Recently in Fraud / Economic Injuries Category

If you've fallen behind in paying your bills, you may have had an unpleasant visit by a repo man. You should know that repossession men are not government authorities, nor are they associated with the police. In certain situations, you can even sue a repo man for damages.

The laws regarding what repo men can and cannot do are typically provided in state statutes. So depending on where you live, you may want to talk to an attorney to see if the repo man violated any laws.

Generally, some ways to potentially sue a repo man can include:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently released a report showing the worst states for identity theft in the past year.

States were ranked by complaints per 100,000 population. For the third year in a row, Florida topped the list; the more heavily populated states generally appeared to experience higher rates of identity theft.

States with smaller populations like the Dakotas and Hawaii comprised the states least affected by identity theft, perhaps signaling that ID thieves don't find it worthwhile to target individuals outside major markets.

Here are the 10 states with the highest rates of identity theft:

Perhaps it's no big surprise to many beer lovers, but Budweiser is being sued for allegedly watering down its beer.

In a class action lawsuit, consumers across the United States accuse Anheuser-Busch of watering down its Budweiser, Michelob, and other beer brands, reports NBC News.

The lawsuit says that consumers have been cheated out of the alcohol content printed on labels. Budweiser and Michelob supposedly contain 5% alcohol, while "light" versions of their beer are supposed to contain about 4%.

A new identity theft report shows many Americans have been victimized, but also suggests certain forms of ID theft may be more dangerous or prevalent than others.

The industry-sponsored study found that 12.6 million Americans were ID theft victims in 2012. That's about 1 million more than in 2011, NBC News reports.

There are many kinds of identity theft and lots of ways to deal with it. But it helps to know what kinds of issues are most likely to cause significant problems. For example:

How do damage caps work?

Personal injury damage awards can rise to the millions. That's where the whole concept of the ambulance-chasing attorney comes from. It's the idea that you can become a millionaire overnight for tripping on someone's driveway.

Well, that might be a stretch. But nevertheless, some believe that lawsuits are a get-rich-quick scheme. As a result of this and general public policy, legislators in many states have enacted damages caps.

There were a lot of cars damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Now these flood damaged cars are starting to hit the used car market.

With a little bit of cleaning and cosmetic work, you can make even the most flood-damaged car appear OK. It might even drive fine for a bit, before ultimately succumbing to its damage.

As a result, if you are not careful when purchasing a used car, you could look forward to weeks of auto repairs and thousands of dollars in bills. Here are seven signs that a used car is flood-damaged:

The self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff in America," Joe Arpaio, has fallen victim to identity theft in the form of credit card fraud.

The outspoken sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes Phoenix, said that his credit card information was stolen and used to purchase $291 worth of groceries in Chicago, reports Reuters. Arpaio hasn't visited the Windy City in years.

Arpaio has gained fame (and come under fire) for hard-line tactics against illegal immigrants and suspected criminals -- as well as for other stunts like alleging President Obama's birth certificate was "forged."

Perhaps he should have focused his energies on preventing identity theft instead?

"Fraud" and "liar" are both ugly names, but only one will land you on the defense side of a civil lawsuit.

At some point, telling lies goes from being a poor decision to a violation of the law. But there are lots of circumstances in which it's not a legal problem, just a personal one. Knowing when lying becomes fraud is important, if only so you can avoid crossing the line.

It's not a complicated rule to figure out, but that doesn't make it easy to apply. Let's start by breaking down the definition of "fraud."

Shopping online on Cyber Monday avoids many of the problems with Black Friday crowds, but it has its own downside: identity theft.

Sure you don't have to jostle with the hordes of sale-crazed shoppers or look sadly at picked-over merchandise, but buying things online comes with a few risks. You'll be sending financial information over the Internet, which means you need to be careful that it isn't compromised.

It's good to have anti-virus protection and keep an eye out for fraudulent charges on your bank accounts, but there are some other specific steps you can take while shopping this holiday season. Here are three suggestions for staying safe:

A couple has brought a lawsuit against the Fox game show Million Dollar Money Drop for "tricking" them out of a $580,000 prize, reports TMZ.

Back in 2011, Andrew and Patricia Murray appeared on the game show and were asked the question: "According to the data security firm IMPERVA, what is the most common computer password?"

The answer choices were:

A) Password B) 123456 C) I Love You