fraud

Oh Snap: NY AG Sues EX-Bank Of America CEO For Fraud

By Meg Marco on February 5, 2010 11:13 AM 0 views

(William Munoz)

Andrew Cuomo has announced a lawsuit against Bank of America's former CEO Kenneth D. Lewis, its former CFO Joseph L. Price, and the company itself, for "duping shareholders and the federal government in order to complete a merger with Merrill Lynch." Uh oh! More Â»

33 Comments

Update On Woman Sent To Jail For Using Gift Cards At Best Buy

By Chris Walters on February 4, 2010 4:13 PM 0 views

(NY1)

Last month, New York City's NY1 news channel produced a news segment on the woman who was arrested for paying with AMEX gift cards at a Best Buy. If you read our earlier post with Ilona's email, you already know most of the basics, but you can see the problematic gift cards and hear Ilona describe the experience in her own words. It turns out that after she was released, she went back to Best Buy for either a refund or the DVD player, but had to leave without either one--she was told she'd have to contact American Express to resolve the problem. More Â»

245 Comments

ING Cancels Debit Card, Repeats 'There's Nothing We Can Do' Refrain

By Phil Villarreal on February 4, 2010 10:15 AM 0 views

(NYCviaRachel)

UPDATE: ING Got Noah a new debit card. More Â»

63 Comments

Best Buy Sends Customer To Jail For Paying With AMEX Gift Card

By Chris Walters on February 2, 2010 12:36 PM 0 views

(abardwell)

Update: The news channel New York 1 has prepared a video segment about Ilona's experience with Best Buy and the NYC police.
  *    
A shopper just told us that last night last month at a Best Buy in NYC, she was taken to a back room, then cuffed by police officers and taken to a precinct for "further investigation," because she tried to pay with an American Express gift card her father had bought for her. More Â»

294 Comments

Evil Mutant Cotton Sneaks Into H&M "Organic" Clothing

By Laura Northrup on January 27, 2010 4:43 PM 0 views

(Photo: Lawrence in Houston)

Global fast fashion retailer H&M and European chains C&A and Tchibo have been caught selling misleading "organic cotton" products to consumers. Independent testing done by Germany's Financial Times showed that 30% of the samples contained genetically modified strains of cotton. Oops. More Â»

49 Comments

2 Rules That Will Help You Beat Telephone Scammers

By Meg Marco on January 13, 2010 4:39 PM 13656 views

(Photo:amyadoyzie)

Recently, someone I know was scammed on the telephone. This person said to me, “But the scam was very convincing.” I replied, “Yes, that is how scams are.” They don’t ride up to you on a giant horse with SCAM painted on it, wearing a huge cowboy hat and shooting six-guns into the air. More Â»

81 Comments

Check Fraudster Strikes On Craigslist

By Chris Walters on January 8, 2010 8:20 AM 7047 views

(Photo: laurenatclemson)

Hopefully most of you know better than to ever accept a check from a stranger, but I think it's always good to share horror stories like this one to remind people of why it's a bad idea. The problem is, if you deposit a check that turns out to be fake, you're the one who will be held responsible for it. Unlike credit card theft, there's no law or rule in place to protect you from check fraud or advance fee fraud--and your bank doesn't want to be left holding the bag any more than you do. More Â»

58 Comments

AT&T Says Fraud. Consumerist Says O RLY?

By Marc Perton on December 28, 2009 1:44 PM 11163 views

(Photo: Consumers Union)

Update: New York customers are now able to order iPhones via AT&T's Web site. It would appear that the company has once more modified its "promotions and distribution channels." We've requested a statement from AT&T, and will update this post if and when we receive it.

AT&T online customer service reps have apparently changed their tune since we first reported yesterday that they were telling potential iPhone buyers that New York "is not ready for the iPhone." The current line: "Due to increased fraudulent activity, the Apple iPhone may not be available to purchase online in certain ZIP codes." There's just one problem: It seems pretty unlikely. More Â»

36 Comments

BofA Locked Our Account Down While We Went Away

By Phil Villarreal on December 28, 2009 10:00 AM 7956 views

(Photo: Maulleigh)

Alex says Bank of America's efforts to protect him and his wife from fraud have stranded them in Salt Lake City without access to their accounts. He says the bank mixed up his and his wife's security info, leaving neither of them able to break down the security walls. He writes: More Â»

