For years, we’ve been telling you about credit card skimming devices that collect the information on your card when you swipe at places like ATMs and gas pumps. The common-sense thing to do when finding a skimmer is to remove it. And while that prevents anyone else from being victimized, the scammers who hooked up the illegal device are rarely caught. That’s why some police are now leaving gas pump card skimmers in place but adding a GPS tracker to follow the skimmer back to its criminal creators. [More]
Crime & Fraud
American Airlines Passenger Accused Of Stealing From Crew Member, Fellow Traveler Mid-Flight
By 4.30.15
While you might expect a pickpocket working amid a large crowd of people, it’s not the norm to worry about your possessions getting swiped mid-air. Law enforcement authorities say an American Airlines passenger flying from Los Angeles to New York yesterday has been accused of stealing from not only a fellow traveler onboard the flight, but a crew member as well. [More]
FTC Halts Mortgage Relief Operation Targeting Consumers In Foreclosure
By 4.30.15
Financially distressed consumers on the brink of foreclosure have enough to worry about without having to be on the lookout for shady mortgage relief companies making hollow promises to save their homes. Today, the Federal Trade Commission put an end to an operation that took advantage of homeowners’ vulnerabilities. [More]
How Scammers Trick You Into Giving Up That Security Code On The Back Of Your Credit Card
By 4.29.15
There are a lot of purchases you can make with the information on the front of a credit card. But ID thieves who have the card number, name, and expiration date will still hit a speedbump if they have to enter that (usually 3-digit) security code on the back of a victim’s card. Notice that we said “speedbump” and not “dead end,” because some scammers have figured out how to get this crucial info from their victims. [More]
Google Launches New Tool To Protect Consumers’ Password Security
By 4.29.15
Sometimes cyber criminals do such a good job camouflaging their ploys to steal consumers’ personal information that you might not recognize that the site you just entered your password on isn’t a legitimate login page. In an effort to combat such ruses, Google has created a new tool for its Chrome browser that aims to ensure users’ passwords don’t end up in the hands of ne’er do wells. [More]
McDonald’s Employee Caught On Camera Knocking Out Unruly Customer
By 4.27.15
An apparent attempt to remove an unruly customer from a Michigan McDonald’s resulted in a knockout punch from an employee at the fast food chain. [More]
Police Seek Woman Who Stuffed $1,140 In Electronics Inside Her Skirt
By 4.24.15
A dress with a flowing full skirt is a great fashion choice for a hot day, so the woman who walked into a RadioShack in Florida dressed that way back in February didn’t really stand out. No one really noticed the full skirt of her floral dress…not even when she and her shopping companion began cramming electronics under the skirt, into some kind of criminal crinoline with pockets. [More]
Police: Thief Spent 15 Minutes Dragging Cooler Full Of Stolen Ice Cream Past Napping Gas Station Clerk
By 4.24.15
There’s being asleep on the job, and then there’s napping so hard that you apparently don’t notice someone hauling an ice cream cooler past your nose in a 15-minute effort. Police in Florida say a thief managed to drag a cooler filled with Good Humor products out of a gas station store while the clerk snoozed, taking a moment to flip the bird at the security camera. [More]
Telemarketer Penalized $3.4M For Scamming Elderly Into Paying For Unwanted Medical Alert Service
By 4.23.15
Two years ago, the Federal Trade Commission shut down a Brooklyn-based telemarketing scheme that bullied elderly consumers into paying for a medical alert service they never ordered or wanted. Now a federal court has hit the telemarketer’s repeat-offender operator with a $3.4 million penalty. [More]
Police: Hard Rock Hotel Guest Used Ice Machine As Toilet
By 4.23.15
The thing about hotel rooms? They contain all the facilities people have at home — a bed for sleeping, a closet for your clothes, a bathroom with a sink, shower and toilet for hygiene maintenance — meaning you don’t need to go looking elsewhere when nature calls. Unfortunately for fellow guests at one Hard Rock Hotel, someone allegedly went rogue in that last area. [More]
Police: Man Sick Of Fighting His Computer Took It Into The Alley And Shot It
By 4.22.15
Listen, everyone has their issues with computers, and we all know they’re going to be our overlords in the future, but taking out your frustrations by firing a few shots into the offending technology won’t go over well with law enforcement. [More]
Southwest Airlines Passenger Removed From Flight After Allegedly Poking Snoring Guy With A Pen
By 4.17.15
Sometimes the only way to put a stop to snoring, that involuntary yet endlessly annoying to others activity, is for the snorer to wake the heck up. But one Southwest Airlines passenger is accused of crossing the boundary between a polite tap and roaming into the land where rudeness to your fellow traveler — snoring loudly or no — means getting booted off your flight. [More]
The Other Danger Of Online Payday Loans: Identity Theft
By 4.16.15
Many people who seek online payday loans are already in a very vulnerable position when they take on the added risk of the excessive interest rates and often exorbitant fees associated with these short-term loans. But there’s another danger possibly lurking in the payday shadows: Having all their personal and financial data end up in the hands of cyber criminals. [More]
Former TV Pitchman Heading To Trial After Refusing To Admit He Kicked An Owl While Paragliding
By 4.10.15
Folks from Utah might remember the zany owner of the now defunct Totally Awesome Computer Chain for his series of wacky commercials. The former TV pitchman and paragliding aficionado is back in the spotlight now as he heads to trial, accused of kicking a barn owl in flight while he soared through the air. [More]
Shoplifter Hiding In Grocery Store Ceiling After Allegedly Stealing $8 Worth Of Stuff Prompts SWAT Response
By 4.9.15
The natural instinct to flee when caught kicked into overload for one suspected shoplifter, who police say crawled into a supermarket’s ceiling after getting busted with $8.50 in stolen goods. Her urge for a refuge took a seven-hour police effort, complete with a SWAT team response and store evacuation. [More]
Police Looking For Thief Who Drove Indy 500 Pace Car Through Dealership’s Window
By 4.9.15
Police are looking for someone felt the need to destroy a perfectly good replica Indy 500 pace car by driving it through a car dealership window last night. Apparently “replica” doesn’t mean the there’s no engine. [More]
JetBlue Reminds Passengers: Eating Tuna On A Plane Makes You A Horrible Person
By 4.9.15
A recent survey found that 60% of people think it’s rude for passengers to bring stinky food onto a plane. Count the folks at JetBlue among them, as the airline has released an etiquette video calling out eaters of smelly foods. [More]
Robocalling Phantom Debt Collector Accused Of Harassing, Defrauding Consumers
By 4.8.15
People hate debt collectors, perhaps as much as, if not more than, they despise robocalls from telemarketers. And phantom debt collectors — those who attempt to collect debts that aren’t owed to them, if at all — are among the worst of the bunch. So when you combine the automated recorded messages of robocalls with the incessant harassment of phantom debt collectors, you create a particularly loathsome Frankenstein’s monster. [More]
