Consumers are constantly being warned of new scams that develop and old ones that continue to pose a threat. Even when a scam has been around for quite some time, the perpetrators seem to find new ways to trick people ...
Read More »Fraud Facts: Protect Yourself from Tax Identity Theft
As we move into the third month of the 2015 filing year, the IRS is seeing an abundance of tax return fraud attempts again this year. Just last month, the IRS warned that they are seeing a 400% increase in ...
Read More »Fraud Facts: About those work-from-home scams
We frequently see advertisements on the internet for jobs that allow you to work from home. If you do a Google search for “work from home jobs”, the right hand side of the screen reads “Legit work from home jobs”, ...
Read More »Fraud Facts: Vacation rental scams more prevalent with targeted websites
The vacation rental business is a multi-billion dollar industry. Finding a house or condo to rent has become increasingly more convenient through the use of online marketplaces used by owners to list their rental properties. There are several of these ...
Tagged with: Fraud Facts Stephanie Wood
Read More »Advocate’s View: How to avoid scams dealing with auto repairs
According to the Federal Trade Commission, auto repair complaints remain in the top 10 consumer grievance categories. People are frequently persuaded to have unnecessary repairs completed on their automobiles simply due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of them, ...
Tagged with: Advocate's View Stephanie Wood
Read More »Fraud Facts: Looking at ways to recognize a telemarketing scam
Sometimes it can be difficult to tell the difference between a trustworthy telemarketer and a scammer who uses the phone to lure people in. With the help of Internet software, callers are able to operate from just about anywhere in ...
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Read More »Fraud Facts: Fighting Medicaid fraud as enrollment increases
The Medicaid program provides health care benefits to low-income families who either have no medical insurance or have inadequate medical insurance. According to a report published by the State Healthcare Spending Project, a collaboration between Pew Charitable Trusts and the ...
Tagged with: Fraud Facts Stephanie Wood
Read More »Fraud Facts: Protecting yourself from ACH and wire transfer fraud
According to the 2011 Report to Congress on the Use of the Automated Clearinghouse System for Remittance Transfers to Foreign Countries, ACH transfers increased nearly 11 percent per year from 2000 to 2010. In 2012 alone, there were approximately 31 ...
Tagged with: Fraud Facts Stephanie Wood
Read More »Fraud Facts: Charter schools: Innovative teaching, but not without risk
Charter schools were created to improve our nation’s public school system and offer parents another option to better meet their child’s specific needs. In charter schools, leaders are given the freedom to be more innovative in their methods of teaching; ...
Tagged with: Fraud Facts Stephanie Wood
Read More »Fraud Facts: Multilevel marketing vs. pyramid schemes – an explainer
With the appeal of starting your own business with little training and money, working from home, and being able to manage the business on a part-time basis, more and more people are becoming involved with multilevel marketing, or direct selling. ...
Tagged with: Fraud Facts Stephanie Wood
Read More »Fraud Facts: A look at different types of advanced fee fraud
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Advance Fee Fraud gets its name from the fact that an investor is asked to pay a fee up front or in advance of receiving something of greater value. This type of scam ...
Tagged with: Fraud Facts Stephanie Wood
Read More »Fraud Facts: Protecting the elderly, even from their loved ones
As the elderly population continues to grow rapidly in this country, it is important to ensure that they are properly taken care of physically, emotionally and financially. Now, more than ever, an increasing number of fraud cases involving the elderly ...
Tagged with: Fraud Facts Stephanie Wood
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