Reports of frauds, deceptions and scams keep appearing, weekly even daily, on
major news channels and newspapers. Some of these frauds seem just too big and remote to be of immediate, direct relevance to our daily lives. But, we will eventually pay for the consequences and damages, in taxes, costs of goods and services, regulations, copy-cats etc.

I hope we can collect, in one thread, frauds and scams, reported or heard. We must become more aware and more educated to guard against frauds and scams
which impact upon the health, well being, and wealth of ourselves and our families.

I guess he's going to rot in jail !

Wouldn't like to be his cell mate :-)

Ex-Morgan Stanley Employee Pleads Guilty To Securities Fraud

"NEW YORK (AP)--A married couple, both lawyers, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud Thursday in what was described as one of the biggest insider-trading cases in the U.S. since the 1980s, a $15 million scam that reached into some of the nation's top financial firms."

"U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said at a news conferencing announcing the case that Wall Street professionals repeatedly traded on secrets revealed to them by insiders at UBS and Morgan Stanley."


Here in the UK in March this year, the FSA reported...

"nsider trading on the London stock market remains as common as it was in 2000, according to the City watchdog.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said 23.7% of takeover announcements in 2005 were preceded by suspicious share price movements.

The figure is little changed from 24% in 2000, although it has fallen from a peak of 32.4% in 2004.

The FSA and the Takeover Panel launched a study last December into why news about four big bids had been leaked.

'Particular concern'

The figure in 2000 is significant because that shows how bad the problem was before the implementation of the Financial Services and Markets Act.

There was better news on the level of suspicious activity ahead of results announcements.

Only 2% of significant announcements were preceded by informed activity in 2004/5, compared with 11.1% in 2002/3."

SEC Sues Pakistani Banker Rahim in TXU Trading Case

"By Otis Bilodeau

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Pakistani investment banker Ajaz Rahim, making him the fifth person the agency has accused of illegal insider trading in TXU Corp. securities.

Rahim was head of investment banking for Faysal Bank Ltd. in Karachi, Pakistan, when Credit Suisse Group banker Hafiz Naseem fed him advance tips on a $32 billion buyout bid for TXU and eight other deals, the SEC said today in a lawsuit in Chicago federal court. Credit Suisse was an adviser on all nine deals, the agency said.

...

In March, the SEC sued Sunil and Seema Sehgal, a couple living in the U.K., for illegally trading on advance information about the TXU buyout. The agency amended that complaint on May 3 to include Naseem and Francisco Javier Garcia, who the SEC said may live in Switzerland. The regulator accused Garcia of buying TXU options less than a week before the bid became public."

In our age of global communications and markets, the frauds have also become interntaional. In this case, USA, Pakistan, UK, Switzerland ...

Neither frauds nor scams, until test case is heard ...

Park the news here for future reference.

Judge warns 'unreasonable' banks

"A High Court judge has warned banks to stop behaving unreasonably when customers accuse them of levying unlawful overdraft charges.

Judge David Mackie QC issued the warning at the London Mercantile Court, in the Royal Courts of Justice.

He said some banks were wasting the time of claimants and the courts by pretending they would defend claims when they had no intention of doing so.

He added if banks continued to do this he might award damages against them.
...

Judge Mackie pointed out that in some cases bank customers had tried to claim damages for stress and inconvenience.

Such claims have been unsuccessful so far, but he warned he would award damages in future if banks and their lawyers continued to:

* fail to respond to some claimants letters

* fail to negotiate for months and until a hearing date is set

* demand extra information from the claimants, knowing they had no intention letting a court hear the matter

* settle the case without telling the claimants they need not attend court

* fail to show up in court

..."

Doctors' online system scrapped

"The Department of Health is scrapping its controversial online application process for junior doctors.

The application process, MTAS (the Medical Training Application Service), will now only be used for monitoring, and not matching candidates to posts.

