Fraud and Scams

1+ day, 9+ hour ago   (396+ words) Two Oakland police officers were indicted last month for allegedly conspiring with a federal aviation official to fraudulently obtain pilot certifications. Brandon Mart and David Mac, both Oakland Police Department Air Support Unit helicopter pilots, allegedly conspired with a Federal…...

1+ mon, 1+ week ago   (181+ words) An engineer in San Francisco said he lost more than $18,000 after someone pretended to be a listing agent and sent him to a real open house. Alvin Tran found a two-bedroom listing in the city on both Zillow and Craigslist....

1+ mon, 1+ week ago   (412+ words) A heartbreaking situation for Bay Area pet owners is being exploited by scammers who target distraught families searching for their missing animals. The scammers pretend to be from veterinary hospitals and attempt to convince people to shell out thousands of…...

4+ mon, 1+ day ago   (106+ words) Santa Clara County filed a civil lawsuit Monday against Meta, accusing the social media company of targeting users with misleading and fraudulent advertisements. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of all California residents, alleges the Menlo Park-based company tolerated and profited…...

7+ mon, 3+ week ago   (257+ words) Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is hoping President Donald Trump will help her get out of prison early. Gia Vang reports. Holmes, the founder of Theranos, which is the now defunct blood testing start-up, asked President Trump to release her…...

4+ mon, 2+ week ago   (128+ words) Text messages claiming that recipients owe money for unpaid tickets are fake, the California Highway Patrol says. "Several people have reported getting suspicious texts from unknown numbers," the highway patrol's San Jose office said Tuesday on social media. The messages…...

5+ mon, 1+ week ago   (156+ words) A former San Francisco leader is facing felony charges. The district attorney’s office said the former city employee worked with the head of a large nonprofit to divert millions in public funds. A former San Francisco leader is facing felony…...

5+ mon, 3+ week ago   (249+ words) The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office put out a joint consumer alert with the Santa Cruz County DA, advising of fake traffic violation notices. Christie Smith reports. They said the notices appear to come from the court, and could be…...

5+ mon, 3+ week ago   (621+ words) “The fintech industry’s ‘move fast and break things’ mentality isn’t just reckless — it’s an open invitation to the most sophisticated financial criminals in the world. Scurry is the story I had to tell — and every scene is grounded in hard-won,…...

6+ mon, 2+ week ago   (293+ words) The longtime head of a San Francisco nonprofit – who ran a city-sponsored homeless encampment in the midst of the pandemic – now faces nine embezzlement related charges, including multiple counts related to the alleged misappropriation of more than $2.5 million in public…...