Archive
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports and Testimonies
Source: Government Accountability Office
Reports
1. Diversity Management: Trends and Practices in the Financial Services Industry and Agencies after the Recent Financial Crisis. GAO-13-238, April 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-238
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653815.pdf
2. Medicare: Legislative Modifications Have Resulted In Payment Adjustments for Most Hospitals. GAO-13-334, April 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-334
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/653854.pdf
3. Defense Management: Additional Information Needed to Improve Military Departments’ Strategies for Corrosion Prevention and Control. GAO-13-379, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-379
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654676.pdf
4. K-12 Education: States’ Test Security Policies and Procedures Varied. GAO-13-495R, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-495R
Testimonies
1. Elder Justice: Federal Government Has Taken Some Steps but Could Do More to Combat Elder Financial Exploitation, by Kay E. Brown, director, education, workforce, and income security, before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, House Committee on Energy and Commerce. GAO-13-626T, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-626T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654664.pdf
2. Government Efficiency and Effectiveness: Strategies for Reducing Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieving Cost Savings, by Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, before the Senate Committee on the Budget. GAO-13-631T, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-631T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654669.pdf
3. Oil and Gas Management: Continued Attention to Interior’s Revenue Collection and Human Capital Challenges Is Needed, by Frank Rusco, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care, and Entitlements, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. GAO-13-647T, May 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-647T
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/654668.pdf
GAO — Federal Government Has Taken Some Steps but Could Do More to Combat Elder Financial Exploitation
Federal Government Has Taken Some Steps but Could Do More to Combat Elder Financial Exploitation
Source: Government Accountability Office
Older adults are being financially exploited by strangers who inundate them with mail, telephone, or Internet scams; unscrupulous financial services professionals; and untrustworthy in-home caregivers. Local law enforcement authorities in the four states GAO visited indicated that investigating and prosecuting the growing number of cases involving interstate and international mass marketing fraud–such as "grandparent scams," which persuade victims to wire money to bail "grandchildren" out of jail or pay their expenses–is particularly difficult. In addition, older adults, like other consumers, may lack the information needed to make sound decisions when choosing a financial services provider. As a result, they can unknowingly risk financial exploitation by those who use questionable tactics to market unsuitable or illegal financial products. Local officials also noted that it is difficult to prevent exploitation by in-home caregivers, such as home health or personal care aides, individuals older adults must rely on.
GAO identified several ways the federal government is, or could be, supporting state and local efforts to combat elder financial exploitation.
- With regard to mass marketing scams, GAO has recommended that the Department of Justice reach out to law enforcement authorities in states to clarify how they can obtain the federal assistance needed to handle interstate or international mass marketing fraud.
- To help prevent exploitation by financial services professionals, the Securities and Exchange Commission links to a public website where the qualifications of individual financial services providers can be found, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued guidance on how best to convey this information to older adults.
- To prevent exploitation by in-home caregivers, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides grants that fund background checks for employees of agencies that provide these services.
Other federal efforts are broader in scope and help combat all types of elder financial exploitation. For example, each of the seven federal agencies GAO reviewed has independently undertaken activities to increase public awareness of this exploitation; however, GAO has recommended that the federal government develop a more strategic approach to these efforts. Further, recognizing the importance of collaboration among those interacting with older adults, GAO has recommended measures to educate bank staff on how to identify potential exploitation and improve collaboration among social service and law enforcement agencies, among others, as they respond to reports of exploitation. GAO has also noted the need for more data on the extent and nature of elder financial exploitation, some of which can be collected from consumer complaints filed with federal agencies. Finally, preventing and responding to elder financial exploitation calls for a more cohesive and deliberate national strategy. To this end, GAO has recommended that the Elder Justice Coordinating Council–a group of federal agency heads charged with setting priorities and coordinating federal efforts to combat elder abuse nationwide–develop a written national strategy for combating elder financial exploitation.
FinCEN — SAR Activity Review – Trends, Tips & Issues — May 2013
SAR Activity Review – Trends, Tips & Issues — May 2013 (PDF)
Source: FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network)
The SAR Activity Review – Trends, Tips & Issues is a product of continual dialogue and collaboration among the nation’s financial institutions, law enforcement officials and regulatory agencies to provide meaningful information about the preparation, use and value of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and other FinCEN reports filed by financial institutions.