MTAS was taken off-line after Channel 4 News revealed that security breaches had made applicants' personal details openly available on the internet.

Today the government announced that a security review of the system has been handed to the police as criminal offences may have been committed.

..."

Who build the system? Deliberate security weakness and fraws? Insider job?

Online visa security flaw

"Exclusive: a security flaw in internet visa applications to the British High Commission in India means the details of 50,000 people may have been available online."

...

"Four hundred and seventy thousand Indians applied for visas to come to Britain last year. Not all applied online - but nearly 50,000 did, including Sanjib Mitra from Bangalore.

In April last year he had trouble with his application and in trying to sort things out discovered he could access all the other applications that had been made online.

Visa processing in India has been contracted out by the Foreign Office to a private Indian company, VFS Global.

In a blog last week Sanjib Mitra revealed how he had checked and found the loophole was still there. He says he emailed the company last year - and heard nothing. And he emailed the British High Commission, who two months later replied that they would look into it.

Concerned, he alerted an internet journalist specialising in computer security.

Indian online visa applications have now been suspended. And we can reveal the security breach is widening - online applications from Russia and Nigeria, run by the same company, have been suspended too.

The Foreign Office, which in February awarded VFS a five year contract worth 190 million for visa processing, told us -

"This VFS system is used only to record the details of visa applicants applying online through VFS, and to allow those applicants to see how long it will take to have their passport returned. It is not connected to the secure UK government information system used to process the applications."

And because data privacy may have been compromised, the Information Commissioner is to investigate.

No-one knows if anyone has stolen the personal data that was so freely available.

VFS told us they were working hard to secure their systems - they process visa applications for entry to 14 countries, but the UK is their biggest customer.

It is the sheer scale of this security that is staggering: it dwarfs the MTAS computer scandal.

The online system has been running since 2003 and is known to have been compromised for at least a year with tens of thousands of personal details up for grabs."

I am sure there are UK IT professionals who would have done better job at a 10th of the price (19M) ... the Treasury will get some too via taxes, the local community get a few more people employed etc ...

I have been receiving quite a few scam emails from so called Hang Seng bank employees and The dead foreigner scam from Africa. Found this site quite useful

http://www.joewein.de/sw/419scam.htm

Just had an e-mail from Nationwide to tell me Abbey have noticed 'unusual activity in my account'.

They say, 'For your security, We placed extra verification on your Abbey Online Access until this issue has been resolved please log in your account by clicking on the link bellow: Once you log in your account details, You will be automatically Redirected to our online Legal Releases.'

Doesn't the bad grammar give them away? Well, that and the fact I don't have accounts with either Nationwide or Abbey!

I'm sure though, that some punters are falling for this crap.

Sad or wot? Sad.

Had one myself from Alliance & Leicester who I do have an online account with, but again, poor grammar and poor spelling, but otherwise it was pretty convincing. Took me all of 5 seconds to realise it was fraudulent.

Doc, why not complete with rubbish, preferably a worm as an attachment!

Shoplifter With A Millionaire Lifestyle
Updated: 13:43, Saturday October 13, 2007



A shoplifter who lives a millionaire lifestyle, wearing designer clothes and staying at the best hotels, is being hunted by detectives.

Wanted: Kevin CastleKevin Castle makes up to 1,000 a day and police say he is Britain's biggest shoplifter.

The 42-year-old is wanted by three police forces - Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Nottinghamshire - in connection with offences that include shoplifting, identity theft, interception of mail and money laundering.

Castle is described as white and 5'5" tall. However, he often wears blocks in his shoes to make him look around 2" taller.

He has mousey brown receding hair and always wears expensive designer clothes such as Armani, Luis Vuitton and Versace.

Police say he is known to frequent high-class establishments in London such as the Ritz, Claridges and the Dorchester Hotel.

It is believed that Castle is currently living in London in rented accommodation (possibly costing at least 1,000 per week).

