Filed under: Personal Finance , Lifestyle Geneen Roth was a successful author before she received what she now dubs “the call.” The call brought news that the financial adviser to whom she had entrusted her and her husband’s life savings was a fraud. They had been ripped off by Bernie Madoff — victims of his now-notorious Ponzi scheme. The initial horror of learning that her financial adviser was a fraud brought on a range of reactions — panic, terror, self-blame, rage.

Filed under: Company News , Market News When a big company gains enough momentum that its direction becomes self-sustaining, its influence can ripple through society with a bevy of positive consequences — like the creation of jobs, the spread of ideas, and a general improvement in living standards. But capitalism — like any other -ism — is far from a perfect system. Along with a host of American companies that we should view with pride , there are a number that have created situations we think are downright evil.

Filed under: Careers , Crime From insider trading to getting ready for life “on the inside” — The Wall Street Journal reports that convicted white-collar criminals are increasingly paying for prison prep from former inmates. Lessons include avoiding physical altercations (instead of raising your fists to a truculent fellow prisoner, curl your body into a ball on the floor) and deciphering jailhouse lingo: ‘”A ‘cheese eater’ is an informant. A ‘blanket party’ is throwing a blanket over an inmate, then beating him.

Filed under: Consumer Ally , Crime It’s nearly time for us to pay — or be paid by — Uncle Sam, and that means it’s also high season for tax-related phishing scams, when rogue websites masquerade as legitimate tax prep providers, banks or even the IRS to con us out of our user names, passwords and credit card information. But phishing isn’t limited to tax season.

Filed under: Taxes No one is claiming that an IRS audit is a cakewalk. But rest assured, a tax audit is probably less likely — and less gruesome — than most people fear.