchasing merchandise such as cars and homes. Failures to implement the scheme successfully are attributed to individuals not following instructions in a specific order or not filing paperwork at correct times.

This scheme predominately uses fraudulent financial documents that appear to be legitimate. These documents are frequently referred to as “Bills of Exchange,” “Promissory Bonds,” “Indemnity Bonds,” “Offset Bonds,” “Sight Drafts,” or “Comptrollers Warrants.” In addition, other official documents are used outside of their intended purpose, like IRS forms 1099, 1099-OID, and 8300. This scheme frequently intermingles legal and pseudo legal terminology in order to appear lawful. Notaries may be used in an attempt to make the fraud appear legitimate. Often, victims of the scheme are instructed to address their paperwork to the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

Some Tips to Avoid Redemption/Strawman/Bond Fraud

• Be wary of individuals or groups selling kits that they claim will inform you on to access secret bank accounts.
• Be wary of individuals or groups proclaiming that paying federal and/or state income tax is not necessary.
• Do not believe that the U.S. Treasury controls bank accounts for all citizens.
• Be skeptical of individuals advocating that speeding tickets, summons, bills, tax notifications, or similar documents can be resolved by writing “acceptance for value” on them.

If you know of anyone advocating the use of property liens to coerce acceptance of this scheme, contact your local Police or  FBI office.

Investment Related Scams:

Letter of Credit Fraud

Legitimate letters of credit are never sold or offered as investments.

Legitimate letters of credit are issued by banks to ensure payment for goods shipped in connection with international trade. Payment on a letter of credit generally requires that the paying bank receive documentation certifying that the goods ordered have been shipped and are en route to their intended destination.

Letters of credit frauds are often attempted against banks by providing false documentation to show that goods were shipped when, in fact, no goods or inferior goods were shipped.

Other letter of credit frauds occur when con artists offer a "letter of credit" or "bank guarantee" as an investment wherein the investor is promised huge interest rates on the order of 100 to 300 percent annually. Such investment "opportunities" simply do not exist. (See Prime Bank Notes for additional information.)

Some Tips to Avoid Letter of Credit Fraud:

• If an "opportunity" appears too good to be true, it probably is.
• Do not invest in anything unless you understand the deal. Con artists rely on complex transactions and faulty logic to "explain" fraudulent investment schemes.
• Do not invest or attempt to "purchase" a "Letter of Credit." Such investments simply do not exist.
• Be wary of any investment that offers the promise of extremely high yields.
• Independently verify the terms of any investment that you intend to make, including the parties involved and the nature of the investment.

Prime Bank Note


International fraud artists have invented an investment scheme that offers extremely high yields in a relatively short period of time. In this scheme, they purport to have access to "bank guarantees" which they can buy at a discount and sell at a premium. By reselling the "bank guarantees" several times, they claim to be able to produce exceptional returns on investment. For example, if $10 million worth of "bank guarantees" can be sold at a two percent profit on ten separate occasions, or "traunches," the seller would receive a 20 percent profit. Such a scheme is often referred to as a "roll program." To make their schemes more enticing, con artists often refer to the "guarantees" as being issued by the world's "Prime Banks," hence the term "Prime Bank Guarantees." Other official sounding terms are also used such as "Prime Bank Notes" and "Prime Bank Debentures." Legal documents associated with such schemes often require the victim to enter into nondisclosure and noncircumvention agreements, offer returns on investment in "a year and a day", and claim to use forms required by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). In fact, the ICC has issued a warning to all potential investors that no such investments exist.

The purpose of these frauds is generally to encourage the victim to send money to a foreign bank where it is eventually transferred to an off-shore account that is in the control of the con artist. From there, the victim's money is used for the perpetrator's personal expenses or is laundered in an effort to make it disappear.

While foreign banks use instruments called "bank guarantees" in the same manner that U.S. banks use letters of credit to insure payment for goods in international trade, such bank guarantees are never traded or sold on any kind of market.

