These days creativity in perpetrating a fraud seems to be on the
rise. Who would have thought that there was a way to scam people with a
cell phone card?
Those prepaid cell phone cards are a real boon to people who like to
pay as they go, not thinking that full regular service is really
necessary or worth the expense. Cell phone users just shell out the
amount they want to pay and get on with their lives and making their
calls. Depending on the cost of the card, it will provide a user with a
variety of choices for time limits.
As the cell phone is used, the minutes are reduced until the card is
done. So far, so good. This is a useful service for many people and the
way to really save money with these cards is to compare the per-minute
rate and also the other charges and fees. This is where things start to
get a tad murky. The other charges and fees add up and may mean you're
paying for things you do not need to be paying for in the first place.
The deal is usually that the card company promotes the fact they
have one of the lowest costs per call and are happy to help customers
save money. This isn't always the case, and these "less than honest"
providers usually have many hidden charges and fees. When your cell
phone is activated, a customer starts paying a large fee to keep that
account active. Usually called monthly maintenance fees, these may cost
anywhere from less than a dollar to up to five dollars.
While that does not add a substantial amount to the card, some of
the other practices calling card providers charge, do add up. For
instance, there are a plethora of different fees charged to a user for
making international phone calls. Some providers will even charge for
not only using the prepaid card on a cell phone, but also charge to use
it on a pay phone.
For people who buy prepaid cards for their cell phones before they
go on holidays, hoping to save a few bucks here and there, they are in
for a surprise. Most people are not aware that every time they use
their prepaid card on a cell phone, they are incurring extra charges.
If that isn't bad enough, some prepaid calling card companies will
charge a customer to start a call and to end a call. The size of that
phone bill would be phenomenal when all those extra, hidden charges are
added on. It's no wonder prepaid calling cards don't last as long as
one thinks they should.
If faced with a suspected case of phone card fraud, approach the
company first. If that does not work, then contact the International
Prepaid Communications Association hotline and complain. If that fails,
contact a local district attorney's office and ask for the fraud unit.
Before buying any prepaid phone card, carefully research all the terms,
charges and fees.
White-collar crime is interesting, as it covers such a wide variety of crimes, for instance counterfeiting products.
The other term often used for counterfeit products is "pirated" and
it refers to products that have been illegally made and are being sold.
These knock-offs or bootlegged goods are often regarded as being a
great way to save money and really, no one is hurt in the process.
While it is a great way to save money, rather than buy the original,
it is definitely infringing on intellectual property rights. It's not
just selling goods in violation of a copyright either, it is selling
goods that specifically imply they are original quality and are
authentic when they are not.
Counterfeiting has an interesting history. It was once referred to
as palming off under English common law, meaning the counterfeiter
palmed off a fake as being genuine. In doing this, the fraudster was
horning in on the established reputation and goodwill of the original
creator.
Many people still refer to counterfeiting as trademark infringement,
and while that may be a valid observation, it also refers to all
intellectual property rights violations – trade secrets, copyright and
patents, etc. Certainly it is regarded as being a devastating crime
when perpetrated on a large scale that results in significant financial
losses to the creator of the original work, etc.
It's not just the loss of money that accrues to the original creator
of a product that is at issue. The other serious problem that may arise
from making and selling counterfeit products is their standard of
quality. Consumers buying these sub-standard products may find they
bought more than they bargained for if a certain item is defective and
an accident is the result.
Having said that, this is a crime and is one where those charged
must be accorded the right of a thorough criminal defense. Being
charged with counterfeiting does not mean that the person charged was
the person responsible for the scam or they were even aware of what
they were doing. It's all in the details of the case, and until all the
details are known and the defense heard, judgment needs to be kept in
abeyance.
If you're on a roll and have more than one DWI offense in Texas,
things aren't looking so good for you legally. Make sure you contact a
criminal defense lawyer to deal with this kind of a situation.
One of the first things you need to know is that Texas has one of
the highest DWI rates in the country, which is not something lawmakers
are wildly crazy about. This means the laws dealing with repeat
offenders tend to be fairly tough and no nonsense in nature. In cases
where you have been charged with a repeat offense, immediately call a
lawyer with DWI experience.
