12 accused of fraud

Oh!
Another story about the cases of fraud! Be aware of being scummed!

Five months after indicting several Toledoans for fraudulently making federal claims for hurricane assistance, an additional 12 people were charged recently with stealing from the agency designed to help in times of a disaster. Eleven Toledo residents - including six members of the same family - were charged in a single indictment unsealed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Toledo with conspiring to steal about $90,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A 12th person was charged in a separate indictment for stealing $2,000. "The indictment alleges that some co-conspirators contacted the FEMA hotline for Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita and falsely informed FEMA the hurricanes had displaced them from their homes in the affected areas," a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office stated. The indictment further states that "on at least 10 separate occasions these callers gave FEMA the Toledo residential address and/or telephone number of defendants Reginald McFarland and [his father] Roger McFarland and that FEMA mailed at least 10 emergency assistance checks to that address. Reginald McFarland, 50, pleaded not guilty in federal court yesterday and was ordered to be held in custody. Another defendant, Tina Frieson, 46, who was identified as Mr. McFarland's girlfriend, also was arraigned but released. The remaining defendants will be summoned to appear in federal court.

After the hurricanes struck within weeks of each other in 2005, FEMA provided aid to the storm victims by paying for immediate emergency assistance, rental assistance, and lost or damage property replacement assistance.

The agency set up a hotline as an attempt to expedite the assistance process. To make a claim for financial assistance, victims were asked to call the toll-free numbers and provide certain personal information, including their address in the affected areas. Each was mailed a check as a result of the information given. In addition to making false claims, the indictment charges that Mr. McFarland and his co-conspirators paid others $330 to $500 to cash the checks at Toledo banks or conveniences stores. The indictments were the result of a lengthy investigation by the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Office of Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security, Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Uram said. Mr. Uram added that the recent indictments are "not the conclusion of our investigation." Also named in the indictment are Frances Huntley, 70; Jerome King, Jr., 53; Lois Lipkins, 72; Lori J. Bibbs, 38; Henrietta Mack, 58; Sirena L. Campbell, 38; Jamica D.G. Chenault, 32; and Kenyatta D. King, 31. Named in a separate indictment was Booker T. Grace, 44, who is charged with stealing of $2,000. The maximum sentence for a conviction is up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. However, if convicted, a judge will determine each defendant's sentence. Of the 15 Toledo residents charged in February with similar allegations, 13 have pleaded guilty to the charges. The other two await court dates. In that case, the Toledoans were accused of acting individually to obtain fraudulently $115,142.

The act of scams and frauds on the Internet has a Las Vegas Real Estate firm hoping for the best

Hey! Here is one more attempt to prevent scamming and frauds! Read next!!!

Las Vegas, NV -- Las Vega Realty is hoping to help their clients and the consuming public become more aware of Internet scams and frauds.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, scamming methods seen so far include:

1. Scam artists ask you to send a small processing fee, supposedly to get a much larger check in return.
2. Scammers ask for your bank account number so they can “deposit” your check. Then, they use the information to clean out your account or open new ones using your identifying information.
3. Some stimulus scams encourage you to click on links, open attached forms, or call phony toll-free numbers. But simply clicking the link or opening the document can install harmful software, like spyware, on your computer. The result could be your personal information ending up in the hands of an identity thief.

Las Vegas Realty is especially concerned about the third type of Internet scam, because at least one client was hoodwinked by this type of email scam. The client received an email with a picture of President Obama and it promised a “free stimulus check” of $613.27. The client clicked on a link to receive their funds and was directed to another link where they have to “participate in the program” in order to get a check. Participation required that they complete a “reward offer” by purchasing a magazine subscription with a credit card. This phoney purchase gave the scammers all the credit card info they needed.

A spokesperson at the real estate urges consumers to be aware of such scams and don't act without full investigation of ANY email offer! To report a scam go to the website of the Federal Trade Commission.

