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.

it happens again and again that those up the line do not seek to question why enormous profits are arising from a particular source.

on a general basis may i say that honesty and integrity are,in truth, rare in the financial world.

why do those up the line not seek to question....to my mind each is as responsible as the party creating the wrong-doing. this is an aspect which the regulators hasve never addressed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Allan Langley-Smith, who traded as Hadleys Estate Agents of Queens Road, Brighton, was found to have breached the Estate Agents Act by failing to disclose a personal interest to a client and failing to disclose a personal interest to a prospective buyer

...

The law states that an estate agent "must disclose to his client promptly and in writing that he, himself or any connected person has, or is seeking to acquire, a beneficial interest in the land or in the proceeds of sale of any interest in the land".
"

http://money.guardian.co.uk/property/movinghome/story/0,14438,1257570,00.html

Detection is the main problem. What's the legal definition of 'connected person'? Does it include friends and acquaintances?
IMHO, the law should be changed to say

"an estate agent must disclose to his client within 10 calendar days and in writing of all interests, known to the estate agent, in the purchase or proceeds
of sell of property/land."

some chain letter doing the rounds-can't give all the detail as I deleted it,oops...-using e-mail you have to send 3 to the person on the top of a list of five through (I think)PayPal and forward the e-mail to 40 other people with
some 25000 reading the e-mails.

"A clampdown on a new internet scam involving costly premium-rate lines was announced yesterday after it emerged that close to 60,000 people have complained of being ripped off since the start of this year..."

http://money.guardian.co.uk/scamsandfraud/story/0,13802,1262539,00.html

Why does it take 60,000 victims before action is taken?

Watchdog should act pro-actively.

"Be smart, protect your ID.

... 130,000 identity theft cases will be reported by the end of 2004, compared to 101,000 in 2003.

...
"

http://www.moneyextra.com/news/009050.news.html

Could these be part of the preparation for us to accept biometric ID cards?

CAIRO (AP)--U.N. weapons inspectors will return to Iraq in the coming days following an official invitation from the new government, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Tuesday.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters in Cairo that Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari had formally asked his agency to return.

"The return of U.N. inspectors to Iraq is an urgent necessity; not to search for weapons of mass destruction but to write the final report about the nonexistence of (such) weapons...in Iraq, which will enable the lifting of sanctions," he said.

The inspectors will be sent in the next few days, ElBaradei said.

U.N. inspectors left Iraq just before the war began in March 2003, and the U.S. refused to allow them to return, instead deploying its own teams to search for weapons of mass destruction.

ElBaradei said the coalition forces are not mandated to prove or negate that Iraq had WMD.

"The sole mandated authority is the IAEA and the international inspectors will continue the mission they started before the invasion," he said, adding that its mandate does not end until the final report is submitted. Following that report, sanctions imposed on Iraq can be lifted.


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 20, 2004 12:02 ET (16:02 GMT)

"Friends swindled out of 143,000
Public eye, Mail on Sunday
25 July 2004"

http://www.thisismoney.com/20040725/si80729.html

"Alert over bogus banks
Tony Hetherington, Mail on Sunday
18 April 2004"

http://www.thisismoney.com/20040418/si77050.html

i get each week telephone calls from america inviting me to invest money. a friend of mine sent 150,000 which was invested in shares and lost.

SURELY THE GOVERNMENT COULD SET UP A SCAM LINE SO ALL THOSE INDIVIDUAL COMPLAINTS COULD BE BROUGHT TO-GETHER AND THE EXTENT OF THE SCAMS SEEN...WITH EARLY REMEDIAL ACTION!!!

mpw777, you've got some rich friends !
Quite agree. We must help ourselves until it happens, if it happens at all.
Frankly I don't think the government has the motivation to do much about it
(eg. it is not an issue which loses votes).
This is why I created the thread.

"Computer 'spy' that could clean you out

Police battling to stay ahead in the war against online crime have unearthed a new threat to credit card holders and internet bank users. Tony Levene reveals how 'keystroke logging' works

Saturday July 31, 2004
The Guardian "

http://money.guardian.co.uk/scamsandfraud/story/0,13802,1273007,00.html

'City Slickers' face court
21 September 2004

THE former Daily Mirror share tipsters known as the City Slickers appeared in Southwark Crown Court yesterday.

