The case of barbecue and the restaurant con
Who loves barbecue? Scammers love barbecue, that’s who. Well, scammers and me, but I’m actually going to pay for mine.
Tom Caulfield, who owns Chubby’s, a joint dedicated to the food up in Emmitsburg , obviously loves barbecue, too.
What he’s not so hot on is that he’s been called six times by crooks trying to cheat him out of his hard-earned cash.
What’s unusual about this case, although not unheard of in the annals of conmanship, is how the scam is conducted.
I’ve written a lot about advance fee fraud, and what Caulfield has experienced is along the same lines. What’s particularly insidious about what the scammers were trying to do in Caulfield’s was the use of TTY to make the call — a service meant to make it easier for deaf, hard of hearing and speech-impaired people to communicate.
In brief, the TTY system allows a user via a terminal to type a request to a relay operator, who acts as the intermediary between the deaf caller and hearing recipient.
According to a news release from the Better Business Bureau back in 2004, this has become common practice:
“Overseas con artists have discovered the phone company’s TTY service and are using it to swindle hundreds of businesses out of thousands of dollars in expensive merchandise.”
Why TTY? For one thing, no accent, which is a dead giveaway (most of these cons generate out of Nigeria). For another, TTY shields the caller’s identity. Caulfield has talked to TTY operators who said they can’t do anything about such cons, even though they know the intent behind them.
That the service is for the deaf, hard of hearing and speech impaired, also elicits sympathy from the targeted business.
Caulfield got the first call of the several he received about two years ago, he said. The method has been the same each time, he said. Callers allege to be female, give American names, and are short, sweet and to the point in their requests. They asked each and every time if Caulfield could cater a lunch for 300: Always 300, he said and always for an event within four weeks.
To pay for the catering, the scammer offers a credit card number (from a list of stolen or randomly generated numbers).
Here’s where they make their money (and you may remember this from a few weeks back when I wrote about a similar scam attempted on Club Dogz): The caller asks the businessman or woman to pay for the delivery service out of the amount paid.
In Caulfield’s case, the callers asked him to send the money via Western Union to an address “she” gave him. This is the advance fee fraud at work.
“An advanced tip, an advanced anything, is sticking a fork in your eye,” Caulfield said.
In other cases of this con, where it’s merchandise, the scam is simpler, because sometimes, after the card has cleared, the goods get sent on. It’s only after vendors find out the card is no good and the merchandise has disappeared that they find out they’ve been had.
And the con artists can be pretty relentless.
“The thing that’s weird is you get a call back the same day,” he said. “You’d think they’d say, ‘Scratch this one,’ but they don’t know, they just have a list of numbers.”
Caulfield called me about what he’s been going through to get the word out, especially to mom-and-pop stores like his.
“Given the (economic) situation out there, there’s some mighty desperate people out there whose guards are anything but up,” and could fall prey to the con, he said.
Some BBB tips to keep your business safe:
- If the customer is using a TTY Relay Operator ask the customer for his/her full name, address and telephone number.
- Ask the customer to provide the name of the issuing bank and its toll-free customer service number as printed on the back of all credit cards.
- Ask the customer for the three- or four-digit Card Verification Code that is found near the account number on the back or front of a credit card.
- Tell the buyer that you will check with the bank and call them back. When you do that, keep good notes. Verify all information the buyer gives. If a buyer objects, explain that these procedures are for their protection, as well.
- If the caller still objects to providing any of the above information, abandon the conversation and advise that you are not prepared to do business this way.
- If the buyer insists on paying with a certified check, wait until the funds are in your bank account before shipping the merchandise.
Cliff Cumber is the assistant city editor at The Frederick News-Post. Frederick Watchdog can be contacted by e-mailing watchdog@newspost.com or following on Twitter at twitter.com/FNPwatchdog.
- Written by Clifford G. Cumberof the News-Post Staff, 3/15/10. Original post at http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=102470.
Security Alert: U.S. Census Scam
| NewsEmergency.com
SECURITY ALERT: U. S. Census Scam |
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Here are some tips to help you recognize fraudulent activity or unofficial data collections.If you are contacted for any Do Not Participate. It is NOT the U.S. Census Bureau.
‘Phishing’ is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, social security numbers, bank account or credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Phishing is typically carried out by email and it often directs users to enter sensitive information at a fake web site whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one. Other Scams:
How to report scams and bogus Census web sitesIf you believe you have been contacted as part of bogus or fraudulent activity falsely representing the Census Bureau:
Is your survey legitimate?You may further verify if a collection activity is legitimate by calling your regional census office regarding mail surveys, and our National Processing Center for phone surveys. Other questions may be answered through ourAre You In a Survey? page. From the U. S. Census Bureau- Fraudulent Activity and Scams
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Source:
http://www.emergencyemail.org/newsemergency/anmviewer.asp?a=489&z=29
Beware of mailings focusing on senior citizens and the deaf community
By Tony Rizzo and Joe Lambe, The Kansas City Star, 2/1/10
Law enforcement agencies Monday were warning the public — especially the deaf community and senior citizens — about two suspicious mailings seeking money and personal information.
