Stop Fraud is the name of the initiative undertaken by the United
States Anti-Fraud force. It was enacted by the current administration, shortly
after the 2008 election. It focuses on investigating and prosecuting financial
scams, as well as providing fraud protection to American citizens. The fact
that a single dedicated agency now handles most of this important work, makes
it more efficient and successful in achieving convictions and recovering funds
lost to scams. Being on the forefront of the battle against con artists and
having an unprecedented access to information and judicial powers, makes Stop
Fraud a very effective program.
There are many types of criminal activity that can be generalized
as financial scams. These are just a few for which this task force provides fraud protection. It handles all types of banking scams, counterfeit mortgages,
and fake loans. It keeps an eye on securities trading and commodity based
scams. It oversees cases involving postal scams and monitors suspicious wire
transfers. It is also responsible for bringing suits against known money
laundering operations.
Drawing on vast resources from the anti-fraud alliance, which
incorporates over twenty government agencies, nearly a hundred District
Attorney’s offices andinnumerable law enforcement entities including, but not
limited to divisions of the FBI, the ATF and the NSA, Stop Fraud has become
perhaps the most powerful crime fighting and fraud protection collective that
has ever been organized. In coordination with all of these partners, the task
force has been able to make scamming in the United States a much more dangerous
and demanding occupation. Many thieves have been caught and tried to the
maximum extent of the law. Many have received lengthy jail sentences. Most
importantly, millions of dollars has been recovered for American consumers,
which has made the business of fraud protection a satisfying endeavor for
federal agents.
The Stop Fraud collective is divided into
three units to further optimize fraud protection efficiency:
- The Victim’s Rights Unit – is charged with providing information about prevalent scams to consumers through various outreach efforts, on line, on TV or through the mail. They try to raise public awareness to minimize the numbers of potential scam targets in the population. This is often the first major necessity in effective fraud protection campaigns. Their other important duty is to make sure that citizens know their rights in regards to fraud protection, what the recourse is in their often difficult situation. They also register the complaints and reports of fraud victims, while providing some counseling to relieve their stress.
- The Intelligence and Resource Allocation Unit – spends its efforts on compiling data on fraudulent activity from many sources and planning the operations to shut down scams. They take consumer reports in combination with knowledge passed on from other national and international agencies. The more sources that are considered the easier it is to pinpoint the perpetrators whereabouts and recognize their methods. This unitis run by highly trained agents of the clandestine service branches, who are in charge of allocating assets to combat scams and provide fraud protection.
- The Enforcement Unit – works with the Attorney General’s office to seek warrants and other means that are necessary for the apprehension of individual scammers and criminal organizations. As the name suggests it is also the group that actively goes after the thieves, once a strong case has been built.
Working together these three branches and
their various partners have been able to
provide excellent fraud protection for American citizens.
