The Hamtramck city clerk who reported election fraud in the 2023 City Council election and in whose office unopen ballots for last year’s close mayoral election were found has been fired, city officials confirmed.
Former City Clerk Rana Faraj had been on paid administrative since Nov. 10, according to a lawsuit she filed against the city in early December. Mayor Adam Alharbi said Faraj’s employment had been “on hold for legal reasons because of her lawsuit,” and that insurance attorneys recently told city officials they could proceed with dismissing her.
The move comes about four months after Faraj was placed on leave when uncounted ballots that could have swayed the 2025 mayoral election were found in her office. Faraj and city officials have not explained how uncounted ballots wound up in the Clerk’s Office.
She was fired “due to misconduct, bad behavior, election interference, and…
These frauds exploit emotional vulnerability and trust rather than technical weaknesses.
- Romance Scams: Scammers build long-term online relationships with victims, eventually fabricating a “crisis” (medical emergency, legal trouble, or travel costs) that requires the victim to send money.
- Pig Butchering: A hybrid scam where the criminal builds a romantic or platonic relationship to eventually “tutor” the victim in a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment.