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Tag: Fraud

  • VMware Agrees to Settle With SEC Over Fraud Charges

    VMware Agrees to Settle With SEC Over Fraud Charges

    VMware has agreed to a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over fraud charges.

    According to the SEC, VMware pushed “revenue into future quarters by delaying product deliveries to customers, concealing the company’s slowing performance relative to its projections.”

    The SEC found that VMware deferred tens of millions of dollars in orders to future quarters, delaying delivery of licenses until a quarter ended. As a result, the company was able to give the appearance that sales and demand were stronger than they actually were.

    “As the SEC’s order finds, by making misleading statements about order management practices, VMware deprived investors of important information about its financial performance,” said Mark Cave, Associate Director in the Division of Enforcement. “Such conduct is incompatible with an issuer’s disclosure obligations under the federal securities laws.”

    Despite the SEC’s findings, the agency only charged VMware an $8 million fine, a relative drop in the bucket compared to it the company’s revenue.

  • Amazon Sues to Stop Fraudulent Text Scams

    Amazon Sues to Stop Fraudulent Text Scams

    Amazon has announced it is launching a lawsuit to tackle text scams that purport to be from the e-commerce giant.

    Countless individuals have received text messages claiming to be from Amazon, many of them requesting feedback in an online survey. Unfortunately, many of these messages are part of an illegal advertising scheme. The text messages promise rewards or gifts, but direct people to sites where they must purchase products that have no affiliation with Amazon.

    The company is taking the fight to the scammers, filling a federal lawsuit in the Western District of Washington against a number of yet-to-be-named participants. Amazon sees the lawsuit as a way of expanding its fraud-fighting efforts, holding the accountable parties responsible.

    “Amazon works hard to build a great, trusted experience for our customers and sellers,” said Kathy Sheehan, VP, Business Conduct & Ethics, Amazon. “These bad actors are misusing our brand to deceive the public and we will hold them accountable. We also want to remind consumers to be vigilant and learn how to recognize the signs of a scam so they are protected, no matter where they shop.”

    The company points to its history of successfully litigating these type of suits, having filed five previous lawsuits, winning multiple injunctions and forced seven parties to settle for more than $1.5 million in damages.

  • Google Expands Advertiser Identity Verification Policy

    Google Expands Advertiser Identity Verification Policy

    Google has announced it is expanding its advertising identification policy in an effort to improve transparency.

    The company initially rolled out its identify verification policy in 2018, although it applied primarily to political advertisers. In recent years, however, Google and other tech companies have been fighting an increase in misinformation, including misleading and fraudulent ads. As a result, Google wants to help shine a light on the companies behind ads that customers see, adding a degree of accountability and transparency. The feature will begin rolling out this summer, with an “About the advertiser” disclosure, similar to the current “Why this ad?” information.

    “This change will make it easier for people to understand who the advertiser is behind the ads they see from Google and help them make more informed decisions when using our advertising controls,” writes John Canfield, Director of Product Management, Ads Integrity. “It will also help support the health of the digital advertising ecosystem by detecting bad actors and limiting their attempts to misrepresent themselves.

    “We will start by verifying advertisers in phases in the U.S. and continue to expand globally. Because we are working closely with our advertising partners to scale the program while continuing to ensure we are surfacing helpful information to our users, we expect that this process will take a few years to complete. Advertisers can learn more about the identity verification program here.”

    This is good news for customers and will hopefully help cut down on misleading and fraudulent ads.

    Image Credit: Google

  • Symphony Technology Group Buys RSA From Dell Technologies

    Symphony Technology Group Buys RSA From Dell Technologies

    Dell Technologies has agreed to sell RSA to Symphony Technology Group, in an effort to streamline its business portfolio and strategy.

    The Symphony Technology Group consortium, which includes the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’) and AlpInvest Partners (AlpInvest), agreed to an all-cash deal of $2.075 billion. The deal includes RSA Archer, RSA NetWitness Platform, RSA SecurID, RSA Fraud and Risk Intelligence and RSA Conference, and should be completed in the next six to nine months.

    RSA currently has 12,500 customers and provides “risk, security and fraud teams with the ability to holistically manage digital risk, including threat detection and response, identity and access management, integrated risk management and omnichannel fraud prevention.”

    Dell is looking at the deal as a way of focusing its business and better aligning its portfolio with its long-term strategy.

    “This is the right long-term strategy for Dell, RSA and our collective customers and partners,” said Jeff Clarke, Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman, Dell Technologies. “The transaction will further simplify our business and product portfolio. It also allows Dell Technologies to focus on our strategy to build automated and intelligent security into infrastructure, platforms and devices to keep data safe, protected and resilient.”

