HELLO HELLO

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Thought For The Day-
'Good looks catch the eye but a GOOD personality catches the heart. You're blessed with both!'

The Latest Scam on the Block  
  
What do you get when you combine two popular rackets these days—identity theft and mortgage fraud? A totally new kind of crime: house stealing.

Here’s how it generally works:

… The con artists start by picking out a house to steal—say, YOURS. 
… Next, they assume your identity—getting a hold of your name and personal information (easy enough to do off the Internet) and using that to create fake IDs, social security cards, etc. 
… Then, they go to an office supply store and purchase forms that transfer property. 
… After forging your signature and using the fake IDs, they file these deeds with the proper authorities, and lo and behold, your house is now THEIRS.

There are some variations on this theme…

… Con artists look for a vacant house—say, a vacation home or rental property—and do a little research to find out who owns it. Then, they steal the owner’s identity, go through the same process of transferring the deed, put the empty house on the market, and pocket the profits. 
… Or, the fraudsters steal a house a family is still living in…find a buyer (someone, say, who is satisfied with a few online photos)…and sell the house without the family even knowing. In fact, the rightful owners continue right on paying the mortgage for a house they no longer own. 

It can get even more complicated than this, as we learned in a recent case out of Los Angeles that we investigated with the IRS. Last year, a real estate business owner in southeast Los Angeles pled guilty to leading a scam that defrauded more than 100 homeowners and lenders out of some $12 million. She promised to help struggling homeowners pay their mortgages by refinancing their loans. Instead, she and her partners in crime used stolen identities or “straw buyers” (people who are paid for the illegal use of their personal information) to purchase these homes. They then pocketed the money they borrowed but never made any mortgage payments. In the process, the true owners lost the title to their homes and the banks were out the money they had loaned to fake buyers.

So how can prevent your house from getting stolen? Not easily, we’re sorry to say. The best you can do at this point is to stay vigilant. A few suggestions:

If you receive a payment book or information from a mortgage company that’s not yours, whether your name is on the envelope or not, don’t just throw it away. Open it, figure out what it says, and follow up with the company that sent it.
From time to time, it’s also a good idea to check all information pertaining to your house through your county’s deeds office. If you see any paperwork you don’t recognize or any signature that is not yours, look into it. 

House-stealing is not too common at this point, but we’re keeping an eye out for any major cases or developing trends. Please contact us or your local police if you think you’ve been victimized.

(Contact the FBI) 

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A friend is someone who will be there for you when no one else will**** A friend has no judgement of the way you choose to live your life****

 A friend will find you when you feel so lost about yourself**** A friend will not desert you in your most precious time of need****

 A friend never will tell you a lie just to smooth things over**** A friend can be trusted with your most inner and intimate feelings****

A friend will make you smile if you are experiencing sadness**** A friend will see you as you are and nothing you are not****

 A friend knows when to be quiet when you just want to be heard**** A friend will hold you when you feel like you are about to fall apart**** A  friend will try to clear things up when you are so very confused****

 A friend is just that a friend!

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This is a Beautiful Fire Rainbow

 

THIS IS A FIRE RAINBOW - THE RAREST OF ALL NATURALLY OCCURRING ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA THE PICTURE WAS CAPTURED THIS WEEK ON THE IDAHO/WASHINGTON BORDER. THE EVENT LASTED ABOUT 1 HOUR CLOUDS HAVE TO BE CIRRUS, AT LEAST 20K FEET IN THE AIR, WITH JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF ICE CRYSTALS AND THE SUN HAS TO HIT THE CLOUDS AT PRECISELY 58 DEGREES.

 

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These are just a very few of the children who are far away from home tonight.

Please take a minute to look at all the faces on our Kidnappnapping investigation page and see if you can identify Deysi, Khoi, Reachelle, or any of the other children listed there with their stories.

Please also take a look at the faces of the children who have been Kidnapped by a parent,Bianca and the other 28 kids.

And we hope you'll visit our Crimes against Children page to learn all you can about what a dangerous world it can be for our kids…and our Tips for Parents page  to learn how to protect them in today’s world.  FBI Page.

ATTORNEY's ADVICE - NO CHARGE  

Not A Joke!!  You will love these tips.

Read this and make a copy for < /SPAN> our files in case you need to refer to it someday. Maybe we should all take some of his advice! A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employee s in his company.

1.  Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put 'PHOTO ID REQUIRED.'

2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the 'For' line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.

3. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS# printed on yo ur checks. (DUH!) You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have It printed, anyone can get it.

4. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers < /SPAN> to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place.
I also carry a photocopy of my passport when I travel either here or abroad. We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a Name, address, Social Security number, credit cards.

Unfortunately, I,  an attorney, have first hand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month. Within a week, the thieve(S) ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online, and more.  
But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know:

5.  We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find
them.

6. File</ FONT> a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc ., were stolen.  This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

 

But here's what is perhaps most important of all: (I never even thought to do this.)
 

7. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and also call the So cial Security fraud line number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the internet in my name.  
The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.

By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks.

Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet, if it has been stolen:
1.) Equ ifax: 1-800-525-6285

2.) Experian  (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742

3.) Trans Union : 1-800-680 7289

4.) Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

We pass along jokes on the Internet; we pass along just about everything.

If you are willing to pass this information along, it could really help someone that you care about.

Everytime I think that I am close to seeing it all, I find out that I am very wrong.

Women wear Panties so men are you ready fo Manties?

Check out the Manties.

The George W Bush Presidential Library is now in the planning
 stages. You'll want to be the first to make a contribution to
 this great man's legacy.The Library will include:
The Hurricane Katrina Room , which is still under construction.

The Alberto Gonzales Room, where you can't remember anything.
The Texas Air National Guard Room, where you don't have to
 even show up.

The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in.

The Guantanamo Bay Room, where they don't let you out.

The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room --
(Which no one has been able to find).

The Iraq War Room. After you complete your first tour,
they make you  go back for a second, third, fourth,
 and sometimes fifth tours.

The Dick Cheney Room, in the famous undisclosed location,
complete with shooting gallery.Plans also include:
 The K-Street Project Gift Shop - Where you can
 buy(or just steal) an election.

The Airport Men's Room, where you can meet some of your
favorite Republican Senators.
Last, but not least, there will be an entire floor devoted
to a 7/8 scale model of the President's ego.
To highlight the President's accomplishments, the museum
 will have an electron microscope to help you locate them.
When asked, President Bush said that he didn't care so much
 about the individual exhibits as long as his museum was
 better than his father's