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  You suspect that someone is committing tax fraud, but you’re not sure what to do. How do you report tax fraud? Should you call the IRS fraud reporting number? The Internal Revenue Service has specific procedures in place that...

In one recent cybercrime scheme, a mortgage company employee accessed his employer’s records without authorization, then used stolen customer lists to start his own mortgage business. The perpetrator hacked the protected records by sending an...

What better place for online thieves to target than a database that contains 300 million+ Social Security numbers and a treasure trove of financial information? The IRS has 52 Internet applications to help U.S. citizens comply with their tax...

One way to head off fraud during tax season is to get your free annual credit report now. Credit reports often have errors in them; this quick checkup can be the first indication that some form of identity theft has taken place on your account. The...

You’ve probably already received several letters and phone calls from charities asking for donations. Most requests are from legitimate organizations. Some, however, are bogus charities set up by con artists who use the holiday spirit to their...

Would you leave the front door unlocked to your business or not-for-profit organization? Of course not. That would give thieves easy access to your assets. Yet a surprising number of organizations don't have strong antifraud controls in place...

Equifax, one of the nation's three major credit reporting agencies, recently reported a massive data breach. Are you among the 143 million U.S. consumers whose personal information was hacked? Here's how to find out — and how to help...

Do you dread getting phone calls from unfamiliar sources? It seems that callers are more likely to be aggressive solicitors, pushy telemarketers or even devious con artists than legitimate business people. Criminals typically target the elderly,...

The average organization loses 5% of its annual revenues to fraud, according to the 2016 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse published by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). Bear in mind, that's the top line of...

The IRS kicked off tax filing season by publishing a series of press releases that highlight the "dirty dozen" tax scams for this year. Although there are no major surprises, it's important to note that these scams have become increasingly...

Unfortunately, the busiest and most profitable time of the year for retailers also attracts more than eager shoppers. Fraudsters, scammers and crooks ramp up their activities, seeking to skim a percentage of free-flowing dollars into their own...

November and December are peak months for shoplifting. Not really a surprise. Shoplifting increases 10 percent or more during the holidays, according to security companies. Over $10 billion in merchandise is lost annually, according to University...

Business owners never want to think that their employees would steal from them. In many cases, this is true of employees. But not always. Some employees think they have the right to share in the good fortune of their employer – even without...

The rising use of technology at retail stores has opened new opportunities for sales and made shopping more convenient for customers. But along with that convenience comes the ever-increasing problem of fraud. In total, merchants lost .68 percent...

The impulse to present things in a better light isn’t limited to personal photographs or online profiles. It can also be a sign of more than a subtle facelift to the numbers. Some business owners systematically cook the books for criminal...

Some people may call it a Mickey Mouse scheme, but a Texas con artist has been sentenced to 17.5 years in prison for convincing real estate investors that a Disney frontier park was in the works outside Dallas. Many of the investors purchased...

When a fraud is suspected, organizations must proceed quickly, but carefully. Prematurely tipping off an employee or co-conspirators may result in losing opportunities to obtain information and valuable documentation that can be used to...

Senior citizens are often targeted by con artists, and a high percentage of the crime is either healthcare or health insurance fraud. Seniors are particularly targeted because many have accumulated a nest egg, typically have excellent credit and...

Discover Bank, which handles millions in student loans, has been fined $2.5 million and ordered to repay $16 million to consumers for illegal student loan-servicing practices. The consumer bureau also found that Discover engaged in illegal debt...

The old saying goes, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” But in the world of fraud, that may not be the case. Similar characteristics turn up time after time among fraud perpetrators, according to the Association of Certified...