Three people, including a local attorney, were indicted for allegedly operating a foreclosure rescue scam in Las Vegas during 2008 and 2009.
The indictment alleges that Nevada attorney Ramon Dy-Ragos, along with his partners Jesus Baca, a k a Jesse Baca, and Luis O. Baca operated a foreclosure rescue scam under the business name of “Save Your House.”
Save Your House is alleged to have lured customers to pay large upfront fees ranging from $1000 to $3,995. The defendants informed the victims they could prevent foreclosure by having customers stop paying their mortgage and ceasing all contact with the bank holding their mortgage.
The defendants falsely claimed they would modify mortgages through negotiation with the mortgage holders or suing the mortgage holders.
“We need citizens to help identify mortgage fraud scams such as these so we can investigate and prosecute these individuals,” said attorney general Catherine Cortez Masto in a press release.
Dy-Ragos and Jesus Baca were indicted on two “B felony counts of theft,” obtaining money in excess of $2,500 by material misrepresentation. Luis O. Baca was indicted on one gross misdemeanor count of conspiracy.
An initial appearance date has been scheduled for Nov. 18 in Las Vegas District Court.
In other recent news, the Office of the Nevada AG is warning consumers of prerecorded telemarketing calls offering credit repair or loan modification services. Some consumers have reported they are receiving multiple calls per day.
During the call, a recording tells the consumer they qualify for a loan modification or credit repair and the call may quote a loan account number to make the offer appear authentic. However, when the consumer pushes the telephone button to talk to a representative, the recording states that no one is able to take the call.
The recording asks the consumer to provide their name, address, account number and even Social Security number, promising someone will call them back.
“This is a scam to collect personal identity information from the unsuspecting victim,” the AG said.
The consumer is warned to not respond to these calls and never provide private information over the telephone. Providing private identification in this manner is an easy way to become a victim of identity theft.
The caller ID telephone numbers displayed when receiving these prerecorded telemarketing calls are fake and used in a process called “spoofing.” Current technology makes it possible to spoof a telephone number to display the source of the call. While spoofing phone numbers is illegal, it is virtually impossible to trace the source of these calls.
“These calls are typically generated by the thousands from locations outside the United States. Stopping this practice is difficult because the true identities of the callers are buried behind a line of entities that lease and then release the telephone numbers to others,” said added Masto.
“As a precaution, never respond to a telemarketing call, television or radio advertisement or mail solicitation without first checking whether the company is licensed in Nevada.”