Here are common sense tips to protect identity and credit

Hi guys! I present you some tips about how to protect yourself of fraud. Read carefully, maybe some day you will need this information.

1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put “Photo ID required.”

2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, do not put the complete account number on the “For” line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.

3. Put your work phone number on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a P.O. Box, use that instead of your home address. Never have your Social Security number printed on your checks.

4. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel if it's stolen. Keep the photocopy in a safe place.

5. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them.

6. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

7. Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name. Also call the Social Security fraud line number. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.

Soon, call toll-free for ambulance

Hey, World!
Some news from India!

Having an ambulance at your doorstep in case of a medical emergency will soon be a reality, if the state government is to be
believed.
State public health minister Rajendra Shingne made an announcement to this effect at the assembly on Friday.
During the discussion on budgetary allocation for the public health department, the minister said a toll-free number would be introduced in two months.
"People can dial the number and an ambulance will be at their doorstep,'' he said, adding that every district would also have an emergency cardiac ambulance service by the end of this year.
A separate board will be constituted for recruitment of doctors in the public health department, the minister added.

Help your teen stay safe

Hey guys!
This post is for parents. As for me I found it useful.

Reading up on health and safety topics could be the last thing on your teen's to-do list. That's why informed, proactive parenting can make such a difference, especially in high-risk areas like driving, relationships, and mental health. While your adolescent may not intend to occasionally jeopardize their well-being, it's not something you want left to chance.

Road Safety

Car accidents are the chief cause of death and disability among teenagers, with teens being killed at four times the rate of adults. The contributing factors are legion: inexperience behind the wheel, tendencies to eschew seat belts and to speed, distractibility (as attention flits, perhaps, between road, radio, telephone, and text message), overconfidence in their skills, and underdeveloped judgment and impulse control.

A growing number of solutions--from sophisticated GPS tracking devices to bumper stickers bearing toll-free numbers that forward called-in complaints straight to Mom--empower parents to take an active role in steering their kids away from accidents. The gadget DriveCam provides parents with an in-car camera device. It senses and records the sights and sounds of any abrupt, potentially risky maneuvers made by your licensed teenagers and alerts you immediately by E-mail.

Your other options include GPS tracking tools designed to alert you electronically if your novice drivers blow through preset speed limits, ignore driving curfews, or cruise beyond certain boundaries. One is offered through Safeco Insurance's Teensurance program, a service that became available to customers and noncustomers alike last May.

A lower-budget approach: bumper stickers bearing slogans like "Call My Mom" and a toll-free number for reporting erratic driving. Each sticker contains a unique code number, allowing anonymous tips to be quickly forwarded to the appropriate parents.

Sexual Health

There's no denying it. Teens are doing the deed. About 70 percent of teenagers have had sex by their 19th birthdays, and about 14 percent lose their virginity before turning 15, surveys suggest. A result: approximately three quarters of a million teen pregnancies each year. And while today's teens overall report having safer sex than did those in years past, about a quarter of girls ages 14 to 19 are infected with at least one of four common STDs (human papillomavirus, chlamydia, herpes, and the parasitic infection trichomoniasis), federal health officials reported last March.

Adolescents are ultimately responsible for their own actions, of course. Yet you can do a lot to guide your kids through the treacherous tides of teen lust--without insisting on a chastity belt. A powerful, if dreaded, tool doesn't cost a cent: open dialogue about sexual issues. That's dialogue, experts stress, not a one-time "sex talk." Repeated conversations about things like orgasm or condoms appear to make teens feel closer to parents and more able to discuss tricky topics like sex with them. Start well before kids hit puberty, and don't shy away from questions or you'll encourage them to turn elsewhere for information.

As for protection, what's best is the "belt and suspenders" approach: condoms to thwart STDs and a hormonal contraceptive for girls as a second-line defense against unwanted pregnancy. More important, teens need to know how to use these methods properly; condoms, for example, expire.