If you do happen to be convicted, and this is one of the reasons you
want a top-notch DWI attorney on your side - to mitigate penalties, be
prepared to be assessed for dependency on drugs or alcohol. If you made
the smart move when you were arrested and charged for the second time,
your DWI attorney will have a good chance to make a difference in the
outcome of your case.
Make sure you do not speak to anyone else but your attorney and keep
all the details to yourself. It won't help your case in the least if
you choose to share these things with the police, nor would it help you
later if you appear in court. In some instances, depending on the
details of your case, you may find you will be required to complete a
DWI education course.
If you are convicted of a second DWI, you must spend some time in
jail. Once again however, if you hired a knowledgeable DWI attorney,
you may find the outcome of your charges are entirely different.
Yes, you may also face license suspension, but you do have the
opportunity to apply for an occupational license that lets you get to
work or school. Of course, whether or not this happens also tends to
depend on what kind of driving record and/or rate of convictions for
DWI you may have.
If you are arrested for drunk driving for a second time, make your
first call to a qualified DWI attorney and then wait for him or her to
arrive. Only speak to them and let them handle the details. It's
entirely possible they may be able to have your charges dismissed or
reduced.
It's interesting that people who commit health care fraud think they
are doing nothing wrong and that those big companies have lots of money
and won't miss any.
While it's an interesting attitude, to rip off a larger corporation
for money that people don't think they need, it is indeed hurting
people. After all, it's not just the companies that are getting ripped
off; it's the people who these large corporations ultimately serve that
are also getting the short end of the stick.
Insurance scams in the US alone run a tab of roughly $80 billion a
year. Eighty billion is not exactly chump change to anyone. Even if
this figure is whittled down to what this costs per individual served
by an insurance company, the figure is still relatively high, coming in
at about $880 per person.
The funny thing is, those who are ripping off the system for extra
money, are also scamming themselves as well. So, while they may think
they are getting away with something smart and profitable, it often
works out that isn't the case. It certainly isn't the case when they
inevitably get caught either.
Unfortunately, due to rapid advancements in technology, insurance
frauds are getting harder and harder to catch. This may be a boon to
those who perpetrate this type of crime, but be forewarned that methods
to track this type of fraud are also growing by leaps and bounds.
The most common type of insurance fraud is found in the health care
system and that comes with a tab of about $30 billion a year. In this
area there are provider fraud and member fraud. Let's take a quick look
at what member fraud may involve. This would be when you choose to
deceive your insurance company by not declaring something in order to
get treatment. Provider fraud is if a doctor or another health
professional bills for a service they did not provide.
The bottom line here is that insurance fraud is illegal and the
penalties tend to be stiff when someone is caught and convicted of this
crime. However, having said that, everyone, no matter what they have
been accused of, is entitled to a criminal defense. Just because they
may have been charged with billing for services they didn't render does
not mean they were the responsible party for doing so, nor does it mean
they were aware this was happening. Beware of judging a situation
before you know all the details.
There are plenty of fish in the sea of white-collar crime, ranging
in size from small to whoppers, but it's not always that easy to catch
the big ones.
It used to be that white-collar crime was an occasional, rather
unusual kind of event, that people found shameful. Now, with the advent
of the computer and other high tech software, programs, etc., the whole
landscape of white-collar crime has changed. Computers have made things
much easier for those with a criminal mind to fiddle with the books and
other things.
Despite the fact that white-collar crime seems to be easier to
commit, those who commit it are, by law, entitled to a well thought out
criminal defense. They must be accorded that benefit of the doubt, as
it is a very basic law of the Constitution that those who stand accused
of crimes must be considered to be innocent until they are proven
guilty.
White-collar crimes are mostly non-violent and usually involve the
use of deception or trickery by a person who is in a position of trust
and authority. What usually makes a white-collar crime slightly easier
to track is the presence of a paper trail, or an electronic trail that
investigators follow to the eventual "end" with the smoking gun. The
problem is that just because a certain smoking gun may be an
executive's computer, it does not prove it was "that" executive who
committed the trickery.
Further controversy swirls around the actual definition of
white-collar crime, with many advocating that it should be defined by
the status or occupation of trust the offender has. On the other hand,
there is another school of thought that feels white-collar crime needs
to be delineated by the offense committed – e.g. racketeering, perjury,
computer fraud, etc. Actually, the bottom line would not be the
definition of the crime, but whether or not the accused has access to a
good criminal defense lawyer.
