Yo-Yo Car Scam Delivers Threats and Bills

A car scam that I've heard about [on the inside] years ago is back, but in a new guise that's catching out hundreds of buyers.
The original scam goes like this, a "spot delivery service in which buyers get their new vehicle"on the spot" but are later told they have to make bigger payments because their original credit application wasn't approved. Now, shady dealers have gone several steps further by repossessing cars and refusing to return deposits or trade-ins. This trick has become known as the "yo-yo" car scam and recently attracted the attention of the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL).   

What many car buyers don't realize is that when they sign an auto finance deal, the contract the dealer draws up is often sold to a third party financial organization at a price the dealer has to negotiate. When the dealer can't get the price they want, they demand you return the car. They may do this several times over. Sometimes, dealers knowingly offer interest rate deals they will never be able to sell to a finance house but they offer them anyway to stop you from going elsewhere to buy. They take in a down payment and trade-in before yanking the yo-yo string. Crooked dealers will imply the financing is firmly arranged when you buy and assure you it won't be changed, while insisting you sign a form that makes clear in the small print that the purchase is conditional on the dealer securing the financing later. 
 
A CRL survey of 2,100 complainant buyers found that more than a quarter of them were hit by yo-yo car scams, and almost half of these victims subsequently had trouble getting their down payment or trade-in back. In some cases, the dealer threatened legal action unless the car was promptly returned, or presented victims with a bill for mileage driven in the car or supposed wear and tear. 

 

"In some cases, the dealer may threaten to call law enforcement on charges of auto theft if the consumer does not return the vehicle immediately," CRL explains in a newly published report. Under the mounting pressure of the situation, many consumers agree to the new loan terms. A dealer's refusal to return the trade-in vehicle or down payment pressures the consumer to agree to a more expensive loan. The threat of legal action or involvement of law enforcement adds even more leverage for the dealer."

Alongside the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), CRL is calling for a change in the law to stop conditional spot delivery contracts. 
 
So what can you do?
Regardless of your beliefs about the honesty of car dealers, the fact is that the cards are always stacked in their favor. So, I recommend (as I advised last time) that you don't take the vehicle from the dealer until you're sure the financing deal is complete. Better yet, arrange your own financing -- if you can -- through your bank or other legitimate lending institution. Shop around for the best deal.
Check out the full CRL report -- Deal Or No Deal: How Yo-Yo Scams Rig the Game -- which you can download from the organization's website.

More Auto Scams

As if yo-yo deals weren't bad enough, a number of other auto scam tricks have surfaced recently, targeting people who already own their vehicles. 
 
Here are a couple to be on the lookout for:

• The windshield offer. You may not be planning to sell but you find a note on your windshield, tucked under the wiper, from someone saying they want to buy your car, offering such a great price that you decide to sell.  The buyer pays by check, you sign over the title, then the check bounces.  The "buyer" has disappeared by now and the vehicle is often sold on to another unwitting victim. 
   
  Action: You'd be crazy to fall for this, but some people have! Don't part with your car, or that DMV pink slip, until the payment has cleared the bank.  And, of course, if someone offers you an outrageously high price for your car, you can be pretty sure it's a scam. 
   
  
• The car-wrapping scam. Pressed for cash, you fall for an offer to "wrap" your auto in advertising for a big name company, in return for a large sum of money.  The offer comes via spam email or even in flyers distributed in your neighborhood. The use of well known brand names makes it seem legitimate and you're delighted when the check arrives. 
   
  But this is nothing more than an advance payment scam. As requested, you deposit the check and wire part of the sum to the person who will supposedly be doing the paintwork. But, of course, the money is going to the scammer and your untraceable cash is in his pocket before you find out the check bounced. 
   
  Action: Just don't do this. The chances of such a proposal being legitimate are tiny -- and if you're asked to wire cash then you know for sure it's a scam.
  

And The Old Favorite

Just time enough to remind you of one of the simplest and most common auto scams -- people selling cars that victims pay for and never receive. According to the FBI, 14,000 buyers, yes 14,0000, have fallen for this one in the past three years -- being sucker-punched by prices that are simply too good to be true, and then wiring money untraceably for vehicles they've never seen. Buying a car is one of the biggest one-off purchases you make in life and there are lots of crooks out there just waiting to trick you. 
 
What more reason do you need to keep all your wits about you? Double-check everything you do when you buy or sell a car, never wire money to people you don't know, never sign anything without reading the small print, and don't take delivery of or part with a car until the financial arrangements are complete and watertight. 
 
Follow these rules and you'll be well placed to steer clear of a car scam.

Your Guide to YouTube Scams and Tricks

The online video site YouTube is one of the most successful and heavily used areas of the Internet, with over 3 billion videos viewed every day and uploads equivalent to 240,000 feature films every week. Sadly, that popularity also makes it a lucrative target from crime, ranging from scams and account hijackings to illegal use of the YouTube name and abusive videos and comments. YouTube, which is owned by Internet giant Google, has lots of security checks in place and offers guidance on things like phishing and hijacks, but the sheer scale of the operation makes it virtually impossible for the organization to monitor videos and comments as they're posted. So, for example, the Better Business Bureau claims there are at least 23,000 YouTube videos promoting fraudulent investment schemes. Let me show you a small a look at the most common types of YouTube scams and other "red flags," and what you can do to prevent them catching you out.

