How To Protect Yourself - Scams and Cons Explained

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Learn about scams before they happen. While we cannot offer legal advice we can teach and inform so you know what to watch for. Collection offers may sound valid, but companies want your money and may promise to help. This is your online scam, fraud and con prevention center

On these pages we tell you the truth about settlements scams, debt collector scams, false promises, and how companies later claim "There is no record of that conversation", and how to prevent future frustration

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The FBI says types of public corruption include:

Law Enforcement corruption at the state or local level typically involves the payment of bribes or kickbacks in exchange for official actions or inaction. It also includes any violation of law not necessarily connected to the official duties of law enforcement personnel.

Legislative corruption at the state or local level usually involves payment of bribes or kickbacks in exchange for official action or inaction. These bribes or kickbacks can be received by the legislators themselves, by aides, by staff persons, and/or by outside parties doing business with the government.

Municipal corruption involves illegal activities similar to legislative corruption. Common corruption schemes at a local level include bribes or kickbacks in exchange for: supporting local ordinances, approving local government bond issuance, reducing taxes unlawfully, fraudulently manipulating probate assets, and conspiring with others to rezone property or to influence land-use proposals.

Judicial corruption typically arises out of the corrupt influencing of state or local judges, juries, or court personnel (clerks, bailiffs, probation officials, and other administrative staff). Common corrupt schemes include: payments to judiciary personnel in exchange for dismissal of charges; reduction of charges, bonds, or sentences; waiver of fines; return of forfeitable property; and favorable probation conditions.

Contract corruption usually involves the payment of bribes or kickbacks to local or state officials in exchange for favorable treatment on government contracts. Potential subjects are private contractors, anyone acting on their behalf, and public officials involved in the contracting process (procurement officers, purchasing agents, city councilpersons, and county commissioners).

Regulatory corruption involves payment to local, state, or federal officials in exchange for favorable action or inaction pertaining to identification documents, licensing, and inspection and zoning variances. Unlawful payments are commonly known as bribes and kickbacks.

Prison corruption involves corrections officers taking unlawful payment for acts directly or indirectly related to their job. Common schemes include: smuggling contraband into the facility, granting unlawful privileges, and prematurely releasing inmates.

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The Rise and Fall of Household International and HSBC Finance Free Document - Learn more about the history of predatory lending and causes of the financial crisis. 32 Page Free PDF. Get it now

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Subprime Mortgage Scams and How They Work

Buying a house doesn't happen very often and some people are not experts. Unfortunately mortgage brokers and gold diggers know that, so you need to be careful. Ask a lot of questions if you don't understand something.

If you think employees at Ameriquest, HFC and Beneficial Finance are looking out for you -- just don't buy a house at all until you read this:

"It wasn’t until after I left the company that I realized how truly devastating the loans are. Signing a 26 year loan that raises an interest rate from 6% to 10% and takes on several thousand in fees can really destroy a family who made a rush judgement because of $100 savings and no payment this month. These customers who were refinanced at high LTV’s are really going to feel the crunch now that Fannie Mae is cutting back so much on their conventional loans. These customers who were promised a better loan in 6 months will now have to wait years to get a better rate. I was sick to my stomach after learning about how truly miserable I made so many families just because they saved $100 a month right now."

These companies operate on a commission basis, often in a pressure cooker environment. You get the sales pitch and the agent makes $3500 or more. The problem with subprime is the loan might be subprime, but the borrower actually qualifies for a regular prime loan at prime rates.

Many of the people described in the quote above saved $100 a month for a little while, and got to skip a house payment between the new loan and the old loan. That is part of the sales pitch.

After the adjustable rate increased the same people could not afford to make the new, higher house payment. A promise to refinance into another better loan in 6 months cannot be true. The Home Owners Equity Protection Act prevents it. Refinances should be a year apart, and must show some tangible benefit to the homeowner.

Unfortunately the sales tactic above contributed to the so-called 'subprime' crisis of 2007. The crisis will continue through 2009. Many adjustable rate mortgages will reset, and many people will lose their homes. While HFC and Beneficial Finance say they do not make adjustable (ARM) first mortgages at the branch level, they do write contracts that mimic them. They are part of HSBC, as was Decison One Mortgage before that unit shut down completely. The quote above may have come from a former employee of Decison One, but we are not sure. Either way it did come from a former HSBC employee.

2010/09/03 · by T. Blake