While not the primary reason, mortgage fraud has certainly played a role in the current mortgage crisis and has had an impact on real estate markets across the country. It's easy to understand how a naive homebuyer could become a victim of mortgage fraud, but don't think you're too smart to fall for a scam -- even sophisticated investors are at risk. According to the FBI, losses due to mortgage fraud are $4-$6 billion annually.

For tips from the FBI on how to avoid becoming a victim of mortgage fraud, visit http://www.fbi.gov/page2/august08/mortgagefraud_081408.html

Posted 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The recent earthquake in China and its continuing aftershocks are prompting many people to open their wallets to help. But be sure the money you send is really going to aid the earthquake victims. See the release below from the FBI:

Scam Emails Seek Donations to Help Chinese Earthquake Victims

Washington, D.C.: The FBI is asking people to beware of emails claiming to be raising money to help the victims of the recent earthquake in China. Tragic incidents such as 9/11, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Minnesota Bridge collapse, and the Virginia Tech shootings have all prompted individuals with criminal intent to solicit contributions for a charitable organization and/or a good cause. Some of the Chinese earthquake scam message claim to be offering free vacation trips to the largest donors and even use fake logos of legitimate online pay services to fool people.

Continue reading "FBI warning: Avoid being a victim of earthquake assistance scams" »

Posted 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You’re at the airport waiting for your flight. With time to kill, you’re thinking of connecting your laptop to the airport's Wi-Fi to check your office e-mail...do some personal banking...or shop for a gift for your spouse.

But first, consider this: odds are there’s a hacker nearby, with his own laptop, attempting to "eavesdrop" on your computer to obtain personal data that will provide access to your money or even to your company's sensitive information.

Here's something else to consider: there are 68,000 Wi-Fi "hot spots" in the U.S., at airports, coffee shops, hotels, bookstores, schools, and other locations where hundreds or thousands of people pass through every day. While many of these hot spots have secure networks, some do not, according to Supervisory Special Agent Donna Peterson of our Cyber Division. And connecting to an unsecure network can leave you vulnerable to attacks from hackers.

Continue reading "WI-FI SECURITY: Some Advice from the FBI" »

Posted 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In 2007, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (a joint venture of the FBI and the non-profit National White Collar Crime Center) received 206,884 complaints, leading to a reported dollar loss of nearly $240 million, an all-time high.

Pets, romance, and secret shoppers: They’re each among the top ruses used by Internet scam artists in 2007, according to a comprehensive report on online crime just issued by the Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3.

Here’s a rundown on how these scams generally work, along with other common frauds described in the report:

Continue reading "Internet Crime Report: The Top Scams Of 2007" »

Posted 01:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WASHINGTON — March 13, 2008 – The Internal Revenue Service today issued its 2008 list of the 12 most egregious tax schemes and scams, highlighted by Internet phishing scams and several frivolous tax arguments.

Topping this year’s list of scams is phishing, which encompasses numerous Internet-based ploys to steal financial information from taxpayers. New to the “Dirty Dozen” this year is a scheme, which IRS auditors discovered, that relates to unreasonable and/or excessive fuel tax credit claims.

“Taxpayers should be wary of scams and promises to avoid paying taxes that seem too good to be true,” Acting IRS Commissioner Linda Stiff said. “There is no secret formula that can eliminate a person’s tax obligations. People should be wary of anyone peddling any of these scams.”

Continue reading "Phishing Scams, Frivolous Arguments Top the IRS' 2008 “Dirty Dozen” Tax Scams" »

Posted 08:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The situation might seem innocent enough. You’ve got a property for rent that you’ve been advertising. You get a prospective tenant from out of town, maybe even from overseas, who pays the deposit and one or more months rent in advance using a cashier’s check. You deposit the check, then the tenant—who hasn’t moved in yet—asks you to return a portion of the funds via wire transfer because of a family emergency or some other reason. Because the original payment you received was a cashier’s check and you haven’t been asked for a 100 percent refund, you feel safe cooperating.

Continue reading "Landlords: Don’t Get Scammed by Counterfeit Checks" »

Posted 07:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Here’s an alert issued by the Texas Attorney General that’s worth knowing regardless of where you are located.

Landlords are being targeted by a scam that involves paying deposits and rent with counterfeit checks, then the “tenant” asks to have part of the money returned. It might take a bank some time (weeks or even longer) to realize that the check is counterfeit, but when it does, the victim will be out the amount of the check plus any money sent to the scammer.

