The Avanti Law Group

The U.S. Department of Justice could dub 2013 the year its fight against Medicare billing fraud in Southeast Michigan yielded the first real payoff. Last year, the Detroit Medicare Fraud Strike Force, deployed here from Washington, and a locally organized Health Care Fraud Unit of prosecutors together brought charges in fraud schemes billing more than $380 million to the federal program. That's more than double the bad billing amount charged in any preceding year.

Every year, people fall prey to tax scams. The IRS wants you to be safe and informed - and not become a victim. "Some people are victimized by tax scams, while some get involved after being lured in by false promises of big money," said IRS spokesman Dan Boone. Taxpayers who get involved in illegal tax scams can lose their money, or face stiff penalties, interest and even criminal prosecution. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

TAMPA - Four men set up four bogus medical clinics in Tampa. They pay Medicare clients who allow the clinics to bill Medicare HMO insurance providers in their names for vein procedures they never undergo. Each clinic submits a separate bill for each patient, submitting multiple claims for the same procedures on the same individuals at the same time. The scam went on for more than three years. Collectively, the men were able to steal more than $2.5 million from federal taxpayers. They are part of a massive industry of cheats who have become a top priority for federal investigators who say they're concerned not only with the money being taken but also with the threat posed to public health by some of the schemes. In one of the cases, patients who need expensive intravenous drugs were given saline solution instead while the bad guys pocketed insurance payments for the drugs.

Under False Claims Act, whistleblowers get their share of billions Constance Lyttle's job at AT&T slowly shifted from helping deaf people make phone calls, to assisting the efforts of foreign scam artists intent on ripping off Americans. She refused to play along, and was eventually fired by AT&T, which was getting millions of dollars in government funds to run a scam-plagued system for relaying the calls of deaf people. "I didn't have a college degree. There's not a lot of good jobs here" in the Mercer area, Ms. Lyttle, 56, said this month. "I had bills to pay, just like everybody else in America."

Affordable Care Act Scam named Better Business Bureau's 2013 'Scam of the Year' The Better Business Bureau announced its "Top 10 Scams of 2013." Leading the pack, believe it or not, was the Affordable Care Act Scam, which most would refer to as the Obamacare scam. As much as he may want to differ, CBS late night host David Letterman didn't invent the idea of a "top 10 list" - it's been around for a long time, and that includes the 102 year-old Better Business Bureau, which has published a top 10 scam report for years. "Scammers used the uncertainty of Obamacare to trick Americans into sharing personal information. They call victims and offer new insurance or Medicare cards if they provide personal information," according to its website.