SDMcDuff
Certified Fraud Examiners
Established in 1981

Articles about Fraud Prevention and Fraud Schemes

   

Mortgage and Foreclosure Fraud
Loosing your home from fraudsters
                           
Stockbrokers and Securities Schemes
What happens if a Brokerage Firm closes its Doors
Email us to help you to report corrupted stockbrokers

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Identity theft
On Aug. 22, in Burnett v. County of Bergen, A-2002-06, The Superior court of New Jersey held that a state constitutional right to privacy in Social Security numbers trumped an Open Public Records Act provision that would have allowed their release.
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Defend against ID theft as soon as you suspect it.

Place a "Fraud Alert" on your credit reports, and review the reports carefully. The alert tells creditors to follow certain procedures before they open new accounts in your name or make changes to your existing accounts. The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have toll-free numbers for placing an initial 90-day fraud alert; a call to one company is sufficient:

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742)
TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289

Placing a fraud alert entitles you to free copies of your credit reports. Look for inquiries from companies you haven't contacted, accounts you didn't open, and debts on your accounts that you can't explain.

Close accounts. Close any accounts that have been tampered with or established fraudulently.

Call the security or fraud departments of each company where an account was opened or changed without your okay. Follow up in writing, with copies of supporting documents.

Use the ID Theft Affidavit to support your written statement.

Ask for verification that the disputed account has been closed and the fraudulent debts discharged.

Keep copies of documents and records of your conversations about the theft.

Explain the situation to your commanding officer. You don't want your C.O. taken by surprise if contacted by creditors looking to collect on charges made by the identity thief. You also may want a referral to a legal assistance office.

File a police report. File a report with military law enforcement and the local police (if you are in the United States). Their reports will help you with creditors who may want proof of the crime.

Report the theft to the Federal Trade Commission. Your report helps law enforcement officials across the United States in their investigations.

Online: Report ID Theft

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Who’s Calling? Recognize & Report Phone Fraud

Recognize Phone Fraud

Every sales call you get by phone is an opportunity for a gut check: Ask yourself these questions — and if the answers give you some doubt about the caller’s intentions or methods, end the call.

Who’s calling — and why? Telemarketers must tell you it’s a sales call, the name of the seller and what they’re selling before they make their pitch. If they don’t, say “no thanks,” and get off the phone.

What’s their hurry? Fast talkers who use high pressure tactics could be hiding something. Take your time. Most legitimate businesses will give you time and written information about an offer before asking you to commit to a purchase.

If it’s free, why are they asking me to pay? Question charges you need to pay to redeem a prize or gift. Free is free. If you have to pay, it's a purchase - not a prize or a gift.

Why am I “confirming” my account information — or giving it out at all? Some callers have your billing information before they call you. They’re trying to get you to say “okay” so they can claim you approved a charge.

What time is it? The law allows telemarketers to call only between 8 am and 9 pm. A seller calling earlier or later is flouting the law.

Do I want more calls like this one? If you don’t want a business to call you again, say so. If they call back, they’re breaking the law.

Report Phone Fraud

Recognizing fraudulent callers is important; reporting them to the appropriate law enforcement authorities is critical, too. When you report, you can help stop telephone scammers. Report telephone hucksters to the FTC and your state Attorney General so they can prosecute fraudulent telemarketers who try to steal your money.

If your number is on the National Do Not Call Registry, you should get calls only from those companies with which you do business — or those that have your permission to call. If you get calls from a company you don’t have a relationship with — or from a company you have told not to call you — report it. Jot down the name and number of the caller, and the date and time of the call.

To report phone fraud, visit FTC.gov or call 1-877-FTC-HELP.

To report violations of the National Do Not Call Registry, visit DoNotCall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222.

Your complaint is entered into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a database that is used by law enforcement agencies across the country and around the world. It can help them track down scam artists, detect patterns in their calls, find other victims, and ultimately, stop the fraud.

Register Your Number

You can limit the number of telemarketing calls you receive by placing your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry. Once your number is registered, feel free to hang up if you get a cold call from a company with which you don't already do business — or report it!

