You've simply got to read this one to believe it. Con man (man-child?) Sung "Lawrence" Hung convinced his Seattle-area neighbor to lend him funds for a mutually beneficial investment, but when the deal went south, Hung threatened that mafia types were coming to do them both in. The most amazing thing is that Hung and his mom have been running scams like this since at least 1997.

Read about his arrest and the schemes that preceded it, here.

These people are out there (well, not Hung, he's currently in the hoosegow) and background checking is your friend. Keep in mind though, that all background checks aren't created equal. When you hire an investigator or investigative service to aid you in vetting potential business associates, know that protecting your interests takes time and attention to detail. Human attention, that is. A $15 internet chop-shop job isn't going to cut it with a guy like Hung. Databases don't do well with non--standard names - especially when they include westernized nicknames.

As a friend in the industry reminded me just days ago, only an investigator, with the benefit of his or her on-the-job experience can anticipate and circumvent issues that would thwart an automated search. It takes a human hand in order to ensure that your ass is well and truly covered. Not conducting a background check and ending up like Hung's victims is bad enough. But even worse is actually paying for a background check that doesn't give you the early warning that you are paying for. So choose wisely...

-- MDT

Labels: background checks, Con artist, due diligence, Sung "Lawrence" Hung