Whistleblower News from the Inside - March 21, 2014

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Largest-ever US tax fraud phone scam – IRS watchdog warns that scammers pose as the IRS collection department and target people worried about immigration status — fearing deportation or arrest, they pay up.  Reuters

Arkansas court reverses $1.2B J&J Risperdal Medicaid fraud judgment – The Arkansas Supreme Court throws out the judgment, finding the state attorney general erred by suing under a law that applied to health care facilities, not drug companies.  NYT

Fraud – detecting it is also big business — IBM announced yesterday that it is creating a fraud unit to tap into the $5 billion industry of corporate fraud detection and prevention.  NYT

Turkey blocks Twitter before election  — The Prime Minister vows to “wipe out” Twitter as he faces a corruption scandal leading up to an election – hopes to quell alleged evidence of government wrongdoing being shared on social media. Reuters

Whistleblowers to speak at Syracuse – GAP continues its American Whistleblower Tour by bringing high-profile whistleblowers – such as NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake –  to speak on college campuses.  GAP

Your computer’s software is up to date, but is your sunscreen? — The Melanoma Research Alliance and others are pushing for FDA approvals of new sunscreen ingredients they say have stagnated over the last decade.  Washington Post