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white-collar crime

Covid Cons: Introducing the New ‘Scamdemic Series’ Spotlighting Coronavirus-Related Cons And How to Avoid Them

May 22, 2020 //  by Rocky Marmolejos//  Leave a Comment

Covid-19 and the New Wild West 

Imagine you are driving to town to restock on essentials. As you are driving, you see cars lining up under a white banner advertising, “Covid-19 testing here.” You wonder if you may have the coronavirus because you haven’t been feeling well lately and so you decide to get tested. 

It strikes you as odd that the operators of the testing site prefer a cash payment of $240 or that their personal protective equipment (PPE) has that signature DIY-flare. In a world where every new day brings in a “new normal,” it’s easy to lose sight of what normal actually looks like. 

You hand over the cash, get your throat swabbed and go home and wait for test results that will never be sent to you. You don’t know it yet, but you have become a victim of a new crop of coronavirus-themed scams. 

Businesses May be Closed but the Business of Fraud is Booming

The coronavirus pandemic has been a deterrent to the ordinary criminal—drug dealers, murderers, rapists, burglars, and their ilk—those who, under normal circumstances, have to leave the house in order to commit crimes. After all, a burglar usually waits for you to go out before helping himself to your things. For the scores of fraudsters and online criminals out there, however, this prolonged stay-at-home life has been a bonanza. According to the Federal Trade Commission, during the first three and a half months of 2020, Americans reported losing $13.44 million to Covid-19-related scams, while Canadians have lost $1.2 million in the last several weeks, alone.

In an effort to help arm our readers with the knowledge necessary to protect themselves from the growing number of pandemic scams out there, we’re putting together new series here on the blog called Scamdemic. Each week we’ll focus on a different scam born out of the global coronavirus pandemic, giving you the high-level overview of how these cons work, as well as tips on how to best protect yourself from them. 

In the meantime, here’s a quick list of covid-related cons that have been in in the news recently:

  • Phishing attacks: As we continue to isolate at home, we rely more than ever on the internet for work, essentials and entertainment. Scammers are taking advantage of this new reality by using phishing scams—which use emails, texts, spam, or websites to steal sensitive, personal information. Last month the Better Business Bureau released a report highlighting a number of “free trial” offer scams making the rounds during Covid-19, including one claiming to offer free Netflix streaming services. 
  •  Investment scams: Investment scams can be particularly enticing when they play off of what’s happening in the news—the search for a vaccine, PPE shortages, new testing technologies, etc.—luring victims into thinking an investment is guaranteed to bring in a good return.  Unsurprisingly, investment scams are on the rise during the pandemic. Last month Maryland’s Attorney General warned of an expected surge of coronavirus investment schemes, and the BBB published a “scam alert” on a new pyramid scheme making the rounds on social media.
  • Healthcare-related scams: PPEs, medical devices and other necessary items are in short supply these days.  Plenty of scammers are pushing fake and defective products or marking up prices on supplies. Don’t think you can fall for one? Even governments are susceptible to these scams—scammers conned the German government out of some $34 million in relief money meant to help its citizens, Forbes reports.
  • Stimulus checks and government impersonation schemes: For many people, stimulus payments represent a financial lifeline during these uncertain times. The U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), the agency responsible for deterring fraud related to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) programs and operations, “anticipates that criminals will engage in various scams and schemes in attempts to intercept EIPs (Economic Impact Payments), and/or steal sensitive taxpayer information during these challenging times.” These schemes include fake websites, emails or texts claiming to be from the IRS asking for personal, sensitive information so that scammers can steal your stimulus checks from you. 
  • Employment Scams: Many people are looking for online work while they wait for the job market to rebound from the pandemic shutdowns. In some of these scams, fraudsters may require an upfront “training” fee, ask that you provide personal and banking information to run a credit check or set up direct deposit payments, or send you a check to buy hardware and supplies from “approved vendors,” only to bounce the check and pocket the profits on the purchases the new hire made.  
  • Small Business Scams: As governments allocate millions of dollars to help businesses stay afloat, scammers are busy trying to divert these funds into their own pockets. Stay ahead of them by understanding some of the ways they can get their hands on your money before you do.
  • Charity Scams: People have fallen under unprecedentedly hard times—Covid-19 has had historic impact around the world— and many who are in stronger positions to weather the economic fallout want to do their part to help those less fortunate. But before giving your money away be sure that your charitable donations are really going to help those in need.

