That's Rather Impressive, In An Unhappy Commentary On The Prevalence Of Scammers

I posted a recliner chair for sale on Facebook marketplace.

Bought it for the Hip replacement recovery and haven't used it at all since I've been able to get around.

Withing minutes of the posting, I had 4 different scammers contact me to "buy" it.

All easily detectable as scams, with one asking for my phone number and then for "their safety" if they could send me a code to verify who I was. Of course that made no sense and screamed scam rather clearly.

Never, ever go along with that. 

That’s an attempt for the scammer to get your phone number to register for a Google voice number, which will send a verification code to your phone. The scammer will ask you to send them the code you received – "for their safety". Instead that code will unlock the Google voice number, which will assist the scammer to perpetuate more scams, including possibly stealing your identity.   

Make that 5 scammers in the time it took for me to post this.  Sheesh.

Warning! Alter Ego Firearms LLC Has a Scammy Alter Ego Impersonator Out There

First off, the actual Alter Ego Firearms LLC has done nothing wrong, at all.  They are a legit business.

Unfortunately, there is a scammer out there using Alter Ego's FFL, SOT,  and address, but of course the scammer's own bank account wiring info, claiming to sell NFA Class 3 items.  They also had a great -- and fake Form 3, with a serial number matching the serial on the pictures sent.

The scam is real good - scammer is using an altered copy of the actual FFL, and replaced the signature and owner name to match that on the wire instructions with what may very well be the scammer's own real name, or yet another fake identity - Ros M. Charles.

Note well, there is no Ros M. Charles at the real Alter Ego Firearms.  

So do not buy an NFA item online from Alter Ego Firearms or anyone else for that matter without calling their real number first to verify you're dealing with the actual company and not a scammer.

First clue I had it was a scam was their using multiple email addresses.

Second clue - a demand to quickly send a wire transfer rather than a money order to the actual address of the real shop and a weird bit of grammar.

I did notify Alter Ego Firearms about this and they are taking action as well.  I also notified the listed bank that the account was being used as a scam, so they are at least on notice, but it sounds like they as a bank are not going to do anything.

I expect I will email the scammers that the bank couldn't send a wire so I sent a money order to their FFL address to see what they say to that.

Unfortunately, NFA items are very spendy due to the Hughes Amendment, and getting spendier all the time.  If the spammers get you for half up front and run, you're hosed and out of a significant chunk of change.

Sadly, due to the antiquated nature of the NFA process, the NFA transaction is based very much on trust - trust that the seller has the item and can actually sell it to you, and that trust and the system itself is ripe for abuse.

I highly recommend not sending wire transfers for any NFA or other firearms purchase to prevent this kind of scam.  Also use the ATFE FFL lookup to verify the address and number on the FFL you're given, and only send money to that address, and finally, call the actual business number (not one found in the fake email, but in a proper business directory) to verify who you are dealing with before proceeding with the transaction.

Anyone Else Getting A Crazy Amount Of Fake Social Security Robocalls Today?

Over 12 calls today, all from different phone numbers, and all with the same stupid and laughably inept fake robo-voiced message:

This message is from Social Security Administration the nature of this phone call is to inform you about some legal enforcement actions filed on your social security number we have got an order to suspend your social at very right moment because we have found many suspicious activities on your social number so before we go ahead and suspend it kindly call us back on our number which is 805-060-9715 extension I repeat 805-609-7150 dot Thank you.

Never-mind the many grammatical errors, but the SSA does not "suspend" your social Security number, nor do they ever call you over the phone with a computer voice to tell you they're doing so.

Sheesh. Does anyone actually fall for this one?

So much for the do not call list.

So, Have You Been Pitched To Invest In Detroit Real Estate Lately?

Unfortunately, my client from Ohio was so pitched and sadly did decide to invest.

A very sophisticated pitch, promising how to go about using your IRA funds to invest in Detroit area real estate to get a better return than the market.

Targeted at seniors with money - hence using funds from their IRAs to do the investments, and of course directed to those not from Michigan.

A very slick marketing pitch and glossy materials, a promise of a first place mortgage for their investment funds on property the pitcher will be rehabbing and flipping and a promise of a minimum 7% return.

The Bat Rastards knew their con well.

Any bets where this is going?

Yep, you guessed it, my clients got a mortgage all right - along with a lot of other investors on the same property.

The same property already being secured by an actual mortgage the scammers already got from a real financial institution which they and their shell company promptly defaulted on, taking their victim's money with them and leaving all of their victims with nothing but low-priority mortgages about to be wiped out by the bona-fide first place unpaid mortgage who was also ripped off by the scammers but at least have a first place mortgage on the home to try and recover on their loan.

Yep, these Bat Rastards are ripping off seniors' retirement savings.

Now to add insult to injury, my clients are pulled into a lawsuit by the actual mortgage co seeking to foreclose on the property for their not being paid on the real mortgage and to wipe out their lower priority mortgages.

This is not going to be pretty, and it's highly unlikely my clients will see any of their money back.

