MARYLAND NEWS

A federal court in Maryland partially dismissed consumers’ fraud class action against Bimbo Bakeries, whose Entenmann’s-branded “All Butter” cake allegedly misleads buyers because it is made with artificial and not real butter. The court says reasonable consumers would need more info than the label to determine whether the phrase referred to the ingredients or the flavor of the cake. Their remaining state law claims are preempted by federal law. Source: Courthousenews.com

When a scammer directed the woman to take out more money,it led to a bank security officer telling her to contact the sheriff's office  Source: The Herald-Mail

Nearly $40,000 was stolen from Indiana Rep. Jim Banks’s U.S. Senate campaign committee last year after a check was swiped in the mail and fraudulently cashed, according to a note his campaign attached to a Federal Elections Commission report… Staff at the campaign's Maryland-based compliance firm said it contacted a local police department after realizing the check was stolen, and that a criminal investigation is ongoing. Source: Indianapolis Star via msn.com

As part of the conspiracy, the owner and his co-conspirators paid bribes and kickbacks to Medicaid beneficiaries to induce the beneficiaries to visit Holy Health for mental health services. Source: US Attorney, District of Maryland

USA Today analyzed data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the United States Census Bureau and surveyed 1,000 consumers to get an overview of fraud in the country.

Georgia, Nevada, Florida, Delaware and Maryland have the highest rates of fraud. Source: USA Today

The Maryland Online Data Privacy Act, would impose wide-ranging restrictions on how companies may collect and use Maryland consumers’ personal data. Another bill,  the Maryland Kids Code, would prohibit certain social media, video game and other online platforms from tracking people under age 18 and from using manipulative techniques. Those techniques, like auto-playing videos or bombarding children with notifications keep people glued online. Source: New York Times.

The proposed legislation would ban practices like speculative ticketing and make platforms responsible for recouping customers who fall victim to scams. Source: billboard.com. Also see SB0539.

According to the guilty plea, as part of the drug trafficking organization, the Maryland man handled bulk cash narcotics proceeds while his associates were responsible for street-level distribution of narcotics.  Members of the drug trafficking organization shared the cash proceeds of their street-level distributions with the man, who laundered the money on behalf of the organization.  He conducted “money drops” in which he transported large sums of drug proceeds to an individual purporting to act on behalf of a Mexican Cartel. Source: US Attorney, District of Maryland

According to his guilty plea, the and a co-conspirator illegally possessed a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) “arrow key,” which they used to open USPS postal boxes and steal mail.  They then took the mail matter back to their residence and culled out any checks from the stolen mail.  The man and the co-conspirator then changed the names of the payees on the checks to their names or to the names other conspirators recruited to assist with the scheme. Source: US Attorney, District of Maryland

A commentary by the former director of the University of Maryland Law School Consumer Protection Clinic states “It is time for Maryland to adopt a strong data privacy law, and SB 541, currently working its way through the Maryland General Assembly, would do just that.” Source Baltimore Banner 

Note: Also, see details on the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024  (SB541) at the Maryland Senate website.