Swindles, Cheats and Scams - Prosperident · the practice Mrs. Smiles ... 10. 987654321 11....

© Prosperident 2017

Swindles, Cheats and Scams

David Harr is MBA, CPA, CMA L i c en s ed Pr i v a t e I n v e s t i g a t o rCEO Pro sp e r i d en t I n c .


ABOUT TODAY

Questions

Handouts https://www.prosperident.com/handouts-from-scams-cheats-and-steals-presentation/

https://www.prosperident.com/handouts-from-scams-cheats-and-steals-presentation/


TOPICS

Identity theft and “free dentistry”

Confidence schemes and “supplier fraud”

Bulk theft of information

Internet fraud

Avoid the biggest hiring mistake.


DENTAL OFFICES ARE EASY TARGETSDentists and employees are “altruistic healers”

Criminals think differently

Allows them to take advantage.


PHYSICAL ASSETS THEFT


THE BURGLAR

Computers and other expensive equipment

Possibly cash (and even narcotics ?!)

Alarm system, “No Narcotics” sticker

Watch what happens in one dental office.


GONE IN 3 MINUTES


CREDIT CARD THEFT

Thief can process “refund”

Moves money to credit card

Default password, pass-card.


MEDICATION THEFT


EMPLOYEES


THE LOST PRESCRIPTION

Dental patient had major treatment yesterday – Rx Tylenol 3

Patient arrives today in discomfort

Wallet with prescription stolen

Copy of police report

Needs prescription replaced.


PROFESSIONAL COURTESY SCAMDentist visiting from the Western US

Wife dying of cancer –taking one last trip in their motor home

Medications ran out. Pharmacies wouldn’t honor script

Could my client, as a courtesy to another dentist, provide renewals?


THE DYING PERSON SCAM

Thieves scan obituaries

Show up at residence

Sent by the hospital to collect medications for disposal

Obituaries contain lots of details.


FREE TREATMENT / IDENTITY THEFT


WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

I managed a general dental office many years ago

Patient received $4,000 bridge, paid by cheque

I had a bad feeling

Tried to get certified.


WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Here is what I did:

1. Found out when she got paid. Tried to certify the day after payday – no luck

2. Asked how much money in account – wouldn’t tell me.


INSPIRATION!

3. I asked whether, if I deposited $100 to the account, the cheque could be certified. No.

4. Would $300 deposit work? Yes.

5. I took $300 of my own money, deposited and certified

6. Phoned me -- was furious. I referred her to the Criminal Code provision concerning bad cheques.


GRAND THEFT DENTAL!

An existing patient, Mr. Smiles, brought his spouse to the practice

Mrs. Smiles needed major work, which was billed to her husband’s insurance

The office phoned the Insurance Company when the claim not paid; the response was: “there was no possible way the person treated in your office was Mrs. Smiles”.


GRAND THEFT DENTAL!

Office called Mr. Smiles, who showed up (immediately) with cash to pay the balance

What’s going on?


GRAND THEFT DENTAL!

The person appearing as Mrs. Smiles was actually having an extra-marital affair with Mr. Smiles, who apparently offered the use of his wife’s coverage as one of the benefits of the affair

No wonder he was “Mr. Smiles” .


STEPS TO TAKE

Positively identify new patients / responsible parties

Copy their driver’s license or other photo identification

Your software may support web-cam or image capture

Verify identification at visit by asking “open ended” questions

Secure computer screens

Turn off when not in use

Screen savers with password protection

Lock Screen (a feature in some software).


CONFIDENCE SCHEMES


THE PHONY SUPPLIER SCAM

A person comes in when the staff member who normally orders supplies is away

He drops off goods ordered by (name of ordering person)

Needs signature

Goods were not really ordered, document signed was an order form

Goods are quite overpriced and have a 30% “restocking fee”.


INVOICES / STATEMENTS

Mail that looks like a supplier’s invoice (used to be non-standard telephone directories, now domain renewal)

Some of these false invoices get paid.


BULK INFORMATION

THEFT


PRIVACY PROBLEM

Dental office loses backup USB drive

Someone finds it and uploads to a file sharing site.


LOTS OF MISTAKES HERE

1. Backup not encrypted

2. Both program and data backed up

3. Flash drive used as backup medium

4. Loss of medium not identified.


HUMAN ERROR

“This is Mark Stevens calling from Claims Processing at Manulife.”

“I have some bad news for you -- one of our new staff miscoded your provider number on all of your transactions last week. It is going to take us a few weeks to fix, and we won’t be able to process any payments for your office until this is corrected”.


HUMAN ERROR

“However, we can fix this a lot faster if you can reprint all the claim forms you submitted to us from April 1 to last Friday”

“Great. Thanks very much for this. Can I send a courier to your office at 2:00 pm?”.


APPLE GIFT CARDS?