Some Tips to Avoid Prime Bank Note Related Fraud:

• Think before you invest in anything. Be wary of an investment in any scheme, referred to as a "roll program," that offers unusually high yields by buying and selling anything issued by "Prime Banks."
• As with any investment perform due diligence. Independently verify the identity of the people involved, the veracity of the deal, and the existence of the security in which you plan to invest.
• Be wary of business deals that require nondisclosure or noncircumvention agreements that are designed to prevent you from independently verifying information about the investment.

What is a "Ponzi" Scheme?

A Ponzi scheme is essentially an investment fraud wherein the operator promises high financial returns or dividends that are not available through traditional investments. Instead of investing victims' funds, the operator pays "dividends" to initial investors using the principle amounts "invested" by subsequent investors. The scheme generally falls apart when the operator flees with all of the proceeds, or when a sufficient number of new investors cannot be found to allow the continued payment of "dividends."

This type of scheme is named after Charles Ponzi of Boston, Massachusetts, who operated an extremely attractive investment scheme in which he guaranteed investors a 50 percent return on their investment in postal coupons. Although he was able to pay his initial investors, the scheme dissolved when he was unable to pay investors who entered the scheme later.

Some Tips to Avoid Ponzi Schemes:

• As with all investments, exercise due diligence in selecting investments and the people with whom you invest.
• Make sure you fully understand the investment before you invest your money.

Pyramid Scheme

Pyramid schemes, also referred to as franchise fraud, or chain referral schemes, are marketing and investment frauds in which an individual is offered a distributorship or franchise to market a particular product. The real profit is earned, not by the sale of the product, but by the sale of new distributorships. Emphasis on selling franchises rather than the product eventually leads to a point where the supply of potential investors is exhausted and the pyramid collapses. At the heart of each pyramid scheme there is typically a representation that new participants can recoup their original investments by inducing two or more prospects to make the same investment. Promoters fail to tell prospective participants that this is mathematically impossible for everyone to do, since some participants drop out, while others recoup their original investments and then drop out.

Some Tips to Avoid Pyramid Schemes:

• Be wary of "opportunities" to invest your money in franchises or investments that require you to bring in subsequent investors to increase your profit or recoup your initial investment.
• Independently verify the legitimacy of any franchise or investment before you invest.

Tagged and Myspace Boyfriend Scam

evelyn.alcantara95: hi
evelyn.alcantara95: i'm evelyn
evelyn.alcantara95: this is leilani friend
raystevengo: ic
evelyn.alcantara95: i sent an email to you regarding my friends problem could you help me please?
revelyn.alcantara95: remeber i gave you before the number of the man that keeps on didturbing my friend because of money. My friend is in Indonesia with her boss that's why i'm trying to help her. The man number is +60163534614 his name is Humphrey Brown please help find out if he is a scam or whatever i don't want my friend to get hurt. Thanks a lot
raystevengo: it scam

Dimple De Duzman: That actually happen on tagged for a couple of months already I even see one indonesian girl post that warning to all asian women age 30 to 40 yrs. old . I even met one crazy guy like that they gonna pretend that they were in china sometimes and you need to pay the tax charges and other excuses coz think that asian are stupid to believe on that. Anything that is too good to be true shouldn't be easily to believe in like my friends on UK last time remember I didn't even invite him to come down and see me I was been surprise that he said that he's coming and he having problem with immigration that I have doubt that's why I told you before remember he even called again just to say I lost him coz I abandon him but I told him I still have my brain with me


Please take to your knowledge If the given phone or fax number starts with +4470 it is a link number what connects you with anywhere in the world, but not to a real UK ! The same you can expect when the phone or fax starts with +4487, that is a computer service provider or National link number with equal effect ! All following Modifications like +44070, +44087 or 70..., 070, 87..., 087 without Country Code for connections to the UK are same, this numbers are mostly used by fraudsters to hide their Place of residence, you can be 100% shure that it is a fraud ! Generally all Geographic landlines in the United Kingdom incl.Northern Ireland start from abroad with +441 or +442 and will be followed by 8/9 digits ! All mobile phone numbers and other combinations of numbers are not com

Getting Started

Everyone has a success mechanism and a failure mechanism. The failure mechanism goes off by itself. The success mechanism only goes off with a goal. Every time we write down and talk about a goal we push the button to start the success mechanism