Here’s the full notice from the Texas Attorney General:

Continue reading "Landlords: Don’t get scammed by accepting counterfeit checks" »

Posted 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Scammers never miss an opportunity, do they? Here is an alert from the IRS about a bogus e-mail that’s going around asking for donations to the California wildfire victims. If you respond to that e-mail, you'll probably find yourself a victim of identity theft.

IRS Warns of E-mail Scam Soliciting Donations to California Wildfire Victims

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today warned taxpayers to be on the lookout for a new e-mail scam that appears to be a solicitation from the IRS and the U.S. government for charitable contributions to victims of the recent Southern California wildfires.

Continue reading "IRS Warns of E-mail Scam Soliciting Donations to California Wildfire Victims" »

Posted 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I received a news release from the IRS warning of an e-mail scam claiming that the IRS will pay recipients $80 for participating in an online customer satisfaction survey. The IRS is not going to pay you to complete a survey and the agency never sends unsolicited e-mail. If you get this e-mail, just delete it.

To read the full IRS news release …

Continue reading "IRS warns of new e-mail scam for “member satisfaction survey”" »

Posted 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday a TAM Airlines Airbus 320 crashed in Sao Paulo, Brazil, killing everyone on board and a number of people on the ground.

Compounding this tragedy is that some scammers have launched an e-mail campaign, sending a message claiming to be from the airline that attempts to lure users into connecting to a website that contains code which, if downloaded as instructed, will install an information-stealing Trojan Horse program.

It’s understandable that if you had a family member or loved one on that flight, you would want information as quickly as possible, and the internet is a great resource. But don’t let worry and grief make you forget the basic rules of internet safety and security.

The victims of this horrible crash and their families are in our thoughts and prayers, and we hope anyone who tries to take advantage of this sad situation is swiftly brought to justice.

Jackie

Posted 03:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have received an alert from the Department of Justice about hoax e-mails designed to make it look like the recipient is the subject of a complaint filed with the DOJ. The alert wasn’t clear if this was a phishing attempt to perpetrate identity theft or an attempt to spread malicious software. In any case, the DOJ would never notify any individual or company of a complaint via e-mail. If you get one of these e-mails, don’t worry – and don’t respond. Just delete it.

Here’s the full alert from the DOJ:

Continue reading "Justice Department Warning About Spam E-Mail" »

Posted 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you get an e-mail saying you are being investigated by the IRS’s Criminal Investigation division, relax – you can just delete it, because it’s a scam. The IRS doesn’t notify anyone about a criminal investigation through e-mail. In fact, the IRS never sends unsolicited e-mails and never requests personal or financial information through e-mails. The IRS doesn’t need you to provide them with PIN numbers, passwords, or similar secret access information to credit card, bank, and other financial accounts.

If you get one of these e-mails, forward it to phishing@irs.gov, then delete it from your system. Do not reply to the e-mail, click on any of the links in the e-mail, or provide any information that would allow an identity thief to commit fraud either against you or using your name.

Here’s the full text of the news release from the IRS:

Continue reading "IRS warns taxpayers of new e-mail scams" »

Posted 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It’s a great day for internet and e-mail users – one of the world’s top spammers has been arrested. This is not directly connected to real estate investing, but spam affects every e-mail users, and I just can’t resist commenting on it.

An article on techshout.com opened with this:

A man who ironically has the distinction of being one of the world’s most prolific spammers has been arrested and in fact U.S. authorities went on to say that computer users across the internet did observe a drop in the amount of junk e-mail.

Robert Alan Soloway, 27, has been indicted on 35 federal felony counts, including identity theft and money laundering. U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan said this is the first time federal prosecutors have used identity theft statutes to indict someone for taking over someone else’s internet domain name. Sullivan said Soloway is responsible for millions of spam e-mails. If convicted as charged, Soloway faces a maximum of more than 65 years in prison (without internet access, we hope) and a fine of $250,000.

Congratulations to the diligent investigators and prosecutors.

Jackie

Posted 09:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I recently learned of a scam involving buying Iraqi dinars in the hopes of selling them for multiple times what they cost. I honestly don’t know anything about investing in foreign currency and we don’t teach that at Wealth Intelligence Academy®. But if someone offers you a chance to buy Iraqi dinars and tells you that you can sell them later for 25 times what you paid for them, think long and hard before you invest. In fact, call your bank (or even several banks) and ask if they will buy dinars from you. If they say no, that will tell you how difficult it’s going to be to make a profit on this type of deal.

For more information on the Iraqi dinar scam, read the Scambusters newsletter discussing it (it’s the second topic in the newsletter, so after you click on the link, scroll down).

Jackie

Posted 08:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)