The FBI is warning senior citizens about an official-looking survey that seeks money and personal financial information.
Although not labeling it a scam, the bureau said the mailing is not connected to the U.S. census or any other federal agency, although it looks similar to a legitimate census document.
The mailing purports to be a “2010 Census of Senior Citizens” and asks recipients to answer survey questions and says the results will be shared with the president of the United States. Questions concern health care and other senior-related issues.
It solicits donations ranging from $15 to $25 so additional surveys can be sent to other senior citizens. It also asks for credit card information if people want to donate.
“It is not the official census, and the census would never ask to send money,” said FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton. “As always, we caution providing any personal and or financial information to unverified entities.”
Patton said the FBI doesn’t know of anyone in the Kansas City area having provided money, but it wants people to be aware.
“If you did not initiate the contact, be very cautious about providing any personally identifying information or financial information,” Patton said.
Also on Monday, Johnson County prosecutors warned that thieves are focusing on deaf persons in letters or an Internet scam.
Victims are told they are on a special list to get government money, said Steve Howe, Johnson County district attorney.
Included in the response is a request for name, address, occupation, sex, date of birth and e-mail address with a password, he said.
That information allows scammers access to personal account information, Howe said.
He asks that people report such letters or e-mails to fraud teams at Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL or Google. If you think you have been a victim, Howe says to call the Johnson County prosecutor’s consumer hot line at 913-715-3003.
To reach Tony Rizzo, call 816-234-4435 or send e-mail to trizzo@kcstar.com.
- Thanks to NVRC, Fairfax
Twenty-six Charged in Nationwide Scheme to Defraud the FCC’s Video Relay Service Program Arrests Made in Nine States
Department of Justice press release 11/19/09
Indictments were unsealed today against 26 people charged with engaging in a scheme to steal millions of dollars from the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Video Relay Service (VRS) program, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Joseph Persichini Jr., Deputy Chief Postal Inspector Zane Hill, and FCC Chief of Staff Edward Lazarus.
Arrests were made today by FBI agents and Postal Inspectors in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Maryland, and were the result of a joint FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and FCC Office of Inspector General (FCC-OIG) investigation into a nationwide scheme to defraud the FCC’s VRS program.
“The individuals charged in connection with today’s operation are alleged to have stolen tens of millions of dollars from an important government program that is intended to help deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans communicate with hearing persons,” said Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer. “These defendants are alleged to have generated fraudulent call minutes by making it appear that deaf Americans were engaging in legitimate calls with hearing persons, when in reality, the defendants were simply attempting to steal money from an FCC program that is funded by every single American who pays their telephone bills. The Department of Justice will not stand by and let corporate executives and others line their pockets with money that should be used to help deaf Americans.”
“Unfortunately, this remarkable service, designed to help those in need, also provided a growth opportunity for criminal activity that we believe has cost American consumers tens of millions of dollars,” said Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
“When the U.S. Mail is used for the purposes of committing fraud, and in this case, a particularly insidious type of fraud, it’s the job of the Postal Inspection Service to aggressively investigate and ensure America’s confidence in the integrity of its postal system,” said Deputy Chief Postal Inspector Zane M. Hill.
“Today’s events represent both a tragedy and an opportunity,” said FCC Chief of Staff Edward Lazarus. “The tragedy is the unfortunate truth that a significant number of unscrupulous individuals, at great cost to the nation, have preyed on a very important program for delivering essential telecommunications services to persons with hearing disabilities. The ‘opportunity’ is the chance to reiterate our commitment to the VRS program and to follow through on efforts, already begun at the FCC, to safeguard the program against further waste, fraud, and abuse and to improve its delivery of VRS services to consumers.”
The indictments allege that 26 individuals engaged in a scheme to defraud the FCC by submitting false and fraudulent claims for VRS calls, causing the FCC to reimburse the defendants at a rate of approximately $390 per hour. According to the indictments, VRS is an online video translation service that allows people with hearing disabilities to communicate with hearing individuals through the use of interpreters and Web cameras. A person with a hearing disability who wants to communicate with a hearing person can do so by contacting a VRS provider through an audio and video Internet connection. The VRS provider, in turn, employs a video interpreter to view and interpret the hearing disabled person’s signed conversation and relay the signed conversation orally to a hearing person. VRS is funded by fees assessed by telecommunications providers to telephone customers, and is provided at no cost to the VRS user.