Phony Products

From pyramid schemes to claims you can run your car on water -- you'll find them all on YouTube. The problem is that promoting an idea or product via video somehow gives the claims extra credibility. I'm more inclined to believe what I see, especially if the video is disguised to look like a TV news bulletin or an interview with a supposed happy customer. One current investment scam to be aware of is a video presentation inviting viewers to get in ahead of initial public offerings (IPOs) of new technology stocks. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has more details in their article Pre-IPO Offerings--These Scammers Are Not Your Friends, .

Link Click Tricks

There are all sorts of ways crooks use the YouTube name to lure victims into giving away personal details or downloading malware. For example, they send you an email with a link supposedly to a YouTube video. Instead you're taken to a page that looks exactly like the real thing but you're asked to sign on, thus enabling the scammer to hijack your account. In one common case, you're asked to provide your cellphone number before you can view, and you're then charged via your phone bill, either for a one-off viewing or some sort of recurring service. Other link click tricks they use include emails claiming to be from YouTube itself and inviting you to get in touch (via a link) because your video has been removed or because it's the most popular item on YouTube. Alternatively, you may get a message saying your version of the Adobe Flash video application needs to be updated before you watch. When you click the "update and install" link, a virus is actually installed on your PC. Another frequent virus trick is to send victims an email or post a message on their Facebook page claiming a revealing video of them has been posted on YouTube. Again, you're taken to a spoof YouTube page that uploads malware.

Typosquatting

Tricksters set up websites with very similar names to genuine sites. They just change one letter, or swap the letters around, to take advantage of users mistyping the sitename (a mistake commonly referred to as a "typo"). 

Depending on where you end up, you may be the victim of a scam or just bombarded with advertisements. A well-known typosquatting address (and I'm not giving it out!) takes you to a page that looks similar to YouTube, but it doesn't use the name and thus stays within the law. There you're asked to complete a "survey," which involves giving personal details including your cellphone number. Again, you'll find a charge on your phone bill.

Phony Comments

One of the key elements of the YouTube service is the ability for subscribers to leave comments on videos. This is used for a range of tricks involving bogus postings. For example, a phony product video of the sort mentioned above may also have favorable comments from fake customers. In other cases, posters use the comment facility to promote their own products or include malware links.

Abuse and Pranks

Some YouTube videos contain nasty scenes, unsuitable for most adults, let alone children. In other cases, individuals post abusive and offensive comments, peppered with foul language. In the meanwhile, unsavory characters prowl the YouTube listings looking for videos that have innocently been uploaded by children or teens (of themselves). I don't need to tell you what these nasty people are up to. Just make sure your kids are aware of the risk. 
 
And a word of warning to parents of tweens and younger kids: Iwas shocked to discover that the #1 result when searching for a certain cable all-cartoon channel was an adult film with an expletive laden description of the "cartoon." Sometimes even innocent searches can return some nasty results. Be aware.
Sometimes, of course, people produce videos that pretend to be of genuine events but are really spoofs. 
 
YouTube is full of these and they are mostly harmless -- provided you realize at the outset that they're not real. However, a group of young pranksters were recently arrested for faking an attack in a parking lot, which they were recording for a YouTube video!

What You Can Do About YouTube Nasties

I've only just exposed the tip of an iceberg when it comes to potential YouTube related scams. The organization itself posts numerous warnings on its site. The best starting point to learn more about how to protect yourself is the YouTube Safety Center.
Beyond that, the key to staying safe is to follow these five rules:

1. Be wary about clicking on links to YouTube videos. If you do click, check the address bar carefully when you arrive to ensure that it contains "YouTube.com." If it contains another word before that -- like "Anotherword-YouTube.com" -- it's not YouTube. 
    
   
2. Even if you key in the address yourself, check that you spelled it properly. 
    
   
3. Be skeptical about the videos you watch and never take action purely on a recommendation you see either in a video or comments. Always take further advice.  Similarly, be skeptical about videos that seem to portray something sensational. It may just be a clever spoof. 
    
   
4. Be aware yourself and warn your children about the public nature of any videos you or they post. It is possible to post videos for private sharing only. The option presents itself when you upload. 
    
   
5. Be prepared to be shocked -- and, again, warn your kids appropriately.
   

If you see a video or comment you find offensive, report it to YouTube. You can also click the "flag as inappropriate" icon located just below the video, to the right. The advent of YouTube has turned us into a nation of amateur filmmakers, and it's a great way of sharing experiences and ideas both with friends and the public generally. But YouTube works best only if it's used responsibly, viewed cautiously and considered skeptically.

Types of White Collar Crime

The term white collar crime encompasses a wide variety of criminal acts that are committed in a business or professional setting to achieve financial gain. This article provides general information about a few of the more common types of white collar crime: conspiracy, embezzlement, tax evasion and money laundering.

Conspiracy

Under 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States), it is a separate federal crime for anyone to conspire or agree with someone else to do something which, if actually carried out, would amount to another federal offense. Basically, a conspiracy is an agreement or a partnership to carry out a criminal act in which each member becomes the agent or partner of every other member.

In conspiracy cases, the prosecution need not prove that the conspirators actually succeeded in carrying out the illegal act. This is because the essence of a conspiracy offense is the making of the agreement itself, followed by the commission of any overt act. An overt act is any action, even one which may be entirely innocent by itself, but which is knowingly committed by a conspirator in an effort to carry out the conspiracy.

To establish a case for conspiracy, the prosecution must prove that: two or more persons came to a mutual understanding to try to accomplish an illegal plan; the person willfully joined such conspiracy; and one of the conspirators knowingly committed at least one overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy or in an effort to accomplish the conspiracy's objective.

