fraud

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Kevin Costner Beats Baldwin Lawsuit

Jury rejects $17M fraud claim over BP deal

(Newser) - It was aquaboy vs. Stephen Baldwin, and aquaboy won. A federal jury last evening tossed out a claim by Baldwin and a friend that Costner and a business partner duped them by keeping them in the dark about a multimillion-dollar deal between Costner's company, Ocean Therapy Solutions, and the...

Online Romance Scams: a $50M Business

Those older than 40 and divorced are common targets: report

(Newser) - Scammers conned $50 million out of 5,600 people last year who were searching for love on the Internet, says a new report. That's an average of $8,900 per victim. The way it generally works: Fraudsters hunt for vulnerable targets on dating sites and social networks, and convince...

Cops: Woman Faked Cancer to Get Implants

She's accused of collecting $8K in donations

(Newser) - A Phoenix woman has been charged with fraud and theft after authorities say she told people she had cancer and needed treatment, then used their donated money to buy breast implants. Police reports filed in Maricopa County Superior Court say 27-year-old Jamie Lynn Toler told her former boss she needed...

'Real-Life Norman Bates' on Trial for Fraud

He dressed like dead mom, collected big bucks: cops

(Newser) - A real-life Norman Bates has been busted for fraud for dressing up like his dead mother for six years and collecting her benefits, according to authorities. Thomas Prusik Parkin, 51, doesn't believe he's done anything wrong—because he actually believes he is his mother, say officials. “I...

Scammer of Homeowners Gets Life in Prison

Three-strikes law takes down white-collar criminal who preyed on elderly

(Newser) - California's three-strikes law has produced an unusual result in Orange County: A non-violent, white-collar criminal has been sentenced to 25 years to life, reports the Los Angeles Times . But Timothy Barnett may not be getting much sympathy, given that he was convicted of swindling the elderly out of their...

It's Not Just Waste: Fraud Rampant at GSA

It clawed back $376M last year

(Newser) - The General Services Administration's Vegas shindig was just the tip of the iceberg. The GSA is so loaded with cash that it's a magnet for fraud and abuse, the Los Angeles Times reports. From October 2010 to September 2011 alone, the agency prosecuted 64 cases in which people...

$1M Lotto Winner Charged With Welfare Fraud

'I've got bills to pay,' Amanda Clayton explained

(Newser) - Some people decide not to quit their jobs after a lottery win. Amanda Clayton apparently decided not to stop collecting welfare . The 25-year-old Michigan woman, who won a $1 million jackpot last year, has been charged with felony welfare fraud for failing to report her winnings while receiving $5,475...

Weird Twists in Tale of Bride Who Faked Cancer

Jessica Vega indicted after being outed by her husband ... who hired her a lawyer

(Newser) - Weddings are so expensive these days, but authorities say Jessica Vega found a way to fund hers: tell everyone she was dying of acute myeloid leukemia! Vega, then 23, said she wanted to marry her daughter's father, Michael O'Connell, before she died. As was earlier reported , the community...

Obama Just Legalized Fraud
 Obama Just Legalized Fraud 
Matt Taibbi
Apr 10, 2012 9:12 AM CDT

Obama Just Legalized Fraud

Matt Taibbi on why the JOBS Act 'couldn't suck worse'

(Newser) - Did you enjoy the dot-com bubble? Well, expect a replay on an even bigger scale, because last week President Obama signed a bill that, according to Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone , "will very nearly legalize fraud in the stock market." The JOBS Act is ostensibly designed to make...

Treasurer 'Fleeced Calif. Dems Out of $7M'

Kinde Durkee expected to plead guilty to biggest-ever campaign embezzlement

(Newser) - The woman California's Democrats once considered their most reliable treasurer scammed dozens of candidates, officeholders, and organizations out of at least $7 million over a decade, prosecutors say. Kinde Durkee—who was dubbed the "Madoff of campaign treasurers" after her arrest in September —is expected to plead...