White-collar crime has nowhere to go but up, thanks to the Internet,
which has created a whole new playground for economic crimes to be
perpetrated. Apprehension in these instances is usually quite
difficult, and proving a particular person is guilty becomes a whole
different proposition. If you feel you have been wrongly accused of a
white-collar crime, or are about to be charged with one, contact a
criminal defense lawyer with experience in this area. That one phone
call may keep you out of jail.
Many people think of assault as being an assault directly on a
person, when in reality it may be defined in a different manner
depending on the actual facts of the case.
Each case that carries a charge of assault will be different
depending on the facts of the case. So before you contact a lawyer to
assist you with your case, make sure you know specifically for what you
are charged. Knowing this will make your lawyer's job a lot easier. For
instance, depending on how the case is charged, the penalties may range
(without mitigation or other intervening circumstances) from 180 days
up to 4 years in the hoosegow, depending on the facts of the case.
It's safe to say that, technically speaking, assault is a crime
against a person or persons. Yes, this is pretty vague, but once the
case gets to court, the judge will usually expand the definition so the
jury (if there is a jury trial) understands the case at bar. For
instance, if the charge is assault (bodily contact) on a person without
their consent, it is indeed assault. However, having said that, any
violent act toward another individual without consent (the defining
element) is also assault.
Often the terms assault and battery are partnered up, however, more
often than not, battery is really a different kind of assault in a
category of its own. In order to distinguish the differences as it
pertains to what you are charged with, it's wise to speak to a highly
skilled criminal defense attorney. Give your attorney all the details,
holding nothing back, and let them outline what options you may have
for the charges you're facing.
Having a highly skilled criminal defense attorney on your side is a
good thing and it may mean a mitigated sentence. Once the attorney has
the details of your charges they may be able to offer several options
for handling your case – get the charges dropped, reduced, thrown out
of court or possibly negotiated into an alternative justice program.
The choices of course are ultimately yours once you have consulted with
your attorney.
As startling as this may seem, it is estimated that there is at
least one burglary every 15 seconds in the U.S. This makes sense when
put into perspective of our rocky national economy.
If there is a burglary roughly every 15 seconds in the U.S, think
about how many break-ins that represents. That's a lot of stolen
property being hawked someplace, never to be seen again. Sadly, it's
not just burglaries that are on the rise, so are home invasion
robberies, which take place when the residents are at home. The old
maxim about the home being a man's safe haven sure is taking a beating
these days, when nothing seems to be safe or secure any longer.
Many of the burglaries take place in homes that are not protected by
any type of security system, largely because the homeowners don't feel
that anything will happen to "them." Nothing could be further from the
truth, as crime stats show that homes without a security system are two
to three times more likely to be targeted for burglary. The funny thing
is that there are actually people who do buy a home security system,
but leave it turned off.
If a person is charged with a burglary, or home invasion, make it a
point to immediately contact a highly skilled and board certified
criminal defense attorney such as Daniel H. Wannamaker of Wannamaker
and Associates, an Austin, Texas law firm with offices in Houston and
Dallas, Texas. Wannamaker has an extensive track record defending those
charged with a variety of criminal offenses and his reputation for wins
is second to none.
"Everyone is entitled to a criminal defense, no matter what the
circumstances," outlined Wannamaker. "The fact that a client might have
been present at the scene of an alleged burglary is not proof in and of
itself that she or he is guilty of burglary, or any other related crime
for that matter," he added.
"Know what you are charged with before calling me, as it saves me
having to make extra calls before being able to speak with you,"
explained Wannamaker. "Also, if I know what you are being charged with,
I have an idea of the requisite elements that need to be present for
the police to charge you in that manner. If all the I's aren't dotted
and the T's crossed, then I might be able to get the charges dropped,"
he added.
Calling a highly skilled criminal defense attorney will be one of
the best investments a person could ever make when they are faced with
being charged with a criminal offense. With attorneys such as Dallas criminal defense lawyer,
Daniel Wannamaker, a person's fate facing criminal charges is much
better than trying to handle something like this without an attorney.
Generally speaking there is a difference between murder and
manslaughter, but to the public it may seem there is a difference
without a distinction. Legal definitions are often hard to explain to a
non-lawyer.