Up Next

In the next blog post, we will be taking a closer look at one of the most deceptive and effective ways that scammers steal sensitive and personal information from victims—phishing attacks. Phishing attacks are emails, texts, and other forms of communication that appear to come from sources that are trustworthy and reputable—when in fact they are anything but trustworthy.

Rocky Marmolejos

Rocky lives in rural central Missouri where cattle outnumber people.  As a kid, he enjoyed tinkering with radios but was only mildly successful in fixing them.  Nowadays, he enjoys tinkering with sentences and, occasionally, a vintage sewing machine. 

Category: News, Scamdemic Series, white-collar crimeTag: charity scams, coronavirus, covid cons, covid-19 fraud, employment scams, healthcare scams, investment scams, pandemic scams, phishing, scams, small business scams, stimulus scams, white-collar crime

Lottery Winner Launches Rantanna Media to Expose Con Artists, Cover-Ups

April 28, 2020 //  by admin//  Leave a Comment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lottery Winner Launches Rantanna Media to Expose Con Artists

Randall Rush to use media company to spotlight white collar crimes, other social injustices 

(April 28th 2020 – Vancouver, B.C.) Randall Rush, who won Canada’s $50 million Lotto Max Jackpot in 2015 has announced the launch of Rantanna Media, a mission-driven publishing and production company that is committed to shining the spotlight on white collar crime and other social injustices. 

Rantanna Media was born out of a quest for justice by Rush, who found himself the victim of a $4.6 million con within months of his lottery win. Because Rush had the money to hire top attorneys and undergo a grueling eight-month civil court battle, he was able to recoup sixty percent of his money. But he was disgusted to learn that so little is done in the criminal justice system to stop white collar criminals. And when he discovered that at least a hundred other people had fallen prey to the same con artist who had taken him, he knew he had to act. 

“I had heard about the devastating impact of white collar crime, but didn’t understand how emotionally crippling it could be until it happened to me,” notes Rush. “I find it outrageous that so little is done legally to stop these criminals from ruining peoples’ lives. Given the enormous financial gift I have been given, I see it as my responsibility to take on this fight.” 

Rush says the mission of Rantanna Media is three-fold. First, he wants to give victims a voice and ensure their stories are heard. Next, he wants to expose these con artists to the world in order to prevent them from hurting anyone else. Finally, he is determined to ignite a movement that forces the criminal justice system to address the gaps that Rantanna Media spotlights.  

Rantanna Media’s first two books, 13 Billion to One and Bloodsuckers, focus on Rush’s personal experience with white collar crime and stories of dozens of other victims who have fallen prey to con artists. Upcoming books focus on cover-ups of fraud and sexual abuse among Evangelical Christian leaders. 

Along with sharing these true stories in print, e-book and audio form, Rantanna Media is exploring film and documentaries. 

“At Rantanna Media, we are determined to raise such widespread awareness that these criminals will have nowhere left to hide,” says Rush. “But we can’t do it alone. We are asking people who have been a victim of white collar crime and other social injustices to report it to police and share their stories with us at Rantannamedia.com.” 

For more information, visit www.rantannamedia.com or contact their team. 

Download the full press release hereDownload
admin

Category: News, Press Release, white-collar crimeTag: news, press release, Randall Rush, Rantanna Media, white-collar crime

Latest Jeremy Crawford Scam Targets Clothing Brand for Severely Disabled People

April 16, 2020 //  by admin//  3 Comments

Jacqueline and Jack Cameron. Photo courtesy of Jacqueline Cameron.

Starting a business was the furthest thing from her mind when Jacqueline Cameron took a pair of scissors to her husband’s clothes eight years ago. All she cared about was figuring out some way to make it easier for her to care for him so she could keep him at home with her and keep her vow to him.