The Trends & Analysis section of this issue opens with an article on SAR filing patterns related to elder financial exploitation before and after the publication of FinCEN Advisory FIN-2011-A003 (Advisory to Financial Institutions on Filing Suspicious Activity Reports Regarding Elder Financial Exploitation) in February 2011. In this section we also report on trends related to SAR filings involving accountants and involving insider abuse within depository institutions. We close this section with an article from FinCEN’s Office of Special Programs Development on how financial institutions have made use of, and benefited from, information sharing under Section 314(b) of the USA PATRIOT Act.
The Law Enforcement Cases section includes interesting and informative summaries of cases that demonstrate the importance and value of BSA data to the law enforcement community. Cases in this section highlight how BSA data, and the detection and analysis of suspicious transactions by financial institutions, proved to be of value to law enforcement and prosecutors.
The month of May is Older Americans Month, and in the Issues & Guidance section we include a message from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on efforts by CFPB, FinCEN and others to raise awareness of elder financial exploitation. In this section, we include an additional article with information beneficial to filers of the new FinCEN SAR: SAR Narrative Key Terms: Updated Guidance on the Use of SAR Check Box Items.
See also: SAR Activity Review – By the Numbers – May 2013 (PDF)
USA.gov — 2013 Consumer Action Handbook
2013 Consumer Action Handbook (PDF)
Source: General Services Administration
This everyday guide to being a smart shopper is full of helpful tips about preventing identity theft, understanding credit, filing a consumer complaint, and more.
Also available online, or you can order a dead.tree version.
IRS Releases the Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2013
IRS Releases the Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2013
Source: Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service today issued its annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams, reminding taxpayers to use caution during tax season to protect themselves against a wide range of schemes ranging from identity theft to return preparer fraud.
The Dirty Dozen listing, compiled by the IRS each year, lists a variety of common scams taxpayers can encounter at any point during the year. But many of these schemes peak during filing season as people prepare their tax returns.
FTC Releases Top 10 Complaint Categories for 2012
FTC Releases Top 10 Complaint Categories for 2012
Source: Federal Trade Commission
Identity theft is once more the top complaint received by the Federal Trade Commission, which has released its 2012 annual report of complaints. 2012 marks the first year in which the FTC received more than 2 million complaints overall, and 369,132, or 18 percent, were related to identity theft. Of those, more than 43 percent related to tax- or wage-related fraud.
The report gives national data, as well as a state-by-state accounting of top complaint categories and a listing of the metropolitan areas that generated the most complaints. This includes the top 50 metropolitan areas for both fraud complaints and identity theft complaints.
The remainder of complaint categories making up the top 10 are:
Debt collection 199,721 10 percent
Banks and Lenders 132,340 6 percent
Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales 115,184 6 percent
Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries 98,479 5 percent
Impostor Scams 82,896 4 percent
Internet Services 81,438 4 percent
Auto-Related Complaints 78,062 4 percent
Telephone and Mobile Services 76,783 4 percent
Credit Cards 51,550 3 percent
Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services announce record-breaking recoveries resulting from joint efforts to combat health care fraud
Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services announce record-breaking recoveries resulting from joint efforts to combat health care fraud
Source: U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
ttorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released a new report showing that for every dollar spent on health care-related fraud and abuse investigations in the last three years, the government recovered $7.90. This is the highest three-year average return on investment in the 16-year history of the Health Care Fraud and Abuse (HCFAC) Program.
The government’s health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts recovered a record $4.2 billion in taxpayer dollars in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, up from nearly $4.1 billion in FY 2011, from individuals and companies who attempted to defraud federal health programs serving seniors and taxpayers or who sought payments to which they were not entitled. Over the last four years, the administration’s enforcement efforts have recovered $14.9 billion, up from $6.7 billion over the prior four-year period. Since 1997, the HCFAC Program has returned more than $23 billion to the Medicare Trust Funds.
These findings, released today in the annual HCFAC Program report, are a result of President Obama making the elimination of fraud, waste and abuse, particularly in health care, a top priority for the administration.