Anil Bhoyrul and James Hipwell are alleged to have tipped shares that they owned from August 1999 to February 2000. Terry Shepherd, a private investor, also appeared in the dock.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/business/articles/timid82689?source=

Is this some sort of scam or money laundering operation as they want to recruit
people as agents to process transactions?
http://www.plasmaproject.com/plasmajob.htm

It does look a bit suspect. There are a few strange sentences littered about. A reputable firm would merely open an office with a bank account and a credit card machine. What they are possibly doing is asking for payment up front and then not delivering. The agent is stuck in the middle.

emailpat, they are spamming every one with this, that enough for me to ignore them even if they are genuine. I had a email from them today which was picked up by my antispam. I also notice they have been reported to the net abuse teams.

Thanks guys,nice to know the BB alert team are on the case:-)

mortgage fraud advice ask this man .

CARD FRAUD ON THE RISE

Consumers have been warned to take extra precautions following a big hike in credit and debit card fraud.

Card fraud increased 18% to 478.8m in the 12 months up to June this year, according to figures from the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS).


Even more worrying, crime involving cards which were either lost or stolen in the post soared by 51% to 61.2m.

APACS believes fraudsters are stepping-up their activities during the introduction of new Chip and Pin card technology.

This programme means that, in 2005, the vast majority of face-to-face UK credit and debit card transactions will be authorised by the customer keying in their PIN (personal identification number) rather than by signing a receipt.

Jemma Smith, a spokeswoman for APACS, said: "The vast majority of cards get through securely but it is a fact of life that anywhere you have cards you also have people who are trying to get hold of them."

She said fraud relating to cards classified as "mail non-receipt" was made worse because the crime often went undetected for longer.

"The cards are being issued when you may not be expecting a replacement.

"The first time you know something is wrong is when you get your statement."

APACS is advising card-holders to check their account regularly in order to spot bogus transactions.

"Time running out in fight for net security"

http://business.scotsman.com/management.cfm?id=1188802004

Read the "Questions from other Buyers" Bit at Bottom.
Do ALL Nigerians see us as Congenital Idiots

What an Ars***le

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20333&item=3843513016&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

To save time:

Q: Dear seller, How are you today and your family hope all is well with them?. am intending to buy this item for my Son for his Graduation, who his schooling in Africa- Nigeria..and am prepared to pay 120.00GBP, and i want you to know that my mode of payment is western union money order. and to make the payment your name in full is required for the payment, and your contact address,also your secured e-mail address,for the approval confirmation of the payment .also you will need to you get a price quote from FEDEX or ROYALMAIL SPECIAL DELIVERY...so that i can pay you once for the item and the shipping cost. NB.. as soon as they approved the payment they will send you notification via your email. soon as they get to you get back to me. looking forward to hear from you soonest. GOODAY Answered on 13-Oct-04

A: Hello thank you for your intrest. Unfortunatly I am unable to help you I notice you would wish to pay through Western Union. and I do not accept this method of payment. in the meantime I have cancelled you bid as I feel it my prove dificult for you to use a diferent mode of payment. however should you wish to pay via pay pal this would be acceptable.Best wishes Pextra
Q: You asked: "Dear seller, i am interested in the immediate purchase of this item and i will be making payment via western union auction payments(BIDPAY), i wish to send this to my freind in nigeria whose birthday is coming up shortly so i will want to confirm with you if you will be able to ship the item upon recieval of confirmation and approval notification from western union auction payment. you will not need to worry about shipping as i will handle that with my DHL..if you will be able to do this, pls get back to me with your final asking price, Contact Name, Address and Telephone Number so that i can proceed with payment.pls reply ASAP""""" Answered on 13-Oct-04

A: Thank you for your intrest in the Hitachi Z31 camera.I am sorry that I am unable to help you for the following reasons 1 The camera is part of a ten day auction. 2 I do not deal with payments via Western union.3 I am a little surprised considering that you are a new member, you are so aware of payment and transport options. 4If you would care to bid in the normal way and pay by bank transfer or pay pal. we can dispatch to you by royal mail international standard for 195. Best wishes