While trawling the Internet for part-time jobs in September after being furloughed from her travel company in March, Sumathi Rao, a New York-based travel agent, spotted a job offer in her FB newsfeed she could not pass up. It seemed too good to be true
account now suspended) had an opening for a Fundraising Assistant. Their pitch was promising. She could work from home. Her responsibilities would include helping her manager Didiane Marcheterre (
possibly an alias), write to donors for contributions. Funds from the charitable foundation would supposedly support non-profit hospitals, medical workers, and healthcare projects. The salary, at $1000 a week, thought Rao, would nicely supplement the $300 lost wages assistance New York state benefit offered to eligible workers looking for jobs. It would serve as a cushion until the pandemic eased off and her old job, hopefully, was reinstated.
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Fraud on the Rise
Chances are you or someone you know has received an unsolicited and sketchy phone call about how to get rid of student loans, a great deal on health care benefits, or some alleged banking problem that you supposedly need to take care of immediately. Hopefully, you quickly identified it as a scam and hung up. But even those who think they can spot a fraud from a mile away need to keep up their guard, especially now.
Knowing that some people might be desperate to make up for income lost as a result of the pandemic, fraudsters are working overtime to target and try to steal your hard-earned money through securities fraud.
New cases, FTC data highlight broad scope of scams making false promises of big income Published on December 14, 2020
The Federal Trade Commission, along with 19 federal, state, and local law enforcement partners today announced a nationwide crackdown on scams that target consumers with fake promises of income and financial independence that have no basis in reality. The impact of these scams has intensified as scammers take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic and financial crisis.
Called “Operation Income Illusion,” the crackdown encompasses more than 50 law enforcement actions against the operators of work-from-home and employment scams, pyramid schemes, investment scams, bogus coaching courses, and other schemes that can end up costing consumers thousands of dollars.
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The FTC today announced four new enforcement actions and one new settlement alleging deceptive income claims in violation of the FTC Act. The FTC noted that these actions are part of a broader initiative branded as “Operation Income Illusion,” which it described as a crackdown “against the operators of work-from-home and employment scams, pyramid schemes, investment scams, bogus coaching courses, and other schemes” that purport to offer significant income opportunities but that “end up costing consumers thousands of dollars.”
The four new actions are against the following companies.