The indictments charge owners and employees of the following seven companies with engaging in a scheme to defraud the FCC’s VRS program
- Viable Communications Inc., of Rockville, Md.;
- Master Communications LLC, of Las Vegas;
- KL Communications LLC, of Phoenix;
- Mascom LLC of Austin, Texas;
- Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Interpreting Services Inc. (DHIS), of New York and New Jersey;
- Innovative Communication Services for the Deaf Corp. (ICSD), of Miami Lakes, Fla.; and
- Deaf Studio 29 of Huntington Beach, Calif.
Each of the indictments alleges that the defendants made, caused others to make, or processed fraudulent VRS calls that were then submitted to the FCC for reimbursement. These calls, often referred to as “r calls,” “rest calls” or “run calls,” served no purpose other than to generate call minutes that would be billed to the FCC’s VRS Fund.
In the first indictment, Viable Communications Inc. and four Viable executives have been charged with fraudulently generating VRS call minutes and obtaining reimbursements from the FCC for those calls. Viable owner and CEO John Yeh, 62, of Potomac, Md.; Viable Chief Operating Officer Joseph Yeh, 64, of Potomac; Viable Assistant Vice President Anthony Mowl, 25, of Rockville, Md.; and Viable Human Relations Director Donald Tropp, 25, of Rockville, have been charged in a six-count indictment with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and to submit false claims; submitting false claims; conspiracy to commit mail fraud; and mail fraud.
In the second indictment, Master Communications, KL Communications and Mascom owners and employees have been charged with generating fraudulent VRS minutes. According to the indictment, these companies operated VRS call centers for Viable that generated and processed a large volume of fraudulent VRS calls, which were then submitted to the FCC’s TRS Fund Administrator for reimbursement. Master Communications, KL Communications and Mascom owner and employee Kim E. Hawkins, 46, of Las Vegas; Master Communications employee and KL Communications owner and employee Larry Berke, 62, of Phoenix; KL Communications employee Dary Berke of Phoenix; KL Communications and Master Communications employee Lisa Goetz, 43, of Phoenix; and Mascom Marketing and Advertising Director David Simmons, 43, of Austin; have been charged in a six-count indictment with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and to submit false claims; submitting false claims; conspiracy to commit mail fraud; and mail fraud.
In the third indictment, DHIS owners and employees have been charged with generating and processing a large volume of fraudulent VRS calls. According to the indictment, DHIS operated VRS call centers for Viable that generated and processed fraudulent VRS calls. DHIS co-owners Irma Azrelyant, 47, of Basking Ridge, N.J., and Joshua Finkle, 41, of New York; DHIS video interpreter Natan Zfati, 31, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; DHIS bookkeeper Oksana Strusa, 35, of Jersey City, N.J.; DHIS video interpreter Alfia Iskandarova, 29, of Brooklyn; and DHIS video interpreter Hennadii Holovkin, 36, of Philadelphia; have been charged in a six-count indictment with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and to submit false claims; submitting false claims; conspiracy to commit mail fraud; and mail fraud.
In the fourth indictment, ICSD owners and employees have been charged with generating and processing a large volume of fraudulent VRS calls. According to the indictment, ICSD operated VRS call centers for Viable that generated and processed a large number of fraudulent VRS calls. The indictment also alleges that ICSD owners and employees engaged in sham “marketing calls” for the stated purpose of marketing VRS services, but for the alleged true purpose of fraudulently generating additional VRS minutes. ICSD co-owners Yosbel Buscaron, 25, and Lazaro Fernandez, 35, both of Hialeah, Fla.; ICSD call center manager Wanda Hutchinson, 35, of Pembroke Pines, Fla.; ICSD call center manager Jessica Bacallo, 23, of Miami; and ICSD marketing manager Kathleen Valle, 23, of Miami; have been charged in a six-count indictment with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and to submit false claims; submitting false claims; conspiracy to commit mail fraud; and mail fraud.
In the fifth indictment, defendants Benjamin Pena, Robert Z. Rubeck and Tamara Frankel have been charged with generating fraudulent VRS calls. According to that indictment, Pena was allegedly paid by Viable owner and CEO John Yeh to generate fraudulent VRS minutes. Also according to the indictment, Pena allegedly paid Rubeck and Frankel to make VRS calls for the purpose of generating those fraudulent minutes. Pena, 34, of Scottsdale, Ariz.; Rubeck, 34, of Surprise, Ariz.; and Frankel, 28, also of Surprise; have been charged in the six-count indictment with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and to submit false claims; submitting false claims; conspiracy to commit mail fraud; and mail fraud.
