Category: Scams & Your Rights
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About 300 victims in 37 states handed cash and gold bars to couriers after fake bank and Federal Reserve calls, and the man who hired the couriers pleaded guilty
The warning popped up on a computer screen, styled to look like it came from a well-known technology company: the machine had been hacked, a bank account was compromised, or the user was under investigation. Victims were told to call a “live agent.” That opening move drew about 300 victims in at least 37 states…
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Javed Ashiq got 14 years for collecting gold bars and cash from an elderly victim whom fake FTC agents talked into buying gold to protect their savings
Javed Ashiq will spend the next 14 years in federal prison for picking up gold bars and cash from an elderly victim on behalf of callers who posed as Federal Trade Commission agents. Judge Dudley H. Bowen sentenced the 52-year-old Decatur, Georgia, man to 168 months, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District…
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Merrill Edge retirement savers whose cash sat in Merrill’s sweep program from late 2016 to March 2020 would share a proposed $39 million settlement with no claim form
Merrill Lynch has agreed to pay $39 million to settle claims that it paid almost nothing in interest on cash swept out of Merrill Edge retirement accounts, and no one has to file a claim form to be included. The stipulation of settlement was filed September 30 in federal court in Manhattan, and InvestmentNews reported…
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A Puerto Rico bank chairman got 62 months for causing more than $23.6 million in losses at his own bank
Juan Francisco Ramirez, 60, of Miami, used the bank he chaired to fund his own investments, mortgages and credit card bills, and on Oct. 7 a federal judge in the Southern District of Florida sentenced him to 62 months in prison. Prosecutors say the scheme cost Nodus International Bank at least $23,613,371. Ramirez, the former…
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Players of myVEGAS, Pop! Slots and other Playstudios games in six states get game coins, not cash, from a settlement unless they file an election form by Oct. 21
Anyone who spent money on myVEGAS, Pop! Slots or another Playstudios game in one of six states is covered by a class settlement that pays in game coins unless the player files an election form by October 21. The choice is spelled out on the settlement website, which says players who do nothing “will receive…
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About 2.76 million living military-affiliated people had Social Security numbers exposed in a Pentagon personnel-records breach, and 12 months of free credit monitoring is offered
Letters dated September 18 are telling millions of people with ties to the U.S. military that unauthorized users got into a Pentagon personnel system and reached files holding their Social Security numbers. About 2.76 million living people are affected, along with roughly 294,000 who have died, according to FEDweek’s report on the notices. Affiliate links…
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Western Union scam victims who wired money to fraudsters from 2004 to early 2020 can petition for refunds through the end of 2026 in the Justice Department’s final phase
The Justice Department has opened the third and final round of its Western Union fraud compensation program, and anyone who wired money to a scammer through the company between January 1, 2004 and March 9, 2020 has until December 31, 2026 to ask for money back. The petition window reopens even for people who never…
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AIDS Healthcare Foundation will pay $1.44 million over alleged invalid Medicare Advantage diagnosis codes
The case began with someone who coded patient diagnoses for a living. Donna Irons, a former risk adjustment coder at AIDS Healthcare Foundation, is the whistleblower behind a False Claims Act lawsuit that ended Oct. 6 with the Los Angeles nonprofit agreeing to pay $1.44 million, the Justice Department said. The government alleges that AHF…
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Dr. Squatch buyers from November 2018 through August 2026 can claim from a natural-labeling settlement until Nov. 27
Soap, shampoo and deodorant sold as “natural” are at the center of a $9 million settlement, and anyone who bought Dr. Squatch products between November 1, 2018 and August 29, 2026 can file a claim by November 27, 2026. The company denies the allegations. The case, Guzman et al. v. Dr. Squatch, LLC, is pending…
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A former federal employee pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to taking about $194 million in government funds through a made-up secret program
Agents who searched a Virginia home in May say they found 298 gold bars. On Oct. 6, the man who lived there, David J. Rush, 49, of Ashburn, pleaded guilty in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia to executing a scheme to defraud the federal government, the Justice Department announced. Prosecutors say Rush…