Scams on the rise!

Thursday March 26, 2009

The financial crisis going on in this country right now is putting a lot of people in bad positions. Of course we know that many homes have been foreclosed across the country and now with that is coming people who are using scams, making out to be coming to the rescue but are putting these poor people in a bigger hole.

I found an article from the Contra Costa Times about these people using scams. The article mentions that the number of complaints about scams from homeowners in less than has gone from 10 to 500. So people are out there trying to scam people that are in no position to turn someone down for supposed help. It just ingrains the point that people need to be very careful about who they trust with their money, as I have mentioned in a past blog. The article mentions that these people using the scams will take money up front for promised help but things are never done and then the homeowner is out of luck, so do not pay upfront, wait until what is said to be done is done. I do not blame some of these homeowners for trying to do everything they can to make their bleak situation better but people need to know that these criminals are out there with no soul trying to take advantage of people in the deepest despair. The article goes on to mention "red flags" to look out for to prevent people from getting scammed by these people. This article was very informative in letting people know that are in trouble that there are people out there trying to hurt them and just pay attention to what might be too goo to be true. The article gives contact information in cases of scams and the proper people to contact in regards to scams and tough money situations. So the main thing I got from this article is to just be aware of these people using scams out in this dropping house market today and if the person sounds too good to be true it is probably not the case.

I hate to see people trying to scam people already having trouble, is there no compassion in the world today. It just shows you that white collar crime is a major problem even if it is not televised or in the paper as much as violent crime. This is affecting people tremendously and could even land them homeless out on the streets, these people need to be punished harshly.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/top-stories/ci_11986205?nclick_check=1

Source: Contra Costa Times

When will the fraud stop?

Tuesday March 17th, 2009

It seems that issues of white collar crime are becoming more apparent each day you look in the newspaper. I cam across another issue of fraud by a 30 year veteran of the Pennsylvania Senate. This is hard to fathom if you already feel that the politicians are worthless and scamming people out of money. It just leaves a sour taste in peoples mouths that people continue to steal and defraud other innocent people. This individual, Vincent J. Fumo, was convicted on Monday for committing $3.5 million in fraud, taking money from two nonprofits and using state employees to do political and personal tasks. This might not be a tremendous amount of money like Bernie Madoff scammed from people. It is just the principle of the whole thing, doing the right thing just does not seem to be enough in today's world.

The prosecution was looking for at least 10 years in prison for this federal crime. I feel that is sufficient on one hand because people need to learn that they cannot get away with these fraudulent acts. On the other hand he is old and has already suffered a heart attack so maybe if he was sent to a place other than a prison it might suffice. They just can't let someone completely off for taking advantage of his power. It seems that technology and the internet are becoming issues and could have let this criminal off because of something a member of the jury did. Allegedly a member of the jury posted a comment on his facebook that said to expect a "big announcement" on Monday. Of course defense attorneys tried to take advantage of this and argue that it tainted the jury and showed that he had outside communication about this case. If this guy had cost the case by this comment he should have been put in jail for a few days. I know he was anxious because he felt that the man was guilty but he needs to keep his cool and make comments when the case is over. He was just looking for a little recognition where it should not have been. I hope people will learn to stop stealing money from people and organizations and try to live a law abiding life, it will make this world a much better life. I can see people being tempted to steal and defraud people of money, the media makes such a big deal about money and wealth, but people need to learn that it is still crime even though in many cases no one is being physically hurt.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/us/17fumo.html

Source: NY Times

Don't Just Let Anyone Take Your Money! You Might Never See it Again!

I mentioned in my first blog that I had a first hand knowledge about someone stealing a persons life savings. It shows that you need to make sure who has access to your funds. A gentleman that lived across the street from me had a very traumatizing experience with this such matter. He previously owned a business and sold it after a number of years for a plentiful profit. He knew he had the money he wanted for retirement but put it in the hands of a money manager to try and make the dollars grow a little. Next thing he knows every dime of his life savings is gone and the money manager is nowhere to be found. He may lose his house and cars because now he just needs money to get by on the bare minimum, not for a nice happy retirement like he thought. This is the kind of thing that can happen to the normal everyday citizen, it just does not get the media attention that Mr. Bernie Madoff is getting right now. How sad for this to happen to someone who put trust into someone to make his money grow and then they did a magic act and disappeared. The whole basis of this blog is either don't put your money somewhere other than a bank or make sure you trust them with your life, which in some cases wont be enough.