  • Beware of Watching ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ On Streaming Sites

    Beware of Watching ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ On Streaming Sites

    While it may be tempting to watch the latest Star Wars installment from the comfort of home, the International Business Times (IBT) is warning that doing so could be dangerous.

    According to the IBT report, security firm Kaspersky Labs has found some 30 fraudulent websites claiming to stream the new film. In reality, the goal of the sites is to capture unsuspecting users credit card information.

    The security firm also found 65 malicious files disguised as downloadable copies of the film. The files are actually malware designed to infect the devices they are downloaded on.

    According to a Kaspersky researcher: “It is typical for fraudsters and cybercriminals to try to capitalize on popular topics, and ‘Star Wars’ is a good example of such a theme this month.”

    As with most things related to cybersecurity, better safe than sorry when it comes to the new film: watch it in theaters or wait for it to be released on DVD or Disney+.

  • It Would Take You 25 Years to Look At All The Bad Ads Google Killed Last Year Alone

    It Would Take You 25 Years to Look At All The Bad Ads Google Killed Last Year Alone

    Google says it has a global team consisting of over a thousand people specifically dedicated to fighting bad ads. Over the course of 2015, those people (along with Google’s technology) disabled over 780 million ads that violated Google policies.

    To put that into perspective, Google notes that if you spent one second looking at each one of them, it would take you 25 years to see them all. Unbelievable.

    “Some bad ads, like those for products that falsely claim to help with weight loss, mislead people,” says Sridhar Ramaswamy, SVP of Ads & Commerce at Google. “Others help fraudsters carry out scams, like those that lead to ‘phishing’ sites that trick people into handing over personal information. Through a combination of computer algorithms and people at Google reviewing ads, we’re able to block the vast majority of these bad ads before they ever get shown.”

    Types of “bad ads” Google busted last year included counterfeiters, pharmaceuticals, weight loss scams, phishing, and unwanted software.

    They suspended over 10,000 websites and 18,000 accounts for attempting to sell counterfeit goods, such as imitation designer watches. They blocked over 12.5 million ads violating the company’s healthcare/medicines policy. They suspended over 30,000 sites for misleading claims related to weight loss. They blocked about 7,000 phishing sites, and disabled 10,000 sites offering unwanted software.

    They also rejected over 17 million ads that tried to mislead or trick people into interacting with them. These include ads that are designed to look like system warnings from the user’s computer.

    “Sometimes even ads that offer helpful and relevant information behave in ways that can be really annoying—covering up what you’re trying to see or sending you to an advertiser’s site when you didn’t intend to go there,” says Ramaswamy. “In 2015, we disabled or banned the worst offenders.”

    Last year, Google took steps to reduce the amount of accidental clicks on ads, which is one of the things the company points to as a way it’s improving the ad experience. They also stopped showing ads on over 25,000 mobile apps because the developers didn’t follow policies.

    A study from the Association of National Advertisers that came out this week says that ad fraud will cost $7.2 billion (up $1 billion) in 2016.

    Image via Google

  • DoubleClick Adds Payment IDs to Ad Exchange For All Buyers

    DoubleClick Adds Payment IDs to Ad Exchange For All Buyers

    Google’s DoubleClick announced that it is currently in the process of applying for TAG Registration and that its version of Payment IDs is available in the DoubleClick Ad Exchange to all buyers globally. This is an effort to support the adoption of Payment IDs across the ecosystem.

    Last week, the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) announced the Verified by TAG initiative. This is a two-part initiative, which includes Payment ID – aimed at preventing payments to fraudsters – and TAG Registry, which is to identify responsible ad providers. The registry is already available.

    “The TAG Registry and upcoming Payment ID system will act like a ‘two-factor authentication’ for the digital ad supply chain,” said TAG CEO Mike Zaneis. “Through the TAG Registry, buyers will be able to ensure that they are working with trusted parties at every step of their campaigns, while the Payment ID system will ensure that payments only go to legitimate players, choking off the cash to criminals. These programs will serve as the cornerstone of TAG’s anti-fraud efforts by providing transparency across the digital ad ecosystem. Registration is now open, and it’s time for every company in digital advertising to get TAG’ed.”

    In a post on DoubleClick’s blogs, Google writes:

    Currently, if a programmatic buyer finds they’ve bought fraudulent inventory, there is no way to directly identify the supply source responsible for the fraud. The Payment ID system we proposed to the TAG Anti-Fraud working group fixes this problem by asking all supply sources (e.g. ad exchanges, ad networks, supply side platforms) of advertising inventory to create and provide unique and persistent anonymous identifiers that link every impression to who is paid in their accounting systems. If a buyer finds invalid activity from any source in their supply chain, these Payment IDs will help the buyer to identify who is responsible and blacklist those suppliers from their campaigns.