A receptionist at a Manhattan dental office stole confidential information from hundreds of patients, opened fraudulent credit lines and bought hundreds of thousands in Apple gift cards, authorities saidAnnie Vuong, 27, allegedly copied the confidential records of over 250 patients, including their dates of birth, addresses and Social Security numbers and emailed the pilfered data to her cohort, former Apple salesman Devin Bazile, 30, court records showVuong, her attorney said in court, is currently working for American Express.


CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

Patients attempting to access accounts and write off the balance.


WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS

Convenient, but a really bad idea

Staff at medical office using Wi-Fi of the dentist next door.


INTERNET SCAMS


VULNERABILITIES?

Phishing

Cons

Malware

Social networking scams.

PHISHING FOR INFORMATION


Our Valued Customer,

For your security, Wells Fargo Bank has safeguard your account when there is a

possibility that someone other than you is attempting to sign on. You now need to verify

your Identity.

To verify your identity, kindly follow reference below and take the directions to instant

activation.

http://online.wellsfargo.com/verification/

Thank you for helping us to protect you.

Security Advisor

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Member FDIC

Subject: Wells Fargo Bank Security Alert

From: Wells Fargo Online Banking <[email protected]>

http://blog.onlymyemail.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/logo_62sq.gif

http://blog.onlymyemail.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/logo_62sq.gif


HOW TO DEAL WITH PHISHING

Type web site yourself instead of using link

Enter an incorrect password.

“HTTPS:” in the address bar

Change password frequently (more on passwords later)

Don’t show email addresses on office web site.

INTERNET TRICKS


THE REAL EMAIL ADDRESS !!


VIRUSES

Have current protection software installed

Viruses often disable automatic updates of anti-virus software

Manually scanning computers monthly

Use spam filter to move high-risk attachments to spam folder

Generic wording in an email that has an attachment

Caution in opening ANY email attachment. Danger normally from “executable” attachments (.com, .exe, .bat, .vbs). Watch for sneaky “double named” attachments (family newsletter.doc.vbs)

Potential for “macro virus” in .doc, .ppt, .xls files

“.zip” files are containers for other files that may contain viruses.


SPYWARE

Sometimes accepted by people in exchange for free software or site access

Can change computer settings (e.g. default search engine)

Can gather information used to target ads to you

In extreme form, can log keystrokes to send login IDs and passwords to a hacker.


“RANSOMWARE”

Locks up your computer until you pay someone to unlock it

Often starts by sending you a “your computer is infected” message. Clicking on the “clean” button installs the hostageware

Has now caught many dental offices

Often corrupts files.


WHAT TO DO

Install, run and update anti-spyware software

Don’t click on a “pop-up” that doesn’t look like your installed virus software

“User access control” (Windows Vista, 7 and up)

Hardware and software firewalls

Avoid “port mapping” or “DMZ” settings

Consult network security expert.

SOCIAL NETWORK SCAMS

"Scams related to social networks are one of the fastest growing methods used by thieves to steal consumers' valuable personal identification information and money,“

Scott Mitic, CEO of TrustedID.


SOCIAL NETWORKING EXAMPLE 2In a recent survey, 40% posted travel / holiday plans

University of British Columbia researchers created 102 fake Facebook profiles – 60% accepted random friend requests.

Information useful to a thief.


STARBUCKS APPLICATION FOR IPHONE“Our easy-to-navigate store locator points you to the closest store. And if you feel like being social, you can share your location through Facebook and Twitter”

“Come rob my house!”.


WHAT TO DO

Privacy settings

Very public place.

“Innovative” uses (divorce?).

Applications are “open” and can permit other programs to link, cross post etc.

PASSWORDS


MOST COMMON PASSWORDS IN 2017

1. 123456 2. 123456789 3. qwerty

4. 12345678 5. 111111 6. 1234567890

7. 1234567 8. password 9. 123123

10. 987654321 11. qwertyuiop 12. mynoob

13. 123321 14. 666666 15. 18atcskd2w

16. 7777777 17. 1q2w3e4r 18. 654321

19. 555555 20. 3rjs1la7qe 21. google

22. 1q2w3e4r5t 23. 123qwe 24. zxcvbnm

25. 1q2w3e


WHAT MAKES A GOOD PASSWORDNot related to personal data (birthdate, son’s middle name etc.)

Not a full word or phrase

Contains small and capital letters, numbers and symbols

Why?


HOW LONG TO CRACK?

“password” – instantly

“hipasugu” – 52 seconds

“hipAsuGu” – 3 hours

“h1pAsuGu” – 15 hours

“h1p@SuGu” – 3 days

“H1p@SuGu9” – 275 days

“H1p@SuGu9%” – 58 years

Source – howsecureismypassword.net


SUMMARY

Dental offices present attractive targets

In addition to traditional attacks like theft of physical assets and medication scams, thieves are now targeting the information offices possess

Awareness and vigilance on the part of all staff members is required if thieves are to be defeated.