Embezzlement

Embezzlement is the misappropriation of the property of another by a person who has lawful possession of the property. One of the most common forms of embezzlement is employee theft. To establish a case for embezzlement, the prosecution must typically show that there was a fiduciary relationship  between the defendant and the party who lost the property; the property came into the defendant's possession through that fiduciary relationship; the defendant fraudulently assumed ownership of the property; and the defendant intentionally misappropriated the property. The penalty for embezzlement is generally determined by the value of the property that is misappropriated.

Tax evasion

Tax evasion (26 U.S.C. § 7201. Attempt to evade or defeat tax) is one of the more common types of tax crimes. Essentially, tax evasion is the intentional and illegal avoidance of paying mandatory taxes to the government.

There are several different types of tax evasion. First, individuals can evade income taxes by failing to file a tax return or making false statements, such as fake deductions or not reporting income on a return or writing off personal expenses as business expenses so that they do not have to pay taxes on them. Another form of tax evasion is an abusive trust scheme, which is a scheme in which one purports to transfer money into another's possession, but actually does not do so. The "transfer" cancels the taxes on the individual's income. A third type of tax evasion is when businesses misstate income or expenses. This can be done in several ways. First, with respect to payroll, employers may keep tax withholdings for themselves and pay employees in cash or file false payroll tax returns. Next, it is possible for retail stores to find ways to avoid sales tax, such as failing to report sales tax reimbursement collected from customers.

Money laundering

Money laundering refers to the criminal practice of filtering "dirty" money or illegally obtained funds through a series of transactions so that the funds are "cleaned" to appear as if they were proceeds from legitimate and legal activities. There are three distinct steps in money laundering. The first is called placement, in which the ill-gotten funds are moved or placed, through deposit, wire transfer, money order or other methods, into a financial institution such as a bank, brokerage house or insurance company. The next phase is layering, in which the proceeds of criminal activity are separated from their origin through the use of layers of complex financial transactions so that tracing the origin of the money is difficult. The third step is integration, which is the "cleaning" of the money by using additional transactions to create the appearance of legally obtained money by purchasing assets.

The United States has several regulations aimed at curbing money laundering, including the Bank Secrecy Act (12 U.S.C. § 1951 et seq.), Money Laundering Control Act of 1986, The Annunzio-Wylie Anti-Money Laundering Act of 1992, the Money Laundering Suppression Act of 1994 and the Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Strategy Act of 1998.

-Birdy

Part II: Druga and Crime

The connection between drugs and crime is reflected in at least three types of crimes:

• Drug-defined crimes, such as the possession, use, or sale of controlled substances, which violates drug laws.
  
  
• Crimes committed by drug users to get money to buy more drugs or crimes committed by persons under the influence of drugs.
  
  
• Organized criminal activities, such as money laundering and political corruption, in support of the drug trade.
  

The decline in the crack market

Crack has played a key role in pushing rates of violent crime up and down. When crack arrived in New York City in 1985, it created a big market for users and dealers. It was sold in small amounts that gave an intense high that required users to constantly find more. Thousands of unskilled, unemployed men from New York's poor inner-city neighborhoods entered the crack business as sellers, and to protect themselves from business competitors, they acquired handguns. Due to the combination of the crack epidemic and the increased firepower of more handguns on the streets, instances of violent crime surged starting in 1985. Crime rates began to fall in 1991. The turning point came when youths began to turn against smoking or selling crack and police stepped up efforts to seize handguns from criminals and juveniles.

A deadly caution

Deadly violence by young people remains a pressing problem. A Department of Justice study shows that while the nation's overall homicide rate fell in 1997 to its lowest level in three decades, the number of firearm homicides by young people is still very high. The report offers no explanation for this discrepancy, but criminologists point to the spread of illegal handguns among young people that began with the start of the crack epidemic around 1985 as a major reason for the continuing high level of violence. The number of firearm homicides committed by those in the U.S. who are 25 and older declined between 1980 and 1997, by about 50 percent. Those crimes committed by adults ages 18–24 actually increased during the period by about the same percentage. The 6,076 killings by this age group in 1997, though fewer than the all-time record of 8,171 gun homicides in 1993, is almost double the number reported in 1976, the year the FBI began compiling such statistics.



Crime is associated with drug use, but drugs usually don't cause crime. First, only a small percentage of burglaries and robberies are drug related. Second, studies of high-rate offenders show that many of them began their criminal careers before using drugs. Most experts agree that even if we could succeed in eliminating drug abuse, there would be only a small reduction in robberies, burglaries, and similar crimes.

The amount of illegal drug use

The 1995 National Household Survey (which collects self-reported information from 4,000 to 9,000 individuals each year) indicates that drug use has declined but that illegal drug use among teenagers (ages 12–17) increased from 1990 to 1995. A second survey, the 1995 Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) program (which collects urine specimens and self-reported data on drug use from arrested persons) reports that a majority of male arrestees in U.S. cities tested positive for drugs.

Drug laws

The first major drug law, the Harrison Act (1914), required persons dealing in opium, morphine, heroin, cocaine, and derivatives of these drugs to register with the federal government. The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act (1970) forms the basis of federal enforcement efforts today. This law sets up five schedules which classify narcotic drugs according to the abuse potential. In 1988, the U.S. Republican leadership stepped up the war on drugs. It passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which substantially increased the penalties for recreational drug users. Other important federal drug laws include the Crime Control Act (1990) and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994). The former doubled the appropriations to state and local communities for drug enforcement and created drug-free school zones by increasing penalties for drug crimes occurring close to schools. The latter provided $245 million for rural anti-crime and drug efforts.

