Recently in Fraud / Economic Injury in Boston:

Is it rare to get swindled by Canadians?

Maybe, but that seems to have been what happened to a Middleboro scammed couple that mailed three boxes full of $94,000 in cash to try and claim bogus sweepstakes winnings, reports Enterprise News.

Moral of the story: don't mail boxes full of cash to people you don't know.

In a fairly ingenuous piece of scam-busting, the Mass. Office of Consumer Affairs created an entire front-facing website that mimics and models itself after the usual loan modification scamming websites. It has all the same big-sized fonts, images of distressed people holding their head, and lots of use of the word “foreclosure.” It even has testimonials from made-up people.

The foreclosure fraud website looks so legit that you will actually think that ModExperts is a real company.

However, the moment you click on any of the outbound links, you are taken to a second page which screams: THIS IS A SCAM. You also see a big sign for the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation.

With the holiday shopping season in full-swing, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and the Retailers Association of Massachusetts teamed up to offer tips for safe holiday shopping.

These tips are broken down for in-store shopping and online shopping.

This year, Medicare open enrollment begins about a month earlier. Starting October 15, and running until December 7, those over the age of 65 or younger people with disabilities will have a chance to change their Medicare Advantage or prescription drug plans for 2012.

Open enrollment basically gives you a chance to review your current Medicare plan and pick a different plan if it works better for you. This option is only available once a year, so you should choose wisely. In addition, as plans often change annually, you should review your current plans even if you were happy in the past year.

Every October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month when you see pink and pink ribbons plastered on just about every product. Even NFL players sport pink shoes, gloves, and ribbons for one week of the month. However, you should watch out for pink ribbon fraud and those wanting to take advantage of this good cause.

Breast cancer advocates are warning consumers that buying merchandise emblazoned with a pink ribbon or pink packaging is no guarantee that your money will actually go to fighting the disease, reports Gatehouse News Service.

Patriots fans in Boston might be happy to hear that the Supreme Court made the final call in the "Spygate" case against the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick. According to the Associated Press, New York Jets season ticket holder and lawyer Carl Mayer filled suit against the New England team for allegedly secretly taping the Jets' signals when the two teams met on the field over seven years.

No foul, said the U.S. District Court judge who originally heard the case. Mayer's claim was based on the legal theory that the fans who bought Jets season tickets were defrauded because the ticket holders were seeing a game that was essentially rigged. The Supreme Court, dismissing the appeal without comment, let the decision of the federal appeals court stand.

Karen M. Tucker, the Pittsburg native who engineered a bridal show scam in Boston, agreed to plead guilty to charges of identity theft and federal wire fraud, according to the Boston Globe. Prosecutors will ask a federal court judge to sentence Tucker with 36 to 47 months of jail time in a plea bargain.

Though Karen Tucker's case falls under criminal law, a Boston personal injury attorney can tell you that fraud can also be filed as a civil suit for victims seeking recovery in damages. False representation of a matter of fact that misleads or is meant to deceive another person is generally considered fraud.

The Boston Herald reports that undocumented Irish immigrants in the Boston area are being targeted in an immigration scam. In move that would shock a Boston personal injury lawyer, it seems that the individuals behind this scam are fellow attorneys. The immigration scam involves Irish illegal immigrants being approached by lawyers who claim that they can get the immigrants a green card in the span of six months for $15,000. Authorities say that this often is not the case and that the attorneys just pocket the money and disappear.

According to WCVB Boston, immigrants who have been approached by attorneys promising green cards in a small amount of time for a fee should report the matter to authorities. Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrants & Refugee Advocacy Coalition told WCVB Boston that there have been scams like this in other immigrant groups such as Latinos and Brazilians in the Boston metro area.

Richard Souza of Dartmouth has been federally charged with defrauding an elderly man out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Boston Herald reports that Richard Souza used the money to buy himself real estate and luxury cars. Federal prosecutors say that Mr. Souza initially met the widower in 2004 and offered to work on his roof. At the time they met, the widower had a net worth of $750,000.

Federal authorities say that after 4 years of meeting Richard Souza, the widower mentioned in court documents as "Larry," was left with $145,000 in debt and lost his home. Authorities are now seeking to seize cars and homes owned by Souza that they allege he obtained through this scam.

The Venerini Academy got some welcome news this week. WCVB Boston reports that the Venerini Sisters who operate the Worcester private school has agreed to donate their retirement funds in order to settle outstanding debts that the school owes to construction companies. As we covered earlier on this blog, the Venerini Academy was allegedly defrauded by fundraiser Michael Hlady. Fundraiser Michael Hlady was hired by the Venerini Sisters in order to collect donations for the private school.

Unfortunately for the Venerini Academy, Michael Hlady is accused of falsely promising that he had lined up a $3 million donation for the school. As a result of this promise, the school moved forward with a renovation project. As a result, the builders sued the school. While those suits have been settled, the Venerini Sisters have used their retirement funds as an interest free loan to the school in order to pay the builders.