There are many reasons that you should never skulk around Target, or any other store, trying to sneak upskirt photos of female shoppers, let alone teenage girls; it’s vulgar, invasive, and inarguably immoral; not to mention the fact that every instinct tells you that it must be illegal. But according to an Oregon court, it doesn’t run afoul of state laws. [More]
Crime & Fraud
TurboTax Stops E-Filing Of All State Tax Returns While Investigating Fraudulent Activity
By 2.6.15
After Minnesota state tax officials stopped taking all TurboTax e-filed returns last night and other states pressed pause as well amidst possible fraudulent activity, Intuit has announced that it’s halting all state e-filed returns while it investigates criminal attempts to use stolen data to file fraudulent returns and claim refunds. [More]
Police: “Brisket Bandit” Has Robbed Texas Restaurants Of Thousands Of Dollars Of Meat
By 2.6.15
Desperate times often call for desperate measures, but while the current brisket shortage might seem like a reason to go out and do bad things to get your hands on some of that tender meat, robbery is no way to go. Police in San Antonio have alerted local restaurants to keep on the lookout for a person dubbed the “Brisket Bandit,” who’s suspected of stealing thousands of dollars worth of meat. [More]
Business Owner Admits Peddling Fake Urine, Other Products Online To Help People Thwart Drug Tests
By 2.4.15
The United States Government takes pee very seriously, it seems, especially when many government agencies rely on urine to screen federal employees for drugs. An Ohio man pleaded guilty in federal court this week, admitting he sold products intended to help people pass those employment drug urine tests. [More]
Cops: Man Pulled Building’s Fire Alarm To Get Quicker Help For Toilet Clogged With Potatoes
By 2.4.15
When our fellow consumers make a bad decision, there are always lessons to be learned. In the case of a Pennsylvania man who pulled his building’s fire alarm when there was no fire, there are two things we must take away. First, don’t pull the fire alarm in a building if nothing is ablaze. Second, do not put potatoes in your toilet. [More]
Conrad Hilton Charged With Disrupting Flight After Alleged Death Threats, Smoking Pot On Plane
By 2.4.15
There are troublesome airline passengers, and then there are those who take bad behavior to whole new heights. Allegedly. According to authorities, Conrad Hilton, the grandson of the Conrad Hilton who started a hotel empire, interfered with flight crew on a British Airways flight. He allegedly spewed death threats, threw punches at crew, called fellow passengers “peasants” and smoked pot and cigarettes in a plane’s bathrooms. [More]
Revenge Porn Scammer Found Guilty, Faces Up To 20 Years In Jail
By 2.3.15
Just days after one operator of a revenge porn site agreed to settle a federal complaint against him, a man who ran a similar site in California was found guilty of identity theft and extortion. [More]
Please Stop Making Bomb Threats Against Southwest (Or Any Airline)
By 1.27.15
For the second time this week, a Southwest Airlines flight had to be investigated because someone thought it would be hilarious to waste everyone’s time by making bomb threats for flights between San Diego and Dallas. [More]
Allegedly Terrible Person Accused Of Drowning Puppy In Airport Bathroom In Order To Board A Flight
By 1.27.15
Are you having a good day so far? Then you might not want to ruin it by reading on, because holy crap, there are some really awful, terrible people in the world. Allegedly: Police in Nebraska say a woman drowned a three-week-old puppy in an airport bathroom after being told she couldn’t board her flight with the dog. Deep breaths. Must take deep breaths. [More]
Family Dollar Burglary Suspect Makes Things Easy By Falling Through Store’s Ceiling, Landing In Front of Cops
By 1.26.15
There’s getting caught redhanded, and then there’s dumping yourself into police custody all by yourself. A man suspected of trying to burgle a Family Dollar made his capture pretty darn easy on cops yesterday morning, after falling through the ceiling right in front of a police officer responding to the scene. [More]
IRS Says Thousands Have Been Scammed Into Paying Bogus Back Taxes
By 1.23.15
Let’s be honest for a moment and acknowledge that not everyone is 100% honest or accurate when filing their tax returns. There are lots of people out there who wouldn’t be shocked to hear from the IRS that they owe more or didn’t pay enough, which is why thousands of Americans have been scammed out of millions of dollars by con artists pretending to represent the IRS. [More]
If You’re Taking A Taxi To Or From A Robbery, You Might As Well Just Call The Cops Yourself
By 1.22.15
In this week’s hot new trend in bad consumers, two suspected robbers living in different states both made the decision to involve a taxi in their alleged nefarious deeds. Which isn’t a smart move for them, as calling in a law-abiding third-party is basically like calling the cops on yourself. [More]
Police Investigating Whether Man Took Dead Mother To Get Cash At The Bank
By 1.21.15
Here comes a severe case of the yucks: Police in Minnesota are investigating a man who they say may have wheeled his deceased mother into a bank to take out $850 in cash, seven hours before she called to report that she had passed away. [More]
Watch Out For Scammers Renting Out Homes They Don’t Own
By 1.21.15
“Make sure that someone owns the apartment they’re making available for rent” seems like a completely batty consumer warning, but unfortunately it is also a necessary one. People in Sacramento say that they handed hundreds of dollars each over to a woman advertising rooms for rent on Craigslist, only to discover that she’d rented the same space out to multiple people, and didn’t own it in the first place. [More]
Facebook Launches Effort To Cut Down On Those Annoying Hoax Stories Your Friends Can’t Stop Believing
By 1.20.15
No, Betty White is not dead (and neither is Eddie Murphy, Celine Dion, Jon Bon Jovi, etc). No, a bunch of worms didn’t burst out of a woman’s chest. But because your friends on Facebook are easily fooled and don’t know about the existence of Snopes.com, it’s up to you to run through that gauntlet of idiocy on your news feed. Since those gullible folks will never learn, Facebook says now it’s going to help crack down on bogus, hoax and otherwise fake Internet stories clogging up what you read on the social media site. [More]
Crowdfunding Page Seeking Tips For Pizza Delivery Guy Hits $20K In Donations
By 1.16.15
He didn’t get the $7 tip he was forced to return for delivering pizzas, but now it seems a pizzeria worker who was stiffed the first time around by a Massachusetts car dealership will be doing just fine: A GoFundMe campaign set up by a stranger who saw the video and was outraged has hit $20,600 (as of Friday afternoon) in donations in just two days. [More]
Car Dealership Workers Demand Pizza Delivery Guy Return His Tip, And The Internet Is Displeased
By 1.15.15
Everybody wants to go viral, but for workers at one car dealership in Massachusetts the dream of Internet popularity went totally awry after a video posted online appears to show employees stiffing the pizza delivery guy out of his tip. [More]
100% Of Consumerist Staff Would Forgive Sir Patrick Stewart For Eating Tuna On A Plane
By 1.14.15
Of the many jokes, riffs and bits about the annoying kinds of people you’re likely to meet on a flight, the team at the Consumerist is having a tough time going along with a sketch on last night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. See, that’s because the actor playing all the obnoxious types of passengers just happens to be Sir Patrick Stewart, he of the voice that could melt butter or freeze water into ice. [More]
