In what at a first glance seems like an supervillain plot from a James Bond movie, Russia wants to dig a 64-mile tunnel that connects Siberia and Alaska. The $65 billion project would allow for travel via a high-speed railway and connect the countries with energy links and fiber optic cable. [More]
Russia Goes After 1 Guy, Worldwide Spam Drops By 1/5
By October 28, 2010
After Russian authorities started an investigation into alleged spammaster Igor A. Gusev, worldwide spam has dropped by a sustained one-fifth. [More]
Passengers Forced To Stand During Flight Because There Weren't Enough Seats
By October 1, 2010
While airlines like RyanAir mull over “standing-room seating” and designers create plane seats that will bring tears to your eyes, one airline in Russia figured out how to get passengers to stand up during a flight — just tell them to. [More]
Russian Hotties Collared In $3M Bank Hack Scam
By October 1, 2010
Several comely young Russian woman were snagged by the feds in New York yesterday for allegedly working as money mules for hackers who stole over $3 mil from American bank accounts using trojan viruses. [More]
Don't Believe A Lawyer That Tells You Adoptions Have The Same Return Policies As Amazon.com
By April 9, 2010
A family that adopted a Russian child with severe emotional problems decided to simply put him on a plane back to Russia with a note for the child protection ministry. He showed up unannounced with a paid escort, provoking an “international incident.” [More]
Update: BoA ATM Card Dispatched To Stranded Traveler After Return To U.S.
By August 21, 2009
After stranding reader Shannon in Siberia with no functioning ATM card, Bank of America has reached out to her and made up for the situation. Sort of. A new card was immediately dispatched, but the corresponding PIN didn’t show up until five days later. She did, however, receive a $100 Amazon gift card for her inconvenience.
BoA Strands Customer In Siberia With No Money
By August 11, 2009
Bank of America has cut off Shannon’s debit card and says she has to get a new one. This would otherwise be a minor inconvenience except for the fact that Shannon is in Irkutsk, Russia on a 2-week Trans-Siberian trek.
How To Tell If Your Spam Came From Russia
By February 6, 2009
It’s Social Studies time! Did you know that 22% of the world’s spam comes from Russia? It’s fun to get mail from other countries, isn’t it? Andrew Biliter at the blog readrussia.com has some handy tips on how to tell whether that penis enlargement email was written by a vodka-swigging bearded man sitting in an onion-domed house. Or, you know, just a regular Russian. *shrug*
Russian Mobsters Steal 8 Million Customer Records From Best Western
By August 24, 2008
If you stayed at one of Best Western’s 1,312 European hotels since 2007, the Russian mafia now has your credit information! In a nightmarish globalization fairy tale come true, an Indian hacker successfully planted a virus in Best Western’s European computer systems that fed addresses, phone numbers, and credit card details to mobsters in Russia.
Here's What The World Of ATM Hacking Looks Like
By June 26, 2008
Wired has been covering the ongoing investigation into recurring ATM pin thefts from Citibank accounts, and their latest article tracks how Ukrainian immigrants, a ringleader back in Russia, a hacked company named Fiserv that runs Citibank-branded ATMs in 7-Elevens, and an online payment service that also offers money laundering for a small fee all come together to steal your money. It’s an amazing look at how the U.S. tries to combat the threat of ATM-related theft.
Russia Bans Import Of U.S. Chicken, Pork
By October 20, 2007
Russia has banned the import of chicken and pork from 30 U.S. facilities in the wake of a midsummer audit. Russia has not disclosed what, if anything, the audits uncovered, according to a concerned spokesman from the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council.
All of the banned poultry plants were major suppliers of U.S. poultry to Russia and are some of the most efficient facilities in the country, the export council said.
In Soviet Russia, AllofMp3.com Is Legal!
By June 8, 2006
AllofMp3.com is one of those brilliant sites that I perpetually feel guilty for using, since it really is just too great a value to be legal. Nevertheless, it’s hard to resist buying music by the digital equivalent of the kilo: 99 cents per song feels like a reaming after paying a penny per meg.
Citibank’s Statement on the ATM Crisis
By March 6, 2006
Citigroup spokesperson Elizabeth Fogarty released the following statement to us regarding the ATM crisis:
Massive Citibank Alert: UPDATE
By March 6, 2006
EXCLUSIVE: More dirt on the Citibank ATM failures. What happened after we posed as a concerned customer, as well as secret codes for hassling the Citibank public affairs department after the jump…
Massive Citibank Fraud Alert: UPDATE
By March 6, 2006
Citibank may bee trying to keep this huge scandal so under wraps that they haven’t even disclosed it internally, leaving Citibank workers just as clueless as to why many customers can’t access their accounts in Canada, the UK and Russia. Is there a systemic security breach?
