White Collar Crime: Deception and Persuasion
...money, goods, services or anything of value with intent to influence the actions or decisions of the taker. . Counterfeiting - Passing the copy off for the genuine or original item. Credit card fraud The unauthorized use of a credit card to obtain goods of value. Embezzlement - A person who has been entrusted with money or property appropriates it for his or her own use and benefit. Environmental schemes Over billing and fraudulent practices exercised by corporations which purport to clean up the environment. Health care fraud When an unlicensed health care provider provides services under the guise of being licensed and obtains monetary benefit for the services. Insider trading When a person uses inside, confidential, or advance information to trade in shares of publicly held corporations. Investment schemes Where an unsuspecting victim is contracted by the actor who promises to provide a large return on a small investment. Securities fraud The act of artificially inflating the price of stocks by brokers so that buyers can purchase a stock on the rise. Telemarketing fraud Actors operate boiler rooms and place telephone calls to residences and corporations where the actor requests a donation to an alleged charitable organization or where the actor requests money up front or a credit card number up front, and does not use the donation for the stated purpose. Welfare fraud To engage in an act or acts where the purpose is to obtain benefits (i.e. public assistance, food stamps, or Medicaid) from the State or Federal Government. Land fraud Actor induces victim to purchase tracts of land in some type of retirement development which does not exist. Ponzi An investment scheme where the actor solicits investors in a business venture, promising extremely high financial returns or dividends in a very short period of time. Pyramid schemes An investment fraud in which an individual is offered a distributorship or franchise to market a particular product. Many times, there are no products involved in the franchise, simply just eh exchange of money. These are just a few common schemes, when combined with the rest, is a needle in a haystack. Wherever there are naive victims, there are people willing to rip them off! One type of victim, for example, of white-collar crime schemes are the elderly. These people have come from a generation that actually trusted people with a handshake, which cannot be measured in todays society. Many senior citizens often do not discuss or report the crime because they are afraid of revenge by the abuser, ashamed that they cannot handle the situation, or is concerned with being labeled as too demanding or senile. Sweepstakes scams and telemarketing fraud are masters at creating a web of deception, especially for senior citizens, because they prey on a generation that is very trusting. The sweepstake mailings are designed to look like official government documents with convincing personal notes and endorsements by Ed McMahon and Dick Clark. Publishers Clearinghouse sells magazine subscriptions, videos, collectible figurines, and sports memorabilia, to name a few. Most respondents are over the age of 65 who purchase products 30%, or twice the national average. In one year, more than 450 of these consumers, in West Virginia alone, ordered at least $2,500 worth of merchandise each, and ten of those spent over $10,000. The deceptive billing practices entice customers into paying two or more times for the same subscription. It is difficult for anyone not to believe they are a winner, especially with devices such as preauthorization of the manner of the prize payoff and associated publicity release forms. Senior citizens keep buying to win! The actual chance of winning a major prize in a sweepstakes is approximately one in fifty million. Once people purchase something, they keep getting more and more sweepstakes mailers and promises of even greater winnings. Telemarketing fraud operations may consist of a single individual or a complex call center, or a makeshift portable office facility set up with a bank of phones. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that in an excess of 14,000 fraudulent telemarketing businesses currently operate in North America. There are three major cities in Canada that have widespread telemarketing fraud operations which involve Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. These operations consists of: Foreign lotteries, prizes or sweepstakes, advance fee loans, credit card protection, stock swaps, investment grade gemstones, investment is so-called British bonds. A number of these operations take extraordinary measures to increase the difficulty of successful investigation and prosecution. One incident in Toronto, Canada involved a telemarketer with a bandana on his head, covered with tattoos, convincing a stranger on the other end of the phone to trust him with a bank account number. We are not telemarketers, he tells his hesitant American customer. We are a bank. There is a differen...