If you saw it in a movie you wouldn’t believe it. A couple in California are accused of taking a handyman hostage and forcing him to do fix-it jobs around the house, apparently because they were unsatisfied with his previous efforts. [More]
If You’re Not Happy With A Handyman’s Work, Kidnapping Him To Do More Repairs Is A Bad Idea
By December 5, 2012
Credit-Repair Scammers Hit With $7.4 Million Penalty, Continued To Break Law
By November 30, 2012
I don’t know about you, but if I’m running a scammy business and get hit with a $7.4 million penalty from the federal government, I’m at least going to think twice about running the same scam again. And yet, a Florida couple completely disregarded court orders by continuing to sell people on their illegal credit-repair system. [More]
Video Game Store Clerk Denies Robber, Tells Him “It’s Messed Up” To Steal From Small Businesses
By November 20, 2012
Usually when you hear about retail employees standing up to criminals, it involves playing the hero (and often getting fired for their efforts), but one clerk at a Denver video game store managed to deny a would-be robber by simply telling him it’s not cool to hold up his little store. [More]
Threatening To Blow Up A Nuclear Power Plant Will Not Lower Your Utility Bill
By November 2, 2012
Upset about some new surcharges on his power bill, a Louisiana man did what no one should absolutely ever, in any world, even consider doing — he allegedly threatened to blow up a nuclear power plant. [More]
Barnes & Noble Warns Of Credit Card Breach At 63 Stores
By October 24, 2012
Early this morning, bookstore chain Barnes & Noble announced that it had detected tampering with PIN pad devices in 63 of its stores, and as a precaution has halted the use of PIN pads in all of its stores. [More]
Home Depot Employee Accused Of Making $26,000 Off Of Fake Returns
By October 17, 2012
We’ve heard of shoplifters trying to “return” products they never actually purchased for cash. And we’ve heard of employees pretending to enter a return and then taking that returned item and fencing it. But this may be the first time we’ve heard of a retail employee using customer’s personal info to cook up fake returns for illicit profit. [More]
Chevy Dealer Really Sorry About Having Customer Arrested Over Pricing Error
By October 3, 2012
When the folks at a Chevy dealership in Virginia realized they had accidentally sold a customer a car for $5,600 less than they should have, they could have just eaten the difference and stewed about it for a bit. Instead, they tried to get the customer to pay the extra money — and then had him arrested for car theft when he refused. [More]
Rent-To-Own Companies Busted Using Tracking Software To Spy On Customers
By September 26, 2012
For years, we’ve been warning consumers about rent-to-own electronics businesses because they usually end up costing customers a heck of a lot more money in the long term. Now there is another reason to avoid them: The Federal Trade Commission has caught seven rent-to-own companies installing tracking software on computers to do everything from tracking their locations to capturing screenshots of confidential info to secretly snapping photos of customers. [More]
Police Offer PlayStation 3 As Reward For Return Of Guns
By September 14, 2012
Police in Snellville, GA, are trying to recover a pile of recently stolen guns and ammunition, but rather than offer the usual cash reward, cops are offering Sony PlayStation 3 video game consoles. [More]
Man Arrested For Fondling Himself, Looking At Porn On Southwest Flight
By September 11, 2012
Flying from Baltimore to Denver isn’t very exciting. If you’re going to provide your own in-flight entertainment, though, please don’t follow the lead of a 63-year-old man who took that flight on Saturday. His choice of distraction got him arrested once he was on the ground for committing lewd, indecent or obscene acts in public aboard an aircraft. [More]
Airline Passenger With Her Own Bottle Of Gin Steals Food, Cigarettes, Demands Crew Put Some "F****** Music On"
By September 10, 2012
Judging by the number of stories we see every week about airline passengers who have a few too many drinks, we sometimes wonder if the cabin crews are being a bit too free with the in-flight beverages. But then we hear about those terrible travelers who bring their own booze, freeing themselves up to cause a higher level of mayhem. [More]
Man Behind Fake-Cop Debt Collection Scam Could Get To Know Some Very Real Convicts
By August 27, 2012
We write a lot about multimillion dollar settlements over alleged frauds and scams, but it often seems like there is an inverse relationship between the amount of money involved and the amount of time spent in jail by the perpetrators. So we’re glad to hear that the man in the center of a debt collection scam that involved callers pretending to be police officers, and which defrauded American consumers out of millions, now faces criminal charges. [More]
Kroger Manager Fired For Allegedly Attacking Man Who Handed Out Food In Parking Lot
By August 27, 2012
After you buy food at the grocery store, it’s pretty much yours to do with as you wish, right? But a Kroger manager in Georgia didn’t believe that an elderly customer would just want to hand out food to hungry people, and allegedly attacked the man, losing his job in the process. [More]
Locking Yourself Inside An Airplane Cockpit Is One Way To Get Yourself Arrested
By August 22, 2012
Not that we suggest in any way that anyone try storming a jetway to hole up in a locked airplane cockpit, but if you’re going to do it, you should probably expect to end up in jail. [More]
A Look Back At Customer-On-Greeter Violence At Walmart
By August 20, 2012
For most of us who shop at Walmart, the elderly greeters are merely something to smile at and say “hi” to as we enter the store — and to occasionally hand over your receipt for checking-over as you exit. But as any regular readers of Consumerist know, some folks out there seem to have a grudge against greeters and have opted for fisticuffs over anger management. [More]
Comcast Employees Caught Taking Payments From 5,975 Customers To Permanently Lower Bills
By August 8, 2012
Most of us wince at our cable bills each month, but what would you do if someone from the cable company approached you and said they could permanently lower your bill — if you gave them a one-time payment of $150? [More]
If You Steal A Bike From The Store, Don't Go Back Right Away To Buy A Lock
By August 3, 2012
They say that crime doesn’t pay. But we have a feeling that this is mostly due to the fact that a lot of criminals happen to be really stupid people. [More]
Convenience Store Owner Calls Cops On Unruly Customer, Ends Up Getting Arrested
By August 2, 2012
The owner of a Chevron gas station and convenience store in Georgia says that when she called the cops to handle an allegedly rude and unruly customer, things got turned around on her and she ended up being the one in cuffs — all because she couldn’t figure out how to operate the security camera system. [More]