67 Comments

Apple Bans 1,000+ Apps After Developer Is Caught Faking Reviews

By Chris Walters on December 8, 2009 6:15 PM 9082 views
Apple just swung the banhammer pretty hard at Molinker, a development company, after a customer named Patrick Timney pointed out that the majority of reviews on Molinker apps were fake. Until yesterday, the company had 1,011 apps on the App Store, mostly easy-to-knock-out travel guides for 99 cents each. Now they're all gone, and Apple's VP Phil Schiller told iPhoneography, "Yes, this developer's apps have been removed from the App Store and their ratings no longer appear either." More Â»

34 Comments

Homeless Charity Revealed As A Fraud

By Chris Walters on November 24, 2009 1:06 PM 11303 views
If you live anywhere in the NYC area, you've probably seen a "United Homeless Organization" table on the sidewalk, staffed by a volunteer who looks homeless himself. (If you don't live here, imagine a year-round, homeless Salvation Army Santa.) If you thought the set-ups looked a little sketchy, you were right: the UHO is a "sham," according to NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. More Â»

61 Comments

Sushi "Tuna" Might Be Endangered, Dangerous, Or Fake

By Alex Chasick on November 23, 2009 4:00 PM 8233 views

Biologists testing DNA code identification technology discovered that the tuna they ordered at sushi restaurants was actually hazardous or fake fish, or even an endangered species.  More Â»

38 Comments

Bank of America Cancels Solo India Traveler's Debit Card, Shrugs

By Laura Northrup on November 11, 2009 7:12 PM 8833 views

Does "Bank of America" actually mean "Bank of America Only"? After pulling another reader's debit card access back in August even though she had explicitly notified the überbank about her travels, BoA has apparently done it again. Reader Bristol tells us that she has been penniless in India for the last week after the bank's mysterious computers canceled her debit card.  More Â»

124 Comments

Target Pays New Jersey $375K To Settle Fraud Charges

By Chris Walters on November 10, 2009 11:27 PM 3937 views

Target has agreed to pay New Jersey $375,000 to settle charges that it sold baby formula and non-prescription drugs that had expired, and that it charged higher prices on some products than what was displayed on the shelves.  More Â»

35 Comments

Keep Track Of Which Diploma Mills Will Work Out Best For Your Pet

By Chris Walters on November 10, 2009 5:50 PM 5876 views

In this job market, anything you can do to give your cat or dog an edge is worth pursuing. That's why you shouldn't enroll your pet in just any diploma mill—you want one that's a proven scam. Boingboing points out that there's a Wikipedia page to keep track of animals with fraudulent diplomas to make it easier to comparison shop for that next fake certificate.  More Â»

101 Comments

Yankees Fans Celebrate Championship By Giving Away Your Private Information

By Alex Chasick on November 9, 2009 7:33 PM 7530 views

In case the unlimited payroll, overpriced stadium, and everything else weren't enough, here's another reason to dislike the Yankees: their celebratory parades are havens for white collar crime.  More Â»

71 Comments

iPhone App Developer Sued For Stealing Users' Phone Numbers

By Ben Popken on November 6, 2009 7:08 PM 7968 views

For secretly stealing users' phone number by exploiting a backdoor iPhone vulnerability, app developer Storm8 got slapped with a class action lawsuit.  More Â»

37 Comments

Sweepstake Scammers Impersonate FTC

By Ben Popken on November 4, 2009 6:32 PM 5004 views

Fraudsters frequently pretend to be from official or official-sounding organizations and companies to perpetuate their scams, but one group has kicked the chutzpah level up to a whole new level.  More Â»

33 Comments

Tavern On The Green Plays Halloween Trick On Thousands Of Partiers

By Chris Walters on November 3, 2009 2:31 PM 12312 views

Melissa is one of thousands of people who showed up at the bankrupt Tavern on the Green restaurant in Central Park on Saturday night for a ticket-holders-only Halloween party. She was forced to wait outside at the front of an increasingly agitated mob because the restaurant had sold too many tickets, or because someone had sold fake ones, it's still unclear. The Daily News says one reveler waited 5 hours before he was finally let in, just before 1:30 am—which was when the party was shut down by police. Now they all want their money back, but Tavern on the Green and the party promoters are blaming each other.  More Â»

76 Comments

Inspector General Admits SEC Pretty Much Sucks At Its Job

By Meg Marco on November 2, 2009 7:26 PM 4934 views

The SEC's inspector general has released a jailhouse interview in which his royal Ponziness, Bernie Madoff himself, explains that he got away with his scheme because the SEC basically sucks.  More Â»

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