How To Protect Yourself - Scams and Cons Explained

Protecting Your Financial Health

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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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Protecting Against The Madoff Scam

There are a few good ways to protect yourself when investing, and some of the ideas are no different from ideas on the street when we were young. First and foremost is the idea that "if it sounds too goos to be true..."

The number one way to protect yourself is to make sure you talk to the company, not your personal advisor or investor. Eliminating the guy with his finger in the dike is just common sense.

Secondly, do your homework and check the social acceptability and good standing of companies in which you are invested. It ties in to the 'too good to be true' theory. If your investor says there is nothing to worry about but blog and Internet forums are full of negative comments, then something may be worng. Perhaps your investor is too busy balancing the Ponzi balls to notice.

OK, so we have a finger in the Dike and Ponzi balls. What is wrong so far? The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (sec.gov) lets you search Investment Adviser Public Disclosure forms online, which give information about advisers' business affiliations and any disciplinary actions. Certainly after doing your homework you might notice something.

No matter how famous, friendly, or connected someone is, it certainly does not mean they are doing their job, much less doing it correctly. Just look at regulatory oversight of subprime, or the severe lack of it, as one example. The moral is Never Assume

Demand transparency and know where your money is being invested. For instance, investors at HSBC - a global bank - found out that HSBC was buying predatory lender Household International. Ultimately renamed as HSBC Finance, the decision cost HSBC more in writeoffs than they paid for the predator to begin with. You have a right to know what you are investing in.

Get everything in writing. There is too much risk and too much money to function with just a handshake. Those days are over. Read the fine print. If necessary ask an attorney, and if the fine print is missing or the attorney is confused by it use caution

Remember to protect yourself when you choose a financial adviser. Good ole' boy Bernie (Bernard) Madoff ruined the retirement accounts, net worth, and financial holdings of many people. Those tied to jobs a non-profit and charitable organizations lost their jobs because there was nothing left to work with. The money was gone.

The current credit crunch left Madoff without enough cash to cover his scam. Madoff's $50 billion scam came unwound when too many investors tried to pull their money at the same time. My wife claims he will not be the last one to be exposed as a fraud and a sham. Just be careful and use common sense. If an investment is a 'guaranteed investment' you should dig a little deeper.

2010/09/03 · by T. Blake