minorities as targets of financial crimes erin, mckenzie, charlotte, & kristi
TRANSCRIPT
MINORITIES AS TARGETS OF FINANCIAL CRIMES
Erin, McKenzie, Charlotte, & Kristi
WHO IS TARGETED?
American Indians, Alaska Natives, African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to be victims of fraud than non-hispanic whites.
Hispanics are more than twice as likely as whites to be victims of fraud
Older, less educated, and widowed, divorced, or single consumers were found to be most vulnerable to unfair business practices.
WHY ARE THEY TARGETED?
• Immigration scrutiny• Less educated• Poor financial
backgrounds• Inability to raise credit
levels• Elderly have significant
amount of money sitting in accounts
HOW ARE THEY TARGETED?
• Mortgage/Loan Fraud • Affinity Fraud• Welfare Fraud• Funeral and Cemetery Scams
MORTGAGE & LOAN FRAUD Subprime loan
Subprime lenders provide high-interest loans to borrowers with bad credit or no credit history---those who do not qualify for the prime market.
Minorities Targeted African Americans Hispanics Latin Americans
South Florida High subprime loans 2004-2007
MORTGAGE & LOAN FRAUD
Derek Harris National African
American Relationships Institute (NAARI) scam
Created All-American Home Assistance Services
AFFINITY FRAUD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uD5fvcXmso
Investment scams that target certain groups Religious/ethnic communities Elderly
Fraudsters pretend to be in the groups
Hard to detect this kind of fraud----close knit groups
“Ponzi” schemes
WELFARE FRAUD Welfare Facts:
12,800,000 Americans on Welfare
46,700,000 Americans on Food Stamps
5,600,000 Americans on Unemployment
$131.9 billion in annual government spending on Welfare
Perpetrators usually act in one of three ways:
Unreported income
Absent parent
Government Child Support
Geographic ineligibility Falsifying child’s abilities/disabilities Food Stamp Fraud Corporate Welfare
CEMETERY AND FUNERAL SCAMS
Common Funeral Schemes Owed debts Insistence of Caskets Commission charges Charges for services not
requested Extra charges
Geraldine Story Tips for avoiding funeral
and cemetery fraud
CONCLUSION• Economic status, rather than race provides
the basis for most financial crimes; some groups are more likely.
• Funeral Cemetery Fraud---elderly, those who may be sick
• Mortgage and Loan Fraud---African Americans, Hispanics, Latin-Americans
• Affinity Fraud---African Americans, Koreans, Armenians
• Certain financial crimes are more commonly associated with certain social classes.
• Welfare Fraud----poorer people, i.e. those on Welfare in the first place
• Dash and Grab---poorer people
• Skimming; cash siphoning----more stable, wealthier people
•
SOURCES http://www.welfareinfo.org/ http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics / 24 Pepp. L. Rev. 1235 (1996-1997)
Welfare Fraud and the Fourth Amendment, Luna, Erik G. [ 56 pages, 1235 to 1290 ]
Welfare Law, Welfare Fraud, and the Moral Regulation of the “Never Deserving” Poor
http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/affinity.pdf http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/print-edition/2012/01/27/lender
s-targeted-minorities-with.html?page=all
http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/02/20/54999.htm http://money.cnn.com/2002/05/01/pf/banking/subprime / http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/10/news/funeral_home.fortune/ http://www.ncoa.org/enhance-economic-security/economic-security-Initi
ative/savvy-saving-seniors/top-10-scams-targeting.html http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/money/consumer/scams-that-comm
only-target-seniors--funeral-and-cemetery-fraud#ixzz2rWrzkAkN
http://www.ftc.gov/sentinel/reports/sentinelannual-reports/sentinel-cy2010.pdf.