Castle often uses hire cars and tends to favour large vehicles such as the Porsche Cayenne, VW Touraeg and Jaguars.

Detective Constable Anita Fishwick, of Lancashire police, said: "Mr Castle is quite distinctive because of his clothing and his millionaire-type lifestyle.

"We believe he may also be purporting to be an electrical engineer, alarm fitter and property developer.

"He has alleged himself to be the director of a business called '1st Global Enterprises' and acquired hire vehicles and services under this guise. Most of which has remained unpaid.

Castle oftern targets DIY stores and returns the stolen items with with forged till receipts.

He is featured on Lancashire Constabulary's Most Wanted website.

New one on me, not the normal Nigerian Scam!

Hello Dear Friend,


My name is Garry Williams, I am an artist with my wife Pia Wahlenberg and we are the owners of DaPia Art Gallerie and We live in Sweden, europe. I make original Sculptural Paintings and sell Limited Edition Prints. I create artwork that combines sculpture and painting using sheets of wood, metal, and glass to create depth.

I have sold in galleries and to private collectors from all around the world. I am always facing serious difficulties when it comes to selling my art works to my U.S and Canadian customers as they are always offering to pay with cheques and money orders, which is difficult for me to cash here in Sweden. It takes a minimum of four weeks to clear our banks here in Sweden as they are been treated as out of country cheques.

We are looking for a reliable and trustworthy representative in the States who will be working for me as a part time worker and I will be willing to pay 10% for every transaction, which wouldn't affect your present state of work. I need a representative in the United States who will be handling the payment aspect.

All the payments are in certified cheques or money orders and my customers will issue them (payments) in your name and send to you. So all you need do is to take the cheques to your bank and cash them, then deduct your 10% and wire the balance back to us in Sweden. This business will not cost you any amount of money, my customers will send payments to you through registered mail as soon as you receive the package just take these payments to your bank and have them cashed.


The following will be required of you once you show interest to work for me:

1. Your full name
2. Your complete address
3. Occupation
4. Age
5. Sex
6. Telephone number

IF INTERESTED, PLEASE REPLY TO: williams.garry88@gmail.com

We wish you good luck and happiness.



Friendly Regards,



Garry Williams.




Dapia Art Gallerie Sweden
EMAIL: williams.garry88@gmail.com

Wednesday, 12 December 2007, 18:07 GMT

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OAP loses 16,000 in e-mail scam

Police are urging people to delete any emails that seem suspicious
An 80-year-old widow was conned out of 16,000 and almost re-mortgaged her home after falling for an e-mail scam.
The pensioner, from Bridgend, believed she would inherit $30m (14.6m) after receiving an e-mail saying she was the only relative of a dead businessman.

It said the wealthy German and his wife had died in a Concorde crash in 2000 about which she was later sent faked BBC news website reports.

Detectives from South Wales Police are investigating the scam.

Pc Steve Carpenter was contacted by the woman's daughter when she learned about the scam.

He said: "It said she had inherited $30m from a relative which was a wealthy German businessman and his wife who were killed in a Concorde crash in 2000."

You get a sick feeling in your stomach and loathing of these people

Pc Steve Carpenter

An email said the crash in which the woman's "relative" had died had happened in Monchengladbach, Germany. The actual Concorde crash in 2000, in which 113 people died, happened in Paris.

Pc Carpenter said the pensioner who was drawn into a dialogue with the scammers resulting in around 300 e-mails wanted to remain anonymous.

He said: "She's 80 years old but was quite internet aware, aware of junk mail but this one was quite well written, well presented and got her attention."

Over a month, the woman, who lives in Brackla in Bridgend, was told she had been traced as the only relative of the dead couple who had left her $30m in their will, said Pc Carpenter.

He said: "She sent various amounts totalling 16,000.The thing is she's drawn the money out willingly from her own bank so from the bank's point of view there is not a lot they can do."

After she had paid the scammers 16,000, she was told 10,000 more was required but the widow the said she did not have the money.