    We’ve always invested heavily to keep DoubleClick Ad Exchange free of invalid activity and ensure that money spent on our platform only goes to support legitimate publishers, app developers, and content creators. To show our commitment to a better ads ecosystem, accelerate the adoption of Payment IDs, and help DSPs start integrating them, we’ve implemented the standard as it exists today, and we’ll continue to work closely with TAG and others in the industry to formalize an industry-wide Payment ID program. When the TAG Anti-Fraud Working Group has finalized the broader industry standard, we’ll happily make any changes to ensure we are compliant with TAG’s efforts.

    Among those who have already vowed their support of Payment IDs are DoubleClick Bid Manager, Dstillery, Magnetic, MediaMath, Rocket Fuel, The Trade Desk. Integrations should come within a few months.

    You can learn more about the Verified by TAG initiative and the Tag Registry in an announcement here.

    Image via TAG (Facebook)

  • Wasn’t A Man Supposed To Be Eaten Alive By A Snake?

    Back on November 5th, Discovery Channel uploaded a video titled “Eaten Alive Sneak Peek”, which glimpsed at the promising voyage of a man seeking to be eaten alive by an anaconda.

    “We’re gonna get me inside of a snake,” said Paul Rosolie, a naturalist and wild life filmmaker dressed in some type of Tron-like jungle bomb-suit  (it’s a custom-built snake-proof suit) that looks strikingly similar to the protagonist’s outfit in Dead Space.

    The modern day “Jonah & The Whale” experiment premiered Sunday, December 7th at 9/8 central, but before viewers got to see the spectacle, voices and concerns questioned Rosolie and the Discovery Channel:

    • A Change.org petition titled “STOP THE AIRING OF “EATEN ALIVE” – BOYCOTT DISCOVERY CHANNEL” launched the same day the sneak peek video did. It wound up with 38,364 signatures out of 50,000.

    So what happened?

    In the first 70 minutes of the two-hour program, we see Rosolie and his crew venturing in Peru’s Amazon jungle, searching for a 25-foot-long anaconda. This was no ordinary anaconda, as Rosolie said he once saw it before.

    Finally, the team found a 20-foot 250 lb. green anaconda, which, debatably, might have been a captive snake planted in the jungle by Discovery’s stunt team, according to PEOPLE magazine.

    With only 20 minutes left of the show, Rosolie slipped into his crush-resistant, pig-blood covered suit and offered his body to the snake.

    The anaconda took some time to warm up before it coiled around and constricted Rosolie.

    The moment we’d all been waiting for began with the anaconda opening its jaws widely enough to pierce a few of its fangs on Rosolie’s helmet, then the stunt stopped.

    “My arms torqueing, this thing is gonna break! I’m calling it, I need help!” Rosolie told his crew through a microphone in his suit.

    The two-hour long program promising a man being eaten by an anaconda turned out to be about eight minutes of Rosolie struggling to unwind with his team rushing to save him.

    According to ABC News, the show garnered 4.1 million views.

    Viewers were disappointed.

    The #EatenAlive hash tag exploded on Twitter, with many accusing Discovery of misleading audiences with it’s promise of a man being eaten alive by a snake.

    Paul Rosolie? More like Paul Rosolie.

     

     

  • Penny Stocks: Will They Make Or Break You?

    Penny Stocks: Will They Make Or Break You?

    Are you familiar with the phrase, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is?”

    If not, allow me to introduce you to the perilous penny stock.

    The penny stock is a popular choice among con artists looking to take advantage of naive investors.

    Like every get-rich-quick scheme in existence, penny stock cons usually involves a group of individuals being sold a dream of minimal effort and investment making them virtual millionaires overnight.

    Instead of getting the millions they were promised, the hapless persons often find themselves broke and wondering what went wrong.

    Just ask 65-year-old Paul Allen.

    The Boston, Mass. native and retiree took a chance on Vapor Hub International after a bunch of inbox spam informed him that this was something he just had to get in on.

    After putting 80 percent of his investment into Vapor Hub International, he quickly lost it all.

    Penny stocks often take the form of “pump and dump” schemes, where investors are encouraged to flood stocks with millions, only to see shares plummet as con artists collect the money and run.

    This is what many consider to be behind a mysterious company known as Cynk Technology.

