Subjects: Law

A homebuilder suffers eye damage after his fraudulent Oakley sunglasses shatter. He sues the retailer that sold the counterfeit merchandise and is awarded $70,000. Also, a young woman from Portland, Oregon, lives in fear after being the victim of identity theft. The investigation of her case leads to a raid of the scam artists’ home and to their arrest.

More than 10,000 people lose over $20 million, when they’re sold fake fine art on a national TV auction show, “Fine Arts Treasures,” by fraudsters Kristine Eubanks and Gerald Sullivan. The FBI, LAPD, and Postal Inspectors set up a sting to nail the crooks. Also, con men and women use love and marriage to gain immigration status, and then leave the unsuspecting spouses. Victims can be emotionally and financially devastated by the scams.

Resume fraud and fake credentials can hurt the reputation of legitimate academic institutions, businesses and even risk people’s lives. Three prominent experts in this field expand on the subject. Also, fraudsters set-up fake offices in a scheme to rip-off elderly music lovers. Hundreds of people are asked to sign over their old CDs in exchange for more valuable ones. All of the CDs they receive in the exchange are worthless fakes.

A look at counterfeit currency — how it is produced and how the average citizen can learn to identify the real from the fake. Also, the compelling case of a woman who finds out she is being held responsible for a $300,000 mortgage on her own property. A fraudster, pretending to be the woman, had walked into a bank and with minimal identification had arranged the mortgage. Learn how the victim survived this experience in a heroic tale of hope.

Scam artists take advantage of people’s generosity to charities, victimizing not only the donors, but the integrity of the legitimate charitable organizations. Also, in one of the biggest cases in Canadian history, Michael Holoday stole more than $20 million in just a few years from some of the most savvy investors in the business world.

A travel agent is sentenced to four years in jail for defrauding over 30 customers out of more than $278,000 in bogus vacation packages. In another story, a veteran and his wife are conned by a fraudulent loan company. When the veteran is unable to get approval for a loan at his bank, the fraudster offers to do the deal instead, provided the vet pays certain fees and charges in advance.

An elderly couple is charged $900,000 for $60,000 worth of home improvements. The woman is so traumatized by the experience that she suffers a fatal heart attack. Her Alzheimer-afflicted husband ends up institutionalized. The shady contractor is finally sentenced to 114 months in jail. Also, debit card fraud can be simple or sophisticated, but the resulting damage is equally harmful. Rare police surveillance footage highlights the dangers.

Collection agencies begin calling “Ann Marie” demanding the repayment of thousands of dollars. A woman assuming Ann Marie’s identity, with only social insurance and driver’s license numbers, had opened a bank account and stolen thousands of dollars from Ann Marie’s credit cards and line-of-credit accounts. Also, an 83-year-old woman loses most of her belongings to heartless fraudsters, by financing promises of lottery winnings.

Fraud is a multi-billion dollar industry for which we all end up paying the price. Hosted by Tom Hnatiw, this groundbreaking show consolidates the efforts of law enforcement, corporations and the public, with immediate information on detection, prevention and policing of all types of fraud. Learn about and protect yourself from scams such as identity theft, fake charities, mortgage and title frauds and more!

A teacher hired a mover to take her belongings from New Haven, Connecticut to Radford, Virginia. On moving day, the movers loaded their truck, locked it and then presented the victim with a bill for $4,745 – more than double the original quote. Also, a doctor recounts how he was taken by the popular form of the age-old advance loan fraud. Fortunately, the culprit was caught in an international sting operation.