White-Collar Crime

Former GSA Official and Husband Plead Guilty In Nepotism Scheme ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former senior official with the General Services Administration and her husband pleaded guilty today to engaging in a nepotism scheme in which they conspired to fraudulently obtain employment from the U.S. government and private federal contractors. According to the statement of facts filed with their plea agreements, Helen Renee Ballard, 51, and Robert S. Ballard, 56, both of Brandywine, Maryland, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make false statements to the United States. Helen Renee Ballard (aka Renee Ballard) was the Director of the Central Office Contracting ... Read more

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco Speaks at the American Bar Association National Institute on White Collar Crime Remarks as prepared for delivery Introduction Good morning, and many thanks for that kind introduction.  Thank you for the invitation to address you today, and congratulations for hosting the 31st annual American Bar Association (ABA) White Collar Crime conference. Twenty-eight years ago, I started as a prosecutor at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, and almost a decade later, I joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.  I was fortunate as a young lawyer to ... Read more

The Federal Trade Commission has reported identity theft as the top consumer complaint, affecting millions of Americans each year. Seniors are particularly vulnerable, and identity theft affecting seniors rose 200%. Seniors are appealing targets because they generally have higher credit lines, home equity, and more savings than young people. Seniors are also easy targets for e-mail fraud, and charity fraud. Internet scams will often instruct a senior to access their bank account online in order to “correct an error”. Most of the time, seniors will be asked to click on a link inside the e-mail, and they will be taken ... Read more

Women and men both commit, and are victims of, crimes but are their perspectives, understandings and interpretations of crime (either as victim or perpetrator likely to be different)? How and why – or even if – is a matter of debate; theorising on these matters is difficult depending on the perspective of the researcher. Men and women also commit violence but their motivations are likely to be different; men may do so to assert their dominance over a situation, a territory, or person; to ensure that their masculinity is not in doubt. Women may do so in defence of their ... Read more

Investment Fraud is a personal financial action executed by a broker without your consent, and you can denounce it, with the help of a lawyer. Preventing Securities Fraud – How to Protect Yourself Investment fraud is not limited to stock frauds and securities fraud. Instead, it spans a wide spectrum of scams that include invention scams and rare item investment scams. The scope of investment scams has reached epic proportions with millions of dollars being fraudulently stolen from consumers each year. If you want to protect yourself from investment frauds and scams that you need to learn how to identify ... Read more

Rio Olympics Cyber Scams, Hacking Election Polls: This Week’s Top Mobile News, Security Edition A Rio Olympics mobile travel advisory is in effect. Travelers to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, be on the lookout for free Wi-Fi network scams and malicious apps. Mobile security company Skycure identified fake Wi-Fi networks in Rio and fake Olympics apps that are ready to steal your data. Read about it at Slate. Cybercriminals now want your health records. What’s worth more than stolen credit card information? Stolen social security numbers from health records. In 2015, more than 100 million health records were ... Read more

From 2014 to 2015, tech support scams increased by 200%, according to cybersecurity leader Symantec in their 2016 Internet Security Threat Report. Throwing around scary cybersecurity terms like “malware,” scammers try to frighten victims on the phone and convince them that their computer and personal information are at risk. Acting like an expert from a trusted organization, the caller then persuades the victim to download an application or visit a site to resolve the issue, actually delivering ransomware to the unaware victim’s computer. Here’s an example of a tech support scam I recently experienced during the workday (and how I gracefully ... Read more

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to any object or device which connects to the Internet to automatically send and/or receive data. As more businesses and homeowners use web-connected devices to enhance company efficiency or lifestyle conveniences, their connection to the Internet also increases the target space for malicious cyber actors. Similar to other computing devices, like computers or Smartphones, IoT devices also pose security risks to consumers. The FBI is warning companies and the general public to be aware of IoT vulnerabilities cybercriminals could exploit, and offers some tips on mitigating those cyber threats. What are some IoT devices? ... Read more

BUSINESS E-MAIL COMPROMISE: THE 3.1 BILLION DOLLAR SCAM This Public Service Announcement (PSA) is an update to the Business E-mail Compromise (BEC) information provided in Public Service Announcements (PSA) 1-012215-PSA and 1-082715a-PSA. This PSA includes new Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) complaint information and updated statistical data. DEFINITION BEC is defined as a sophisticated scam targeting businesses working with foreign suppliers and/or businesses that regularly perform wire transfer payments. The scam is carried out by compromising legitimate business e-mail accounts through social engineering or computer intrusion techniques to conduct unauthorized transfers of funds. Most victims report using wire transfers as ... Read more

