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An advance-fee scam is a form of fraud and is one of the most common types of confidence tricks. The scam typically involves promising the victim a significant share of a large sum of money, in return for a small up-front payment, which the fraudster claims will be used to obtain the large sum. If a victim makes the payment, the fraudster either invents a series of further fees for the victim to pay or simply disappears.
Scam baiting is a form of internet vigilantism primarily used towards advance-fee fraud, IRS impersonation scam, technical support scams, pension scams, and consumer financial fraud.
Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. federal crimes. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity crosses interstate or international borders.
Email fraud is intentional deception for either personal gain or to damage another individual by means of email. Almost as soon as email became widely used, it began to be used as a means to defraud people. Email fraud can take the form of a "con game", or scam. Confidence tricks tend to exploit the inherent greed and dishonesty of its victims. The prospect of a 'bargain' or 'something for nothing' can be very tempting. Email fraud, as with other 'bunco schemes,' usually targets naive individuals who put their confidence in schemes to get rich quickly. These include 'too good to be true' investments or offers to sell popular items at 'impossibly low' prices. Many people have lost their life savings due to fraud.
Insurance fraud is any act committed to defraud an insurance process. It occurs when a claimant attempts to obtain some benefit or advantage they are not entitled to, or when an insurer knowingly denies some benefit that is due. According to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, the most common schemes include premium diversion, fee churning, asset diversion, and workers compensation fraud. Perpetrators in the schemes can be insurance company employees or claimants. False insurance claims are insurance claims filed with the fraudulent intention towards an insurance provider.
Benefit fraud is a form of welfare fraud as found within the system of government benefits paid to individuals by the welfare state in the United Kingdom.
A scam letter is a document, distributed electronically or otherwise, to a recipient misrepresenting the truth with the aim of gaining an advantage in a fraudulent manner.
In California, the Employment Development Department (EDD) is a department of the state government that administers Unemployment Insurance (UI), Disability Insurance (DI), and Paid Family Leave (PFL) programs. The department also provides employment service programs and collects the state's labor market information and employment data. EDD is one of California's three major taxation agencies, alongside California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and the Franchise Tax Board. In addition to collecting unemployment insurance taxes, the department administers the reporting, collection, and enforcement of the state's personal income taxes.
Disability fraud is the receipt of payment(s) intended for disabled people from a government agency or private insurance company by one who should not be receiving them, or the receipt of a higher amount than one is entitled to. There are various acts that may constitute disability fraud. These include feigning a medical problem in order to be declared disabled, exaggeration of an existing medical problem that potentially can but in reality does not render the person disabled, continuing to receive payments after having recovered from a medical problem, or continuing to receive payments while working above the allowable level for those receiving the payments.
Accounting scandals are business scandals which arise from intentional manipulation of financial statements with the disclosure of financial misdeeds by trusted executives of corporations or governments. Such misdeeds typically involve complex methods for misusing or misdirecting funds, overstating revenues, understating expenses, overstating the value of corporate assets, or underreporting the existence of liabilities. It involves an employee, account, or corporation itself and is misleading to investors and shareholders.
Health care fraud includes "snake oil" marketing, health insurance fraud, drug fraud, and medical fraud. Health insurance fraud occurs when a company or an individual defrauds an insurer or government health care program, such as Medicare or equivalent State programs. The manner in which this is done varies, and persons engaging in fraud are always seeking new ways to circumvent the law. Damages from fraud can be recovered by use of the False Claims Act, most commonly under the qui tam provisions which rewards an individual for being a "whistleblower", or relator (law).
Lottery fraud is any act committed to defraud a lottery game. A perpetrator attempts to win a jackpot prize through fraudulent means. The aim is to defraud the organisation running the lottery of money, or in the case of a stolen lottery ticket, to defraud an individual of their legitimately won prize.
Unemployment insurance in the United States, colloquially referred to as unemployment benefits, refers to social insurance programs which replace a portion of wages for individuals during unemployment. The first unemployment insurance program in the U.S. was created in Wisconsin in 1932, and the federal Social Security Act of 1935 created programs nationwide that are administered by state governments. The constitutionality of the program was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1937.