Jacqueline’s husband, Jack, was a successful chiropractor in his mid-50s when, in the early 1990’s, he was diagnosed with a rare degenerative auto immune disease similar to ALS. Suddenly life as they knew it came to a screeching halt. “It floored us,” Jacqueline says. “It was scary and ugly — no cause and no cure.”

“We thought, ‘What do we do now,’” adds Jacqueline. “I said, ‘One thing is for sure, you are not going into a care home. I will look after you until the end — whatever that means.’”

The doctor told the couple that Jack had only two to five years to live. But thanks to Jacqueline’s loving care and Jack’s determination and will to survive, he managed to slow the progression of the disease and far exceed his doctor’s expectations. But by 2012, he was so crippled by the disease that he was no longer able to dress himself.

That’s when Jacqueline went to work.

Photo courtesy of Jacqueline Cameron.

“I already knew what I was going to do, but I waited as long as I could to give him his dignity,” she explains. “I took some of his clothes, cut them where needed and then inserted zippers. The clothes looked just as good as before, but now I could dress him in under five minutes. When his occupational therapist saw what I was doing, she was blown away. She said, ‘You can’t keep this to yourself. People need this.’”

Super-Fly Adaptive Apparel was born and incorporated in 2013, with a small board of directors to guide Jacqueline along. Though her beloved husband, Jack, passed away in 2016 after nearly fifty years of marriage, Jacqueline took comfort that something good had come out of his illness and that she and her small business were making a difference in the lives of people with severe disabilities. It never occurred to her that someone could be cruel enough to steal her branded idea and money from unsuspecting customers. That someone was Jeremy Crawford working in cahoots with his wife, Amy.

Jacqueline with one of her clients, Sean Crumb. Used with permission from Jacqueline Cameron.

Jacqueline first encountered Jeremy in the fall of 2018, when she was showcasing her garments at an event for small businesses in Calgary. She said he was so excited by what she was offering he came running over to meet her, talking about all the things his online marketing company could do for her. Jacqueline was intrigued enough to meet him at Starbucks to learn more about his online marketing business and invited him to present his idea to her board. They, in turn, did an online search on Jeremy and came across articles detailing a lawsuit by Randall Rush that claimed Crawford had bilked him out of nearly $5 million.

“Jeremy was a little nervous,” remembers Jacqueline. “I don’t think he realized that I had a great board. Glen (one of the board members) said, ‘I checked you out and you have quite a record.’ Jeremy responded by saying that despite the media coverage claiming otherwise, he had actually won the lawsuit. But Glen pushed back, asking why he had to pay the money back.”

In the end, the board told Jeremy they would think about his proposal. But because of Jeremy’s ongoing pressure, Jacqueline agreed to come to his office to meet with him and his wife, Amy, and learn more about their sales projections for Super Fly. That’s when, according to Jacqueline, she was ushered into an upscale office in a prestigious Calgary building that they passed off as their own — even though she knew immediately it was cubicle space for rent.

Despite the skyrocketing revenue projections Jeremy and Amy shared, Jacqueline had experienced enough warning flags to steer clear. She sent them an email passing on the opportunity and held firm even when Jeremy, once more, tried to pressure her.

  • Screenshots of Super-Fly’s actual online store (taken on April 14, 2020). Items from their online storefront were taken and repurposed on the Ulivvo online store without the knowledge or consent of Super-Fly.
  • Screenshots of Super-Fly’s actual online store (taken on April 14, 2020). Items from their online storefront were taken and repurposed on the Ulivvo online store without the knowledge or consent of Super-Fly.
  • Screenshots of Super-Fly’s actual online store (taken on April 14, 2020). Items from their online storefront were taken and repurposed on the Ulivvo online store without the knowledge or consent of Super-Fly.
  • Screenshots of Super-Fly’s actual online store (taken on April 14, 2020). Items from their online storefront were taken and repurposed on the Ulivvo online store without the knowledge or consent of Super-Fly.
  • Screenshots of Super-Fly’s actual online store (taken on April 14, 2020). Items from their online storefront were taken and repurposed on the Ulivvo online store without the knowledge or consent of Super-Fly.
  • Screenshots of Super-Fly’s actual online store (taken on April 14, 2020). Items from their online storefront were taken and repurposed on the Ulivvo online store without the knowledge or consent of Super-Fly.
Screenshots of Super-Fly’s actual online store (taken on April 14, 2020). Items from their online storefront were taken and repurposed on the Ulivvo online store without the knowledge or consent of Super-Fly.