I mentioned the name Bernie Madoff and that is who I would like to talk about. He has been all over the news for the amount of money he swindled from a vast array of celebrities. It is said that the total amount swindled could be 50 million. That is an insane amount of money. I saw a segment on 20/20 about Madoff and all the celebrities he took for a ringer, some losing as much as 250 million to this fraud. That is so much money I wonder why people would take a risk in investing it and possibly losing money. That is way more than you need for a lifetime, so why do these people continue to try for more, is it greed or an addiction for more wealth? This is a good question and one that cannot be answered easily. One person on the 20/20 mentioned that some people like Steven Spielberg lost 50 million or so but still has more than enough left for his life. It is the people that lost every dime of their life savings that really hurts. Like this family that I read about in Time magazine. They lost about 1.2 million on paper and other members of their family lost almost 30 million, this is just a sad thing to see that people may actually commit suicide over events like this. People losing their lives savings to a crook who just wanted every ones money for himself. I have a feed to the Time Magazine article at the bottom, feel free to read what happened to one family in result of Bernie Madoff's fraud. To take advantage of innocent people is terrible and that is why white collar crime needs to be looked at more and more these days, it seems to be ever increasing. I have a video of a show on CNBC that talks about Madoff and what many are calling "the scam of the century."

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1866398,00.html?iid=perma_share

Federal Investigators Say Plant knew Peanut Butter was Contaminated!

Thursday, February, 19

The picture to the left shows the peanut plant, Peanut Corporation of America in Blakely, Ga., which federal investigators say knew that the peanut butter manufactured in their plant was contaminated. It is a shame that in the United States large companies would try to skip out on making the best products containing salmonella. It will cost them more money in lawsuits than it would have to make the product salmonella free and start over. It might not be that simple though. According to a New York Times article, investigators said that the plant had mold growing on the ceilings and walls as well as foot long gaps in the roof. It is hard to believe that someone either failed to inspect this plant properly, or that the plant just failed to make necessary changes because of costs.

This has not just affected a few people and given them minor sickness, it has affected over 500 people in 43 different states and eight people have died. It sickens me to hear that they knew of the contamination prior to shipping their products and people lost their lives because a company was not doing their proper job. This is worse than an executive from a company embezzling money or evading their taxes for years. There is nothing more precious than life itself, and families lost relatives because of this company failing to do a proper job. There were as many as 12 times when the plant knew from their own tests that the products were contaminated from 2007 to 2008. Their desire for profit led to a disregard for people's health and well being by continuing to disperse these food items. This turns into a murder case, not just white collar crime. white collar crime has to led to murder many times. (Historically, it has often had physical consequences). It would be one thing if the plant had no idea beforehand but to knowingly send out something that has salmonella or has a good chance to have it is atrocious. The results of the products led to a recall of many products with ties to this plant. The plant was in terrible condition, allegedly with signs of rust that could get into the food and, areas where rodents could enter the plant. I hope justice is served in this case.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/us/29Peanut.html

Sources: New York Times

Are we aware of white collar crime?

Tuesday February 10, 2009

White collar crime is becoming more prevalent, and people need to be aware of its danger. People are not as aware of crime that does not cause physical harm.( although white collar crime does cause physical harm) Typically white collar crime includes fraud, which is one of the most seen white collar crime. Other examples of white collar crime include, tax evasion, insider trading,and credit card theft among others. Some top executives are embezzling or selling stock because they know the company is failing, at the same time failing to notify their stock holders which turns into a crime. Their desire for a profit leads to these types of crime and scandal in major businesses. White collar crime can happen on many levels from identity theft to large scale corporate fraud. (I have firsthand knowledge of an incident like this for future blog, stay tuned)

This topic is especially valid and important in the world now, since we are in a recession. Money is tight for most Americans. Since this kind of crime often encompasses businessmen and public officials and does not have physical ramifications it may not be talked about much. If someone murdered people that will be on the news but cases of white collar crime do not always get on the news.The businesses left in the aftermath of these crimes can suffer from the bad publicity but at least they have the chance to survive unlike the person who lost all their money for retirement because of fraud, deception and theft.

This topic needs to be addressed more than it is now; innocent people are being taken advantage of and losing everything by the choices greedy people who choose crime as a way to make their money. This could happen to anyone which is why people need to be careful who they give their money and identity information to. Technology has posed greater risks for money to be stolen from people, with all of the items purchased on the Internet with credit cards.

The Justice System needs harsher penalties for those who are guilty of these crimes. Unfortunately white collar crime is, harder to prove since no one is being physically hurt and the evidence is not always clear and present. Many times the criminal will be wearing a nice, expensive suit and does not look like the typical criminal. This type of crime could be going on as we live each second of the day. You might have already lost your money in your bank account. Be careful how you use your account information and be sure you check out whoever is dealing with your money.