Largest Medicare fraud Bust (Anyone can be a criminal)

A nationwide law enforcement crackdown resulted in charges against 91 people including doctors and other medical professionals  for what authorities described as the largest bust for Medicare fraud in U.S. history, allegedly participating in schemes involving $295 million in false billing.

“At various positions, nurses and physicians violated their professions as well as the public trust,” Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters, saying that charges included kickback schemes and money laundering.

The charges are based on a variety of alleged fraud schemes involving various treatments and services that were not medically necessary – and, oftentimes, were never even provided.

Eleven of the people charged were doctors, three were nurses and 10 were licensed health professionals. $160 million of the total in phony claims announced  came from South Florida, still leading the nation in Medicare fraud.

In Miami, U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer said investigators noticed a new twist in which people who already were receiving Medicare disability checks were recruited with promises they could live in a halfway house in South Florida — as long as they agreed to receive mental health services they did not need. Many were addicted to drugs or alcohol, and some were homeless, and Ferrer said they would be threatened with eviction if they did not participate in the fraud scheme.

That particular scheme and other frauds, operated out of an entity called Biscayne Milieu, accounted for $50 million of the fraudulent Medicare claims, prosecutors said. It provided no legitimate services.

In Houston, two people were charged with fraud schemes involving $62 million in false claims for home health care and medical equipment. One defendant allegedly sold beneficiary information to 100 Houston-area home health care agencies. The home agencies used the information to bill Medicare for services that were unnecessary or never provided.

In Baton Rouge, La., a doctor, nurse and five other co-conspirators were charged with billing Medicare more than $19 million for skilled nursing and other home health services that were not necessary or never provided.

Just goes to show that even when you go for a check-up make sure you are getting charged for services you actually received.

 

Places you should avoid using your debit card

Debit is now the preferred payment type in most point-of-sale locations, beating cash, credit cards and checks. But that does not mean you should use debit cards all the timeIn fact, there are some places and times that using  a debit car is actually a lousy idea, take for instance using a debit card online can work against you. If you have a problem with the purchase or your debit card number is stolen, it’s a huge hassle to get the money restored to your account and make your card number safe and secure again. In the online world, credit cards are usually a better bet.

Here are some instances where debit card usage is a bad idea:

• Rental or security deposits. If you have to put money down to rent a car or heavy-duty home improvement equipment, try not t o use a debit card. Why? Because the business will actually take the money out of your account in the form of a security deposit. You’ll get the cash back when you return the car or equipment. But with a credit card the money is just “frozen” but not actually charged and you won’t ever notice it’s gone.
• Restaurants and bars. There are way too many prying eyes around a dining establishment to trust using your debit card. Apart from the risk of having your card stolen, restaurants are one of those rare places where someone actually walks away with your card and you don’t see them for a few minutes. Much better to use cash when dining out.
• Regular payments. Businesses love to get their  fingers on your your debit card so they can extract dues straight from your bank account on a regular basis. Whether it’s a gym or your insurance company, you’re better off using a credit card. That’s because if there’s a dispute, the business won’t take the cash right out of your checking account if they don’t have your debit card number.
• Wi-Fi hot spots. Never use your debit card for an online purchase while at a coffee shop or other business that offers free WiFi access. Many of those businesses have unsecured wireless connections, so it’s much easier for hackers and scammers to log on and steal your data.
• Any retail outlet where you choose the “credit” option. Debit cards allow you to choose between a debit (having cash taken straight out of your account) and a credit transaction (where the money will be taken out but it could be a few days late) you may forget the purchase and not account for the money. That can lead to an overdraft situation that cost you more money than you where willing to spend to begin with.

Debit cards are great financial tools, and it’s easier carrying a card than a wad of cash. But debit cards shouldn’t be used all the time – and the situations listed above should be at the top of your list of “no debit” zones in the future.

 

Great ways to deal with Social Malice

So let’s say it has happened. You’ve been blindsided by one of these attacks. What do you do now?

1. Stop, breathe, think.

Remind yourself that the meanness usually shows. Assume you’re dealing with an idiot. At least the smart people who encounter one of these attacks will see through it. They’ll click links to see where it started. They’ll see the malice if they look.

2.  Don’t take it personally.

I know this is hard. We talk about thick skin, but jeesh! People can be really mean sometimes. Why do they take their anger out on you? Remember that if part of your job is dealing with a lot of people, then these things come with the territory. You have to have thick skin about it because if it spoils your day then that’s bad for your health on the long term and it makes you unhappy. The idiot had the power to make you stop and think about a response. That’s all. Don’t give him the power to ruin your day, or even your hour. He ruined your moment. That’s all.

