Since 2007, the FBI and authorities in Egypt have been running an investigation they’ve called “Operation Phish Phry,” sigh, and this week it paid off with 53 charges against U.S. defendants and 47 against people in Egypt. Three of the 53 in the U.S. have been arrested, and the FBI are looking for the other 50. To prove you’re not one of the remaining 50, please send the FBI your login credentials to your bank. Ha ha, we kid.
crime
Microsoft Turns A Blind Eye To Phishing Scams On Xbox LIVE
By 10.6.09
William wrote to us this weekend to point out how little Microsoft does to fight phishing attacks on their hugely popular Xbox LIVE network. It’s unfortunate they don’t take this sort of crime more seriously, since so many kids—who by all rights should have less experience with phishing—are on Xbox LIVE. Below is what two different Xbox CSRs told William when he contacted them to complain about phishing attacks.
Woman Arrested For Keeping Rented Movies 10 Years Past Due Date
By 10.5.09
A woman in Iowa was arrested last week for the theft of three video tapes from a local video store. She rented them in May of 1998, and a charge was filed against her in September of that same year after she repeatedly neglected to return them.
Pizza Hut Manager Attacks Old Man
By 10.5.09
A 27-year-old Pizza Hut manager in Winnipeg, Manitoba, went bonkers last Friday and dragged a 76-year-old customer to the ground over a payment dispute. The manager was arrested, and the customer returned the next afternoon to dine, because he is afraid of nothing.
Chicago Impounds Your Car As Part Of "Investigation," Holds It Hostage
By 9.29.09
A class action lawsuit has been filed against the City of Chicago on behalf of people whose cars were impounded as part of a police investigation — and then charged outrageous fees to get their vehicles back. The lawsuit covers 15,000 people whose cars were impounded by the city over a five year period.
Grandmother Arrested For Buying Cold Medicine Twice In One Week
By 9.29.09
Last March, Sally Harpold bought a box of Zyrtec-D cold medicine for her husband, then a few days later bought a box of Mucinex-D cold medicine for her grown daughter. That put her over the limit for how much pseudoephedrine-laced cold meds you can buy in a week in her small Indiana town, so she was arrested along with 16 other potential meth makers earlier this month.
Infamous Domino's Where Gross-Out Video Was Recorded Closes Doors
By 9.28.09
Remember that Domino’s Pizza, the one in North Carolina where Kristy and Michael recorded themselves doing gross things to the food? The Charlotte Observer has reported that the location has gone out of business, at least for now—”closed signs have been placed in the windows and the phone has been disconnected.”
McDonald's Workers Rescue Marine From Hungry Thug
By 9.24.09
We assume that the typical, well-prepared, parking-lot kidnapper eats lunch before deciding to look for a victim. But Anthony Gibson clearly wasn’t well-prepared, and that’s a good thing. According to police reports, Gibson kidnapped a Marine from a Georgia Walmart parking lot, and after failing to get any money from him, decided the best thing to do would be to have his would-be victim drive him to McDonald’s. Where the staff recognized him as a frequent customer. And where the Marine was able to ask the drive-through attendant to call the police. Oops.
ATM Ponzi Scheme Was $80 Million Cash Machine For Fraudsters
By 9.21.09
Every Ponzi scheme has to have a gimmick; something to convince marks that they’re investing in a legitimate enterprise, even when they’re being bilked of every last cent. For Bernie Madoff, it was an investment fund that offered ridiculously steady returns. For Vance Moore II and Walter Netschi it was ATMs, an incredibly prosaic setup that managed to siphon $80 million from investors who believed they were putting their money into cash machines. The only cash machine, of course, was the fund itself, which Moore and Netschi allegedly operated from 2005 to 2008.
Ameriprise Bans "Customer Advisor" For Posting Link To Consumerist
By 9.21.09
Hey, we helped get an Ameriprise customer banned from the financial company’s consumer advisory panel! Sorry about that, Brendan.
Microsoft Goes After Malicious Ad Suppliers
By 9.18.09
If you visited the New York Times website last week, you may have been surprised to have your browsing interrupted by one of those scammy “we’re scanning your computer for viruses OH NO YOU HAVE A VIRUS!” ads that overtake your window. Now Microsoft has filed 5 lawsuits in an attempt to fight back against the jerks who may have been responsible for it, and certainly for other ads like it all over the web.
Software Rescues Stolen Laptop From Porn Lover
By 9.17.09
When Florida businessman David Krop’s two laptops were stolen from his car back in February, he didn’t have much hope of getting them back. But he decided to try to log in using some remote access software he had installed on one of the computers. The software, LogMeIn, let him in, and he soon found himself seeing the world through new eyes. “Unaware that Krop was spying on his activities, the user of the Toshiba laptop visited porn site after porn site, taking breaks to check e-mail … and place ads to Craigslist.com for what Krop said appeared to be some kind of female modeling business, ” PC World reports. “My eyes just lit up,” Krop says. “Just the fact he was online at that moment was amazing.”
Bernie Madoff's Beach House Sells For $8.75 Million
By 9.17.09
An unidentified person has offered $8.75 million cash–more than the asking price–for Bernie Madoff’s beachfront home in Long Island. Bidders made sealed offers for the property, and the realtors say they won’t reveal any more details until after the deal closes. The house is supposedly very fancy, but if we lived there we’d just tear it up looking for hidden piles of cash. This is why we can never have anything nice.
Advice: Don't Try To Open A JC Penney Account With The Person You're ID Thefting
By 9.15.09
Did you hear about the identity thief in Seattle who tried to open a JC Penney credit card account with one of the very women whose identity she had stolen?
Video: Guy Installing Skimmer On ATM
By 9.14.09
LiveLeak has posted surveillance video footage from earlier this month of a guy in Brazil installing a skimming device onto a bank ATM. The second half of the tape shows him being arrested and officials revealing the device, which just reminds us that the next time we use an ATM, we’re first going to take off a shoe and hit everything on it like it’s covered in giant ants. See the video below.
Shoplifter Shoves 3 Pounds Of Bacon In His Pants
By 9.13.09
In a case that makes a compelling argument for the use of anti-meat-shoplifting dogs, a man in Mary Esther, Florida was caught when grocery store personnel noticed that he was “looking suspicious.” He looked suspicious because of the 48 ounces of bacon he had stuffed in his pants.
Do Not Sign For Your Neighbor's Packages, Then Pawn Them
By 9.12.09
Fedex delivered a Florida woman’s new laptop computer when she wasn’t home. It was okay, though—her neighbor signed for it. Then, allegedly, he pawned it. Somehow, authorities tracked him down. Maybe it was the part where he signed his name.
