Next time you draw an assignment to speak on crime prevention, this website could be a valuable resource: www.quatloos.com. It can help with fraud investigations, too.
Maintained by the Financial and Tax Fraud Education Associates, a California not-for-profit organization, the site posts eye-opening (and often humorous) lists of scams and schemes that promise to make unsuspecting people rich, but are more likely to leave them financially impaired.
Among the many entries that are fully detailed and explained are phony charities (like the Almighty Church of the First Cousin of Noah), bogus tax shelters (like Xelan Disability Insurance Trusts for physicians), investment frauds (like Chinese bonds paying 1,000%), stock and insurance scams (like the Texas Joint Stock Company asset protection scheme), and many more.
Fun and informative clicking through this site will also give you such gems as:
- 10 simple questions to ask to avoid being defrauded
- Lists of the best and worst casino games for payoffs
- Contact information for federal and state law enforcement agencies
Visitors are also encouraged to post reports of new scams in hopes of putting more con artists behind bars.