    How else can you explain a business with only one employee and no revenue to speak of obtaining a market value of six billion dollars?

    The shady company started off trading at just six cents before its value inexplicably ballooned to $22 per share.

    Sensing something was amiss, the Securities and Exchange Commission suspending trading of Cynk’s stock on July 11th.

    It’s no surprise that when the suspension was lifted a couple of weeks later, the value of the stock plummeted by 96 percent.

    Law enforcement officials are moving to do something about penny stock con artists before victims like Allen get taken advantage of.

    It was recently reported that the Manhattan District Attorney’s office moved to prosecute three individuals who were attempting to use penny stocks to make millions through fraudulent means.

    Stock promoters Anthony Thompson, Eric Van Nguyen and Jay Fung hoped to achieve this by sending out various press releases and emails promoting certain companies. These companies happened to be owned by the trio and this information was not shared with potential investors.

    According to a statement by District Attorney Cy Vance, “These individuals, as alleged in the indictment, are charged with using their positions as stock promoters and company insiders to inflate their own profits through fraud and deceit.”

    Vance also said that the DA office would “not allow this kind of manipulation to occur” in American markets.

    Even if these individuals are busted, there are plenty more scammers waiting to take their place.

    As such, it’s up to you to educate yourself about making sensible investments and avoid the poverty trap typically associated with penny stocks.

  • ComScore Buys MdotLabs To Battle Non-Human Traffic

    ComScore has acquired MdotLabs in a move aimed at battling fraud in online advertising, or as the company puts it, to “augment its non-human traffic detection methods.”

    MdotLabs specifically uses its technology to identify bots, click farms, pay-per-view networks, and various other fake traffic generation techniques. Its methodologies for doing this include signal processing, statistics, machine learning, and applied math.

    ComScore President and CEO Serge Matta said in a statement: “We are excited to welcome the MdotLabs team to comScore. The outstanding team of engineers and data scientists at MdotLabs has been at the forefront of developing the highly sophisticated techniques for identifying and rooting out the waste associated with non-human traffic, which can often run in excess of 50 percent on a given campaign.”

    “We believe that the combination of Mdot’s technology with our existing NHT detection methods will deliver a significant advancement in addressing this important issue, providing even greater transparency and more accurate metrics around campaign performance,” he added.

    Indeed the two will be integrated, and will allow for the reporting of a human-based metric, which comScore says minimizes the effects of non-human traffic.

    “The MdotLabs team is thrilled to join comScore as we look to scale the value of our non-human traffic detection methods to a much greater footprint of clients,” said MdotLabs CEO and co-founder Timur Yarnall. “comScore sits at the center of the digital media buying and selling communities, and we believe our technology can play a big role in helping both sides mitigate the deleterious effects of NHT and bring confidence to those investing in digital.”

    Yarnall as well as co-founder Dr. Paul Barford and the rest of MdotLabs will join comScore’s team. MdotLabs’ website already redirects to comscore.com.

    Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

    Image via comScore

  • Phaedra Parks’ Husband Gets 8 Years in Prison

    Real Housewives of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks’ husband Apollo Nida was handed an eight-year prison sentence by a federal judge for defrauding over 50 people of roughly $2 million over a four-year period.

    Nida, who had spent time behind bars from 2003 to 2009 for auto theft, was initially looking at 30 years, but his cooperation with authorities helped with the reduced sentence.

    Soon after being released in 2009, Nida opened a fake debt collection agency to gain access to databases full of debtors’ personal information. He would then steal identities to locate unclaimed funds, refunds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, stolen U.S. treasury checks and refunds from fraudulent U.S. income tax returns.

    Nida had an accomplice named Gayla St. Julien, who opened UPS mailboxes and bank checking accounts using those fake identities, deposited the checks, then pocketed the money. Nida went on to create a fake car dealership, and took out auto loans for cars that didn’t exist. The Secret Service eventually tracked St. Julien down, and she led them to Nida.

    Fellow Atlantan housewife Kenya Moore took to Twitter to express her opinion on the sentencing:

    Reginald G. Moore, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Atlanta Field Office, commented, “Today’s sentencing exemplifies impartial justice regardless of economic class or perceived celebrity status. Nida’s sentence should be an eye opener for other like-minded criminals who scheme to steal victims’ identities, defraud them and ignore the consequences of their actions.”

    After sentencing, Nida commented, “The government did what they had to do,” adding, “I want to apologize to the victims. I want to apologize to my family for letting them down.” Nida remains free on bond, and will likely have to turn himself in to begin his sentence within three to six weeks.