You can register your phone number at DoNotCall.gov, or by calling 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236) from the number you wish to register. If you register online, you must click on the confirmation email you receive to complete your free registration.

Your registration will not expire. Your number is on the list until you take it off, or your number is disconnected and re-assigned to someone else.

Placing your number on the Registry stops most telemarketing calls, but not all. Once your number has been on the Registry for 31 days, you still may get calls from, or on behalf of:

  • Political organizations, charities, and pollsters
  • Companies with whom you have an existing business relationship
  • Companies you’ve given permission to call

Companies that you do business with may call for 18 months. If you ask a company for information, it may call for three months.

The Registry accepts personal cell phone and home phone numbers. Federal Communications Commission regulations prohibit the use of automated dialers to call cell phone numbers, so most telemarketers won’t cold-call consumers on their cell phones – despite urban myths and emails to the contrary.

Telemarketing fraud is a crime.

Professional criminals posing as legitimate telemarketers try to worm their way into your wallet. They are very good at what they do: their “pitch” is perfect, their tone is friendly and sincere, and their answers to your questions seem to make sense. It’s no wonder that consumers, regardless of their age, education or experience, can fall for telemarketing frauds.

By learning how to recognize and report telephone fraud, you can help stop some scams – and if you put your phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, you can reduce the number of unwanted telemarketing calls you get.

Check ftc.gov/phonefraud for information about:

  • Buying Club Memberships
  • Charities and Fundraising
  • Credit & Loan Offers
  • Government Grant Scams
  • Identity Theft & Telemarketing
  • Medical Discounts Plans
  • Reloading Scams
  • Sweepstakes & Lotteries
  • Travel Scams
  • Work-at-Home & Business Opportunities

To learn more about how to recognize and report phone fraud, and how to place your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry, go to ftc.gov/phonefraud.

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FTC Testifies on Government Agencies’ Collection and Use of Personal Information and Identity Theft

The Federal Trade Commission today told the Ohio Privacy and Public Records Access Study Committee in Columbus, Ohio that public agencies can “play a key role in reducing the incidence and impact of identity theft.” Betsy Broder, Assistant Director of the FTC’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection told the Committee, created by the Ohio legislature, that government agencies should limit the amount of information they collect, restrict access to the information, and implement procedures to respond to data breaches.

The testimony notes that the President’s Identity Theft Task Force, co-chaired by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, recently delivered a comprehensive national strategy to combat identity theft. The plan “includes recommendations on how to prevent sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands, to make such data less valuable to identity thieves by improving authentication, to ease victim recovery and to improve tools for effective criminal law enforcement.” The plan includes 31 initiatives the federal government should consider taking to combat identity theft.

According to the testimony, Social Security numbers, often the key to identity theft, are widely available in federal, state, and local government public records. “As of 2004, 41 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 75 percent of U.S. counties, displayed SSNs in public records.” The Task Force recommended that federal government agencies “take steps to eliminate, restrict, or conceal the use of SSNs wherever possible, including assigning employee identification numbers where practicable. . . . Many of the recommendations to federal agencies can be applied equally to government agencies at all levels.”

The testimony notes that federal agencies are taking measures to strengthen their information security, and states that the Office of Management and Budget has issued guidelines about how agencies should safeguard sensitive information. “The Task Force also recommended the development of a list of the most common mistakes to avoid in protecting personal information held by the government.”

Both private-sector and government entities should take steps to avoid data breaches, the testimony states. “In addition to taking steps to avoid such breaches, government agencies also should have response plans in place should a breach occur.” Such a plan would help an agency determine whether to notify consumers of the breach; what the notification should say; which third parties, if any should be notified; and whether to offer credit monitoring to people whose records may have been compromised.

“To succeed in the battle against identity theft, governments, together with the private sector, must make it more difficult for thieves to obtain the information they need to steal identities and respond appropriately to data breaches if they occur. . . . From county clerks and town halls to federal departments, public agencies play a key role in reducing the incidence and impact of identity theft,” the testimony states.

The Commission vote to approve the testimony was 5-0.

Copies of the testimony are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www2.ftc.gov/ and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www2.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.shtm. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,600 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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