Ivy Valdez, Jeffco woman convicted of embezzlement,

Craigslist rental scam, gets 8 year sentence

Read the full story here;

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/ivy-valdez-jeffco-woman-convicted-of-embezzlement-craigslist-rental-scam-gets-8-year-sentence04222014

COLUMBIA, SC (AP) -

Federal prosecutors in South Carolina say 10 people are charged in a lottery scam.

U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said Tuesday nine people from South Carolina and one person from Georgia had been charged as part of a conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Prosecutors say the scammers targeted older people, notifying them that they had won a lottery or sweepstakes but needed to pay fees in advance in order to receive their winnings.

Authorities say more than 200 people paid more than $1 million to receive their non-existent lottery prizes.

The defendants each face up to 20 years in prison and fines of $250,000 if convicted.

To learn about this scam, visit;

https://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/akron-canton-news/prosecutors-better-business-bureau-concerned-about-email-scam-that-orders-people-to-court

One of the oldest Scams is an offshore housing Rental or Property Sale.

It,s an old scam but people STILL become victims to it. The Scammer sends externior photos of a property and posts them to common classifieds sites such as "Craigslist' or "Kijiji" or others.

Interested people reply to the Ad and are told the owner is out of the country and can rent the property by sending the money to the individual at their present location. DO NOT SEND MONEY!!

This scam has not changed. The pictures are easily available thru satelites such as "Google Earth" and more.

Unfortunately, people STILL fall for this trick.

A public education programme is being launched to help older people protect themselves from mass market scams.

The senior fraud protection programme will be run by Ripley-based at-home care provider, Home Instead Senior Care, in partnership with the national scam awareness charity, Think Jessica.

As part of the campaign, the Home Instead team will hold a series of workshops aimed at sharing information with attendees on the scale of the problem and the most common scams targeting the elderly, as well as what to do if they have fallen victim to scammers.

Owner of Home Instead Senior Care Sheena Van Parys said: “The faceless criminals who use email, telephone, and post to lure their victims into parting with their life savings, personal banking information, and other assets often prey in particular on the elderly who they see as easy targets for their crimes.

“These types of scams defraud individuals in the UK of an estimated £3.5b each year and have very serious consequences for the elderly who can suffer devastating emotional distress plus loss of confidence and trust, which can lead to a loss of independence.

“Therefore, in launching the scheme, it is our hope that we can branch out into the wider community and keep as many people as possible better informed and better armed with the knowledge to correctly recognise and respond to scams and scammers.”

l Turn to pages 18 and 19 for our campaign to tackle elderly loneliness and isolation.

Microsoft scam man is sentenced in 'landmark' case

A man who ran a Microsoft computer scam tricking people into paying

for free anti-virus software has received a suspended four-month jail sentence.

Trading Standards hailed the case as being the first victory of its kind
Read more on this story @ https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26818745