CARY, N.C. – Michael G. Carlton, president of Crescent State Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Crescent Financial Corporation (NASDAQ Global Market SM), has announced the release of an audio podcast discussing Fighting Fraud, the first event in Crescent State Bank’s Centsibility Series. In the podcast, Jo Sorbi, security director for the bank, describes what attendees can expect from Fighting Fraud, an event designed to educate the community on the dangers of identity theft. Sorbi provides a list of sensitive material attendees should bring to shred in addition to an overview of future events scheduled for the Centsibility Series.
Fighting Fraud will take place on Thursday, Oct. 16 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Cary Chamber of Commerce, located at 307 N. Academy St. This community event will focus on the importance of discarding personal documents and sensitive material properly. The event will include a Shred-a-thon and Fighting Fraud Seminar, featuring a panel of fraud experts. The Centsibility Series, not just for clients, is designed to educate seniors, families, and business owners on a variety of financial topics such as identity theft and fraud.
The podcast is available for download at http://www.mmimarketing.com/files/josorbifightingfraud.mp3.
Read More:CarolinaNewsWire
RALEIGH - Raleigh police say Dillard Roe Johnson stole gas cards from an engineering company, then hung around gas stations offering motorists fill-ups for $20 a pop. Now police are trying to track down everyone who took advantage of the special offer — possibly hundreds of people.
Johnson, 27, of 507 Dacian Drive was charged Thursday with three felony counts of financial card fraud, three felony counts of breaking and entering into a motor vehicle and one count of financial card theft, according to a Wake County jail spokesman. Police said he broke into work trucks at Bass, Nixon and Kennedy in West Raleigh over the weekend.
Company president Ed Davenport said whoever stole the cards set up an illicit gas business at Triangle gas stations. “By Monday morning, $23,000 worth of gas had been charged on the cards,” he said.
Scott Wilson, the firm’s survey manager, said the cards were used more than 300 times at more than two dozen gas stations in Raleigh, Smithfield, Morrisville, Wake Forest and Youngsville. Gas purchases ranged from $5 to $400, with most falling between $50 and $100.
“He would stay at some stations for more than an hour, moving from pump to pump,” Wilson said.
Bass, Nixon & Kennedy officials learned of the break-ins Sunday morning. Wilson said they were not too concerned because the thieves did not have the cards’ activation numbers. Wilson said he isn’t sure how someone gained the cards’ numbers, though at some stores an activation number isn’t needed to purchase gas at the pumps.
Johnson confessed to the break-ins and card thefts, according to a search warrant made public Thursday.
Read More:News & Observer
Clayton Police detectives are following up on leads as to who damaged the construction site of the new community center, but they are hoping their offer of a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction will produce more.
The vandalism apparently happened in daylight Aug. 23, when the crews were not working, Clayton Police Chief Glen Allen said. He said a patrol officer discovered the damage about 6:45 p.m.
The vandal or vandals smashed in a wall, knocked over scaffolding and drove the equipment over piles of building materials.
It is not clear how the hoodlum got the bulldozer started, Allen said.
The part of the construction site, at 715 Amelia Church Road, that was damaged is not visible from the road.
Town officials said the damage will delay the spring opening of the 30,000-square-foot center, but it’s not clear how long fixing it will take or how much it will cost.
“We strongly believe that there are people with knowledge of details that may help solve this case,” Allen said in a news release Monday.
He asks that anyone with information, even if it seems to be unimportant, call Detective Andy Jernigan at the Clayton Police Department at 553-4611 or call 911 to report the information.
Source:News & Observer
(ARA) – What do a recent global crackdown on Internet child pornography and the arrest of Dennis Rader, the infamous “BTK” serial killer have in common with the Sept. 11 attacks on America? All are high profile crimes investigated not only by conventional police investigators, but by those specially trained in computer forensics, a new area of crime fighting.
Computer forensics is a branch of forensic science pertaining to legal evidence found in computers and digital storage mediums. Experts in this field investigate data storage devices such as hard drives, USB drives, CD-ROMS, floppy disks, etc., identifying, preserving and analyzing documentary and other digital evidence.
While most of the attention given to people working in this field comes from the work they do with police to help solve high profile crimes, that is not the only role they play. Individual companies are hiring forensic computer experts to perform such roles as determining the root cause of a hacker attack, collecting evidence legally admissible in court, and protecting corporate assets and reputations from crimes such as white-collar fraud.