    Here Phaedra explains Apollo’s job:

    Nida explained that his reasoning behind his criminal actions revolved around feeling pressure to make money to keep up with his wife’s high-profile attorney income and “Real Housewives” salary. He added that because of his status as a convicted felon, finding a legitimate job was a challenge.

    Image via Youtube

  • Teresa Giudice: “Me Without You Doesn’t Work”

    Teresa Giudice: “Me Without You Doesn’t Work”

    Last year, Teresa Giudice and her husband Joe were charged with 39 counts of fraud which included conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, making false statements on loan applications, and bankruptcy fraud.

    “Today is a most difficult day for our family. I support Joe, and as a wonderful husband and father I know he wants only the best for our lovely daughters and me,” The Real Housewives of New Jersey star said at the time.

    “I am committed to my family and intend to maintain our lives in the best way possible, which includes continuing my career. As a result, I am hopeful that we will resolve this matter with the Government as quickly as possible.”

    Back in March, the couple plead guilty to the federal fraud charges. Sentencing for the couple will take place next month on July 8 in Newark, and both Teresa and Joe face possible jail time. Joe currently faces anywhere from 37 to 46 months in prison, and Teresa faces 21 to 27 months.

    The suspense of the sentence was simply too much for Teresa to bare, so she decided to seek out a medium to find out what the future holds for her and Joe. “I sense that things are gonna be fine for you,” the medium can be seen telling Teresa, during a sneak peak of the new episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. “Your husband, I’m not so sure about.”

    Joe, who has three children with Teresa, also faces possible deportation back to his native country of Italy. “Me without you doesn’t work,” Teresa told Joe in the clip. “This family cannot function without you.”

    Image via Twitter

  • Nguyen Duc Kien Jailed for 30 Years Due to Fraud

    On Monday, a Vietnamese court sentenced Nguyen Duc Kien to 30 years in a state prison for his role in a series of financial scams which robbed people and corporations of more than $1.1 billion – an act which was condemned for “badly affecting the monetary and fiscal policies within the country.”

    In 1993, Kien founded the Asia Commercial Bank, which is now one of Vietnam’s largest banks and private lenders. Capitalizing on the success of his bank, Kien became one of the owners of Hanoi ACB, former Vietnamese soccer league champions.

    Unfortunately for Kien, however, he let his successes get the best of him and decided to use loopholes within the poorly structured and regulated Vietnamese banking system to illegally trade gold and stocks worth 21.5 trillion dong, or 1 billion dollars. Kien is also accused of using his six investment companies to evade 25 million dong in taxes.

    Seven other conspirators were sentenced along with Kien.

    Kien was arrested in 2012 after Vietnam made an attempt to crack-down on its banking system in order to improve its credit standing. Following his arrest, stocks in Vietnam plummeted 11 percent in only one month and Moody’s downgraded Vietnam’s credit rating from a B1 to a B2, citing unknown and unstable market situations as the reason for their decision.

    While all of Kien’s conspirators received anywhere from two to eight years in prison for their role in the financial conspiracies, Kien’s sentence was upped to 30 years due to his failure to tell the truth, according to the judge.

    Despite the seemingly overwhelming evidence against him, Kien continues to profess his innocence: “Mr. Kien didn’t plead guilty to any of the above charges, and he will appeal the verdict,” stated Kien’s lawyer, Vu Xuan Nam.

    Image via YouTube

  • Two Chicago Men Charged For Rolling Back Odometers

    The U.S. Department of Justice today announced that two men have been indicted by a federal grand jury for tampering with car odometers. The men, who are brothers, are alleged to have rolled back the odometers of nearly 150 different vehicles.

    Erick Sanchez-Pulido and Israel Sanchez-Pulido, 30 and 31 years old, have been charged with 15 counts of odometer tampering, four counts of false odometer statements, and a host of related charges. The pair are Mexican citizens who were living illegally in the Chicago area prior to their arrests.

    “Odometer fraud harms consumers making one of the biggest purchases in their lives: an automobile,” said Stuart Delery, assistant attorney general for the the Civil Divisionof the Justice Department. “Not only do purchasers end up paying more for used cars, but the rolling back of mileage on odometers could ultimately affect a car’s safety and the costs of future repairs to consumers.”

    According to the Justice Department, the Sanchez-Pulido brothers purchased vehicles with high odometer mileages from Wisconsin auto auctions. They then rolled back the odometers before selling the same vehicles to customers. The titles for the vehicles were also falsified with fraudulent milage readings. The brothers allegedly practiced this scheme from late 2009 until February of this year, rolling back the odometers of at lease 146 different vehicles.