To begin with, the most serious crime in the U.S. and other places
is murder, often punishable by death or life without parole, depending
on the state where the murder took place. Having said that, if a death
cannot be classified as a murder it is usually considered to be a form
of manslaughter and does not get the same kind of severe penalties.
"What puts murder on a different page is the mental status of the
offender," said Daniel H. Wannamaker, of Wannamaker and Associates, an
Austin, Texas law firm with offices in Dallas and Houston. Legally
speaking, the mental component (mental state) is referred to as
premeditated malice. "You might recognize the phrase in another form
often found in crime novels and termed as "malice aforethought," added
Wannamaker. If there is no premeditation prior to the commission of the
crime, then the act is usually classified as another form of homicide.
There are usually exceptions to this rule and the major one would be
if a death happens during the commission of another felony, e.g. an
armed robbery resulting in a death. "Basically the charge of murder
results from the facts of the case itself, and each case is unique,"
said Wannamaker. If a person knows what the police are booking them
for, this makes it easier for a skilled criminal defense attorney to
start fact gathering, investigating and sorting out what happened.
How a person is charged directly relates to the facts of the
particular case and how the death, if there was one, occurred. This
isn't to say that a lesser offense is "lesser" in terms of penalties or
consequences; it simply means the offense is not as great as
premeditated murder. "There are many distinctions to be made between
murder, manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, etc.," explained
Wannamaker. Knowing these various distinctions is the attorney's job
and one they are paid well to perform.
If a murder or manslaughter charge is looming on the horizon, don't
waste time thinking about the cost of a criminal defense attorney. Call
Daniel H. Wannamaker, of Wannamaker and Associates, an Austin, Texas
law firm with offices in Dallas and Houston and ensure justice is
served.
"In an interesting twist to the police being one step ahead of
offenders with outstanding arrest warrants, people are now able to
search online for their own active arrest warrants," indicated Daniel
H. Wannamaker of Wannamaker and Associates, of Austin, Texas, with
offices in Dallas and Houston.
This means if a person thinks they have an outstanding ticket and
wants to deal with it and get it off his or her driving record, they
need to know the status of the ticket. "Finding this out online will
avoid the inevitable arrest if courthouse records are searched
instead," said Wannamaker, "which is good; however, if the records are
not up-to-date, that's a problem."
It is not too difficult to imagine that in the future the general
public will be able to search for even more information than just
online warrants. Even today there are some sites that will allow people
to search for arrests and convictions and other information.
"Information like that floating around on the Internet is a major
concern to attorneys who realize this is a direct violation of a
person's right to privacy, even if they have committed a crime and are
doing or have done time for it," indicated Wannamaker.
"It doesn't take too much of an imagination to see what might happen
if an online site has an outstanding warrant for a particular offense
(say for instance, unpaid traffic tickets) but not the updated fact
that the offender paid the fine two weeks ago," said Wannamaker.
"As with anything dealing with the legal system, everything is
relative to the circumstances of the case and any criminal defense
attorney with extensive experience in this area will tell you a case
may change on the drop of a dime," added Wannamaker.
Aggravated in reference to a crime is something different. There
needs to be certain factors present in order to charge a crime as an
aggravated one; say aggravated assault, for instance.
"Aggravating factors that need to be present may include whether or
not there was a dangerous weapon involved, if there was a threat to use
a dangerous weapon, and if bodily harm was caused as a result of the
crime in question, etc," explained Daniel H. Wannamaker, board
certified criminal defense attorney of Wannamaker and Associates, an
Austin law firm with offices in Dallas and Houston.
"The factors are what "converts" a regular crime to an aggravated
crime, and while that may sound simple enough on the surface, it rarely
is," said Wannamaker. So, there may be the crimes of aggravated
assault, aggravated battery and even aggravated murder. "Although
having said that, what makes a murder an aggravated one is slightly
different," added Wannamaker.
In cases of aggravated murder, the key to the charge being changed
from murder to aggravated murder has to do with the location and
situation of the murder. "For instance, the murder of an inmate by
another inmate, while in prison. The location makes the charge
aggravated murder," explained Wannamaker.
Generally speaking, most aggravated crimes tend to have higher
penalties attached to them; however, each case is different and
involves different factors. "If you're in a situation where you have
been charged with an aggravated crime, call me, we need to talk about
your options," said Wannamaker.
