Last week, my cell phone started ringing incessantly. By “incessantly,” I mean every two seconds. The numbers that came through were not 10-digit numbers, but sometimes 15-to-20 digits. When I answered, the call disconnected. I called Verizon and was told there ...

Tagged with: advice Bank of America consumer protection criminal law fraud hacker online password phone scam security verizon

Call me behind the times (actually, please don’t), but I hadn’t heard of smishing until 6:24 this morning, when I received a text message from “Wal-Mart,” directing me to a website and offering me a $1,000 gift card. A little ...

Tagged with: identity theft scam text message Wal-mart

ROCKVILLE — A Virginia man is accused of ripping off several Maryland homeowners by falsely promising home improvement work. Montgomery County Police say Karl Leroy Davis, of Alexandria, would meet with homeowners, promise to make home improvements and then cash ...

Tagged with: crime district court fraud gaithersburg home-improvement homeowners maryland Montgomery County Police rockville scam silver spring virginia

NEWARK, N.J. — Immigration services scams are getting so sophisticated that fraudsters now advertise online with websites that perfectly mimic those of official government agencies, federal officials said Thursday as they rolled out a nationwide awareness campaign meant to combat ...

Tagged with: campaign federal trade commission immigration scam united states

I took a long walk through my neighborhood over the weekend. Many of my neighbors still have Halloween decorations on their lawns. I saw fake spider webs, witches, ghosts, tombstones and signs posted warning passersby of vampires, mummies and goblins. ...

Tagged with: advice bank checks deposits email google halloween lawyer scam website

MIAMI — Federal authorities charged more than 100 doctors, nurses and physical therapists in nine cities with Medicare fraud Thursday, part of a massive nationwide bust that snared more suspects than any other in history. More than 700 law enforcement ...

Tagged with: arrest Attorney General Eric Holder fraud Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius investigation medicaid medicare miami scam

Frustratingly, foreclosure remains a persistent problem for residents of Central Maryland, especially Baltimore City. In the first half of 2010, there were 3,663 foreclosures filings in Baltimore compared to 2,853 filings for the first half of 2009. With changes in ...

Tagged with: foreclosure scam