    Both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation were integral in the investigation into the Sanchez-Pulido brothers. The prosecution of the men is now being led by the Consumer Protection division of the Justice Department.

    “Tampering with odometers is a crime that puts consumers’ lives and wallets at risk,” said David Friedman, acting administrator for the NHSTA. “Safety is the Department of Transportation’s top priority, and we will continue to work with our Department of Justice and state DOT partners to deter odometer fraud and inform consumers of the potential signs of and dangers associated with this crime.”

  • Cynthia Bailey Accused of Photo Contest Fraud, Defends Agency

    Yet another Real Housewives of Atlanta star is coming under accusation for fraud.

    When we thought Phaedra Parks and her cunning husband, Apollo Nida, were the biggest schemers on the show, former model Cynthia Bailey is now in the hot seat.

    According to an interview with CBS Atlanta, local resident Dorothy Lewis claims that the Bailey Agency School of Fashion modeling contest for minors is a rip-off.

    The grandmother said she decided to enter her 7-year-old granddaughter’s photo into the ‘big kid’ category on TheBaileyagencyschooloffashion.com for only $20.

    Since her daughter and granddaughter, Paris Davis, are big fans of Bailey, she figured this would be a great opportunity for her. Plus, she believes that the “bubbly” and “talkative” Pairs is a superstar in the making, so, why not?

    The only issue with this picture is that the agency did not update their contest winners since October of last year.

    However, it appeared that the contest continued to build revenue from interested contenders.

    Sources say that the agency  stated in their contest guidelines that $450 cash prizes would be distributed each month to a winner. But after generating over $1,000 within the past few months, there were no winners awarded.

    “It’s just not right to be advertising that you’re going to do one thing and take people’s money from around the country and you’re not following through on what you’re saying,” Lewis told CBS Atlanta.

    In a video interview with the station, Bailey defended her program, claiming that the website had some minor setbacks.

    “First of all I think that’s a very negative approach to the whole situation, that’s not like their $20 wasn’t being used for what it was intended for. It’s just a matter of us being in transition on our side and we were just behind on the website. But now it’s updated,” Bailey said.

    Any funds made were apparently donated to nonprofit organization Atlanta Diaper Relief, which closed six months ago! But of course she knew nothing about it. Bailey says they now send proceeds to Kile’s World, a foundation in memory of Usher Raymond’s deceased stepson.

    In a statement to CBS Atlanta, she reassured that her “inexpensive” contest “was created in the spirit of giving moms with young babies a platform to give their children exposure” and to extend her brand outside Atlanta.

    Well, it definitely seems like it has gotten off to a rough start.

    She later apologized in her statement:

    “I apologize for any negligence on my part as far as my staff not keeping the website properly updated. I hope after receiving all the correct and updated information from me personally, you can appreciate the sincerity of my intentions. I appreciate you for bringing this important matter to my attention. I can assure The Bailey Babies mommies that this will not be an issue going forward. Thank you for providing the opportunity to address this matter.”

    The agency has since modified the contest’s information, updating photo winners from November 2013 to February 2014.

    Do you think Bailey’s lack of concern for her agency’s contest after nearly five months was intentional?

    Shoot away in the comment box!

    Image via YouTube

  • Kevin Trudeau: Prosecutors Want 10-Year Sentence

    Kevin Trudeau, the TV pitchman known for touting his book The Weight Loss Cure They Don’t Want You to Know About could face 10 years in prison if prosecutors have their way. Convicted back in November for criminal contempt, he aired infomericals touting his book 32,000 times in violation of a court order.

    Defense attorneys believe Trudeau–who has served time before on similar charges–should serve less than two years.

    Federal prosecutors are determined, however, to put an end to his schemes, and they wrote a 41-page filing that suggests Kevin Trudeau would likely even cheat his fellow inmates.

    “He appears capable of nothing else,” it reads. “(Trudeau) is an unrepentant, untiring and uncontrollable huckster who has defrauded the unsuspecting for thirty years. (He) preys upon the sick who want to be made healthy, the poor who want to become rich.”

    The defense said in their own filing that, “Contrary to the view of Trudeau advanced by the government, he is a man who has consistently displayed kindness, generosity, concern for others.”

    Trudeau was convicted for making false claims about his latest book, and he then proceeded to tout it on infomercials, generating $39 million in revenue and $5 million or more in profit. The government is after him for not paying a previous $37 million judgement in a civil case, which he not only didn’t pay, but bragged about not paying.