Mental Health

It might be tough to watch your beloved child morph into a teenage cliché--a back-talking, door-slamming, bedroom-retreating, fickle being. But it might be tougher yet to discern "normal" adolescent behavior from the signs of a materializing mood disorder.

Yet half of all mental illnesses arise by age 14. And about 2 million 12-to-17-year-olds, or 1 in 12 of them, experience clinical depression each year, government health officials estimated last May. What's more, on average a child has had symptoms of mental illness for more than six months before getting help. That lag could have devastating consequences, since untreated mental illness can lead to suicide. The third-leading cause of death among 15-to-24-year-olds, suicide appears to be on the rise among youth and young adults after more than a decade of decline.

Spotting warning signs can be tricky. Many teenagers with depression, for example, exhibit an easily overlooked blend of mood and behavioral issues rather than the symptoms typically seen in adults, experts say. Stress from things like pressure to excel in school or to land a good job may precipitate psychiatric disorders, which they found almost half of the more than 5,000 college-age individuals studied had suffered from in the past year.

You can take steps to cultivate resilience in your children by setting a good example when, for instance, coping with setbacks. Another is to focus on raising a balanced person, not a high-achieving performer; if kids are made to feel as though their ultimate goal is to please parents, not themselves, they won't learn how to identify their own strengths and preferences. So if you notice that there might be something wrong and your child is no longer coping well, that's the time to seek help.

Sports Safety

Teen sports are great: They can promote teamwork, jump-start a lifelong exercise habit, and provide an antidote to obesity. But teen athletes can also get hurt, which means they--and their parents and coaches--should be vigilant about prevention.

Sports injuries fall into two categories. Acute injuries, like a sprained ankle or torn ACL in the knee, occur suddenly, after a missed step or a midfield collision. Overuse injuries are caused by repetitive motion that damages the body over time. Those used to be fairly rare among teens and kids. But increasingly, doctors see teens with overuse injuries that used to plague mostly collegiate or pro athletes--such as a damaged ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow.

There are ways to protect against both overuse and acute injuries. Proper conditioning is crucial. Teens new to sports should start by getting in good overall shape--including working on aerobic fitness, strength, and flexibility. On the other hand, serious teen athletes may need to build more recovery time into their schedule. Train hard on some days, but go easier and work on recovery and technique on alternate days, he recommends. Done correctly, both strength training and working on the core muscles of the back and abdomen may prevent injury and boost performance. Sports-specific warm-up programs also can help.

Swine flu

I think that now the biggest problem is the swine flu. Here are some news about this problem. But remember that the prevention is the easest way to health. Some tips for you.

The CDC describes swine flu symptoms as similar to those of the common flu with fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue, and possible diarrhea and vomiting. The swine flu, however, can only be diagnosed with a laboratory testing of a swab from the nose or throat.

It is said that people should keep themselves safe by practicing proper respiratory etiquette, such as covering sneezes and coughs, frequent hand washing and staying away from crowds if they feel ill.

Contrary to some belief, the swine flu is not acquired by eating pork products, but person-to-person contact.

The State of Florida has established a toll-free number to call for information about the swine flu. Residents can call 1-800-342-3557. The line is staffed daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Virginia Campground Introduces Brand New Water Slides

Summer is almost here! Have you heard about new slides in Natural Bridge Jellystone Park?

"Natural Bridge Jellystone Park™ will hold the grand opening for their new water slides and spray park on 05/16/2009. The Water Zone will offer the guest's endless hours of fun. The water slides are side by side, allowing riders to race each other for 175 feet of exhilarating fun. The Virginia campground's water park will also feature a "Spray Ground" where visitors of all ages can find relief from the hot summer by splashing around the water activated pool figures and features.

You can find more information regarding reservations, campground activities, and campsite amenities by visiting www.campnbr.com or by calling toll free at 1-800-258-9532."