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Phil AmmannJanuary 7, 2016

The New Year brings with it opportunity to reflect on 2015 and use it as a foundation to set a strong course for the year ahead. The Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) is the primary regulator of Florida’s financial services industry, covering securities and consumer finance as well as state-chartered banks and credit unions. As […]

Jim RosicaDecember 29, 2015

As if we didn’t have enough grifts to be on guard for, now the scammers are using phony “tech support” calls, according to a Tuesday consumer alert from the Florida Office of Financial Regulation. The con goes like this, according to OFR spokeswoman Jamie Mongiovi: The mark gets a call from someone “posing as technical support staff […]

Melissa RossDecember 24, 2015

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Amidst all the shopping, wrapping, and returns, the Florida Retail Federation says this holiday season is also expected to feature a spike in fraud. The FRF says retailers expect fraud to reach more than $2.2 billion nationally, an increase in fraudulent activity of 3.5 percent over 2014. The biggest offense: criminals who try to return […]

Associated PressJuly 29, 2015

Psssst … Need a phony ID? A fraudulent tax refund? Insurance money from a sham car crash? Florida may have just what you’re looking for. Since the first settlers hacked their way into the mangrove tangles and drained much of the swampland, sunny South Florida has been virtually synonymous with shady deals and scams. Over […]

Martin DyckmanDecember 27, 2014

In the news: Strippers listed as “admissions representatives” were hired to recruit students for a dodgy for-profit Florida trade college that FBI raids eventually put out of business. That’s the shocker in a federal lawsuit the Miami Herald reported recently. According to the suit, the school “purposely hired attractive women and sometimes exotic dancers and […]

Martin DyckmanDecember 9, 2014

In the news: Strippers listed as “admissions representatives” were hired to recruit students for a dodgy for-profit Florida trade college that FBI raids eventually put out of business. That’s the shocker in a federal lawsuit the Miami Herald reported last week. According to the suit, the school “purposely hired attractive women and sometimes exotic dancers […]

Tag: fraud

Drew Breakspear: Fighting fraud and serving Floridians in 2015

State regulators warn of phony phone calls from “tech support”

Florida Retail Federation expects spike in holiday fraud

By nearly any measure, sunny South Florida is tops in fraud

Martin Dyckman: Innocent students exploited by some for-profit schools

Martin Dyckman: Admissions ‘fraud’ adds to college debt