The success of this joint Department of Justice and HHS effort was made possible by the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), created in 2009 to prevent fraud, waste and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs and to crack down on individuals and entities that are abusing the system and costing American taxpayers billions of dollars. These efforts to reduce fraud will continue to improve with new tools and resources provided by the Affordable Care Act.
Complaint: United States of America, Plaintiff v. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC
Complaint: United States of America, Plaintiff v. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (PDF, via Courthouse News Service)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
From the beginning of his tenure, the Attorney General established twin commitments to the American people: that the Department of Justice will devote significant resources to combating financial fraud, and that we will be as aggressive and creative as we can be in holding accountable those who, in violating the law, contributed to the financial crisis.
This case demonstrates the full force of those commitments.
First, today’s action culminates a massive, multi-year investigation by a team of nearly two dozen lawyers from the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, and the Federal Programs and Consumer Protection branches of the Civil Division. Our lawyers and staff served hundreds of civil subpoenas, spent thousands of hours reviewing and analyzing millions of pages of documents, and contacted and interviewed over 150 witnesses, including dozens of former S&P analysts and executives. This enormous task would not have been possible without the combined expertise and tireless efforts of this team. I thank them for their commitment to this historic investigation and congratulate them on reaching this important milestone.
Second, the lawsuit being announced today demonstrates the Department’s commitment to using every available legal tool to bring to justice those who bear responsibility for the financial crisis. Our complaint asserts claims under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, or FIRREA. This statute was enacted in the wake of the Savings and Loan crisis in the late 1980s but has not been used very often in recent years. One of Congress’s stated purposes for FIRREA was to provide “enhanced enforcement powers and increase criminal and civil money penalties for crimes of fraud against financial institutions.” Under this law, the Department of Justice can seek civil penalties for the violation of certain underlying criminal statutes, including mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud, which the Department alleges as part of this lawsuit. But, unlike a criminal case that requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the FIRREA provisions underlying today’s lawsuit require only proof by a preponderance of the evidence. In addition, FIRREA authorizes the Department to seek civil penalties up to the amount of the loss suffered by a financial institution as a result of the violation.
Internet Dating and Romance Scams
Internet Dating and Romance Scams
Source: U.S. Department of State
United States citizens should be alert to attempts at fraud by persons claiming to live outside of the U.S., professing friendship, romantic interest, and /or marriage intentions over the Internet.
Typically, once a connection is made, the correspondent asks the U.S. citizen to send money or credit card information for living expenses, travel expenses, or "visa costs". Sometimes, the correspondent notifies the American citizen that a close family member, usually the mother, is in desperate need of surgery and begins to request monetary assistance. Scams have even advanced to the point where the U.S. citizen is informed of a serious or fatal accident to the correspondent and the “family” asks for money to cover hospital or funeral costs. Several citizens report losing thousands of dollars through such scams.
The anonymity of the Internet means that the U.S. citizen cannot be sure of the real name, age, marital status, nationality, or even gender of the correspondent. In every case reported to the embassy, the correspondent turned out to be a fictitious persona created only to lure the U.S. citizen into sending money.
These scammers have created male as well as female characters and entice same sex correspondents as well as those of the opposite sex. A disturbing recent twist are scammers who have connected to U.S. citizens through chat rooms for HIV positive individuals, posed as HIV positive individuals themselves, and asked for money for treatment or travel to the United States.
Correspondents who quickly move to professions of romantic interest or discussion of intimate matters are likely inventions of scammers. A request for funds almost always marks a fraudulent correspondent. U.S. citizens are cautioned against sending any money to persons they have not actually met.
HHS OIG — Compendium of Unimplemented Recommendations
Compendium of Unimplemented Recommendations (PDF)
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General
The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Compendium of Unimplemented Recommendations (Compendium) summarizes significant1 monetary and nonmonetary recommendations that, when implemented, will result in cost savings and/or improvements in program efficiency and effectiveness. The recommendations result from audits and evaluations that are performed pursuant to the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended.