Andrew Hildebrand, CPA, CVA, JD and dean of business programs at DeVry University in Fort Washington, Penn., offers this example of just how important a computer forensics expert’s role is in a corporate investigation of financial crime. “First a CPA would be contacted by an attorney to work on proving financial fraud. The CPA would need to have financial records and data, some of which may be in electronic format,” he says.
“Many times in these types of fraud cases, the suspect has attempted to cover-up the crime by deleting various documents, such as MS Word memos and MS Excel spreadsheets,” Hildebrand adds. “Once the accountants have some idea of what they are looking for, we can work with the computer forensics professional to recover the deleted material. During every step from seizure of the computer through to court testimony, the computer forensics professional will use their expertise to ensure that the data is recovered and the laws of evidence are respected.”
Realizing the growing need for trained professionals with this area of expertise, schools such as DeVry University, one of the country’s largest, publicly held, degree-granting higher education systems in the U.S., have developed special degree programs to train the experts of tomorrow. DeVry University offers an accelerated bachelor’s degree program in Computer Information Systems with a specialized track in computer forensics that can be completed in three years. As they are pursuing their degree, students learn how to follow the trail of computer clues that are left behind when someone commits a crime of technology. They also learn how to document evidence and how to coordinate with law enforcement to track the movements of the bad guys.
“Students will be prepared for jobs such as security auditor, security specialist, security administrator, security analyst, Web security manager, security director, digital forensic investigator, privacy officer and compliance officer,” says Rajin Koonjbearry, an instructor at DeVry University in Dallas. “These jobs are in high demand and will continue to grow because of new and changing regulatory requirements.”
Among the career avenues available for students graduating with a specialization in computer forensics:
* Law Enforcement. Police departments and sheriff’s offices nationwide are looking for computer forensics professionals to help them investigate computer-related crimes.
* Corporate. Those with a computer forensics background can help companies protect their computer systems from outside attacks.
* Private Organizations. Any private organization with its own network needs computer forensics professionals to maintain surveillance on their systems.
* Software Programmers. The advice that the computer forensics degree holder can provide a software company about the stability of their programs is always welcomed.
“We are responding to the changing IT industry in order to ensure DeVry University graduates are prepared to excel in emerging industry areas,” says Eddie Wachter, Ph.D., dean of academic affairs at DeVry University Central Florida. “Professionals who know how to protect companies and consumers from cyber crime will be in great demand in our increasingly networked world, and the new specialized options give our students the edge in this evolving industry.”
To learn more about DeVry University’s Computer Information Systems (CIS) degree program, log on to http://www.DeVry.edu .
CHAPEL HILL - Chapel Hill investigators today released photos from a bank surveillance camera that they say show a man using an ATM card belonging to slain UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson.Chapel Hill Police Chief Brian Curran said investigators have not identified the person in the photos, and can only say that he appears to be a black man in his late teens or early 20s. He appears to be wearing gloves, what looks like a hooded sweatshirt or parka and some kind of ball cap with a star on it.
Curran said the ATM photos were taken in the Chapel Hill area, but would not say specifically where or when.
“This is our biggest break so far in this case,” he said at a press conference this morning.
Curran said the ATM camera captured several photos of the man, including one showing him in a sport utility vehicle with a roof rack that may be Carson’s 2005 Toyota Highlander. He referred to the man in the photos as “a person of interest,” not the suspected killer.
Curran said police are putting together a timeline using Carson’s cell phone records, but said they have not found her keys. He repeated that investigators have no evidence to suggest Carson was specifically targeted.
“We believe, at this point, it feels like a random crime,” Curran said.
Carson, 22, was found in the Hillcrest neighborhood northeast of the UNC-Chapel Hill campus about 5:15 a.m. Wednesday with gunshot wounds, including one to the head. She was carrying no identification, and it was not until Thursday that police announced that they had confirmed her identity.
Her Toyota Highlander was discovered Thursday afternoon on North Street, around the corner from Carson’s house at Friendly Lane.
Carson’s roommates told police that they’d gone out at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday and that she had stayed home alone to study. Curran said this morning that police think Carson might have left her house after her roommates to make copies for school.
Police are still interested in speaking with anyone who thinks they saw Carson’s Highlander between 1:30 a.m. Wednesday and midday Thursday. The blue SUV has Georgia license plates, AIV-6690.
