Fraud alert

Financial fraud is on the rise. Americans submitted more than 1.5 million complaints about financial and other types of fraud in 2011. That’s a 62 percent increase in just 3 years, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s annual Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book. A recent report by Kimberly Blanton — The Rise of Financial Fraud: Scam Never Change but Disguises Do — details a number of common “disguises” of tried-and-true scams. Her report is part of the Financial Security Project at Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research. Disgusting.