Televangelists Stole $50M to Live Large: Lawsuit

Luxury jets, 13 mansions for Trinity Broadcasting founders

(Newser) - Apparently doing God's work pays divinely, or so says a lawsuit that accuses the founders of the world's largest Christian broadcasting company of defrauding the Trinity Broadcasting Network of some $50 million. The suit against founders Paul and Jan Crouch claims they treated themselves to 13 mansions, luxury...

Feds: AT&T Put Fraud on Government Tab

Service for the deaf was abused by Nigerian scammers

(Newser) - The Justice Department has accused AT&T of bilking the government out of more than $16 million by purposely allowing Nigerian fraudsters to abuse a service intended to help deaf Americans. AT&T says it's just following FCC rules requiring it to offer a free IP Relay service, which...

Army Recruiters May Have Pocketed Millions in Scam

1.7K recruiters suspected of abusing reward program

(Newser) - Pentagon fraud investigators believe large numbers of recruiters used the Army's efforts to boost its ranks to boost their own bank accounts. Internal documents show that more than 1,700 recruiters are suspected of defrauding an Army National Guard and Reserve program that paid $2,000 bounties to civilian...

Allen Stanford Found Guilty in $7B Ponzi Scheme

He could face more than 20 years in prison

(Newser) - Texas tycoon R. Allen Stanford, whose financial empire once spanned the Americas, was convicted today on all but one of the 14 counts he faced for allegedly bilking investors out of more than $7 billion in a massive Ponzi scheme he operated for 20 years. Jurors reached their verdicts against...

SEC Letting Big Banks Skirt Fraud Penalties
SEC Letting Big Banks
Skirt Fraud Penalties
NYT analysis
Feb 3, 2012 7:13 AM CST

SEC Letting Big Banks Skirt Fraud Penalties

'New York Times' analysis finds 350 instances of banks getting free passes

(Newser) - The Securities and Exchange Commission has repeatedly allowed Wall Street's biggest banks to avoid penalties specifically intended to punish and deter fraud, a New York Times analysis of SEC records reveals. Over the past decade, the SEC has on almost 350 occasions granted waivers exempting big financial companies from...

Google, Yahoo, 13 Others Declare War on Phishing

New set of standards could make email more trustworthy

(Newser) - A new anti-phishing effort, backed by the big email service providers as well as banks, PayPal, social networks, and other companies, could dramatically reduce the number of scam emails you get in your inbox. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL are backing the new plan; 15 companies in total have come...

Fake Death Scam Surfaces in Cruise Ship Case

Ship sinks, can rats be far behind?

(Newser) - The first scam has emerged in an apparent bid for compensation from the operators of crippled cruise liner Costa Concordia. A woman and her boyfriend were arrested in Hungary after falsely reporting two people missing on the ship, according to officials. The scheme was spotted by a New York lawyer...

Feds Nab 7 in $61.8M Stock Fraud Case

All that money made on trades of a single stock

(Newser) - Seven people have been charged in an insider trading scheme that netted more than $61.8 million in illegal profits based on trades of a single stock, prosecutors announced today. Two New York hedge fund executives and a Massachusetts man were among four charged in a criminal complaint in federal...

Millions Siphoned From Medicaid by Fake Firms
Dummy Firms Squeeze Millions From Medicare
INVESTIGATION
Dec 22, 2011 4:42 AM CST

Dummy Firms Squeeze Millions From Medicare

Fraud-fighters finding it hard to stay ahead of shell companies

(Newser) - Fraudsters using complicated networks of ghost companies are sucking hundreds of millions of dollars out of Medicare every year and it's a bit like taking candy from a baby, a Reuters investigation finds. The probe—which officials say will likely lead to a criminal investigation of the firms involved—...

Gift Card Scam Warning Issued
 Gift Card Scam Warning Issued 
Dec 19, 2011 3:50 AM CST

Gift Card Scam Warning Issued

Fraudsters are recording activation codes, Schumer warns

(Newser) - People buying gift cards for friends and family this Christmas should make sure that the concealing measures haven't been removed, Chuck Schumer warns. The senator from New York says fraudsters have been visiting stores where the cards are on the shelves and recording access codes in order to drain...

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