3. Decide whether or not to respond.

Sometimes the most eloquent response is silence. Be careful, though, because more often than not, silence gives the wrong impression. And it might even be bad for your health too.

Remind yourself that you cant ague in social media. Like it or not, what you put in Twitter or Facebook is publishing, and it lives forever.   Like in the movie War Games, the only winning move is not to play .

4.  Settle your anger and hurt first, then respond professionally.

If you should respond, take your time, be careful, clear your head first, and give a single response you can live with forever. Don’t argue, apologize. If an apology makes sense – don’t take it personally, this is business, you didn’t mean to offend, you didn’t realize, it was accidental, part of your job – make it a clear, clean apology that covers the whole issue. Make it one you can live with, without further comment, forever. Make it a response that shows the world that this was one-sided only.

Don’t get mad, get even. Expose the idiot by staying professional and not engaging.

5. Then forget about it. Let it go. Get on with your day.

If you like this job, and you like dealing with people, then of course this hurt your feelings, but you have to get over it or it continues to hurt your feelings. The idiot spoiled your moment, and that’s his fault; but if you brood over it or stay angry or hurt, then that’s your fault. Because what happens now is in your control. You can minimize the damage, or not.

 

One of the worlds unsolved encryptions.

Linear A

In 1900 the archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941) discovered a large number of clay tablets inscribed with mysterious symbols at Knossos on Crete. Believing he had discovered the palace of King Minos, together with the Minotaur’s labyrinth, Evans dubed the inscriptions and the language they represented as ‘Minoan’.

Evans spent the rest of his life trying to decipher the inscriptions, with only limited success. He realised that the inscriptions represented three different writing systems: a ‘hieroglyphic’ script, Linear A and Linear B The hieroglphic script appears only on seal stones and has yet to be deciphered. Linear A, also undeciphered, is thought to have evolved from the hieroglyphic script, and Linear B probably evolved from Linear A, though the relationship between the two scripts is unclear.

Notable features

• Linear A was used between about 1800 and 1450 BC.
• Linear A is mixed script consisting of 60 phonetic symbols representing syllables and 60 sematographic symbols representing sounds and concrete objects or abstract ideas.
• Many of the symbols resemble those used in Linear B and have been assigned the same pronunciation.
• Linear A was written in horizontal lines running from left to right on clay tablets which were probably used for keeping records of transactions.

Linear A

There is no concensus on how to transliterate the Linear A symbols – the method shown below is one possible transliteration.

I won £1,500,000.00

I was cleaning up my e-mails a couple of weeks ago when I came across two letters which I believe to be from our beloved friends the Nigerians. I decided to follow up on my winnings which I won in 2010.  I called  the number on the letter and to my delight there where still holding on to prize for me (such sweethearts). Basically all I had to do was  open a new premium account or send them money so they could pay for transferring funds. I reasoned that since i had already won one and a half million pounds they could just take it out of my winnings. Unfortunately because of legal issues it was against bank policy to touch any of my funds.  I told them I would get back to them hence the third letter when they didn’t hear back from me . Since I could not decided for myself  I decided to upload the letters. Tell me what you think should I open the account or pay for the transfer ( which one is cheaper for my money to be forwarded to me safely).  Help!!      READ LETTERS BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION

Letter 1

Contact Butterfield Private Bank For Fund Transfer
Kelly Spencer to me, me
show details 10/19/2010

Dear Winner,

You have won the sum of £1,500,000.00 (ONE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS STERLING ) from THE UK NATIONAL LOTTERY on our 2010 2nd Quater-year charity bonanza.

The winning ticket was selected from a Data Base of Internet E-mail Users,from which your Address came out as the winning coupon. We hereby urge you to claim the winning amount quickly as this is a monthly lottery.

Failure to claim your win will result into the reversion of the fund to our following month.Congratulations from all the staff here.

However, after thorough verification and scrutiny of your information you have been found qualified to receive payment of  £1,500,000.00 (one million Five Hundred Thousand Pounds Sterling’s) which is now deposited in our suspense account in your favor with  BUTTERFIELD PRIVATE BANK.
We wish to congratulate YOU formally on your success in our award program.