    Consumer groups have long complained that Trudeau has no medical training whatsoever, yet believed he was educated enough to write books on health. The man who seemingly has an answer for everything came back with one for this complaint as well, saying doctors “are taught only how to write out prescriptions” for “poisons” and “cut out pieces of a person’s anatomy.”

    Kevin Trudeau is in jail pending his sentencing on Monday. Is he guilty of bilking consumers or do you think he and his books share previously undisclosed medical information that no doctors, hospitals or homeopathic practitioners have ever utilized instead?

    Image via YouTube

  • Kevin Trudeau: Prosecutors Want Him To Serve At Least 10 Years In Jail

    Kevin Trudeau, a fraud and infomercial host, was convicted of lying in infomercials about subjects tackled in his book regarding food and calorie restrictions. Trudeau has been in jail since November 12 of last year.

    The Federal Trade Commission has asked the infomercial king to pay a fine of $37 million in June 2010, but he has not paid a dime to date. Reports also say that Trudeau has been living an extravagant lifestyle, spending thousands of dollars on draperies, gym memberships, the salon, and first class airfare a few weeks after he was asked to pay the fine. He has also spent six figures on a new Bentley.

    Trudeau ordered back to jail after living lavish lifestyle

    District Judge Ronald Guzman is slated to impose a sentence, and prosecutors urge him to view a television interview in which Trudeau has admitted to living lavishly and outwardly saying that he is avoiding paying the $37 million fine.

    Trudeau’s book entitled The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About, has reportedly sold 850,000 copies that amount to around $49 million. A percentage of those who bought the book returned them and got a partial refund. The prosecutors accuse Trudeau of preying upon the insecure, the sick, and the poor who want to be wealthy. They also said that Trudeau “exploits consumers’ insecurities and weaknesses, promising them an easy fix for whatever hurts or embarrasses them.”

    According to prosecutors, Trudeau’s charges should amount to a maximum of 25 years in prison based on the guidelines on federal sentencing. They are asking the judge to impose at least a 10-year sentence for Trudeau. The defense, on the other hand, says that the portrayal of Trudeau as a huckster has gone too far and that he should only get a sentence of less than two years in jail. They also said that Trudeau has already paid a price, as he is never going to be able to revive his career as a salesman.

    Sentencing for Trudeau will be held on March 17.

    Kevin Trudeau pitches ‘The Weight Loss Cure’

    Image via YouTube

  • Identity Theft is Top Complaint of Consumers in 2013

    Each year, the Federal Trade Commission collects data on consumer complaints and analyzes said data in order to improve consumer experiences in the United States. And for the 14th consecutive year, identity theft tops the charts as the most reported consumer complaint in the US.

    The FTC defines identity theft as that which “happens when someone steals your personal information and uses it without your permission.” Considering the definition of identity theft is so broad, one could expect it to be more reported than other consumer-related complaints.

    However, the enormity of the issue of identity theft should not be understated. According to the FTC, consumers lost $1.6 billion in 2013 due to cases of identity theft. Of over 2 million complaints filed with the FTC, law enforcement, or consumer complaint agencies, 290,056, or 14 percent, were attributed to cases of identity theft.

    Taking a closer look at the numbers, one can get a picture of the most vulnerable ways for one to become a victim of identity theft. Of all identity theft cases, 43 percent were victimized through email, 21 percent through a telephone conversation, and another 20 percent through a website. The average reported loss due to fraud was $2,294 per consumer.

    Adam Levin, the Co-Founder and Chairman of Credit.com and IdentityTheft911, discussed the importance of protecting against identity theft: “Today’s Consumer Sentinel Report underscores something too many Americans already know first-hand: identity theft is a persistent, pernicious crime. In light of the recent, unrelenting string of data breaches in the retail and higher education sectors, the number of people victimized by identity thieves is only going to grow by leaps and bounds. Identity thieves are going to keep coming at us through every means at their disposal, be that through illicitly-acquired phone numbers or leaked emails, and they won’t stop because it continues to be extremely lucrative for them. ”

    The numbers support Levin’s statement. Due to the drastic surge in identity theft schemes, consumer information is now flooding the black market. According to a Dell SecureWorks report, scammers and identity thieves can now buy “fullz” – dossiers full of consumer information such as names, social security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, and phone numbers – for the low price of $25. This price is down a staggering 37 percent from the previous year, most likely due to an over-abundance of readily available information at thieves’ disposal.

    If one feels as if one has been a victim of identity theft, the FTC encourages a visit to its website where one can glean information on the steps to take immediately upon discovering that one has been a victim of identity theft.