Date-of-birth

Pc Carpenter said: "They asked her could she re-mortgage her house. She said 'I need to tell my daughter' and they said 'don't tell your daughter, keep it quiet'."

However, the woman did tell her daughter who then contacted the police.

"You get a sick feeling in your stomach and loathing of these people" said Pc Carpenter. "I believe they did know her age as she had to pass on her date-of-birth and details to carry on the deception."

Pc Carpenter urged people not to fall for similar scams and said: "My advice is if in doubt, leave it out. If you suspect anything, don't open it, delete it.

"If it's suspect, it's suspect. If there's any element of doubt, if it seems too good to be true, it usually is."

He also advised anyone who receives a scam e-mail to contact Crimestoppers.

Bullshare,

Post # 431 is a money laundering scam, probably for drug money.

When the police follow the paper trail, guess who the patsy is that goes to jail?

NEW SCAM!
===========

I have held an account with a printing company in Holland, vistaprint.com, for a couple of years, and their service has been excellent, and their work and prices are second to none.

Today however, I recieved my CC statement, with two entries for " VPREWARDS.COM" and two chartges of 9.95.

I went into vprewards.com website, to find it is run by vistaprint.

I googled the vprewards.com and found several websites where this is being talked about as a scam.

I rang the phone number on the statement to complain, and they have already emailed me to say they have cancelled, and will return all the money within 28 days.

I really cannot understand why a company with such a good track record is involved in this tacky scam, and the fact they refund immediately surely makes it pointless?

Anyone with a vistaprint account should check their CC statement they use to pay with carefully this month!

Andy, If you have not done so already, inform your CCcomapny. In the past they jump on the account very quickly and block them from repeating.

I had this a year or so ago. As I remember it when you get your emailed invoice for an order there is a link to click to visit the rewards site. Unless you have all your wits about you at the time, you won't notice that by clicking it you are confirming that you want to pay to join the rewards club. In my case an email then arrived confirming that I had joined and I cancelled immediately.

I had some dealings with VistaPrint a few years ago, but not as a customer. Some companies and individuals you come across in life are clearly out to scam, and some are not, and some seem to occupy a strange grey-area in-between. I won't get into the details of my VistaPrint experience but here is a Google search.

They are heavily into affiliate advertising. They have a good number of people ready to defend them publicly. These two statements may or may not be related.

I have transfered this from a thread I started 2 days ago (Scams/Rip Offs).
Sorry if I trod on anyones toes. I did not know/remember we had this thread.
I have requested anyone who opens my thread to only post here.

Never yet fell for one of these scams/rip offs, but I have received the following.
Some scams are obvious but others, such as below are a bit more believable.



Clubseason.co.uk.

Letter by recorded delivery. Dear Mr .....
Congratulations!

I am delighted to confirm you have won a prize to the value of 3750, in the Internet Prize Draw Entry/grand Prize Draw.

To authenticate your claim lease contact Clare on 0800 448 448 between 12 noon and 8pm within 7 days from receipt of this letter, failure to do so will result in the loss of your prize.

Once again congratulations and we look forward to hearing from you.
You etc etc.

I enter many such prize draws so could not recall entering this one (in future I will keep a record), but as I could not be certain I put cubseaons into Google and it came up with a Scam Blogg where many people had received the same letter. It is a time share scam, to release your "PRIZE" there is a maintenance fee.
This is NOT a prize, it's the usual carrot to milk money from gullible people.
The difference of this scam from the normal is the recorded delivery, and the free 0800 telephone number.

Although any "PRIZE" letter that only gives you 7 days to claim must be dodgy.

I will continue to ring them several times a day for as long as I can be bothered , just to wind them up.

I also intend to send a copy of my "PRIZE" letter to watchdog and the Consumer Affairs Association. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/12/top_ten_scams.html although I doubt that Consumer Affairs will do anything.

Don't get taken in, Bite back.