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports
Source: Government Accountability Office
HEALTH CARE FRAUD
Types of Providers Involved in Medicare Cases, and CMS Efforts to Reduce Fraud
GAO-13-213T, Nov 28, 2012
COMBATING NUCLEAR SMUGGLING
Megaports Initiative Faces Funding and Sustainability Challenges
GAO-13-37, Oct 31, 2012
ELECTRICITY
GAO-13-72, Oct 29, 2012
Aging, Financial Literacy, and Fraud
Aging, Financial Literacy, and Fraud
Source: Social Science Research Network
We use a unique dataset to examine the financial literacy of older Americans and its importance for their financial decision making. The aging of the population and the shift to individual retirement accounts make this topic of growing importance to individual and societal well-being. First, we test how cognitive changes associated with aging impact financial literacy. We find that a decrease in cognition is associated with a decrease in financial literacy. A decrease in cognition also predicts a drop in self-confidence in general, but importantly, it does not predict a decrease in confidence in managing one’s own finances or in one’s financial knowledge. In fact, a decrease in cognition predicts increased overconfidence about one’s financial knowledge. Second, we test the hypothesis that overconfidence is a significant risk factor for being victimized by financial fraud. Financial fraud is a major threat to older Americans that is growing rapidly. We find that overconfidence in one’s financial knowledge is a significant predictor. A one standard deviation increase in overconfidence increases the odds of falling victim to fraud by 38%. The overconfidence of fraud victims is further demonstrated by their increased propensity to hold a concentrated investment. Our results suggest that increasing the financial awareness of older Americans is likely to help protect them against becoming victims of financial fraud.
Inappropriate Payments to Skilled Nursing Facilities Cost Medicare More Than a Billion Dollars in 2009
Inappropriate Payments to Skilled Nursing Facilities Cost Medicare More Than a Billion Dollars in 2009
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General
Summary
WHY WE DID THIS STUDY
In recent years, the Office of Inspector General has identified a number of problems with billing by skilled nursing facilities (SNF), including the submission of inaccurate, medically unnecessary, and fraudulent claims. Further, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has raised concerns about SNFs’ improperly billing for therapy to obtain additional Medicare payments. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, Medicare paid $32.2 billion for SNF services.
HOW WE DID THIS STUDY
We based this study on a medical record review of a stratified random sample of SNF claims from 2009. The reviewers determined whether the information reported by the SNFs on the Minimum Data Set (MDS) was supported by and consistent with the medical record. The MDS is a standardized tool that SNFs use to assess each beneficiary. SNFs use the information on the MDS to classify beneficiaries into resource utilization groups (RUG). The RUGs determine how much Medicare pays the SNFs.
WHAT WE FOUND
SNFs billed one-quarter of all claims in error in 2009, resulting in $1.5 billion in inappropriate Medicare payments. The majority of the claims in error were upcoded; many of these claims were for ultrahigh therapy. The remaining claims in error were downcoded or did not meet Medicare coverage requirements. In addition, SNFs misreported information on the MDS for 47 percent of claims. SNFs commonly misreported therapy, which largely determines the RUG and the amount that Medicare pays the SNF.
WHAT WE RECOMMEND
We recognize that CMS has recently made several significant changes to SNF payments. However, more needs to be done to reduce inappropriate payments to SNFs. We recommend that CMS: (1) increase and expand reviews of SNF claims, (2) use its Fraud Prevention System to identify SNFs that are billing for higher paying RUGs, (3) monitor compliance with new therapy assessments, (4) change the current method for determining how much therapy is needed to ensure appropriate payments, (5) improve the accuracy of MDS items, and (6) follow up on the SNFs that billed in error. CMS concurred with all six recommendations.
SEC and Justice Department Release FCPA Guide
SEC and Justice Department Release FCPA Guide
Source: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Department of Justice
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice today released A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The 120-page guide provides a detailed analysis of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and closely examines the SEC and DOJ approach to FCPA enforcement.
The guide provides helpful information to enterprises of all sizes from small businesses doing their first transactions abroad to multi-national corporations with subsidiaries around the world. The guide addresses a wide variety of topics including who and what is covered by the FCPA’s anti-bribery and accounting provisions; the definition of a “foreign official”; what constitute proper and improper gifts, travel, and entertainment expenses; facilitating payments; how successor liability applies in the mergers and acquisitions context; the hallmarks of an effective corporate compliance program; and the different types of civil and criminal resolutions available in the FCPA context. On these and other topics, the guide takes a multi-faceted approach toward setting forth the statute’s requirements and providing insights into SEC and DOJ enforcement practices. It uses hypotheticals, examples of enforcement actions and matters that the SEC and DOJ have declined to pursue, and summaries of applicable case law and DOJ opinion releases.
