Last summer, we told you about a former employee at Delta and Northwest airlines who, along with a partner, duped the companies out of millions of dollars by submitting and paying invoices to a bogus company. That partner was recently sentenced to 10 years behind bars and now must turn over all the fun toys he bought with the ill-gotten money. [More]
Crime & Fraud
Police: Man Arrested For Snipping Dollar Tree Shopper’s Hair
By 1.2.15
Hide your ponytails and send those braids home, folks: There just might be someone out there looking to snip off your locks while you shop. Police say they’ve arrested a man in Oregon accused of cutting the hair of one of his fellow Dollar Tree shoppers. [More]
CVS Customer Accused Of Taking Naked Nap On Dog Beds In Store’s Bathroom
By 1.2.15
There are unwanted guests, and then there are customers who overstay their welcome and get a bit too comfortable in their own skin. A CVS customer in Florida falls into the second category after cops say he stripped down naked and dragged some dog beds into the store’s bathroom, where he proceeded to take a nap atop his new resting place. [More]
Watch Young Kid Go On 3-Minute Dollar Store-Destroying Rampage
By 12.30.14
Have you ever been so fed up by life that you just wanted to run amok in a retail store, ripping items off shelves and pulling down displays? No? Well, you’re apparently not the youngster in this video. [More]
Pizzeria Robbery Mystery Solved After Cops Trace Toilet Paper Note Back To Suspect’s Roll At Home
By 12.30.14
Sometimes, the scene of the crime isn’t the only place police can pick up a few clues about the actions of bad consumers. Consider the lowly toilet paper roll — seems innocent enough, and yet it was the missing piece for cops seeking to solve the mystery of whose idea it was to try to rob a pizzeria using a note demanding money. [More]
Sony Extends PlayStation Store Sales While Still Experiencing Connectivity Issues
By 12.30.14
If you have a Sony PlayStation, you’re no doubt aware that the PlayStation Network went down for several days during the Christmas holiday and is still apparently experiencing problems. While the company isn’t yet offering any free stuff or reimbursing PlayStation Plus members for the downtime, it is extending a pair of sales in response to the incident. [More]
Be On The Lookout For Boxes Of Rocks When Shopping For Post-Holiday Deals
By 12.29.14
In the coming weeks, some retailers will be offering deals on unsold stock of popular holiday gift items. Sometimes stores are up-front about whether or not a particular product was previously purchased and returned, while many just put these items back into inventory with the truly new stuff. That’s why you need to open up those boxes before you leave the store — or else risk getting home to find you’ve purchased a box of rocks. [More]
Family Chases Down Man Accused Of Stealing Hearse With Their Loved One Still Inside
By 12.29.14
Every time we hear of a consumer performing a low down and dirty act against another, we think there must be a limit to what people will do to score something for free. But it appears there are no boundaries to the madness inflicted by greed, as one family had to chase down a runaway hearse with their loved one resting inside in a casket after someone decided to drive off with it. [More]
FTC, State Of Florida Shut Down Deceptive Online Directory Companies, Order $1.7M In Redress
By 12.22.14
For a small business owner trying to reach customers, advertising in an online directory might sound like a good idea. But there are also scammers out there looking to take advantage of these businesses by charging them for directory listings that never materialize. Just ask the victims of two “directory” operators that allegedly bilked millions of dollars from small businesses. [More]
The Organization That Coordinates All The Internet Domain Names In The World Got Hacked
By 12.19.14
If the Internet was the Death Star, then the weak point hackers might be trying to aim at would be the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN (though I’d like to think the non-profit organization that administers and coordinates all the world’s Internet domain names wouldn’t be on the dark side [althouuugh the company logo does kind of look like a Death Star…]). As it turns out, ICANN says it was hacked — though there will be no space explosions because of it. [More]
Reminder: Don’t Buy Gift Cards From People Standing Outside Walmart
By 12.19.14
With just a few days remaining to finish your holiday shopping, you might feel compelled to buy a gift card and call it good. While that gifting idea might be suited for your needs, authorities are reminding consumers that you shouldn’t purchase the cards from a stranger standing outside a retailer — or a stranger walking around anywhere shilling gift cards, for that matter.
. [More]
Ex-Employees Sue Sony Pictures, Claiming Company Failed To Protect Workers’ Personal Info From Hack
By 12.16.14
In the wake of the major hack over at Sony Pictures Entertainment earlier this month, two former employees are suing the company, claiming that Sony Pictures didn’t do enough to protect their personal information from hackers. [More]
Enough Already: Thieves Take Off With 50-Year-Old Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Statue
By 12.15.14
While it’s understandable that where there is good will and cheer toward man, there’s also going to be those grumpy, awful, bah-humbugging Grinches out there who want to ruin anything nice about the holiday season. Already today we’ve heard of Christmas tree thieves, and now comes the news that not even 50-year-old Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer statues are safe, despite the giving nature of the season. [More]
Sony Demands Reporters Stop Reporting On, Destroy Stolen Documents
By 12.15.14
Sony is still reeling from the recent massive hack that has opened a seemingly endless source of news stories about funny names that celebrities use to check into hotels and which movie stars are considered greedy jerks by greedier, jerkier studio executives. But now the company is hoping to put this to an end, sending legal notices to reporters asking them to cease writing about the stolen items and to delete anything they might have in their possession. [More]
Bunch Of Grinches Take $2K In Christmas Trees From Cut-Your-Own Farm Without Paying
By 12.15.14
Everybody’s got to make a living, and for some people, sometimes the most fruitful times to ply your trade only happen for a short period every year. That’s why a Christmas tree farm in Maine that lets customers cut down their own trees is suffering when it should be the most rewarding seasons — it seems the Grinches are out in force, with many people stealing the $40 trees and wreaths instead of paying. [More]
CFPB Takes Action Against Two Alleged Student Debt Relief Scams
By 12.11.14
Student loan borrowers have enough to worry about, so they shouldn’t have to deal with being hounded by so-called debt relief companies promising to provide consumers with repayment benefits that actually come free of charge with federal loans. Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action to put a stop to two such relief scams that reaped millions of dollars from thousands of consumers. [More]
Couple Tired Of Holiday Package Thefts Fills Box With Excrement, Sets Up Camera
By 12.11.14
A warning to those among you who might be tempted to swipe a package from the piles covering doorsteps right now, at the height of the holiday shopping season: You might not open it to find anything you’ll like, and that includes a box filled with poop. [More]