The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees has pledged $25,000 to the Carrboro-Chapel Hill-UNC Crime Stoppers program for a reward for information leading to the arrest of a person or persons responsible for Eve Carson’s death. Police ask anyone with information about the case to call Crime Stoppers at 919-942-7515 or www.crimestoppers-chcunc.org
See Picture At: News & Observer
PHILADELPHIA - The globe-trotting priest from Connecticut drove a Jaguar, shopped at Bergdorf Goodman and bought jewelry from Cartier, all with money stolen from his church’s coffers. By the time the parish finance council caught on, he had embezzled $1.3 million.THE PROBLEM: Many U.S. churches have been victims of embezzlement over the years, reflecting not just moral weakness on the part of the wrongdoers but also lax financial controls. Often, church budgets are overseen by volunteers or employees with little guidance or training.
SOME EXAMPLES: Last year, The Associated Press found reports of more than 20 churches in 17 states dealing with embezzlement cases.
The cases included those of a Roman Catholic priest in Virginia who admitted stealing at least $400,000 from his parishioners and a Lutheran youth minister in Pennsylvania charged with embezzling more than $68,000
Read More:News & Observer
The former president of a company involved in a failed real estate project that cost investors more than $100 million pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Charlotte.Neil O’Rourke, 40, of Apex, held various positions at companies involved in the mountain development known as the Village of Penland, located about an hour northeast of Asheville. He became president of Peerless Real Estate Services in in 2004.
O’Rourke pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge that included making a false application and statements in relation to loans, mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and securities fraud. O’Rourke appeared today in Charlotte to formally enter a guilty plea.
No date was set for sentencing. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
The details were announced jointly by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service.
According to the statement, O’Rourke participated in a conspiracy of investment and mortgage fraud: “The investment fraud scheme was carried out in a Ponzi scheme fashion, where new investor funds in the Village of Penland were diverted to make mortgage payments for other investors.”
Other lawsuits that followed the development’s collapse charged that money was also used by officials of Peerless to take expensive vacations and fund other real estate investment projects
Read More:News & Observer
Cybercriminals prey on online shoppers over the holidays. Here are the most common scams and how you can avoid them
Ah, the holidays—that most wonderful time of year when the Web is aflutter with e-mailed season’s greetings, online shopping offers…and cyber criminals. The scams run the gamut, from fraudulent e-mails purporting to be alerts about online transactions to scam gift offers. “There is always an effort by the criminal underground to separate victims from their money this time of year,” says Paul Ferguson, an advanced threat researcher with Trend Micro, a security software provider.
Cybercriminals know it’s easier to get people to fall for scams related to online shopping when they have shopping on the brain. It also doesn’t hurt that the legitimate act of online shopping often involves visits to comparison-shopping sites and strange discount sites. So it’s little surprise that some of those destinations turn out to be fake. “People are particularly vulnerable this time of year because they are looking for bargains,” says Bill Loesch, chief technical officer and co-founder of GuardID, the maker of a device, similar to a USB memory stick, that stores account information and verifies the identity of financial sites.
The rising popularity of online shopping makes for a target-rich environment. Consumers have spent about $25 billion online since Nov. 1, according to a Dec. 20 comScore (SCOR) study. That’s a 19% increase from last year. Security firms expect a similar increase in the amount of online fraud, bringing the total amount lost online to $3.6 billion this year, according to a November survey by CyberSource (CYBS), an electronic payment and risk management firm.
So what can consumers do to protect themselves from unwittingly buying someone else’s holiday gifts this season? For starters, they can keep an eye out for the following common holiday scams:
You’ve probably heard the one about the Nigerian bank manager who needs your “confidential” help opening a U.S. account to transfer millions in oil-related profits. But those “dear friend” e-mails are fairly primitive compared with some of the devious phishing techniques criminals have come up with to trick consumers into handing over account information.
In fact, phishing attacks have become more successful in recent years. According to a survey by research firm Gartner, released Dec. 17, more than 3.6 million adults lost money as a result of phishing in the 12 months ending in August, 2007. That’s up from 2.3 million people in 2006.
One reason for the increase is the ingenuity of the scams themselves, which can look identical to legitimate notices from financial institutions such as Citibank (C) and PayPal, the leading online payment service from eBay (EBAY). Many of these e-mails open with warnings of imminent account cancellations or detection of fraudulent activity, which can make consumers more likely to click a link in hopes of rectifying the problem.
But the link typically directs to a fraudulent copycat site or downloads malware—software that scoops up account and other information—onto the computer, says Shane Keats, a research analyst with McAfee (MFE), a security software provider. “At some point this season you will get an e-mail saying that your auction account has been hacked and you must respond now,” says Keats. “Don’t panic.… It is not real. The auction sites and the banks don’t send that information by e-mail.”
