How To Protect Yourself - Scams and Cons Explained

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Learn about scams before they happen. While we cannot offer legal advice we can teach and inform so you know what to watch for. Collection offers may sound valid, but companies want your money and may promise to help. This is your online scam, fraud and con prevention center

On these pages we tell you the truth about settlements scams, debt collector scams, false promises, and how companies later claim "There is no record of that conversation", and how to prevent future frustration

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The FBI says types of public corruption include:

Law Enforcement corruption at the state or local level typically involves the payment of bribes or kickbacks in exchange for official actions or inaction. It also includes any violation of law not necessarily connected to the official duties of law enforcement personnel.

Legislative corruption at the state or local level usually involves payment of bribes or kickbacks in exchange for official action or inaction. These bribes or kickbacks can be received by the legislators themselves, by aides, by staff persons, and/or by outside parties doing business with the government.

Municipal corruption involves illegal activities similar to legislative corruption. Common corruption schemes at a local level include bribes or kickbacks in exchange for: supporting local ordinances, approving local government bond issuance, reducing taxes unlawfully, fraudulently manipulating probate assets, and conspiring with others to rezone property or to influence land-use proposals.

Judicial corruption typically arises out of the corrupt influencing of state or local judges, juries, or court personnel (clerks, bailiffs, probation officials, and other administrative staff). Common corrupt schemes include: payments to judiciary personnel in exchange for dismissal of charges; reduction of charges, bonds, or sentences; waiver of fines; return of forfeitable property; and favorable probation conditions.

Contract corruption usually involves the payment of bribes or kickbacks to local or state officials in exchange for favorable treatment on government contracts. Potential subjects are private contractors, anyone acting on their behalf, and public officials involved in the contracting process (procurement officers, purchasing agents, city councilpersons, and county commissioners).

Regulatory corruption involves payment to local, state, or federal officials in exchange for favorable action or inaction pertaining to identification documents, licensing, and inspection and zoning variances. Unlawful payments are commonly known as bribes and kickbacks.

Prison corruption involves corrections officers taking unlawful payment for acts directly or indirectly related to their job. Common schemes include: smuggling contraband into the facility, granting unlawful privileges, and prematurely releasing inmates.

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The Rise and Fall of Household International and HSBC Finance Free Document - Learn more about the history of predatory lending and causes of the financial crisis. 32 Page Free PDF. Get it now

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A credit card to pay off charged off debt

Let's explain how this scam worked by quoting the FTC after these two scammers were exposed:

CompuCredit Corporation, a company marketing Visa and MasterCard credit cards to consumers in the subprime credit market, has agreed to reverse fees charged to eligible consumers’ accounts to settle allegations that it violated federal law. It is estimated that the redress program will result in more than $114 million in credits to consumer accounts. Eligible consumers whose current balances are less than the amount of credits to be applied will receive an estimated $3.7 million in cash refunds.

In a federal court complaint filed in June 2008, the Federal Trade Commission alleged that CompuCredit engaged in deceptive conduct in connection with marketing credit cards. The FTC also alleged that Jefferson Capital Systems, LLC, a debt collection company wholly-owned by CompuCredit, engaged in deceptive conduct in marketing credit cards as part of its debt collection activities and engaged in abusive practices while collecting debts.

"This settlement is a big win for consumers," said Lydia B. Parnes, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. "When signing up for a credit card, consumers have the right to know the truth about the amount of credit they are getting and the cost of that credit up front."

According to the FTC’s complaint, CompuCredit marketed credit cards, primarily through direct mail solicitations, under various brand names, including Aspire, Aspire A Mas, FreedomCard, Tribute, Imagine, Majestic, Aspen, Emerge and Fingerhut Credit Advantage. These cards generally fit into three categories:

Fee-based credit card with $300 limit. According to the FTC, CompuCredit marketed to consumers with subprime credit ratings a credit card with a purported $300 credit limit, using solicitations that stated certain up-front fees that did not apply. Rather than provide consumers with $300 of available credit, CompuCredit immediately charged consumers as much as $185 in fees that it did not adequately disclose in light of the representations made. These fees left consumers with as little as $115 in available credit.

Credit card with "up to $3,250" limit. As alleged by the FTC, CompuCredit marketed to consumers with slightly higher credit scores its credit card purporting to offer "up to $3,250" in available credit. CompuCredit failed to disclose, or failed to disclose adequately, that half of the available credit would be withheld for the first 90 days. CompuCredit also failed to disclose, or failed to disclose adequately, that for the first 90 days, the company would monitor consumers’ purchases, and might reduce their credit limit based on an undisclosed "behavioral" scoring model.

Debt-transfer credit card program. According to the complaint, CompuCredit and Jefferson Capital marketed a credit card to consumers with charged-off debt. CompuCredit and Jefferson Capital represented that the consumers’ old debt balance would be immediately transferred to the card and reported to consumer reporting agencies as paid in full. Consumers who accepted the offer, however, were immediately enrolled in a debt repayment plan and did not receive a credit card until they paid 25 percent to 50 percent of their charged-off debt.

Reference: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/06/compucredit.shtm

2010/09/03 · by T. Blake