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Non-Tech : Auric Goldfinger's Short List -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pilapir who wrote (10356)	8/29/2002 1:09:52 PM
From: StockDung	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 19428

Identity Theft Alert: Latest Scam By EILEEN ALT POWELL .c The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) - It seems that almost every month there's a report of yet another identity theft scam. The latest is particularly worrisome because it plays off Internal Revenue Service forms, something the IRS says hasn't happened before. The scam involves a cover letter from a ``bank'' and a doctored IRS form. One of the phony forms is numbered W-9095 and titled ``Application Form for Certificate Status/Ownership for Withholding Tax.'' It mimics the genuine IRS Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. In addition to seeking the consumer's name, address and Social Security number, the sham form asks for very detailed financial information, including bank account numbers, passwords and personal identification numbers (PINs) and personal details such a mother's maiden name. The letter says the form must be faxed to a certain number within seven days, or the ``bank'' will begin holding 31 percent of the account's interest for taxes. A related scam that targets foreigners with accounts in the United States features a doctored version of IRS Form W-8BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding. A totally fictitious IRS form, W-8888, also is in circulation, the IRS said. The IRS says it has no figures on how many people have been caught up in the latest scam, but the agency has received complaints from around the country. Foreigners have been victims, too, the IRS says. The California Society of Enrolled Agents, a professional association of tax experts licensed by the Treasury, and other groups have been trying to warn the public about the scams. ``Criminals have become more brazen because they've learned that they can profit from identity theft,'' said Bill Geideman, an enrolled agent in Santa Ana, Calif. ``And they're much harder to trace than thieves who walk into a 7-Eleven with a handgun.'' Identity theft is a growing problem in America, with upward of 700,000 people victimized each year, the government estimates. With the right stolen information - Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and PINs - the thieves can devastate victims financially. They can empty savings accounts, open new credit card accounts and run up massive bills, even buy houses and cars under their assumed identities. Victims can spend years unraveling the mess and correcting the damage to their credit reports. IRS spokeswoman Peggy Riley said people should be wary of anyone soliciting personal information from them. ``The IRS would not normally send out these forms, and the IRS would not ask for sensitive financial data,'' she said. She said that anyone receiving such solicitations should not respond to them. Instead, she said, contact the IRS at (800) 829-1040. People who fear they may have been duped by such forms also should contact the IRS, Riley said. In addition, because they are potential identity theft targets, they could file a report with the local police, contact their bank and notify the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Other identity theft hot lines are run by the Social Security Administration, (800) 269-0271, and the Federal Trade Commission, (877) ID-THEFT. Geideman, the enrolled agent, said legitimate IRS forms generally have an IRS processing center address on them and the IRS phone number. ``Beyond that, the IRS would never ask you for things like your bank passwords, or insist that you fax things in,'' Geideman said. ``If someone sees that, it should be a red flag.'' On the Net: www.irs.gov www.csea.org FTC identity theft site: www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ 08/29/02 07:04 EDT

To: pilapir who wrote (10356)	8/29/2002 3:36:30 PM
From: StockDung	Respond to of 19428

Fidelity Brokerage Shuts Its Stock Research Unit (Update1) By Philip Boroff and Heather Bandur Boston, Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Fidelity Capital Markets, the institutional brokerage arm of the largest U.S. mutual fund company, is closing its seven-year-old stock research unit, according to a note from the firm. ``Effective immediately, Vestigo Associates will no longer provide equity research,'' said a note to clients from Marvin Loh, one of the unit's nine analysts. James Griffin, a spokesman for Fidelity, which oversees about $800 billion, declined comment. The Boston-based company's Vestigo Associates provides research on 22 companies, including BEA Systems Inc., a maker of software for running Internet-based programs. Since July 8, Vestigo recommended investors sell BEA. Fidelity Investments, Vestigo's parent, is the largest holder of BEA, with 59 million shares as of June. Vestigo was started by Fidelity's capital markets business in 1995 to provide equity and fixed-income research to its institutional investor and investment professional clients. The firm's Web site lists nine stock and bond analysts, including Loh, its founder and a former Eaton Vance Corp. credit analyst, and James Lee, a former UBS Warburg analyst. The firm covers software companies, electric utilities, and communications equipment companies. It also prepares strategy reports on taxable and municipal bonds.