Alcohol abuse and crime

Even though the abuse of alcohol is rarely discussed in the same terms as the use of controlled substances, alcohol abuse has serious consequences for abusers as well as the criminal justice system. First, alcohol is often a factor in the commission of crimes, drunk driving being a prime example. Sometimes the use of alcohol lowers inhibitions and leads to other, serious crimes, such as criminal assaults. Second, the processing of alcohol-related crimes consumes large amounts of criminal justice resources. For example, between 1970 and 1992 arrests for drunk driving soared 200 percent across the United States. Today, police make about one million drunk driving arrests annually, more arrests than for any other crime except drug abuse and larceny-theft. In 20066 police made about 850,000 arrests for public drunkenness, another crime related to alcohol abuse.

Part I, Criminal Offenses

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) designates certain crimes as Part I or index offenses because it considers them to be the major crimes plaguing society in the United States.

• Murder is the unlawful killing of one human being by another. In 2011, 128,541 murders came to the attention of police departments in the United States. First-degree murder is premeditated, deliberate criminal homicide. Second-degree murder is an intentional killing that is generally unplanned and may happen “in the heat of passion.” Firearms are the weapon of choice in most murders. 
   
  
• Forcible rape is “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” Statutory rape differs from forcible rape in that it involves sex with a female who is under majority age. Forcible rape is the least reported of all violent crimes. Estimates are that 40% of all rapes are not reported by the victims.
  
  
• Robbery is the unlawful taking or attempted taking of property that is in the possession of another, by force or the threat of force. Guns are fired in 30% of robberies, US wide. In Canada, Robbery is the most prevalent of all crimes, followed by a variety of other property associated crimes. 
   
  
• Aggravated assault involves the unlawful, intentional inflicting, or attempted or threatened inflicting, of injury upon another person. In an aggravated assault, the perpetrator either uses a weapon or hurts the victim so badly that the victim requires medical assistance. In some States Assault has several definitions, where elements of crimes are either more or less penalized, i.e., Assault 1^st Degree, Assault 2^nd Degree, etc.
  
• Burglary is unlawful entry of a structure, vehicle, or vessel without force, with intent to commit a felony. Now this also includes motor vehicles, which was previously called “car prowl.”
  
  
• Larceny-theft is the unlawful taking or attempted taking of property from the possession of another, by stealth, without force, with intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property. It includes such crimes as shoplifting, pocket picking, purse snatching, and bike stealing. Larceny-theft makes up over 50%of the crime committed annually in the United States, making it the largest crime category. 
   
  
• Motor vehicle theft is the unlawful taking or attempted taking of a vehicle owned by another with the intent to deprive the owner of it. This definition is not to be confused with Car Jacking, which is on the rise in all American States, but is almost nonexistent in Canada, or Europe. 
   
  
• Arson is the burning or attempted burning of property with or without the intent to defraud.
  

Sources of Information on Crime

Two sources of information, compiled by the federal government, provide data on crime in the United States. The FBI produces its annual Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), giving estimates of arrests and crimes reported to the police. The U.S. Justice Department also conducts an annual National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which is the product of an annual random sampling of households. The Victimization Survey picks up crimes not reported to the police.

The UCR

The UCR reports Part I crimes in terms of both crimes known to the police and arrests. Part I crimes are reported in terms of arrests. Part II includes, but is not limited to, some victimless crimes. Since citizens often don't report victimless crimes and police find them difficult to detect, it makes sense to use arrest statistics for information on this type of crime. During 1996, law enforcement agencies made about 15 million arrests for Part II crimes. The highest arrest counts were for drug abuse violations, larceny-thefts, and driving under the influence, each at 1.5 million.

One of the UCR's key features is the Crime Index, which is the sum of Part I crimes for a given year. In 1996, the Crime Index was 13.5 million offenses. Nonviolent property crimes made up almost 90 percent of the total number of index offenses. 
 
The crime rate, or the number of Part I offenses that occurred in a given area for every 100,000 people living in the area, is calculated as follows: total Crime Index divided by population multiplied by 100,000 equals crime rate. The UCR also figures crime rates for specific crimes. For example, the national murder rate in 1997 was 770 murders per 100,000 people. 
 
What does it mean when the official Part I crime rate increases? One or more of three things can be happening:

• More people are committing crimes.
  
  
• Offenders have higher individual crime rates.
  
  
• A higher proportion of crimes committed are being reported or recorded.
  

An advantage of the UCR is that it includes homicides in its calculation of the violent crime rate (which the NCVS by its nature cannot). The main disadvantage of the UCR is that much crime is never reported to the police and never shows up in the UCR. Thus, UCR estimates of the volume and rates of crime are always lower than the actual frequencies of such occurrences because crime is subject to both nonreporting by citizens and nonrecording by the police. Trends in official statistics may be the result of changes in public reporting and police recording practices, not of actual changes in the amount of crime.

The NCVS

The NCVS is an ongoing survey of households that consists of interviews with 100,000 persons in 50,000 households twice each year. It asks residents of the United States about their victimizations from crime and reports on rape, sexual assault, robbery, both simple and aggravated assault, theft, household burglary, and motor vehicle theft. It omits murder and drug crimes. The latter is an important omission because a shift in criminal activity from an included crime (for example, burglary or robbery) to drug dealing would appear as a decrease in the overall crime rate when no actual decrease had occurred. NCVS data reveal the following facts about crime and victimization.

