In more than 36 percent of all consumer complaints in 2013, victims were contacted by phone, the National Consumers League is reporting. This figure is up from approximately 25 percent in 2012. Using Internet calling software, scammers can peddle their... Read More
Millions of Americans visit online dating websites every year hoping to find a companion or even a soulmate. But as Valentine’s Day gets closer, we here at the Financial Fraud Law Blog and the Financial Fraud Law Report want to warn you that criminals... Read More
The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against a website operator that allegedly tricked consumers – in advance of the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – with spam emails that falsely claimed that consumers would be violating... Read More
An affiliate marketer has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that he was responsible for sending millions of unwanted text messages to consumers that deceptively promised “free” gift cards and electronics. In its complaint... Read More
Aleksandr Andreevich Panin, a Russian national also known as “Gribodemon” and “Harderman,” has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud for his role as the primary developer and distributor of the malicious software... Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission has brought an emergency enforcement action to stop what it characterized as a fraudulent pyramid scheme by phony companies masquerading as a legitimate international investment firm. Toward that end, the SEC... Read More
How much is everything on your computer worth to you? About $300? The financial fraudsters behind a new malware program are betting on it. The Federal Trade Commission, the FBI, and other federal agencies are warning consumers and businesses about... Read More
The Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit said that it has successfully disrupted a rampant botnet in collaboration with Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and other technology companies, including A10... Read More
Two decades ago, a group of enterprising criminals on multiple continents – led by a young computer programmer in St. Petersburg, Russia – hacked into the electronic systems of a major U.S. bank and secretly started stealing money. No mask... Read More
Shopping in person in stores on the day after Thanksgiving, a/k/a “Black Friday,” can yield good deals on a host of holiday gifts. Good deals also are possible on Cyber Monday, the year’s busiest online shopping day, which occurs each... Read More
So-called “tech support refund scams” are a new twist on an old fraud, and they often manage to defraud honest consumers. But, there are ways to avoid being the subject of this form of financial fraud. Tech support scams try to gain consumers’... Read More
There’s a new version of the “man-in-the-middle” scam known as the “man-in-the-e-mail” fraud. Here’s how the FBI just said it worked in the Seattle area: In 2013, at least three Seattle-area companies were led to... Read More
Approximately 29,655 Bitcoins, worth approximately $28 million, that had been seized from the Silk Road server have been forfeited to the U.S. government in what federal prosecutors called the largest ever forfeiture of Bitcoins. Preet Bharara, the... Read More
New York regulators are expanding their investigation into online payday lending. As part of an extensive and ongoing investigation, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) now has sent subpoenas to 16 online “lead generation”... Read More
It seems that a lot of people – possibly including attorneys – are receiving emails that say they come from a federal or state court, but that actually are fraudulent and have a computer virus. According to the Security Operations Center... Read More