Watchdogs snooze as con artists play

Cops, D.A. and Attorney General shrug off foreclosure fraud attempt

9:28 am, January 26. A foreclosure scam is going down, one of the fastest-growing frauds today — one that’s spreading like wildfire across America.

This one’s a phone job, on my line. A guy with a New York accent identifies himself as an official of Riverside County, telling me that my home there is about to be foreclosed. Odd, because I don’t own a home in Riverside County. Didn’t matter. The recorded robo-pitch was just gearing up.

The caller says I’m in serious trouble and drops lots of names including the Federal Mortgage Assistance program. And, this must be my lucky day. Another Riverside County employee is standing by, ready to stop my home from being seized. All I have to do is press 1, which I do. The call rings through to another number. Rings, but isn’t answered.

It’s a cagey technique for connecting perp and vic through a sanitized, third-party connection — a favorite technique of rogue carpet cleaners snubbing the Do Not Call Registry and apparently by foreclosure cons who’ve been busy cashing in on homeowner woes.

California’s Department of Justice

arrested three scammers last month who’d told homeowners that they would renegotiate their mortgages, reduce payments and transfer delinquent loan amounts to the renegotiated principle.

The company demanded up-front fees of up to $5,000 and told victims to stop any mortgage payments or communications with their lender, claiming this would interfere with renegotiation of the loan. None of it was real, a con.

Where was today’s scam originating? Caller ID displayed (951) 582-4604 — an unlisted number in Corona, California. An online tracing firm and Texas’ Public Utilities Commission produced a telemarketing outfit in San Diego County as the number’s owner, a company that deals in all the telecom products and services a scammer would need to pull off a foreclosure heist by phone. The firm may well be a middleman, but one that just might squeal if subpoenaed.

If law enforcement jumped in today, they might wiretap the number while calls are still happening and gather evidence before this virtual scam evaporates, having left a batch of homeowners fleeced. But though we tried our best to interest them, law enforcement couldn’t be bothered…

California Attorney General Jerry Brown’s switchboard declined to hook me up with its fraud unit, advised me to write a letter and gave me a blind address to no one in particular. Yup, the same Jerry Brown who said just last month, “Loan-modification scams are becoming more and more prevalent, particularly in California. Homeowners should be aware of the warning signs of foreclosure scams so they don’t fall victim to these cynical schemes.”

The Riverside County District Attorney’s senior fraud investigator didn’t return calls despite a recent flurry of foreclosure scams in his community.

Riverside Sheriff’s Department’s dispatcher took a few notes, didn’t forward the call to bunko detectives. No one phoned to follow up.

This insouciance seems bizarre given efforts by California’s legislature to rein in foreclosure fraud. Maybe this re-fi scam isn’t such a great a case. I’ve no evidence that anyone’s been taken in as of yet. At best, it’s a case of telephone lines being used to impersonate Riverside County officials, though the county doesn’t seem to mind.

Riverside’s daily newspaper, aggressively covering recent local foreclosure and mortgage rip-offs of late, seemed too bored to pursue the tip, even as a cautionary tale for its readers. “We’ll pass it along to a business writer,” said a voice from the newsroom. “He’ll call if he’s interested.” He wasn’t.

So here’s the scoop, posted in searchable text for what it’s worth. I’ve withheld names to protect the innocent, though they’re available.

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