Georgia Trader Pleads Guilty To Largest Known Computer Hacking And Trading Scheme More Than 150,000 Press Releases Stolen from Three Major Newswire Companies Used to Generate Approximately $30 Million in Illegal Trading Profits Earlier today, Leonid Momotok, of Suwanee, Georgia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in an international scheme to hack into three business newswires and steal yet-to-be published press releases containing non-public financial information that was then used to make trades that generated approximately $30 million in illegal profits.  The guilty plea was entered before United States Magistrate Judge Ramon E. Reyes, Jr. ... Read more

Defendants Charged with Participating in Sophisticated International Cell Phone Fraud Scheme Criminal charges were unsealed against multiple defendants relating to their participation in a sophisticated global cell phone fraud scheme, involving the takeover or compromise of cell phone customers’ accounts and the “cloning” of their phones to make fraudulent international calls. U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office made the announcement. Ramon Batista, aka Porfirio, 49, of Orlando, Florida; Edwin ... Read more

New York City Pharmacy Owner Arrested For $8.5 Million Fraud As Part Of Largest National Medicare Fraud Takedown In History Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Diego Rodriguez, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Scott J. Lampert, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced today that SAJID JAVED was charged with participating in a health care fraud scheme that used nine pharmacies in Brooklyn and Queens, New York, through which JAVED submitted more ... Read more

National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in Charges against 301 Individuals for Approximately $900 Million in False Billing Most Defendants Charged and Largest Alleged Loss Amount in Strike Force History Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell announced today an unprecedented nationwide sweep led by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in 36 federal districts, resulting in criminal and civil charges against 301 individuals, including 61 doctors, nurses and other licensed medical professionals, for their alleged participation in health care fraud schemes involving approximately $900 million in false billings.  Twenty-three state ... Read more

According to the Federal trade Commission (FTC), there are around 10 million reported cases of identity theft each year in the United States. A recent report by Eugene Kaspersky, founder and head analyst of Kaspersky Labs (a leading internet security company), indicates that the level of criminal activity on the internet has doubled in the past year, and there is reason to believe this trend will continue to grow exponentially in the future. Cyber crime has become a serious problem for everyone who uses the internet. The biggest threats to all internet users are malicious software programs known as crimeware ... Read more

The cell phone has revolutionized the way communications take place in today’s culture.The world of Star Trek has reached beyond the big screen to become a modern day technological tool that has made wireless communication a common day occurrence for millions of people. No longer are consumers bound to hard-wired telephones of years past, the cellular phone has made it possible to communicate with just about anyone, anywhere.Advances in technology have taken cell phones from the size of a brick to the size of a credit card, and now incorporates a host of new features, including Internet-enabled cameras that capture ... Read more

Identity theft is on the increase. Fraudsters are continuously looking for ingenious ways to steal your identity and use this for fraudulent purposes. Sometimes without even realising, you might find yourself in circumstances and situations that put your identity at risk. Having someone else use your personal details, assume your identity, steal your money, and / or commit fraud in your name is not a position you want to find yourself in. Having your identity stolen can be both financially and emotionally devastating. Therefore, it is in your best interest to be protected and we have provided you with some ... Read more

Scams are an old story that’s written anew every day. Some scams have been around for at least a century, such as the Spanish prisoner scam, which has evolved into the Nigerian letter scam of today. Many newer scams utilize the latest in technological advancements to make it ever easier to part fools from their money. And not just fools-careful, intelligent people also fall prey to the many scams that pervade our everyday life. Scam artists, the rare criminals justifiably referred to as “artists,” often have a knowledge of psychology that would make Sigmund Freud proud. These criminals know just ... Read more

White collar crime is a unique type of crime that is considered to be different in many ways from the more traditional, usually violent “blue collar” crimes. The term was coined by Professor Edwin Hardin Sutherland in 1939 to describe crimes committed by professionals in the workplace. “White collar” refers to the white, collared shirts typically worn by people in administrative, business, and managerial positions. These crimes are typically nonviolent and frequently involve an abuse of power to steal money for personal gain. Types of Crime These business-related crimes come in many forms. Any individual who gains money through unlawful ... Read more

Technological advancements have always been a boon and a bane for human kind. There are always some people who misuse and exploit technology and create serious problems for the rest of the population. One such invention is the computer that has become an integral part of each person’s life in the recent years. There is a growing dependence on the computers not only by the common man but also by almost all commercial and professional agencies. It is widely used by the security and intelligence forces as well as research centers. The widespread use of this device has also led ... Read more

What to do if you have been affected? Talk Talk hacked The phone and broadband provider Talk Talk which has over 4 million UK customers have that said banking details and personal information could have been accessed by hackers in a recent cyber attack.  Credit card, bank account details, names, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses and telephone numbers could all have been accessed by hackers according to Talk Talk. The Metropolitan Police are investigating the attack and have said no-one has been arrested. TalkTalk said: “We would like to reassure you that we take any threat to the security ... Read more