Welfare fraud is the act of illegally using state welfare systems by knowingly withholding or giving information to obtain more funds than would otherwise be allocated.
Obinwanne Okeke also known as Invictus Obi is a Nigerian entrepreneur and convicted fraudster who is currently serving a ten-year prison sentence in the United States for internet fraud that caused $11M losses to his victims. After initially pleading guilty, on February 16, 2021, Okeke was sentenced to ten years in prison. Until his arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation following a 13-month investigation, Okeke was a globally-renowned businessman who had investments in oil and gas, agriculture, private equity, alternative energy, telecom and real estate. He operated his holdings under the 'Invictus Group'. Invictus Group operated in three African countries including Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia. He holds a master's degree in International business and Counter-terrorism from Monash University, Australia.
The Washington State Employment Security Department is a government agency for the U.S. state of Washington that is tasked with management of the unemployment system. It was established by the Washington State Legislature in 1947, replacing an earlier system. The department has been led by commissioner Suzan G. LeVine, who was formerly U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, since 2018.
Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, commonly known as Hushpuppi, Hush, or Ray Hushpuppi is a Nigerian former Instagram influencer and convicted felon. He was sentenced in the United States to 11 years for conspiracy to launder money obtained from business email compromise frauds and other scams, including schemes that defrauded a US law firm of about $40 million, illegally transferred $14.7 million from a foreign financial institution, and targeted to steal $124 million from an English Premier League club.
An SSA impersonation scam, or SSA scam, is a class of telecommunications fraud and scam which targets citizens of the United States by impersonating personnel of the Social Security Administration. SSA scams are typically initiated by pre-recorded messages, or robocalls, which are designed to panic the victim so that they follow the scammer's instructions. In 2018, over 35,000 incidences of SSA scam robocalls were reported to the Better Business Bureau, and the total losses of victims added up to over $10 million. It is believed that approximately 47% of Americans were subject to an SSA impersonation scam robocall during a three-month period in mid- to late 2020, and that 21% of seniors were targeted by at least three SSA scam robocalls in the same time period.
References
Sources
- Ken Dilanian; Kit Ramgopal; Chloe Atkins (August 15, 2001). "'Easy money': How international scam artists pulled off an epic theft of Covid benefits". NBC News.
- "The Nigerian Fraudsters Ripping Off the Unemployment System". Wired . August 15, 2021.
Security researchers have spotted the "Scattered Canary" group scamming vital benefits programs amid the Covid-19 pandemic
- Podkul, Cezary (July 26, 2021), How Unemployment Insurance Fraud Exploded During the Pandemic, ProPublica
- Roberts, Paul (May 17, 2021), Nigerian man who allegedly participated in scam stealing $650M from Washington state arrested in New York, The Seattle Times – via Spokesman-Review (Spokane)
- Massive fraud against state unemployment insurance programs, United States Secret Service Global Investigative Operations Center (GIOC), May 14, 2020, GIOC reference #20-027-1
- New, Brian (May 26, 2021), Nigerian Cybercriminal Gang Targets Texas Unemployment System, Dallas-Fort Worth: KTVT
- Malcolm, Kim; Hurst, Andy (April 14, 2021), Washington state auditor's report details unemployment fraud, Seattle: KUOW
- La Corte, Rachel (May 28, 2020). "Washington recovers $300M in fraudulent unemployment claims". Associated Press – via ABC News.
Washington officials say the state has recovered $300 million paid to criminals who used stolen personal information to file fraudulent unemployment benefit claims...Much of it apparently went to a West African fraud ring ... dubbed Scattered Canary.
- Geranios, Nicholas K. (December 18, 2020). "Audit: Inadequate control to prevent state unemployment scam". Associated Press.
[A] slew of illegal unemployment insurance claims last spring totaled about $600 million and grew into the largest fraud in state history, the Washington State Auditor said Friday....Much of the money apparently went to a West African fraud ring...dubbed Scattered Canary.