Thousands of people who have been denied flood insurance claims for homes destroyed by Hurricane Sandy have been crying fraud. Now, the executive in charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s insurance program tells 60 Minutes he has seen evidence of fraud in reports used to deny them full insurance payouts. The executive, Brad Kieserman, FEMA Deputy Associate Administrator for Insurance, also tells correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi he has seen evidence of the use of unlicensed engineers for flood damage reports, another criminal act. What’s more, he says FEMA has been aware of this evidence for more than a year. Kieserman speaks to Alfonsi for a 60 Minutes investigation into how fraud may have been the reason thousands of homeowners’ claims were denied. Her report will be broadcast Sunday, March 1 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Source

A spate of fraudulent state income tax returns filed using TurboTax’s online software has unnerved consumers this filing season. But con artists also continue to use more traditional means to try to separate taxpayers from their money, like harassing them on the telephone.

The Internal Revenue Service has posted repeated warnings about tax phone frauds, in which criminals call consumers pretending to be agents from the I.R.S. The impostors claim the taxpayer owes back taxes, then threaten arrest or legal action, unless the individual makes a payment quickly. Sometimes victims are urged to wire money, but more commonly they are directed to obtain a prepaid money card at a retailer and provide the number to the caller.

Source