• The actual amount of crime is several times greater than the UCR shows.
  
  
• Crime touches about 23 million households in the United States each year.
  
  
• The total personal cost of crime to victims is about $13 billion each year.
  
  
• The chance of being the victim of a violent crime is much higher for young African-American males than for any other group of the population.
  
  
• Violent criminal victimizations are extremely rare events.
  
  
• Most crimes against individuals are absorbed by the victims without reporting them to the police.
  

Drawbacks to this report are that some people may incorrectly remember events as crimes that were not crimes and the high cost of door-to-door interviewing.

Crime Decreases

One of the bigger myths about crime is that it is always increasing. The 2008 UCR shows that serious crime fell across the nation in 2007, the sixth consecutive annual decrease. Violent crimes declined by 5 %, led by 9 % decreases in murders and robberies. Property crimes declined by 18%, led by an 18 % drop in arson. Similarly, the NCVS shows that the number of violent crimes fell more than 11% in 2005. Violent victimizations dropped from 13.9 million in 2004 to 11.9 million in 2005. Property crimes continued a 20-year pattern of decreasing rates. Why is crime decreasing?

A strong economy

The booming economy of the 2000s has helped to reduce crime rates. It has provided legitimate jobs to some urban young people who had worked in the drug trade.

Changing demographics

The age distribution in the United States has been changing. In 1997, more than 20 million people were between 15 and 19 years old. By 2007, that population group had dropped to 17.5 million. Similar drops have occurred in the 20–24 age group, a group with a high crime potential. Overall, the nation is aging, and older men don't commit as much crime as younger men.

Police manipulation of crime data

Senior police officials around the nation voiced concern in 2008 that the sharp drop in crime in the 1990s had produced pressure on police departments to show ever-decreasing crime statistics. In 20088, charges were leveled against police officials in New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Boca Raton for falsely reporting crime statistics.

A common thread running through many of the incidents of police officials' alteration of crime statistics is that police commanders responded to pressure from politicians, the media, and the public to lower crime rates by downgrading felonies by intentionally mislabeling felonies, such as aggravated assault and burglary, as misdemeanors. Such a practice deflates rates of serious crimes and inflates rates of non serious crimes. Experts say they believe these incidents do not mean that the nationwide drop in crime is illusory. They point to the fact that victimization data, which are not subject to police manipulation, indicate the same downward trend as the FBI's UCR.

How to Avoid Predatory Lending Scams

Although laws are being tightened all the time -- in some states more than others -- the practice of predatory lending is still flourishing. There seems to be no official definition of the term and that, in many cases, the process may actually operate inside the law -- it may be unjust and unfair but it's not always illegal. Frequently, predatory lending occurs in the housing market, charging high-interest rates and fees. But you might encounter it with other kinds of loans, especially those supposedly designed to help get you out of debt or provide a short-term advance.

What is predatory lending, exactly?

In a report issued a few years back, the US General Accounting Office (GAO) explains it involves "charging excessive fees and interest rates without regard to borrowers' ability to repay, refinancing borrowers' loans repeatedly over a short period of time without any economic gain for the borrower, and committing outright fraud or deception -- for example, falsifying documents or intentionally misinforming borrowers about the terms of a loan." 

That's quite a catalog of woes but, says the GAO, there's no detailed statistical information on the scale of the problem. However, there's little doubt that most of the victims are among those who can least afford to be ripped off or those who don't understand the processes, such as some seniors or immigrants. What I also know is that over the past few years, a number of firms have been forced to repay hundreds of millions of dollars for predatory lending practices.

Typical "tricks of the trade" include:

• Deceiving borrowers by offering low interest rates that turn out to be promotional terms that expire after a few months, to be replaced by unreasonably high rates.
  
• This promotional aspect is either not made clear or is hidden in the fine print.
  
• Disregarding predatory lending laws (notably the Truth in Lending Act) that require them to disclose the true annual rate equivalent of a short-term interest rate. A 3% monthly rate, for example works out at more than 42% a year.
  
• Offering consolidation loans, then inflating rates and fees because the borrower is considered a high risk. Sometimes, repayments are made to appear low because the victim repays interest only -- never clearing the debt.
  
• High rates for high risk are not illegal but some consumer groups suggest they often do not fairly reflect the increased risk.
  
• Requiring borrowers to take out high-premium credit insurance in case they can't make payments because of accident or death.
  
• These policies often don't require medical checks, which is why they cost so much, but the premiums (on which the lender earns commission) may become part of the loan so victims can't see how high they are -- plus, they then have to pay interest on them!
  
• Persuading borrowers to make untrue and fraudulent claims in loan applications to increase the likelihood of success.
  

According to another GAO investigation, the number of complaints alleging predatory lending and dubious debt-counseling has doubled since 2007. Some of the firms identified in the study claimed to have religious affiliations or to be part of government debt relief programs, in order to enhance their credibility.

Steps To Avoid Predatory Lending

If you plan to borrow money, being aware that predatory lending practices still exist is an important first step to ensuring you don't get snared by the scammers. 
 
Here are some other measures you can take:

• Educate yourself about the way interest rates are figured. You'll find a number of online calculators that convert monthly interest rates to annual percentage equivalents.
  
• Learn what legal protection your state has enacted. Most states do have their own predatory lending laws, mainly relating to real estate lending and so-called payday loans. Start with your state government website (usually the name of the state followed by ".gov").
• Check out your would-be lender online, with a simple search. If they've been operating illegally or inappropriately, others will likely have already written about them.
  
