Latest Fraud Headlines
All the headlines from our Fraud Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Virginia Woman Gets Four Years for Fraud, Fake Death Notice
Feb 16 2018 // A Virginia woman has been sentenced to four years in prison for an identity fraud scheme that included publishing a fake death notice. The Daily Press reports 50-year-old Alexandra Hatcher also has to pay almost $203,000...
Maryland Man Sentenced in Felony Theft Scheme with Value of at Least $10K
Feb 16 2018 // Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh has announced that Jamar Marlyn Jones, of Edgewood, Md., pleaded guilty and was sentenced on one count of a felony theft scheme having a value of at least $10,000 but less than...
Georgia Insurance Agent Faces 28 Counts of Insurance Fraud
Feb 16 2018 // A Georgia insurance agent from Pierce County has been arrested and charged with 28 counts of insurance fraud, according to a statement from Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens. Dana Larson Bowen, 52, of...
Former Iowa Insurance Agent Sentenced for Ongoing Criminal Conduct
Feb 15 2018 // A former insurance agent in Bettendorf, Iowa, has been sentenced to five years’ supervised probation for insurance fraud, the Iowa Insurance Division reported Billie J. Holmberg pleaded guilty in Scott County...
The High Cost of Cybercrime to Insurers and Banks
Feb 15 2018 // Cyberattacks cost financial-services firms more to address than any other industry and the rate of breaches in the industry has tripled over the past five years, according to a report from Accenture and the Ponemon...
How High Costs of Car Parts Drive Car Theft: Insurance Crime Bureau
Feb 15 2018 // The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) says today’s vehicles are loaded with expensive parts and technology that do more than increase the costs of repairs, even in minor accidents. The organization says those...
North Carolina Museum Reports Theft of $10K Emerald
Feb 12 2018 // A $10,000 emerald has been reported missing from a North Carolina science museum, more than three weeks after it was last seen. The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that a representative from the Asheville Museum of Science...
Uber Agrees to Give Stock to Waymo to Settle Trade Secret Theft Dispute
Feb 9 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. agreed to give about $245 million in stock to settle the high-stakes trade-secret theft lawsuit brought by Waymo, resolving a conflict that already cost the ride-hailing giant its top driverless car...
Arizona Man Gets Jail Time for Selling Fake Insurance Policies to Businesses
Feb 8 2018 // An Arizona man has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for selling fake insurance policies to commercial environmental businesses. Prosecutors say Brian McFarland must also pay full restitution of more than $450,000 to...
Businessman in Vermont Ski Resort Fraud Case Agrees to Pay $81M
Feb 7 2018 // A Miami businessman accused of massive fraud involving foreign investors’ money in a Vermont ski area has agreed to pay back more than $81 million and give up ownership of two ski resorts, the Securities and Exchange...
Maryland Issued $466K in Insurance Fraud Fines, Penalties in 2017
Feb 7 2018 // For the calendar year 2017, Maryland Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer Jr. authorized civil orders and criminal charges totaling $466,261 in fines, penalties and restitution to 77 citizens charged with committing insurance...
Trial Over Waymo Claim of Uber Trade Secrets Theft Gets Underway
Feb 6 2018 // Uber was either a cheating competitor willing to break the law to win the race to develop self-driving cars, or the victim of an unproven conspiracy theory stitched together by its main rival, Waymo, jurors heard in...
Cyber Insurance Claims from Fraudulent Instruction Scams Rise: Beazley
Feb 5 2018 // Organizations are being forced to deal with an increased threat to their operations from fraudulent instruction scams, according to specialist insurer Beazley’s most recent Breach Report. According to the insurer,...
More Hackers Target Red-Hot Cryptocurrency Space: Report
Feb 2 2018 // Bitcoin’s popularity and the emergence of about 1,500 other digital coins or tokens have drawn more hackers into the red-hot cryptocurrency space, expanding opportunities for crime and fraud, cyber security firm...
Insurers Begin to Offer Cryptocurrency Theft Cover, Tackling Risks of Growing Sector
Feb 1 2018 // Major global insurers are starting to offer protection against cryptocurrency theft, willing to tackle daunting challenges it brings rather than miss out on this volatile and loosely regulated, but rapidly growing...
West Virginia Man Sentenced to Nearly 2 Years for Filing $354K in Fraudulent Claims
Jan 26 2018 // A West Virginia man has been sentenced to one year and nine months in federal prison for filing false insurance claims totaling more than $354,000. Thirty-six-year-old Daniel Lichtman of Kearneysville was sentenced for...
Man Charged with Generator Fraud in Connecticut after Superstorm Sandy
Jan 22 2018 // An Oregon man has been charged with stealing deposits Connecticut homeowners had made for generators after Superstorm Sandy. The Stamford Advocate reports that 56-year-old John Mech, of Seaside, Oregon, took a $7,500...
Louisiana Man Pleads Guilty in Deepwater Horizon Compensation Fund Fraud
Jan 22 2018 // An Empire, Louisiana, man has pleaded guilty to defrauding the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion settlement compensation fund, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana announced. U.S....
Unlicensed Contractor Sentenced to Prison for Fraud in Massachusetts
Jan 17 2018 // An unlicensed home improvement contractor whose false promises left an elderly Massachusetts woman’s home in ruins and others temporarily homeless is heading to prison. The Salem News reports that 49-year-old Jaime...
Insurance, Finance Fraud in UK Jumps to $2.9B, a 15-Year High
Jan 16 2018 // Fraud in the U.K. rose to 2.1 billion pounds ($2.9 billion), the most in 15 years, as the police commander in charge of fighting the crime said the amount of evidence was setting back investigations. The value of finance...
