Goldman to invest up to $1.5 billion in Facebook, let the pump begin

Discussion in 'Wall St. News' started by tmarket, Jan 3, 2011.

  1. Humpy

    Humpy

    Well roooooty tooooooty

    If anyone can sell the dream it's Goldman

    Twitter next ?
     
    #31     Jan 22, 2011
  2. Even Goldman may have problem pumping Facebook if users start dropping out because of privacy concerns:

    Insurers are scouring social media for evidence of fraud

    A representative of the Toronto insurance company told Blanchard that Manulife used photos of her on Facebook — showing her frolicking at a beach and hanging out at a pub — to determine she was depression-free and able to work, said Tom Lavin, Blanchard's attorney.

    "They just assumed from the pictures that she was a fraud," Lavin said, "without investigating further before terminating Nathalie's benefits."

    Blanchard sued Manulife, accusing Manulife of failing to talk to her doctor and neglecting to inform her before cutting off payments. The case is scheduled for trial next January.

    Manulife, citing ongoing legal proceedings, declined to comment on the case but said in a statement: "We would not deny or terminate a valid claim solely based on information published on websites such as Facebook."

    Social-networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace have become the go-to places where employers, college admissions officers and divorce lawyers can do background checks. Armed with the information, police have caught fugitives, lawyers have discredited witnesses and companies have discovered perfect-on-paper applicants engaged in illegal or simply embarrassing behavior.

    And now insurance companies are exploiting the free, easily accessible websites.

    Such sites have become the latest tools in detecting fraud, which the industry says costs the U.S. as much as $80 billion a year and accounts for 3% to 10% of total annual healthcare spending.

    Investigators who once followed people with cameras now sit behind desks "mining databases and searching Facebook," said Frank Scafidi, spokesman for the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a nonprofit that investigates suspect claims for insurance partners such as Allstate and State Farm.

    "They look out for things that don't add up," he said, "like someone who claimed they hurt their back too badly to work and then bragged on Facebook about running a marathon."

    Social-networking sites have become such "standard tools" that Peter Foley, vice president of claims administration at American Insurance Assn., said that investigators could be considered negligent if they didn't conduct at least "a quick scan of social media to check for contradictions."

    But the evidence gathered on these sites, Foley and other insurance experts caution, should be used only as a launch pad for further investigations and never as final proof of fraud.

    More ambitious insurance companies are even exploring the possibility of using online data to help underwrite policies.




    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-facebook-evidence-20110125,0,4304729.story
     
    #32     Jan 25, 2011