Destiny

Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice.
It is not something to be waited for; but rather something to be achieved

Don"t Ever Give Up in Live

Do not fear conflict and confrontation

Do not fear conflict and confrontation. Avoiding conflict is not the goal. Rather you want to develop the tools to "lean into" conflicts and resolve them early on, so that you can reorganize your lives to include the new learning. Because married couples have a lot at stake when it comes to their relationship, they are prone to avoid conflict or to use ineffective tools to solve the conflict too quickly. Compromising and acquiescing are two of these ineffective tools.

Most couples are shocked when I advise them to avoid compromises at all costs. After all, isn't compromise a requirement of partnership? The reality is that decisions that are arrived at through compromise usually lack creativity and seldom last. Sure, a compromise now and then may be necessary for the sake of expediency, but if a decision is important, a compromise may cause anger and  resistance. Because compromises are usually a result of both people giving up something in order to get an agreement, the decision is a watered-down version of two stronger opinions.

Compromise is the easy way out when you are trying to avoid conflict and confrontation. It appears that the compromise will smooth ruffled feathers and that both partners can go away happy. What really happens, however, is that each partner leaves feeling as though they have been had? One person may resent having to compromise and will be looking for ammunition to prove that the decision was a bad one. Another person may feel he or she has done the honorable thing by not pushing his or her opinion on the other, only to feel unappreciated later when the compromise plan is dropped. If you stop and think about it, how long have your compromise decisions really lasted?

Acquiescing or forcing your opinion upon your partner is other ways of avoiding conflict. In seeking to avoid conflict, for example, a persuasive person may push his or her partner to acquiesce to a certain point of view, but this does not mean that the partner agrees. It may mean only that the partner actually does not want to fight and so appears to agree, when he or she has only given in. Don't make the mistake of pushing to win at all costs or to  acquiescing to the persuader, when you don't agree. In either case, if you are the persuader or the acquiescent partner, the conflict has not been resolved and, what's worse may have been driven underground.

If you don't make time to talk, if you don't consider nurturing your personal relationship as important, and if you avoid healthy conflict and confrontation, your relationship will disintegrate. So take the time now to evaluate your communication skills. Invest in the time to develop a meaningful, loving relationship with your spouse.

Ambition

Your business is never really good or bad "out there"
your business is either good or bad right between your own two ears.
The real opportunity for success lies within the person and not in the job.
It is easy to get to the top after you get through the crowd at the bottom.
Success is not a destination, it's a journey.
The most practical, beautiful, workable philosophy in the world won't work
- if you won't.
Motivation is the fuel, necessary to keep the human engine running.
Discipline yourself to do the things you need to do the things you
need to do when you need to them, and the day will come when you will
be able to do the things you want to do them!
What you get by reaching your destination is not nearly as
important as what you will become by reaching your destination.
Motivating gets you going and habit gets you there.
Make motivating a habit and you will get there more
quickly and have more fun on the trip.
The basic goal-reaching principle is to understand that you go as far as you can see,
and when you get there you will be able to see farther.
You are the only one who can use your ability. It is an awesome responsibility.
Ambition, fueled by compassion, wisdom and integrity, is a powerful force for good
that will turn the wheels of industry and open the doors
of opportunity for you and countless others.
If we don't start, it's certain we can't arrive.
Obviously, there is little you can learn from doing nothing.

new beginning.

To believe is to know that every day is a new beginning.
It is to trust that miracles happen,and dreams really do come true.
To believe is to see angels dancing among the clouds,
To know the wonder of a stardust sky and the wisdom of the man in the moon.
To believe is to know the value of a nurturing heart,
The innocence of a child's eyes and the beauty of an aging hand,
for it is through their teachings we learn to love.
To believe is to find the strength and courage that lies within us.
When it is time to pick up the pieces and begin again.
To believe is to know we are not alone,
That life is a gift and this is our time to cherish it.
To believe is to know that wonderful surprises are just waiting to happen,
And all our hopes and dreams are within reach.
If only we believe.