• Be wary about temptingly low interest rates. Often you'll find you don't qualify or that the rates will quickly ratchet up once you've signed. The old adage about "if it looks too good to be true it probably is" applies here.
  
• Preferably, work with known lenders that have an established reputation -- or seek recommendations from a reliable advisor or family members.
  
• Never agree to make an untrue statement on a loan application.
  
• Never sign a blank or incomplete document that a representative says they will fill in later.
  
• A useful stepping-off point to learn more about this subject and predatory lending in general is Americans for Financial Reform, an independent coalition of national and state organizations.
  
• No matter how much we improve our laws, some people will always be desperate enough to fall for lending con tricks or high interest rates.
  
• But by heeding our advice, talking to reputable and existing lenders, and discussing your needs with family and trusted advisors, there's no need for you ever to fall victim to predatory lending.
  

Always Remember: Once a scam is successful with a few victims, it catches on like a wild-fire, and pretty soon everyone will be fooled before the proper authorities closes it down. Your money is what crooks and other low life pond scum want, even using children to get into your pocket book, if you suspect that something is “just not quite right” don't do it!

-Birdy

10 Tips to Beat the Olive Oil Scam

Americans spend more than $700 million a year on olive oil, but most of that may be money down the drain because of a big-time olive oil scam. As much as two thirds of the high quality olive oil we buy -- and maybe even more -- is not what it says on the bottle. We're being duped into paying premium prices for a poor quality product that may contain little or no olive oil at all. And even if it does, it likely won't be of the quality you think you're paying for. A book published late last year lifted the lid on the great olive oil scam but it's been known for years that, knowingly or unknowingly, the people who sell the stuff to us may be offering a phony product. For example, a report produced in 2010 by UC-Davis found that more than two thirds of common brands of extra virgin olive oil being sold in California were nothing of the sort.  
Sellers of inaccurately labeled oil included one of the biggest names in grocery retailing in the US, though there's no suggestion the store chain knew of the deception. In fact, of the dozens of stores whose sales were analyzed, only six were selling the genuine product.
There are actually hundreds of varieties of olives but only a few main classifications for olive oil, including:

• Extra virgin, which is literally the "juice" of freshly picked olives. It is produced by pressing or a low heat process but, importantly, does not use chemicals of the type employed in the refining of other oils. 
   
  
• Virgin olive oil, produced the same way but comes from riper olives or a second pressing, though it is still wholesome. 
   
  
• Blends -- sometimes referred to as "light" or "pure." That they may be, but they include "refined" olive oil, which usually means some or all of it has been chemically processed. 
   
  
• Poor quality oil, known as "lampante," using the Italian word for lamp oil -- considered unfit for human consumption -- which may be derived from old, rancid olives, often ones that have been lying on the ground for some time, and likely has been chemically processed. 
   
  In fact, lampante often turns up in olive oil mixtures. But, if the oil is phony, it's just as likely to contain mainly a cheap seed oil like sunflower oil.
  

Just last year, two Spanish businessmen were jailed for selling supposed extra virgin olive oil that was, in fact, 75% sunflower oil. And in 2007, some 10,000 cases of labeled olive oil seized by US law enforcement officers were found to contain only soy oil. The popularity of olive oil is due to its supposed health giving properties; it is, after all, the only oil produced in any quantity from fruit rather than nuts or seeds. And the reason for the olive oil scam is simple -- money. Growing, nurturing and harvesting quality olives is an expensive business. So if you can pass off cheap substitutes as the real thing you can make a lot of money. This is the theme Tom Mueller picks up in his book "Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil." 
 
He says that producers are being forced out of business because of the olive oil scam, since they can't compete with the low prices of the phony product. 
 

"The honest people are getting terribly undercut," he said in a recent NPR broadcast. "There's a huge unfair advantage in favor of the bad stuff. At the same time, consumers are being defrauded of the health and culinary benefits of great olive oil."

The crooks and even legitimate producers have many ways to fool the public, apart from simply lying. 
 
For example, labels might imply the oil was produced in Italy when, in fact, it was only bottled there, having been produced say in Africa or the Middle East -- not that there's anything wrong with those sources, but implying the oil is from Italy enables suppliers to charge a premium. Sometimes, the real source may be declared, but buried in the fine print on the label. Furthermore, strict labeling requirements and quality checks in Europe are driving the olive oil scam across the Atlantic where disclosure rules are less stringent. Bad or rancid olive oil does not have the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory elements of olive oil, says Mueller, adding: 

"What (good olive oil) gets you from a health perspective is a cocktail of 200-plus highly beneficial ingredients that explain why olive oil has been the heart of the Mediterranean diet," he says.

"Bad olives have free radicals and impurities, and then you've lost that wonderful cocktail ...that you get from fresh fruit, from real extra-virgin olive oil."

So, is there any way you can tell if you're the victim of an olive oil scam, or even whether you're being intentionally or unintentionally misled by the labeling on a bottle? Well, first you can download that UC-Davis report, and learn more about the content and flavors that contribute to the olive quality - as well as seeing which stores were selling what! Second, you can read the transcript of the NPR interview with author Mueller.

Here are 8 more tips:

• Be suspicious of anything described as extra virgin that costs less than $10 a liter. It likely isn't the real thing (although some prices come close).
  
• Look for the seal of the International Olive Council (IOC) on the label (though, of course, crooks can forge this). Not all products have the seal, but it's a good sign if it's there.
  