For instance, phishing e-mails purporting to be from PayPal often begin with “Dear PayPal user” or “Dear PayPal member.” On its Web site, PayPal says it uses first and last names of customers when sending them e-mails; anything without the full name is a scam. PayPal also has an e-mail address, spoof@paypal.com, where users can report notices they suspect are fraudulent.
Read More:BusinessWeek.com
The Importance of Training Paralegals in Forensic Science
(ARA) - Imagine your employer does an unannounced drug screening for all employees, and to your dismay, you test positive. You are accused of doing illegal drugs and have been fired from your job based on these results. If you don’t find work soon, you may not be able to pay your rent or your car insurance. Of course, you vehemently deny using any illegal drugs and take your case to a legal firm.
Most likely, your case will not go directly to a lawyer, but will instead first be screened by a paralegal. Currently, paralegals are not trained in forensics, so most likely your paralegal will not know where to turn to help you.
Professor Zachary Kinney, chairman of the paralegal studies department at Everest College in Arlington, Va., is trying to change all this. He uses the above scenario to illustrate how crucial forensics training is for current paralegal students.
Kinney explains that if a paralegal had forensic training, he or she would know how to deal with a drug testing case such as this one. “For example, the first thing the paralegal would understand is that this case involves the branch of forensic science known as toxicology. The paralegal would know to contact a toxicologist with an independent toxicology lab to see about retesting the client’s specimen,” he says.
“The paralegal would then be able to recommend that his supervising attorney request a sample of the original urine sample. He or she would also know to research regulations governing the employer’s right to conduct drug screenings. Without some basic knowledge of forensic science, the paralegal simply would not know what to do or how to take these steps. They wouldn’t have a clue,” Professor Kinney emphasizes.
An article in the Washington Post in 2005 reported that, because of what they call the ”CSI syndrome,” juries now require proof beyond all doubt to get a conviction. Moreover, criminals watching CSI on television are learning tactics to evade detection. Combined, these two phenomena mean an understanding of forensic science is becoming increasingly important for paralegals who hope to give their clients a fair trial.
Currently there is no program or book that teaches lawyers, paralegals or judges about forensics, according to Professor Kinney. The National Justice Institute (NJI), the training arm for the U.S. Department of Justice, does offer lawyers and judges an online workshop on forensic science, but there is no similar program for paralegals.
To help get paralegals up to speed with forensics, Professor Kinney, who is an attorney and a retired U.S. Air Force officer and military lawyer, teaches an introduction to Forensic Sciences at Everest College in Arlington. He is also in the process of developing a text for paralegal studies students in the area of forensics. “Forensic Evidence For Paralegal will be the only book of its kind, and lawyers and judges will be able to use the book as well,” says Kinney.
This drug-testing scenario is not merely a hypothetical example. Professor Kinney explains that he experienced a case similar and that he was able to help clear his client due to his knowledge of forensics. “I once had a client who was being prosecuted for illegally using cocaine. I knew that there are logical explanations for why a person’s urine can come up with a false positive, such as cross contamination, or incompetence on the part of the lab personnel who tested the specimen,” says Kinney.
“Due to my knowledge of forensic science, I was able to prove that her specimen was contaminated, but had I not had the training, I would not have known what to do or where to turn,” says Kinney. “Not just lawyers, but also paralegals, need to know about this important science. This is where my book and teaching efforts are being aimed.”
Courtesy of ARAcontent
SEC freezes assets, seeks repayment for investors in real estate scheme
Federal authorities have stepped in to do what dozens of disenchanted investors in North Carolina, Florida and California have been unable to accomplish over the last five years: force James Webb to give them their money back.
The self-styled Raleigh real estate entrepreneur who relocated to Florida after state regulators and private investors began questioning his business practices here three years ago is the subject of a 26-page complaint filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 15. The SEC’s suit accuses Webb, personally and through his many corporate entities, of engaging in a “real estate-based fraudulent investment scheme that raised at least $8.4 million from more than 80 investors.”
Labeled a “Ponzi scheme” by some whose losses have topped six digits, Webb’s business model claimed to use investors’ money to buy and renovate run-down houses in low-income neighborhoods in eastern North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and later, Florida. Webb claimed to be able to sell the refurbished houses at enormous profits.
Investors from all over the country were swayed by his promises of returns of greater than 100 percent, his espousal of altruistic motives such as creating affordable housing in distressed neighborhoods, and his connections—including support from the once-respected but now disgraced former U.S. Attorney Sam Currin, who last year pleaded guilty to federal charges in an unrelated money-laundering case.