We will be getting law enforcement involved as its pretty clear fraud, but often times that unfortunately won't amount to much or law enforcement can't be bothered with somewhat complex financial scams.

So, if you're getting pitched to invest in real estate, especially in flipping houses outside of your immediate area (and even inside it for that matter), be very careful. If it sounds too good to be true, especially if it guarantees an income stream, then it most likely is too good to be true and you better go over it very carefully before deciding to invest even a penny.

It's Harder To Cheat Honest Men

But the fraudsters are getting more clever.

I had a referral from another attorney regarding a commercial matter.

I communicated with the potential client by email, but noted they had a gmail address. Their address however checked out as a Michigan company. I also spoke to the person by phone - the area code was correct for the location of their company in Michigan but the guy had a rather strong African accent. Some indications from the conversation had me thinking something wasn't quite right.

He indicated he had not been paid by another Michigan company and wanted to retain us. I check it out and the company mentioned is a real company. We discussed rates and I sent him a retainer letter.

He returns it signed via email but his email message accompanying it is very strange indeed.

Here's the bulk of it:

We have been communicating with our debtor, Kevin Kayne of IMAGE MACHINE & TOOL INC, over the past few days regarding our intention to take legal action against them, we have informed them that your firm is now in charge of the claim and that any further communication should be directed to your office. However, they have stated clearly that they want an out of court settlement, thereby pleading for time to set up the payment. As I have earlier anticipated, We prefer to reach an informal resolution and still maintain a good relationship with our client. This Morning, I received a call from Kevin Kayne, that they will make a partial payment of the money owed to us to avoid any legal action against them and also will be responsible for our attorney's fee as stated in our contract agreement. He stated that the reason for the delay in payment was that the goods were shipped to their subsidiary office in Canada. We strongly believe that they have resolved to make this payment due to our recent involvement with your firm in this matter. The high reputation of your firm has played a great role in this recent development.

They have promised to send the partial payment directly to your office on or before 24th of July, 2015 and the balance will be sent on the 28th of August, 2015 to avoid any lawsuit. I suggest we take no action for now, neither do you make any form of contact with them but wait till the requested date for them to come up with the payment, and if they should fail to make good their promise this time, then we can proceed accordingly.

Please, be rest assured that if your office should receive this payment as promised by our debtor, your fee will be paid according to the agreement.

I await your acknowledgment of this email and also give me a call if you have any questions.

At which point I'm about 95% sure I'm now dealing with a Nigerian-type scam. Note that both Kevin Kayne is a real person and Image Machine and Tool Inc are real companies in Michigan and they're not to blame for this matter but are being impersonated here as is the real person and company on letter writers end. The language is off as is the content. Michigan business people do not write this way.

I reply that since we haven't done anything he might as well have the payment go direct to their company. I look up his phone number and note while it has the same area code and prefix of the actual company the last four numbers do not match. Could be a direct extension, but that's another indicia something is off.

Today I was 100% sure it was a fraud.

Today we get in the mail an envelope, with no return address, but stating "Image Machine Tool Inc", with a Canadian stamp and a processing mark that shows it came out of Toronto. Inside is a letter and a Scotia Bank Check drawn on a New York bank for $197,950 made out not to the company but to our firm. Yeah, its fraud all right.

Clue #1 - The check doesn't have the banks address on it. However, they've clearly done some homework as the routing number is the right number for that bank and while the paper doesn't feel right they have some darn good coloration and double sided. It helps that I've held a real Scotia Bank bank check before and know it feels off. Second the amount is goofy as is the script for it on the check and it looks like it was printed on a laser color printer, albeit a very good one.

Clue #2 - The letter is on a very non-business-like colored paper. The paper though has the Michigan address for the company on it and is "signed" by "Kevin Kayne" but has a wacky gmail address of info.president02@gmail.com. Remember, the envelope came from Canada.

So, I contact the Bank of Nova Scotia and verify that it is indeed a fake check. So I obviously do not deposit it and the scammers will be rather disappointed.

They're certainty getting more clever, but that was far too pat indeed. It and would only con either someone who was greedy or lacked the reading and thinking skills to pickup on the scam.

The Obama Inspired Utility Scam

Remember this lady from Detroit?

Well, it turns out that someone was paying attention and figured the denizens of Detroit and southeastern Michigan could be easily scammed with promises of Obama handouts:

The Detroit News: Obama utility bill-paying scam hits Metro Detroit

Metro Detroiters should beware of an online scam that promises President Barack Obama will pay their utility bills.

. . .

Also Wednesday, the state's Public Service Commission, which regulates the state's utility companies, issued a warning for consumers.

Last week, officials with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department did so as well.

. . .

Under the scam, victims are contacted in person, through fliers, social media and text messages.

Scammers tell consumers Obama can provide credits or apply payments to their water, electric and heating bills in exchange for their Social Security number and a bank routing number.

Once someone provides the information, they receive a bank routing number that will supposedly pay the bills.

No such federal program exists. Customers think they've paid their bills, but they haven't.

