The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a Santa Clarita investment firm for allegedly defrauding their clients, officials said Tuesday. Criterion Wealth Management Insurance Services, Inc., an investment advisory firm, and co-owners Robert Gravette and Mark MacArthur, are accused of breaching their fiduciary duty and defrauding their advisory clients by failing to disclose significant financial conflicts of interest when recommending ...

Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station detectives are looking for potential victims of an unlicensed contractor scam, officials said Tuesday. Multiple Santa Clarita Valley homeowners reported to the Sheriff’s Station they were victimized by a suspect who allegedly collected thousands of dollars for home improvement projects without completing any of the work or delivering products as promised, according to Shirley Miller, ...

An unexpected gift on Valentine’s Day might seem like a nice way to a loved one’s heart, but these deliveries may also give scammers a direct route to a victim’s credit card, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.   Deputy District Attorney Ben Forer explains that in the “Bogus Delivery Scam,” the victim gets a phone call ...

Santa Clarita residents are warned to be on the lookout for scams targeting seniors, such as the “blessing scam,” according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. LADA officials warned residents against a scam possibly targeting seniors in the Santa Clarita area, the “blessing scam”, wherein con artists take advantage of victim’s religious beliefs to extort money from them. ...

A Santa Clarita bride was sentenced to five years in jail for a wedding fraud scheme she concocted to rip off The Knot website — not once, but twice, officials said Monday. Vermyttya Miller, 37, of Santa Clarita, was ordered to pay $22,500 in restitution after pleading no contest to one count of felony insurance fraud, according to the California ...

Scammers are now using public USB charging stations to hack information and passwords from electronic devices in what is being called the “Juice Jacking” scam, officials said. Travelers should avoid using public USB power charging stations in airports, hotels and other locations because they may contain dangerous malware, according to officials with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. In ...

A Canyon Country man has been charged with defrauding veterans out of an estimated $4.2 million in an alleged trucking school scam, officials said Monday. Robert Waggoner, 56, of Canyon Country, was charged with nine counts of wire fraud and civil forfeiture, according to Ciaran McEvoy, spokesperson for the United States Attorney’s Office, Los Angeles office. Waggoner, who served as ...

A Canadian man was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to defrauding elderly victims, including one in Canyon Country, out of thousands of dollars, officials said. Pascal Gaudeault, 48, was sentenced to a year in federal prison for his role in a scheme to trick victims into believing their grandchildren or other relatives were in trouble in foreign countries and convincing ...

Federal Trade Commission officials announced Thursday four separate operations were banned from robocalling and telemarketing activities after making phone calls nationwide, including Santa Clarita. These illegal robocalls were pawning auto warranties, debt-relief services, home security systems, fake charities, and Google search results services, according to FTC officials. The operations behind the illegal robocalls settled their charges, violating the Federal Trade ...

The Internal Revenue Service warned Santa Clarita residents about a new twist on the IRS impersonation phone scam whereby criminals fake calls from the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), an independent organization within the IRS. Similar to other IRS impersonation scams, thieves make unsolicited phone calls to their intended victims fraudulently claiming to be from the IRS. In this most recent ...