You Have to Contact the Bank immediately and you are also advised to complete the form and send it immediately to the bank.
 
NAME:……………………. …………
AGE:…………………….. …………..
SEX:…………………….. ……………
ADDRESS:…………………. ……….
EMAIL:…………………… ………….
PHONE:…………………… …………
OCCUPATION:………………. …….
COUNTRY:…………………. ……… 
 
So in the light of the above explanation, I wish to inform you that you are to immediately contact the  Bank for payment,
 
ISSUING BANK: BUTTERFIELD PRIVATE BANK
Here is the Bank Information’s.
 
Contact Person :Mr. William Morris
E-mail : transfer.dept@butterfield-privatebk.com

Tel:   +447045718630
 
Contact the Bank and get Back to us If you Need More Details. And any assistance from our side.

Congratulations once more.
 
Regards,
Mr. Keller Spencer
Claims processing manager
Phone: +44-793-597-0537
Fax :    +44-707-570-0405
You must be 16 or over to play or claim a prize

copyright © 1994-2010 UK National Lottery Inc.
All rights reserved. Terms of Service Guideline.

Letter 2

Butterfield Private Bank. 
Registered in England. 
Registered No: 338594.
Registered Office: 
99 Gresham Street
London EC2V 7NG.
E-mail: transfer.dept@butterfield-privatebk.com
Tel: +44-704-571-8630

Attn: Annie Chiinze,

Your Claims agent has verified that you are a confirmed and approved winner of the deposited sum of £1,500,000.00 (one million five hundred thousand pounds sterling’s) in our Bank. Congratulations!

You are welcome to BUTTERFIELD PRIVATE BANK an affiliate of the UK National Lottery Online Promo Programmed. We are pleased to be at your service. BUTTERFIELD PRIVATE BANK is Regulated and Stipulated by the Financial Service Authority(FSA), the financial institutions that Govern all financial activities in the United Kingdom.

After receiving confirmation that you are one of the promo winners, we are presenting you with the following options with which you would like to receive your winning(funds). You are to make your preferred and affordable choice from the two(2) options below: -

OPTION (1)
BANK TO BANK TRANSFER:

This is the Direct Bank Transfer that will enable you receive your money in any account that you will provide for this Bank to effect the transfer as it is always done electronically and it will 24 HOURS to reflect in the account that you shall provide.

Cost of transfer:……….£ 150Pounds
Vat:………………………..£ 130Pounds
Insurance:……………….£ 80Pounds

Total:……………………..£360 Pounds.

OPTION (2)
NEW ACCOUNT OPENING:

You will have to open a New Bank account with us and it will be registered for International Transfer and note that you can make Transfer Online which will take 24 hours to get the account done.

NOTE: PREMIUM ACCOUNT
Account Opening:…………………..£350 Pounds
Vat:………………………………………£210 Pounds
Insurance:……………………………..£160 Pounds

Total:………………………………….£720 Pounds.

Note: your Funds are protected by a hardcover insurance policy, which makes it impossible to deduct any amount from the money before it can be remitted to you. This means that the above charges cannot be deducted from the Funds and hence must be provided by you before your Funds is transferred to you.

You should respond to this email by making a selection from Any of the options above. Also attach a copy of either your driver’s license, international passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document.

Let us know the Option you Choose By E-mailing us

Thanks for Contacting BUTTERFIELD PRIVATE BANK.
we look forward to serving you better.

Regards;
Mr. William Moris

Butterfield Private Bank
Tel: +44 707 708 5848 (Office Line, 10AM-7PMGMT)
+44 702 308 5878 (Direct Line, 24hrs)

Letter 3
Butterfield Private Bank transfer@butterfield-privatebk.com to me

From The Desk Of
Mr William Moris
Butterfield Private Bank
19th November 2011

Hello
This is to notify you about you winnings funds with our bank, we have not heard from you for  some time now and we which to know what is going on with you over there, we have sent you a couple of emails and as well try to reach you via phone and you did not return any. No email from you no phone calls from you, so we really want to know how you intend to reach us, would you prefer to come down to our office here in the united kingdom to sign some documents for the release of your winnings?
This department have notice your winnings is unclaimed and we like to know how you wish to proceed with the transfer of your winnings to your designated bank account.
Note: this is important and we urge you to treat this as urgent as it is.
NOTE: If there is any question do not hesitate to ask,you can reach us on our telephone numbers below.

Thanks for Contacting BUTTERFIELD PRIVATE BANK.
we look forward to serving you better.