Lisa Dilg, a spokeswoman for the Better Business Bureau for Eastern Michigan, said people are still being snookered.

"A lot of people are falling for it," she said. "It's pretty shocking. We're getting several complaints about it every day."

Not to mention they just provided all the information needed for their identity to be stolen.

Its no wonder that the credulous dolts are falling for this scam.

Remember Obama's promise of taxing oil companies and using the money to help people pay their utility bills?

It's a pretty sad turn of events when scammers can use the same magical thinking and economically illiterate approach used by the president to get elected to fleece the same bunch of ignorant fools.

Update: The Detroit Free Press reports that as of July 24, at least 2,300 Michigan residents have been scammed by this scheme.

It Must be Tax Season......

Based on the amount of IRS related spam I've been receiving lately, the scammers and spammers are out for your identifying info using the IRS as a cover.

I've now received spam with everything from the charmingly misspelled subject line of "Accaunt blocked!" to multiples with the same nonsensical subject line of "ssubfed", to emails with fake from: addresses like scam.irs.gov and scamreport.irs.gov (maybe that's what you'd call a clue to the unwary?), investigation.irs.gov, and security.irs.gov.

Folks, the IRS does not initiate communication with tax payers via email, and never in such a nonsensical and ungrammatical fashion (tax code excepted).

The IRS much prefers to send really scary-looking letters to your address of record.

Add on to this the fact that the email address receiving these emails is completely unconnected with anything I have to do with taxes and the whole thing is an easily deleted scam and spam-fest.

Do not reply to these false emails, and certainly do not respond with any personally identifying information or this tax season you'll be dealing with identity theft on top of filing your returns this year.

In Court: (Mortgage) Recording Games People Play

I was in court on a motion and was unfortunately not up first so I had some time to sit and observe some motions that preceded mine, and sure enough one caught my attention.

A case had been initiated by an individual, without a lawyer of course, to compel the Registrar of Deeds to record a document in his chain of title. The Registrar refused and for good reason.

You see, the fellow was facing foreclosure and had gone online and bought himself a stop foreclosure kit, apparently for the tidy sum of $549.

These kits are full of legalistic mumbo-jumbo that sounds good, and if you don't know any better and are facing foreclosure might find a claim that their problem can be magically ended appealing. Often times the teasers online string bits of the Uniform Commercial Code out of context at the reader, maybe mention a charitable trust or two, throw in some "Notary Affidavits" and they claim you can stop foreclosure by filing a few documents in your chain of title.

It doesn't work.

This fellow was trying to file an "Affidavit of Obligation".

Sounds all official-like eh?

Problem is, there's no such document recognized as a recordable document in Michigan, even better was what it said and what he was trying to do with it.

You see, our intrepid fellow had filed out this sworn and notarized affidavit claiming he was worth 5 million dollars and had a primary secured lien on his house as collateral of his personal worth.

There's a few problems with this approach.

One, of course, is that it is laughable on its face and perjury to make such a false claim.

Two, Michigan is a race-notice recording state so his later filed lien is not going to take priority over the earlier filed mortgage liens so the mortgage doesn't go awayand this doesn't stop the foreclosure process but only messes up the chain of title causing further expense to unravel.

Three, if you're worth 5 million bucks, why don't you just pay off the mortgage?

The Registrar refused to accept it, and the judge agreed and dismissed the fellow's lawsuit. The fellow then claimed the mortgages on his property were "toxic". Yeah, that'll show em.  After busting his credibility on his "affidavit" the judge didn't find his last-minute claim of toxicity too believable (or even judicially recognizable).

Unfortunately this kind of activity at most delays the inevitable foreclosure and at worst exposes the poor sap filing these documents to contempt of court and other nasty problems that arise from filing false documents.

Foreclosure is not a good place to be, but perjuring yourself or trying to hang on by grabbing onto untenable and ridiculous quasi-legal theories will not help. Muttering incantations of "Uniform Commercial Code, Affidavit of Obligation, Notary, Toxic" three times fast just doesn't do it.

Don't let yourself be conned into throwing good money after bad by those selling these schemes or stop foreclosure services, especially when they demand your money up front.

As the Comptroller of Currency Department bulletin OCC Consumer Tips for Avoiding Mortgage Modification Scams and Foreclosure Rescue Scams advises, be cautious when dealing with these too good to be true claims. The OCC bulletin has a lot of good advice and is well worth reading.

You're better off dealing with your lender and trying to work things out than paying for an illusion that will only end up costing you. Don't transfer your title to someone else's trust or to someone that claims transferring the title will relieve you of having to pay the mortgage. It won't. You bought the house (or tapped a lot of equity from it) with the funds from the mortgage and owe the money on that mortgage. You know it, the bank knows it, the scammer knows it.

Don't be fooled.

Eventually some poor homeowner following these scammers is going to wind up in contempt of court and possibly jail for following these scammers' advice. The scammers won't be in the cell with them but instead busy counting their money and laughing at the sucker that was fleeced.

Don't be one of them.