Gov. Quinn has signed into law a bill that amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act. The bill raises penalties and gives the state more power to enforce laws preventing "cramming," when scammers pile on unauthorized fees on your phone bills. David Kolata, of the Citizens Utility Board, said, "Cramming is just another name for fraud. It's a scam that must end, that should end and we believe with the extra protections in here including strong third party verification and disclosure and enhanced ability when you are crammed to know who you should call to solve the problem, we believe all these provisions will lead to a dramatic reduction in cramming." [ABC 7] more ›

Two executives of a local garbage cart firm were indicted on Tuesday on four counts of mail and wire fraud for their roles in allegedly rigging contracts to repair city garbage carts. Federal prosecutors also charge that the two men paid their minority and women-owned subcontractors substantially less than promised to the city. Urban Services gave more than $50,000 to Chicago political causes, including $35,000 that went to the now defunct Hispanic Democratic Organization. Federal prosecutors claim that Douglas Ritter, and Steven Fenzl, president and vice president, respectively, of Urban Services of America Inc., defrauded the city by orchestrating the amount of the other bids that came in for the contract, ensuring that they won a $2 million contract with the Streets and Sanitation in 2005. more ›

Among those caught up in Operation Golden Seal from the Chicago area are a Junior ROTC instructor for Chicago Public Schools and five current or former Berwyn police officers. While purchasing a fake diploma isn't illegal, it is against the law to use said fake diploma for a raise and advancement, which is just what the ROTC instructor did: he used a fake Masters and PhD from "St. Regis University" to receive a raise from the school district in 2003. Some of the retired police officers also parlayed the fake diplomas into a pay raise, though the two officers still currently with the department did not. The instructor is currently on leave for an unrelated matter while none of the police officers were disciplined because they agreed to dismiss their degree claims. None of those involved have officially been charged with anything. Yet. more ›

With the assistance of George Gollin, professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Fermilab physicist, helped state and federal officials track and bust a ring accused of issuing phony diplomas worldwide. The investigation, appropriately called Operation Gold Seal, listed almost 10,000 people who had purchased the fake diplomas generated by Dixie and Steven Randock Sr. The couple used a combination of fake institutions (St. Regis University) and unsuspecting existing ones (Chicago Technical School) on their diplomas. The scam was international with buyers based in over 130 countries, some with U.S. government addresses, and reports that government officials in Liberia were bribed. Overall, the scam netted over $7 million for the couple, who were based out of Spokane, Washington. more ›