That was the last she had heard of the Crawfords until early March 2020, when she received a phone call from a private investigator.

“She asked me if I knew Jeremy Crawford. I hadn’t interacted with him since December 2018 and I had put him out of my mind. But then it hit me, and I said, ‘Wait a minute, I think I do.’ The investigator replied, ‘Well, he’s got your website.’”

When Jacqueline hung up the phone and went to the Ulivvo website owned and operated by Jeremy and Amy Crawford, she felt physically ill. There, under the Crawfords’ online store, was her Super-Fly brand showcasing Super-Fly clothes that featured her trademark zippers. There was also an attached shopping cart so unsuspecting customers could order the items.

That’s when it all began making sense for Jacqueline. In recent weeks, she had had issues logging into the back-end of her Super Fly website and noticed that sales had dramatically fallen. And after a recent delivery to a customer, the woman remarked that she was sorry Super Fly would no longer be in business. Within days of the shocking discovery, the online store on Ulivvo disappeared.

This coincided with the private investigator’s calls to notify other unsuspecting businesses that their brands were being fraudulently used by Jeremy, including Billy Footwear, another brand that services people with disabilities. Jacqueline can’t prove whether her drop in sales, the back-end issues with her website, or her customer’s strange comment is related to the scam. But the idea that Jeremy would steal her brand, and take money from severely disabled people already struggling to survive is more than she can bare.

Screenshots of the Ulivvo Pro member online store taken in early April 2020, showcasing Super-Fly and Billy Footwear products, as well as other brand name items, that in fact had no affiliation with Ulivvo and were used without the knowledge or permission of the retailers. The Ulivvo online store was taken down days later.

“When you are dealing with disabled people I feel there is no forgiveness,” says Jacqueline. “As Patrick on my board says, ‘This is awful…. It’s hard to believe that someone would stoop to such predatorial, unethical behavior.’”

Jacqueline may be eighty-two, but she’s not going to back down from this fight. The Top 7 Over 70 business owner is determined to share her story as far and wide as possible and is exploring other avenues for recourse.

“I’m not going to move fast,” notes Jacqueline. “I’m going to take my time and do this right.”

admin

Category: Crime Spotlight, Jeremy Crawford, white-collar crimeTag: Amy Crawford, cons, Crime Spotlight, Fraud Watch, Jacqueline Cameron, JerCraw, JerCrawFraud, Jeremy Crawford, Super Fly, TheJerCraw, white-collar crime

Bloodsuckers exposé on serial con-artist Jeremy Crawford out today

March 3, 2020 //  by Ingrid Ricks//  Leave a Comment

Bloodsuckers: The life and cons of Jeremy and Amy Crawford (and the rest of the Crawford Clan), (March 3, 2020, Rantanna Media).

Rantanna Media is proud to announce that its inaugural book, Bloodsuckers: The life and cons of Jeremy and Amy Crawford (and the rest of the Crawford Clan), is out today, Monday, March 3, 2020.

“Have nothing to do with the ‘stinky fish’ Jeremy Crawford.”

The exposé, commissioned by Rantanna Media founder Randy Rush, chronicles the criminal exploits of career con-artists Jeremy and Amy Crawford, along with Crawford’s parents, Dave and Shirley. What began with a personal court battle between Rush and Crawford, after the $50 million lottery winner was swindled out of nearly $4.6 million via investments in Crawford’s phony startup, KULTiD, turned into a mission to lead the charge against white-collar crime after countless other Crawford victims came out of the woodwork during the lawsuit.

Based on interviews with 107 Crawford victims, Bloodsuckers chronicles hundreds of true stories of financial and emotional devastation at the hands of Jeremy and his family.

Bloodsuckers is available in Kindle and paperback formats.

Ingrid Ricks

Category: Books, Jeremy Crawford, white-collar crimeTag: books, Jeremy Crawford, Rantanna Media, white-collar crime

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