Thanks,
Mr. William Moris
Butterfield Private Bank
Tel:  + (44)703-594-0763 (Office Line, 9am-7pm GMT)
+ (44)701-115-2422 (Direct Line, 24hrs)

Fax: + (44)707-505-561

Security Mindset ( start with the basics)

When looking at security as a whole, we should stop worrying so much about all the types of new technology criminals can come up with and start thinking about security best practices that when followed, will help to keep an organization safe. If you get the basics right every new threat that comes out your security measures will adapt to the highly dynamic nature of information warfare and allow you to defend yourself effectively. I Kevin Day’s book “Inside a security mind” he states seven basic steps which i thought were very good to start with a basis.

First : of all think in terms of zones.                                                                      Zoning is the process in which you define and isolate different subjects and objects based on their unique security requirements.  Group resource together that have a similar security  profile. Although  people think of zones in a network-centric manner, it doesn’t have to be. It could apply to applications, physical areas and even employee interactions with others as a defense against social engineering tactics. The trick is separating zones in such a way so that we can maintain higher levels of security by protecting resources from zones of lesser security controls.

Two : Create choke-points.                                                                                         Choke-points have been a key part of security practices in warfare. A chokepoint is a tight area of control wherein all inbound and outbound access is forced to traverse. Kings of medieval times understood that if you could funnel the enemy through tight doorways it makes it much easier to pour down fiery oils on them. chokepoints also grant us the advantages of:

• Security focus – We can focus on particular areas of control.
• Ease of monitoring – It is much easier to watch our enemies when there is only a few places to look
• Ease of control – It is much easier to implement good security mechanisms when only dealing with a limited space
• Cost reduction – By filtering access at chokepoints, we will only need to implement one control device at the chokepoint rather than having separate controls for every object. This reduces the time and materials required for the implementation and maintenance of security measures.
• Exposure reduction – By focusing on just a few choke-points of access, we introduce fewer opportunities for error and exposure than if we enforce security controls in multiple areas.

Third: Layered Security                                                                                                    No single device is without flaws. layered defenses are crucial to repel intruders and ensure that any one weakness on its own will not let an attacker in (or out for that matter).

Four : Understand Relational Security                                                                         The security of any object is dependant on the security of its related objects, and if we fail to see these relationships, we will be unable to properly  address security.

Five : Understanding Secretless Security                                                                     The best security solutions are those that rely as little as possible on secrecy for protection.  Secretless authentication  With the dismal failure of secret-based solutions such as passwords over the years, many organizations are now turning to alternate approaches to safeguard authentication. Advanced authentication no longer bases itself on just what you know, but typically also include something you have and/or something you are. This is why two factor authentication is surging in the enterprise space right now. It is much easier, for example, to fake someone’s password at an authentication prompt than it is to fake their eye pattern during a retinal scan.

Six : Dividing Responsibilities                                                                                         No system is perfect, and no security device is unbreakable. (No matter how many vendors claim their’s is… even when offering rewards to hack it) At a minimum we should have something monitoring and protecting the security of our main security devices.   

Seven: Failing Securely                                                                                                   Everything is subject to failure, no matter how robust or expensive it is. Such failures often lead to lost productivity and potential security issues. As such, potential failure scenarios should be considered before any new implementation. When programming an application, failures should be made to lock down security. When a network architecture is designed, failures should not result in bypassing security as is commonly done   

They you have it start with the basics and from there onwards adapt to suit what ever new threats that might come along .      

Facebook Beware (social engineering)

Facebook is a network that enables you to communicate with your long lost friends. It is one of the most popular social networks. You can chat, share messages and photos and also make new friends.

But there are a lot of problems associated with it. This is because you can never be sure as to who is sitting up and operating this account. There are criminals who are always on the lookout for some easy targets. These fake profiles circulate links and spasm. So you will always have to be sure before associating with a friend that they are real.

There are certain fake profiles points you must remember to stay away from. If the profiles of friends that have pictures of attractive faces that are not casually, or of professional models, you must be cautious. Attractive faces find easy lonely victims.

Also if you surf the profile of such a person you will find only the profile picture. There will be no other pictures in the profile. This should strike you as odd.  Also i f you notice that the person is having too many friends that have been added in a short span of time, you must take care. The fake profiles seldom have real lifelike pictures. They are either of scenery or cartoon characters. They befriend friends who may also be false. So do not be in a hurry to include such a person in your friend list. Chatting on the wall or even connecting with your family members does not vouch for genuineness.