AVOID HIRING MISTAKES!


QUOTES FROM VICTIMS

“She was the last person you would think would be an embezzler”

“My embezzler was a Sunday School teacher”.

MEET THE CHAMPION…

IRINA FOOKS (CHERNYAKHOVSKY)


APRIL 2009


JANUARY 2016


APRIL 2016

Listen to her talk about former employer


DID YOU KNOW?

Number of Canadians with criminal records – 2.9 million (1 in 10 adults)

Percent of resumes that are misleading --78%

Resumes that: State fraudulent degrees -- 21%

Show changed employment dates -- 29%

Have inflated salary claims -- 40%

Have inaccurate job descriptions -- 33%

Give falsified references -- 27%.


OBJECTIVES

Some simple tips to help weed out the dangerous when hiring

Background checking – what you need to know

How to find out what an applicant is hiding from you.


DANGER!

Hiding previous negative employment.

Fraudulently claiming credentials / qualifications

“Overselling” capabilities / qualifications


BEFORE YOU START SEARCHINGFirst tip – define the job requirements BEFORE you start looking at applicants. This prevents getting influenced by an applicant who is appealing, but doesn’t have the right skills

Second tip – proactively collect job candidates to reduce “panic hiring”.


WEEDING OUT

In today’s economy it’s common to get 100 or more resumes for a posted job

Some simple (and fairly arbitrary) rules can reduce the pile to a manageable one.


CAN THEY FOLLOW RULES?

Applicants should be required to submit resumes by email (may set up a single-purpose Gmail or Yahoo account if discretion needed)

Provide a random “reference number” when posting the job and ask applicants to quote it in their cover letter.


LITERACY

Discard any resume with even one typo or grammar mistake, or a poor visual appearance

Discard any resume with a generic (i.e. non-personalized) cover letter.


HOW TO AVOID “COACHED CANDIDATES”Avoid questions with obvious answers

Watch questions that are coachable

Use “role-play” questions.


THERE’S EVEN A HOW-TO WEB SITE – WWW.FAKERESUME.COM


BACKGROUND CHECKING

“References” are useless. I want to speak with former employers

Check photo identification for applicants

Criminal record check

Credit report (if job-relevant)

Credential verification (if required for job)

Social networking check – look for criticism of employer, high-risk behavior etc. Also, see if anyone in the office is a social media “friend”. If undisclosed, means trouble

Drug test.


COMMENT FROM ONE CONVICTED FELON“dental game is great no back round checks unless u work with kids great money easy hrs and its the same thing over and over”


BIG MISTAKE

Avoid using any phone number given to you by an applicant

Find phone numbers independently.


Office Mgr’s name

DisposableCellPhone


BACKGROUND CHECKING CONSIDERATIONSApplicant’s consent needed

Limitations of online searches

Limitations of criminal records checks“Charged but not convicted”

Negative information not always relevant.


HOW TO DO A REFERENCE CHECK“Open-ended” questions are your friend

“Please confirm job title and provide EXACT dates of employment”

“Who were immediately previous and subsequent employers?”

Try to verify salary

Ask reason for leaving, and who initiated

My favorite question – “Would you re-hire?”


EMPLOYMENT GAPS

Danger sign – may mean that applicant was terminated from previous job without warning, or used to hide a job they don’t want you to know about

Need to be thoroughly investigated – “travelling through Europe”, “home with children” etc

How can “out of work force” claims be substantiated?


ONLINE SEARCHING OPPORTUNITIESLinkedIn (often has resume – can be compared with one given to you)

Online white pages – correlate address / phone number given to you with information given by applicant

Social networking / Google searching


HOW TO GIVE A NEGATIVE JOB REFERENCE“I will confirm employments dates and will only answer one other question”

“That question is ‘would you rehire this person?’”


“PLEASE DON’T CONTACT MY CURRENT EMPLOYER”

Complete all other background checking and make conditional employment offer to applicant

If offer is accepted, check with current employer.


SUMMARY

Dental offices are attractive targets

Focus on healing and helping people makes you vulnerable

Constant vigilance and awareness is required

MEET A TEAM PLAYER


WE ARE HERE TO HELP

Phone – 888-398-2327 from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm Eastern Time

Email (checked after hours by on-duty examiner) [email protected]

Web – www.dentalembezzlement.com

Personal email address–[email protected]

mailto:–[email protected]

http://www.dentalembezzlement.com/

mailto:[email protected]

Swindles, Cheats and Scams - Prosperident · the practice Mrs. Smiles ... 10. 987654321 11....

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Transcript of Swindles, Cheats and Scams - Prosperident · the practice Mrs. Smiles ... 10. 987654321 11....