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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The History of Subprime and Predatory Lending

Many other countries have not gotten down to the dirty task of lending money for housing to people who can't afford it and then financially leveraging the loans to create billions in false value. That's what the U.S. has done and it has the potential to impact people around the world. The U.S. subprime market has been used in numerous fund portfolios.

An article in U.S. magazine Fortune suggested that many of the managers of these funds are not sure how exposed they are to the subprime collapse. Because of the many ways that monies are invested and the different ways that subprime mortgages have been used to prop up various financial instruments, no one knows how bad it could be or how far the effects could reach. But what we do know is that it is affecting the ratings of the U.S. bond market and that the likes of Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs have already lost billions.

Every new loan that is larger than the last contributes to increasing over-all economic instability. The outcome of such has historically been a crash corresponding to the magnitude of this debt distortion. That is a direct quote from “The History of Subprime and Predatory Lending” (see it here)

Borrowers, and primarily those who lost their homes to subprime foreclosure, are possibly the least effected. Assuming they already spent their 401-K retirement money, and their savings, they will not lose another $100,000 in one day if the U.S. stock market takes a huge dip. Those borrowers will not see any impact on retirement plans and other investments tied to the bond market. If they were duped into taking out a loan they could not afford they have been hurt enough. Then the rest of the wolves come out, demanding more, and asking for more settlements. Enough is enough.

The history of subprime and predatory lending is not a long and rich history. According to the New York Times, in 1980, Congress helped launch the sub-prime lending industry by effectively eliminating state laws capping interest rates on first mortgages, and two years later by ending "most state restrictions on ‘alternative’ loans". (Also a direct quote from “The History of Subprime and Predatory Lending” more )

2010/09/03 · by T. Blake