Scam

A Southern California man who bilked investors worldwide out of $147 million in a pyramid scheme was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison. Steve Chen, 63, of the Los Angeles-area suburb of Bradbury, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, who said Chen’s “litany of lies” promoted a scam of “epic proportions,” according to a statement…

Businesses are hurting because of the coronavirus pandemic. There have been billions of dollars in emergency and disaster loans given out by the Small Business Administration to help keep the lights on. It turns out some loans were taken out in the names of people who never applied.

If something sounds too good to be true, it often is, and an Aldi offer for free groceries that’s been making the rounds on Facebook this week is, in fact, a scam.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday warned victims of California’s wildfires and other natural disasters to beware of swindlers who pose as official aid workers or relatives trying to help them get government assistance.

Los Angeles County residents were warned Friday about an email scam that threatens fines if they don’t appear in federal court for jury duty. The sender — JuryDuty@donotreply.gov — purports to be from Clerk of Court “Sherry Mason.”

A Colombian woman with ties to Los Angeles was sentenced today to 33 months behind bars for her role in a long-running lottery ticket scam that targeted Latina grandmothers throughout the Southland.

Authorities are warning the community about a phishing scam in which cybercriminals send a text message with a malicious link to an intended victim’s phone to try and obtain personal data.

You’ve probably received a letter for the 2020 Census, but scammers are using the Census as a way to try and rip you off. NBC4 I-Team Consumer Investigator Randy Mac explains how it’s happening and what you should look out for – Aug. 21, 2020.

You’ve probably received a letter for the 2020 Census, but scammers are using the census as a way to try and rip you off. You have to be on your game because this is a scam that can come in any form — through mail, by phone, or right at your front door. “Now it’s time to do the Census,…

Residents across the United States are finding packages of seeds mailed to them from China in what is believed to be part of a scam to skew online shopping algorithms.

A real estate development consultant has pleaded guilty to a federal racketeering charge for his role in a pay-to-play scheme at City Hall allegedly tied to now-suspended Councilman Jose Huizar’s approval of large building projects in downtown Los Angeles. George Chiang, 41, of Granada Hills pleaded guilty via videoconference Friday to one federal count of conspiring to violate the Racketeer…

A couple helped run an international romance scam that used bogus profiles on dating websites to woo dozens of victims into giving up more than $6 million, federal prosecutors said. Martins Friday Inalegwu and Steincy Mathieu, both of Maple Shade, New Jersey, were charged Tuesday with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Inalegwu, 31, made his initial court appearance…

A Southern California woman was arrested Friday on charges of swindling investors, mainly from China, out of $21.6 million in a phony condominium and hotel complex project. Ruixue “Serena” Shi, 36, of Arcadia, was taken into custody by FBI agents on a criminal complaint charging her with wire fraud, a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office said. It wasn’t...

 A man accused of romancing “black-ish” star Jenifer Lewis and three other women to con them out of money for his phony businesses agreed Friday to plead guilty to a federal charge of wire fraud, prosecutors said. Antonio Wilson, 57, of Santa Monica, acknowledged conning the women in the plea agreement filed in federal court in Los Angeles, the...

A convicted con man who co-founded a Southern California church months after leaving prison has agreed to plead guilty to running a church-based investment scheme that bilked people out of $33 million, federal prosecutors announced Friday. Kent Whitney, 38, of Newport Beach, agreed Wednesday to plead guilty to mail fraud and filing a false income tax return. He could face…

A British man accused of smuggling a phony coronavirus cure into the United States was charged Wednesday with a federal crime, prosecutors said. Frank Richard Ludlow, 59, of West Sussex was charged in Los Angeles federal court with introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce and could face up to three years in federal prison if convicted, according to the U.S….

A man who claimed in a strange series of YouTube and Instagram videos that he had created a miracle cure for the novel coronavirus and needed financing to mass produce an unproven pill was arrested Wednesday by the FBI. Keith Lawrence Middlebrook, 53, was arrested Wednesday while delivering the pills to an undercover FBI agent posing as an investor, according…

A California man was arrested after posting a series of bizarre videos in which he claimed to have a cure for COVID–19. Video broadcast Thursday March 26, 2020 on Today in LA.

Three Riverside County sheriff’s deputies and a tow truck operator allegedly conspired to steer business to the latter in exchange for favors benefiting the lawmen, all of whom are charged with felonies under an indictment unsealed Thursday. Former Deputy Kevin Carpenter, sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Christolon and Lt. Samuel Flores were indicted alongside Temecula-based TJ’s Towing proprietor Cody Close for...

A Los Angeles man is expected to plead guilty Monday to a federal charge for targeting Latina grandmothers throughout the Southland in a scam involving a fake winning lottery ticket. Tito Lozada, 50, faces sentencing May 11 on a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years behind bars. Two of…