  • Google Acquires Spider.io To Get Better At Fighting Ad Fraud

    Google announced on Friday that it has acquired spider.io, an ad fraud-fighting technology company. Google will include this technology in its video and display ad products as a complement to measures it has already taken.

    Google VP of Display Advertising Neal Mohan recaps some of these in a blog post:

    Advertising helps fund the digital world we love today — inspiring videos, informative websites, entertaining apps and services that connect us with friends around the world. But this vibrant ecosystem only flourishes if marketers can buy media online with the confidence that their ads are reaching real people, that results they see are based on actual interest. To grow the pie for everyone, we need to take head on the issue of online fraud.

    This is a fight we’ve taken seriously from the beginning. Over the years, we’ve invested significantly in the technology and talent to prevent fraud and create greater accountability online. For example, we put extensive resources towards keeping bad actors out of our ad systems — last year alone, we turned down millions of applications from sites looking to join our network because of suspected fraudulent activity. We also introduced new measurement tools, like MRC-accredited Active View, which lets advertisers buy only those ads that are viewable on a page. Active View offers greater peace of mind to all media buyers, but is especially important for brand marketers who want to know, first and foremost, that their ad has a chance to be seen.

    Integrating the spider.io tech into video and display ad products is just priority number one for the acquisition. Google’s long-term goal is to improve metrics used by advertisers and publishers to determine the value of digital media, and give them a “cleaner picture” of which campaigns are performing the best.

    The company says it can also use spider.io’s technology to scale efforts on weeding out bad actors.

    Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

    Images via spider.io

  • Sara Ylen Fakes Cervical Cancer, Sentenced to One Year for Fraud

    On Wednesday, a 38-year-old Michigan woman was sentenced to one year in prison for money fraud against a healthcare insurance company and generous local supporters.

    Sara Ylen of Lexington, Mich., accepted thousands of dollars in donations for years by publicizing false claims of cervical cancer.

    According to NY Daily News, her story first reached local media coverage in 2003 when she submitted a series of accounts called “Sara’s Story” to The Times Herald. 

    Ylen created a false story detailing how she developed the ailment in 2001 after alleged attacker, James Grissom, raped her in the parking lot of a retail store. She also claimed that she was cared for by Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Zion, Ill.

    For many years, Ylen forged the names of specialists on her medical records in order to receive care. Additionally, a nurse from Michigan Mercy Hospice treated her for two years. The “great pretender” received $100,000 in donations to fund her hospice care.

    Ylen even played the part. According to witnesses, she wore a scarf on her head and used a wheelchair.

    It was not until 2011 that the facility terminated her treatment. The hospice said that they couldn’t find her name in the system or evidence of cervical cancer.

    Oddly enough, her story received immense support even without the confirmation of a doctor’s diagnosis.

    One of her many victims included Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Ylen owes the insurance company $122,000. Croswell Wesleyan Church and employees at Sandusky State Police Department were among others that donated money to support Ylen’s phony medical expenses.

    “All of these fraudulent acts that you perpetrated on so many people, and the extent that you went to perpetrate them, is almost mind-boggling,” Sanilac County Circuit Judge Donald Teeple said on Wednesday, according to NY Daily News. “You took advantage of the goodwill and generosity of people who were more than willing to assist you, all based on lies.”

    In a separate sentencing by a St. Clair County Judge, Ylen will serve additional five years in prison for falsely accusing Grissom and another man of rape.

    Fortunately, Grissom was released in 2012 after a judge decided to throw out his 15-year sentence. He had already served nearly 10 years in prison.

    Image via YouTube

  • Vector Settles Inflated Navy Contract Claims For $6.5 Million

    The U.S. Department of Justice today announced yet another settlement for a military contractor caught inflating or falsifying U.S. military contract claims.

    Vector Planning and Services Inc. (VPSI), an IT and consulting firm based in Virginia today agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle violations of the False Claims Act. The company was accused of submitting inflated claims for contracts that it held with the U.S. Navy.

    According to the charges, VPSI billed the U.S. Navy for direct costs that had already been paid for under the label of indirect costs. This process inflated the claims for VPSI’s contract and cost the U.S. government millions. The company is also accused of submitting contract claims for costs that never existed.

    Like many other recent war profiteers to be caught by the U.S., Vector was outed by a whistleblower who stands to earn $1.28 million of the settlement judgement under provision of the False Claims Act. The case against the company was investigated by the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Defense Contract Audit Agency, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).

    “The Department of Justice will vigorously protect taxpayer funds from false claims,” said Stuart Delery, assistant attorney general for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. “Contractors who wish to do business with the military must act with honesty and integrity, or they will be held accountable for their actions.”