• Look for a harvesting date or description on the label, rather the same as you find on wine labels. If there's a date and/or harvest description, it's probably genuine (though, again, this could be forged).
  
• Educate yourself more about olives at the International Olive Council site.
  
• Understand that anything labeled as "light" or "pure" olive oil likely has been processed and is not "virgin" quality.
  
• Opt for California-produced oil. It's less likely to be part of the olive oil scam than something from Italy or other countries.
  
• If you're able to smell the oil before you buy, do so. "It should smell fresh and fruity, without any hint of mustiness," says Mueller.
  
• Shop for oil in dark bottles. A lot of genuine extra virgin oil (excluding the big grocery stores' own brands) is bottled this way to protect the oil from harmful sunlight.
  

Now I don't want to suggest that products that fail to meet the requirements we've listed are necessarily phony. It's just that, on balance, you're more likely to get a genuine product by following these guidelines, sidestepping the possibility of an olive oil scam.

10 Telltale Signs of a Summer Jobs Scam

Summer's here -- and so are the summer jobs scams that go with it. And the bad news is that the further we get into the season, the more likely a temporary job offer will turn out to be a scam. That's because many legitimate summer vacancies have been filled by now. Scammers know this. And they know that students and other temporary job seekers are more desperate to find that elusive employment. Several state Attorneys General have already issued warnings about summer jobs scams and, sadly, the media are full of stories about victims who have either lost a lot of money or have given away personal information that can be used in identity theft.


Here's a rundown of the most common summer jobs scams, how to spot them and actions you can take to avoid getting caught out.

Advance Fee Scams

This is a variation of the well-known check cashing and money wiring scam. In this case, the trick involves receiving a check in connection with a job you've been offered, with a request that you cash it and wire part of it back to the sender or to a third party. This year, to make the job and the check seem more genuine, scammers have taken to passing themselves off as belonging to a religious organization -- notably a pastor traveling around the country -- or summer camp organizer. Victims get a worthless check to cover services they're supposed to perform, like booking venues or events, and must wire the cash to the supposed service provider. 

They deposit the check in their own bank account, withdraw some or all of it and wire the cash to the "provider," who is, of course, the scammer. The check bounces and the victim is out the amount of money they withdrew.

Payment Requests

There have been numerous reports in the past couple of months of bogus employers seeking a payment for drug tests, job uniforms, credit record vetting and other supposed expenses. This may be for a relatively small sum -- $50 is common -- but job seekers who pay by credit card may also leaving themselves open to...

Identity Theft

All sorts of ruses are used to try to fool job applicants into giving up personal information. 
 
For example: Providing credit card information for the sort of payments outlined in the previous item, or simply requesting bank account details and Social Security numbers in application forms or phony job offer letters.

Recurring Phone Charges

This is a real sneaky summer jobs scam. Victims are invited to complete an online application form, which includes a request for a cell phone number. Hidden in the fine print -- or maybe not disclosed at all -- is the fact that what you're really doing is signing up for a monthly subscription service like ringtones or jokes.

Work from Home Scams

This is probably the most common type of job scam. Most of the bogus jobs on offer this summer include forwarding of illegally-obtained goods ("mule" scams) and refund claims (often a variation of the advance fee scam mentioned above).

Doorstep Selling

Students are a popular target for phony door-to-door sales of magazine subscriptions and artworks. 
 
You may actually receive payment in the form of commission to keep you innocently working for the crooks, but you could be selling non-existent products and become entangled with law enforcement.

Telltale Signs of a Summer Jobs Scam

Here are 10 signs that suggest a supposed summer job is really a scam:

1. It looks like easy money -- the pay seems too good to be true.
   
2. The offer is unsolicited -- you haven't even advertised your services or posted on a job site.
   
3. The "employer" doesn't seem interested in your qualifications or background. They don't ask for references or details of past experience.
   
4. The job description is vague. If you ask questions or seek more details, you don't get them.
   
5. The "employer" refuses to meet you and you have no contact details beyond, maybe, a cell phone number.
   
6. Their email address is generic -- that is, it comes from the likes of Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo!, rather than from a company.
   
7. You're asked to provide personal information at a very early stage of the recruitment process.
   
8. The job description or offer is written in poor English, with spelling and grammar mistakes.
   
9. The "employer" claims to be either out of the country or traveling around.
   
10. You have to pay some kind of expenses upfront.
    

How to Avoid a Summer Jobs Scam

Being wary of the points outlined in the previous section should provide you with a firm foundation against being scammed with a bogus job offer. 
 
Four other things you can do are:

1. Check out the supposed employer carefully. Having what appears to be a legitimate website means nothing. Try a search using their name and the word "scam." Ask for a full address and landline phone number plus contact details of other employees. 
   
   
   
2. Simply don't pay in advance for anything. Most, if not all, genuine employers would never ask for this -- and certainly not until the final stages of a job offer. And never, never, never wire payment to someone you don't know. 
    
   
3. Don't supply personal information until you've had a job offer AND you're 100% sure it's genuine. Don't include personal contact information in a job-wanted posting -- instead use a service where replies have to come through the jobs board. 
    
   
4. Read the fine print on any application form or job contract you receive.
   

Do these four things, look out for the telltale signs we have listed, and you should be well placed to defend yourself against summer jobs scams.

Footnote warning!

Tens of thousands of people have fallen victim to a recent identity theft scam that claims a Government stimulus program will pay your utility bills. Victims receive an automated phone call asking for personal information including Social Security Numbers. They subsequently get a check in the mail, which prompts them to tell their friends about it. The check bounces, but by then their friends have already been roped in, which is why the scam has spread like wildfire.