Hat tip: GDP
FTC Leads Joint Law Enforcement Effort Against Companies That Allegedly Made Deceptive “Cardholder Services” Robocalls
Source: Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission escalated its campaign against illegal, unwanted robocalls announcing that it pulled the plug on five companies based in Arizona and Florida allegedly responsible for millions of illegal pre-recorded calls from “Rachel” and others from “Cardholder Services.” State partners in Arizona, Arkansas, and Florida also took legal action against similar companies.
Just two weeks after the FTC held a summit in Washington, DC, to examine the robocall problem, federal courts granted the agency’s request to temporarily halt five robocall operations that allegedly deceived consumers into paying hundreds or thousands of dollars by making phony claims that they could reduce credit card interest rates in return for an upfront fee.
“At the FTC, Rachel from Cardholder Services is public enemy number one,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “We’re cracking down on illegal robocalls by bringing law enforcement actions and pursuing technical solutions to the problem.”
The FTC gets more than 200,000 complaints each month about telemarketing robocalls, including calls from “Rachel” that pitch consumers with a supposedly easy way to save money by reducing their credit card interest rates. After collecting an up-front fee, however, the FTC believes that the companies do little if anything to fulfill their promises.
At the recent Robocall Summit, the FTC issued a challenge to the public offering a $50,000 cash prize for the best technical solution to block illegal robocalls on landlines and mobile phones.
CMS Response to Breaches and Medical Identity Theft
CMS Response to Breaches and Medical Identity Theft
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General
WHY WE DID THIS STUDY
CMS maintains the protected health information of millions of Medicare beneficiaries. If a breach occurs and the security or privacy of this information is compromised, CMS is required by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Recovery Act) to notify the affected beneficiaries. Such breaches can lead to medical identity theft. Medical identity theft is the appropriation or misuse of a patient’s or a provider’s medical identifying information (such as a Medicare identification number) to fraudulently obtain or bill for medical care. It can create patient safety risks and impose financial burdens on those affected. Medical identity theft may also lead to significant financial losses for the Medicare Trust Funds and taxpayers.
HOW WE DID THIS STUDY
We determined the extent to which CMS’s response to breaches met the notification requirements in the Recovery Act. We also assessed CMS’s response to medical identity theft involving beneficiary and provider Medicare identification numbers and the remedies it offers to beneficiaries and providers. We based this study on CMS data on breaches, CMS policies and procedures, CMS’s compromised number database, and structured interviews with CMS staff and benefit integrity contractors.
WHAT WE FOUND
CMS reported that it had 14 breaches of protected health information requiring notification under the Recovery Act between September 23, 2009, and December 31, 2011. CMS notified the 13,775 Medicare beneficiaries affected by the breaches, but did not meet several Recovery Act requirements. CMS has made progress in responding to medical identity theft by developing a compromised number database for contractors. However, the database’s usefulness could be improved. Further, contractors do not consistently develop edits to stop payments on compromised numbers. Lastly, CMS offers some remedies to providers but fewer to beneficiaries affected by medical identity theft.
WHAT WE RECOMMEND
We recommend that CMS: (1) ensure that breach notifications meet Recovery Act requirements, (2) improve the compromised number database, (3) provide guidance to contractors about using database information and implementing edits, (4) develop a method for ensuring that beneficiaries who are victims of medical identity theft retain access to needed services, and (5) develop a method for reissuing identification numbers to beneficiaries affected by medical identity theft. CMS concurred with all but the draft report’s fourth recommendation, which we revised as stated above.
