Scam

FARMINGTON — Prosecutors plan to ask a judge to order a 70-year-old man to pay $15,000 a month toward restitution of $3.9 million, plus interest.

David Burns Stayner, owner of Secured Loan Fund, based in Farmington, appeared this week in 2nd District Court for a restitution review hearing.

Judge David R.

OGDEN — The Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers about a new scam that tries to trick people into claiming fraudulent refunds on their tax returns.

The scam artists promise refunds to people who normally aren’t required to file for taxes because they have little or no income, which means senior citizens tend to be the targets, according to a news release from the IRS.

ROY -- A woman's cautious, inquisitive nature saved her from being a scam victim Wednesday, because she knows you can't get a quarter-million-dollar payoff from a $100 investment.

The 82-year-old woman, who asked to not be identified in this story so she isn't targeted by other scammers, wants other people to know about the scam routine so they don't let their financial desperation or greed and an authentic-sounding offer make them a victim.

OREM  -- Orem authorities are warning people of a scam after a 79-year-old woman lost about $93,000.

LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria’s government is assuring people in Africa’s most populous nation: a phone call can’t kill you.

LOS ANGELES -- Chatting with women on websites for surrogate mothers, Melissa Todd stumbled upon an unusual opportunity.

It required foreign travel -- a quick trip to the Ukrainian city of Lviv to be impregnated using embryos created in vitro from sperm and eggs of donors. The pay was $38,000, nearly double what she had made the one previous time she had been a surrogate.

Most uncommon was the arrangement itself. Typically, a couple hire a surrogate to carry and deliver a child for them, but in this case Todd would become pregnant first. Parents would be found later.

MORGAN -- A phone call from a grandchild supposedly stuck in jail in Mexico has cost an elderly Morgan man $15,000, the Morgan County Sheriff's Office said Monday.

Detective Bill Wentland said he has little hope of ever recovering the man's money and declined to give the victim's name.

The scam, however, is a common one, and Wentland said he hopes the story of this incident will persuade other people to be more cautious.