Be forewarned -- and let your friends know: There's no such utility bills stimulus program.

Golden Rules to Protect Yourself Against Scams

There are hundreds of things you might do to protect yourself from scams and, as some of my loyal readers know, it seems not a week goes by that I don't see a scam in process. In fact, there are so many it's very difficult to remember them all. But what if I could distill all that advice into just a few "golden rules" that would pretty much guarantee you won't get caught in a scam? That's what I have set out to do here -- boiling down the lessons into just these tips, viz., golden rules to protect yourself and others from becoming a victim of the myriad of scams going on today, so read on!

Before I start though, it's important to point out that sometimes, by following them, you may end up rejecting perfectly honest approaches and very good opportunities. My aim is to keep you out of trouble. And, if you observe these rules to protect yourself from scams, adding just a dash of common sense, you'll almost certainly do that.

Don't buy or invest in something that seems too good to be true

It's one of the oldest tricks in the book -- offering a beautiful bargain that seems almost irresistible. Sadly, these days, you can't even trust someone you believe you should -- whether that's a "friend," a relative or an investment adviser. They may be up to no good or they may have been scammed themselves. 
 
Exception: A seller you know well.

Don't accept that someone is who they say they are

Don't allow someone, whom you didn't request or invite, to come into your home. Do not open your door! Even if someone phones to arrange a visit, always find or check their number independently. Or if someone on our doorstep says it's an emergency -- like the need for a bathroom visit or to make an urgent call. Do not let them enter your residence! Wherever you encounter them, remember that an introduction, or a business or identity card proves nothing. Nor does a vehicle with a name on it. Or a phone call that sounds like it comes from someone you know.

Don't spend money to get or earn money

This applies, for example, to lotteries, other supposed competition wins or inheritances, and people claiming they want to share money they won or found. Don't pay in advance for debt restructuring, job "opportunities" or promises of tax savings. Don't pay for training "kits" or supplies for work-from-home programs unless you know, for sure, they work. This is another very old scam.

Don't buy/rent from someone you don't know or haven't checked out

This may seem harsh but it's especially important when making an online purchase. There are so many phony websites, door-to-door traders, contractors, directories, home rentals, etc. It's a simple matter to check them out in the phone book or by doing a Google, Yahoo! or Bing online search on the company name. Seek references. What do others say about them? And NEVER give any card information to strangers, unless you have checked them out, even if they seem legitimate, don't do it!

Protect yourself and your confidential information

Don't give it out in response to an inquiry that you didn't initiate. Use services like PayPal, one-off credit card numbers (from your card provider) and prepaid debit cards to limit your exposure to card fraud. When buying online, check for "https" in the address line. If that "s" is not there, don't give any information and don't buy. And leave your Social Security card and unneeded credit/store cards at home. There is always a chance that someone, somewhere will appropriate one of your unused credit cards or a piece of your identification. Woo is he who carries with him stuff that he does not need.

Don't make hasty decisions

No matter how persuasive an offer seems or how much a rep insists you need to agree on a deal now to get a discount, don't do it! Never agree to buy something on the spot, especially at your front door or in response to a telemarketing call. An honest person would allow you time to think over an offer. An exception might be an advertised limited-time offer, but even some of these are phony. Always be sure that you know the seller, even them take time to consider the merchandise before making an 'on the spot' decision. Caution is the best policy.

Only donate to charities you know

Don't give money to panhandlers or doorstep collectors. Don't donate to store collection boxes or "tin-rattlers" unless you know for sure their cause is genuine. I encourage you to donate to charities but send your money directly to them, and then only after checking them out. Remember that scammers will do almost anything to get at your hard earned cash, including stooping so far as forming a bogus charity.

Use reputable security software on your PC and keep it up to date

Opt for products with "Internet Security" or similar wording rather than straight anti-virus programs -- and preferably ones that integrate with your web browser. Regularly check that you're using the latest version and that it automatically updates its malware definitions, such as Norton, which I highly recommend. Ignore pop-ups and other warnings that your machine is infected that don't come from this program. And never pay more money in response to such warnings.

Don't click on links and attachments in unsolicited, unchecked messages or social networks

You can't trust the sender or poster, even if you know them. I am sure you'll be tempted to do so sometimes but if you absolutely want to avoid all risks, just don't. Otherwise, if you really must, or it's something like an e-card greeting, write to the sender and confirm they sent it before doing anything else. Remember, a scammer would like nothing better than to get at your personal information – even on your own computer, programs like keylogger, mertz, and granheim, can be loaded into a simple message or link, implant itself on your computer... Need I say more?

Never wire cash

Unless you're sending money to someone you know, don't use electronic cash transfer services. And never send partial refunds from "overpayment" or "secret shopper" checks you received. 
 
Oftentimes scammers target children, seniors or other vulnerable people. If you have such people in your family, do everything you can to make them aware of the risks, and to protect them. First, as I always advise, you can avoid most scams just by being a natural skeptic. Start from the position that what you're being told or offered, or the web page you landed on, might be a scam; that way, you'll actually spot most of them. Then, assume that the more a person tries to convince you it's a great deal, the more likely it is a scam! 
 
As I have said, some of these rules might seem a little harsh and you might want to temper them with a little bit of common sense. But be warned: The more you do, the more likely you are to become a scam victim. To truly protect yourself from scams, play it safe! Caution, it seems, is the best advice that I can give you.