The SEC’s complaint lays out many variations and details of Webb’s scheme, first profiled in an Independent investigation (see “Smooth Operator: Why do people keep giving James Webb their money?,” Dec. 8, 2004).
On Nov. 26, a federal judge gave the SEC permission to freeze Webb’s personal and corporate assets, including 50 accounts in 10 banks in North Carolina and Florida, as well as real estate holdings. Webb operated under multiple business entities, including the Raleigh-based Webb Builders and Alpine Properties. He also used the name Citirise and Progressive Redevelopment LLC.
The move by federal authorities preserves the possibility that once the litigation is resolved—which could take up to two years—there would be a chance for defrauded investors to recoup some of their losses, said David Williams, one of the attorneys handling the case for the government.
“To the extent that we are able to gather assets, we then have a process by which people can be made whole, as best we can. It’s never 100 cents on the dollar,” Williams said, noting that it’s too soon to speculate about how much of investors’ money remains intact. “We’re still trying to get our arms around what’s out there.”
At a Nov. 26 hearing, Webb appeared in federal court with his wife, Sharon Sloan-Webb—but without an attorney. He asked the court to unfreeze some assets so that he could pay for legal representation, but because the SEC objected, that request was not decided, Williams said. The government did agree to unfreeze monies earned by Sloan-Webb, a registered nurse. The couple uses those funds to pay household bills, Williams said.
Because Webb was not represented by a lawyer, Williams and his co-counsel spoke directly with the elusive entrepreneur “for an extended period” as they attempted to hammer out an agreement, Williams said. Webb’s renowned charm—often cited by investors as a major factor in deciding to cut him large checks—was obvious in the courtroom, Williams said.
“He’s a very personable guy,” he said. “You read the facts of this case, and it’s hard to understand how this could happen, but you meet him and you start to see how people would give him money.”
Since setting up shop in Raleigh about five years ago, Webb has attracted investors with that charm, backed by polished presentations and advertised through lots of word-of-mouth networking, including church social circles. Some investors ponied up the minimum of $40,000 to refurbish one house, but others went in for as much as $2 million at a time, according to private civil lawsuits pending in North Carolina and Florida.
Instead of using investors’ funds for their advertised and contracted purposes, the SEC is alleging Webb often redirected them toward paying off other investors—the definition of a Ponzi scheme—and for personal use. Of the $8.4 million in other people’s money that federal investigators identified as passing through Webb’s hands since 2002, Webb converted at least $1.2 million for his own use by cashing checks or diverting it to personal accounts, including those in the names of his two young children.
Webb’s wife is named as a “relief defendant” in the legal action, which means that the SEC is not alleging wrongdoing on her part, but believes she controls assets pertinent to the case, Williams said. The couple, now believed to be living in Weston, Fla., used some of the money for exotic vacations and luxury vehicles, according to the SEC suit.
In the federal lawsuit, the SEC is requesting that the court force Webb to “disgorge all ill-gotten gains,” including interest, and to pay unspecified civil monetary penalties. Even so, it’s unlikely there will be full refunds for anyone, SEC lawyers say.
“A lot of times, in these cases, investors are never made whole because the money’s just not there,” said SEC attorney Dean Conway.
Florida attorney Brad Coren is hoping, for his client’s sake, there is something left of Webb’s assets. Coren represents Webb investor Andres Rabinovich, one of the many convinced by Webb’s sales pitch. In a private civil suit in Broward County, Florida, Coren obtained a judgment of $97,266 against Webb in March of this year. To date, his client hasn’t seen a dime; the debt is accruing at 11 percent.
“We’re not getting anywhere,” Coren said by phone from his Florida office. “So I’m in favor—and so is my client—of putting some pressure on him. We’re doing a Kabuki dance, essentially.”
While real estate and corporations regulators in California and North Carolina have issued injunctions and “cease and desist” orders that prevent Webb from operating his scheme in those two states, individual investors are having just as much trouble as Rabinovich in recouping losses incurred dealing with Webb.
A $2 million civil suit filed in Wake County by Charlotte pharmacist John Sink and his wife in January 2006 has ground on for nearly two years without resolution.
That case will likely go to trial in 2008, after many delays caused by Webb’s lack of response to requests for documents and other information, says James Jorgensen, the plaintiff’s attorney.
News of the federal suit came as no surprise to Jorgensen, who also represents other Webb investors.
“This SEC action is certainly consistent with what we’ve been experiencing,” Jorgensen said.
Read More:Indepentent Weekly