In this context I would like to inform you that if you want to opt for online dating, you are the most vulnerable victim. Most of the profiles that you see in the site for online dating are created by the company itself to attract people.

Do not share any personal data on the Facebook. An imposter will say all the things that you want to hear. You must know that such cases give rise to blackmailing and extortion. So unless you are provided with some real personal data, that only you and the other person is supposed to know, do not believe anybody.

Another sign that you can look for is that weather some of the friends of the new friend, has tagged him or her. Real life people have real life friends who post picture and group photos. Another sign that should raise a question in your mind must also arise if the new profile comments regularly. Though this is not an exclusive point, yet think, do you manage time to comment every day!

If you have thought of creating a fake account even in your dreams, abhor from it. Authorities can punish you with as much as ten years of imprisonment! The fakes are pretty easy to spot once you know their sneaky tricks.

Spam and Phishing Attacks

Everyone agrees that spam can be annoying. But with proper email spam filters, it’s pretty harmless, right? Wrong. Spam is increasingly harmful. Spam disrupts business, taking resources away from productive activities. Spam also leads to phishing attacks, where unsuspecting individuals are tricked into divulging sensitive or personal information. Spammers then use the information to steal identities and cause financial losses. And as anti-spam software becomes more efficient, spammers simply change their techniques to avoid blocks, continuing their unlawful activities.

Spyware is the third major emerging cyber-security threat, disrupting the availability and confidentiality of businesses and federal government information systems Hackers can remotely install spyware on thousands of personal computers simultaneously, using them to capture sensitive data or slow down entire systems.

Other emerging cyber-security threats include the blending of spam, phishing and spyware into new tools that are more difficult to detect and prevent, as well as new methods of using technology to unleash worms, viruses and malware that interrupt business and threaten privacy and sensitive data.

Be careful, that PDF might be a Mac Trojan

 
Detected as Trojan-Dropper: OSX/Revir.A, the virus appears to do no actual damage so far and that’s why the researchers believe that whoever made it might have just released it into the wild to see if it’s detected by anti-virus applications. Hiding under a filename with the extension .pdf.exe, it tries to fool the user into believing that it’s an actual pdf. Because in OS X operating systems files are handled differently than in Windows, hackers could assign it any extension or icon they desire, as this information is stored separately in Mac products.

To convince people that it is an actual document, upon execution a real document is opened. Meanwhile, Backdoor:OSX/Imuler.A is downloaded and installed in the background to open a backdoor that will give the attackers further access to the infected system.
The download process is handled by Trojan-Downloader:OSX/Revir.A which makes sure that the rest of the malicious components are placed in strategic locations on the device’s storage unit.

As OS X systems become more popular, cybercriminals try to keep up with the tendencies. These specific threats were easily detected, but if you want to make sure you’ll be properly protected against such attacks, then you should always have an up-to-date virus definition database.

LulzSec wreaks Havoc

LulzSec emerged in the past few months, but has quickly gained the headlines away from Anonymous. It has gained attention due to its high profile targets and the sarcastic messages it has posted in the aftermath of its attacks. Everyone is a target and very few things are off limits. At one point, the group opened up a hotline where it took hacking requests. LulzSec first got noticed when it hacked the Web sites of Fox.com and PBS. It stole Fox employee passwords and posted them online. Since the PBS and Fox.com hacks, LulzSec has also targeted SonyPictures.com; FBI affiliated Web sites, Nintendo, Bethesda Softworks and other small gaming companies, Senate.gov, and the CIA, among others.

Recently, LulzSec released the emails and passwords of 62,000 average Web users, people who had their emails hacked, Facebook accounts defaced, and Amazon accounts charged. The majority of LulzSec’s messages are sent via Twitter @LulzSec. The group does not show any signs of slowing down, and news of new hacks or targets emerges every day. For the most part, Anonymous has targeted government sites and has not focused much on stealing and posting the confidential data of the average Web user. The same can’t be said for LulzSec.

LulzSec points out, much of the trouble stems from the fact that people tend to use the same password across multiple sites, whether they’re signing up for a newsletter or paying their credit card bill. If anything, these hacks should teach people to have multiple passwords for email, banking, credit cards, and online shopping. It can be difficult to remember multiple passwords, but it’s better than having a LulzSec supporter hack into your Facebook account and change your photo to something obscene.