Deaf Studio 29 owners and employees have been charged in a sixth indictment with generating fraudulent VRS calls. According to the indictment, Marc Velasquez Verson, Ellen Thompson and Doris Martinez allegedly organized and paid employees to use a particular VRS provider to make run calls. That provider would pay the defendants approximately 20 to 25 percent of the money the provider received from the FCC for the calls generated by the defendants. Velasquez, 56, of Oswego, Ore.; Ellen Thompson, 43, of Lake Oswego, Ore.; and Doris Martinez, 51, also of Oswego; were charged in the six-count indictment with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and to submit false claims; submitting false claims; conspiracy to commit wire fraud; and wire fraud.
All of the indictments seek criminal forfeiture from each of the charged defendants.
An indictment is merely an accusation, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Hank Bond Walther and Trial Attorney Brigham Cannon of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, with the investigative assistance of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, USPIS and FCC-OIG.
09-1258
Criminal Division
NVRC Note: CBS News covered this story and included this response “The fraud issue is something we’re going to have to deal with,” prominent disabled rights attorney Jeff Rosen told CBS News.”But we can’t allow that to diminish the access that deaf people have.”
(DHHSC’s Note: Related story on CBS News:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/19/eveningnews/main5713910.shtml?tag=stack)
- Thanks to NVRC, Fairfax
Be Wary of Fraud Using Telephone Relay Service
By Kevin Collins, Augusta Chronicle 4/27/09
Better Business Bureau warns small business owners that reports of scammers plying their trade through telephone relay services — typically used by the hearing impaired to make phone calls — are cropping up. At a time when businesses literally can’t afford to fall victim to fraud, small business owners should take precautions to avoid losing thousands of dollars.
BBB has received reports from many types of businesses that received suspicious orders through TTY or telephone relay services. These services are meant to assist the hearing impaired in making telephone calls and often rely on an operator who relays a typed message from the caller to the business. Because, by law, the operator is not allowed to disclose the origin of the call, this service allows the scammers to hide their identity.
With many small businesses struggling to stay afloat in these tough economic times, the adage “buyer beware” only addresses half the issue, because we’re seeing increasingly that sellers need to beware as well. The use of telephone relay services to scam small businesses isn’t new, but is seeing a comeback, which is why owners need to know the warning signs or risk becoming a victim.
The scam being employed over telephone relay is a variation on an overpayment scam. A business receives an order from a customer over the phone through a telephone relay service. The customer will explain that the delivery service they’d like to use won’t take credit cards and asks that the business wire money to the shipper and simply tack the cost onto the overall order and charge their credit card for the total amount. Any money wired to the supposed shipper, will actually end up in the hands of the customer/scammer and the credit card number provided is stolen. Not only does the business suffer the loss of the goods or services ordered by the scammer, it will also lose whatever money was wired to the phony delivery service.
Businesses that are being targeted by this scam vary. BBB has heard from caterers and restaurants in Washington and Idaho, transmission shops in Tennessee, and awning companies in Colorado, who all received calls from scammers using relay services in the last couple months.
BBB of Central Georgia and the CSRA recently received a call from a glass company that fell victim to this scam. Over a telephone relay, the scammer made a special order for $4,000 worth of glass. The company ordered the glass from the manufacturer but became suspicious when the customer requested that the glass company wire payment to a shipper after deducting the amount from the credit card number provided. The glass company was able to track down the real owner of the credit card who didn’t even realize their number had been stolen. Luckily the glass company did not wire any money to the shipper — the scammers — however, the company was out the $4,000 spent on the glass.
Here are ways for to help identify fraud over telephone relay services:
- If the customer is using a TTY Relay Operator ask the customer for his/her full name, address and telephone number.
- Ask the customer to provide the name of the issuing bank and its toll-free customer service number as printed on the back of all credit cards.
- Ask the customer for the three or four digit Card Verification Code that is found near the account number on the back or front of a credit card.
- Tell the customer that you will check with the bank and call them back. When you do that, keep good notes. Verify all information the customer provides. If a customer objects, explain that these procedures are for their protection, as well.
- If the customer still objects to providing any of the above information, abandon the conversation and advise that you are not prepared to do business this way.
For more information on this and other scams targeting small business owners, visit BBB online at www.bbb.org.
Kelvin Collins is the president/CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Central Georgia & the CSRA Inc. Refer questions or complaints about a company or charity directly to the BBB at (800) 763-4222, www.bbb.org or by e-mail to info@centralgeorgia.bbb.org or info@csra.bbb.org.
- Thanks to Steve B and NVRC, Fairfax
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