New From the GAO
New GAO Reports
Source: Government Accountability Office
1. Oil and Gas: Information on Shale Resources, Development, and Environmental and Public Health Risks. GAO-12-732, September 5.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-732
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/650/647792.pdf
2. Unconventional Oil and Gas Development: Key Environmental and Public Health Requirements. GAO-12-874, September 5.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-874
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/650/647783.pdf
3. Health Care Fraud: Types of Providers Involved in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program Cases. GAO-12-820, September 7.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-820
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/650/647850.pdf
4. Mortgage Financing: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Multifamily Housing Activities Have Increased. GAO-12-849, September 6.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-849
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/650/647801.pdf
SARs Regarding Foreclosure Rescue Scams Increase
SARs Regarding Foreclosure Rescue Scams Increase
Source: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding foreclosure rescue scams continued to grow in the first half of 2012, even as the total number of SARs indicating mortgage loan fraud (MLF) declined, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced today in its latest Mortgage Loan Fraud Update. This update to FinCEN’s prior MLF reports looks at SAR filings from April through June 2012 (2012 Q2).
Foreclosure rescue scams target homeowners facing foreclosure with services or advice promising to stop or delay the foreclosure process. These scams prey on the vulnerability of individuals who are in danger of losing their homes. Some of these scams require homeowners to transfer their home’s title or make monthly mortgage payments to the purported "rescuer." Victims may lose thousands of dollars in fabricated fees, and risk losing their homes as well.
Financial institutions filed 2,360 foreclosure rescue related SARs in the first half of 2012. If this current pace continues, the total number of foreclosure rescue scam SARs for the calendar year will far exceed the total of 2,782 reported in 2011. In 2012 Q2, financial institutions submitted 17,476 total MLF SARs, a 41 percent decrease over 2011 Q2; 1,325 (8 percent) of these were related to foreclosure rescue.
Geographically, foreclosure rescue SAR subjects were disproportionately concentrated in California. This was consistent with FinCEN’s past research on debt elimination scams, a type of foreclosure rescue scam, which indicated a large number of the California subjects. Foreclosure rescue SARs filed during this period also noted higher violation amounts as compared to typical MLF SARs.
Talking the talk: Cyber security cited as a top priority, but 25 percent of world’s banks still victimized in 2011
Talking the talk: Cyber security cited as a top priority, but 25 percent of world’s banks still victimized in 2011
Source: Deloitte
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited’s (DTTL) 8th global financial services industry security survey once again confirms information security is a top priority for financial services industry organizations globally. And despite the challenges of balancing the cost of improved security initiatives with perceived risk of sophisticated threats and emerging technologies, organizations say that have become more proactive in implementing innovative security measures and creating greater awareness within their business, which is hopefully good news for the 25 percent of financial institutions that suffered a breach in 2011.
Here’s a quick glance at the additional top three findings in this year’s survey:
- Increased coordinated activity among security and business groups: almost two thirds of respondents believe that their information security function and business are engaged; most organizations are using a Security Operation Center (SOC) model to monitor traffic and data and actively respond to incidents and breaches.
- Growing adoption of new technologies and security innovation: as the use of social media increases, 37 percent of respondents are revising organizational policies and 33 percent are educating users on social networking to address the security risks.
- Policing cyber threats and due diligence with data assets: almost half of the organizations surveyed (49 percent) claim to actively manage their vulnerabilities, with 82 percent also actively researching new threats to proactively protect their environment from emerging threats.
NICB Reports 20 Percent Rise in Mid-Year 2012 Questionable Claims
NICB Reports 20 Percent Rise in Mid-Year 2012 Questionable Claims
The National Insurance Crime Bureau today released its first half 2012 questionable claims (QC) referral reason analysis. The report examines six referral reason categories of claims—property, casualty, commercial, workers’ compensation, vehicle and miscellaneous—for the first half of 2010, 2011 and 2012.Questionable claims are claims that NICB member insurance companies refer to NICB for closer review and investigation based on one or more indicators of possible fraud. A single claim may contain up to seven referral reasons.During the first half of 2010, a total of 46,766 QCs were referred. That number increased to 48,887 in the first half of 2011 and to 58,523 in the first half of 2012. There was a 20 percent increase in QCs during the first half of 2012 compared with 2011, and a 25 percent increase when compared with the first half of 2010.Suspicious theft/loss (non-vehicle) generated the largest increase in volume for a single referral reason in property QCs (5,255) and contributed to the property category’s 40 percent rise in QCs compared to the first half of 2011. The miscellaneous QC category posted the smallest increase—10 percent—compared with the first half of 2011.
