In what BusinessWeek calls “financial Night of the Living Dead” credit card companies are refusing to stop reporting legally discharged debt to credit reporting agencies—illegally forcing consumers to pay debts that they no longer owe in order to get approved for mortgages.
crime
UPDATE: DHL Laptop Thieves Busted After Reader Complaint
By 11.1.07
Sue, whose Dell laptops were stolen by dirty, dirty DHL thieves writes in to update us.
Woman Embezzled $2.89 Million To Finance Shopping Addiction
By 10.31.07
Shopping addiction is really sad, especially when it compels otherwise normal people to do something insane like steal $2.89 million dollars just to buy shoes and jewelry.
Woman Exploited Bug On QVC Website To Steal Over $400k In Merchandise
By 10.31.07
A North Carolina woman named Quantina Moore-Perry pleaded guilty to wire fraud last week for stealing $412,000 worth of merchandise from television retailer QVC in 2005. She discovered and exploited a bug in QVC’s online ordering system, where she would still receive the merchandise without being charged if she canceled the order immediately after placing it. She would then sell the items on eBay.
Kmart Worker Who Put Rat Poison In Ground Beef Sentenced To 1 Year House Arrest
By 10.30.07
The pissed off Kmart worker who tried to get revenge against the store by putting rat poison in the ground beef has been sentenced to a year of house arrest, plus $4,000 in restitution to Kmart.
FBI Investigating Rockies Ticketing Meltdown
By 10.27.07
The FBI is investigating after the Colorado Rockies blamed an “external, malicious attack” for the meltdown that prevented fans from buying World Series tickets.
Unlicensed Dentist Dumps Ill Patient On Brooklyn Street
By 10.26.07
The New York Daily News is reporting that a phony dentist dumped an ill patient on the curb after botched oral surgery. The patient, Colette Villemin, is on life support after suffering what may have been an allergic reaction during surgery. She’s suffered heart and brain damage and may not survive.
Verizon Worker Stole Customer's IDs
By 10.25.07
A woman who worked at a Verizon store at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, NY is accused of stealing the identities of more than 25 customers and using their personal information to obtain credit cards.
Popular Consumer Version Of Taser Is Selling Like Electrified Hotcakes
By 10.24.07
We are clearly a nation that treasures the concept of safety, because Taser International, Inc. reported a 150% increase in sales from last year that’s due almost entirely to its redesigned consumer model, which now looks more like an electric shaver instead of a gun and comes in pink, blue, silver, or black. The company plans to start airing an infomercial later this year, so look for that on those late nights in December when all the Christmas programming has got you down.
WaMu Is Bad At Stopping Money Laundering
By 10.19.07
The Office of Thrift Supervision has issued a Cease and Desist order to WaMu because they’re extremely crappy at stopping money laundering. According to the order, they must get their act together and file a new plan that insures they will be in compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act by March 31, 2008.
Corrupt JFK Baggage Handlers Are Uncool
By 10.18.07
Ladies and Gentlemen, the NY Daily News brings you a photo of the corrupt baggage handlers who were busted for running a drug smuggling ring at JFK airport.
Porn Spammers Get 5 Years In Prison
By 10.17.07
Kilbride and Schaffer began spamming in 2003, sending out millions of spam messages advertising hard-core porn sites. The messages contained graphic images that were visible to whoever opened the e-mail. Later in 2003, the two men began using servers in Amsterdam to make messages they were sending from Phoenix appear to be coming from outside the United States.
Mortgage Office Manager Charged With ID Theft, Grand Larceny
By 10.17.07
A branch manager of a Queens, NY mortgage company has been caught opening fake Home Depot accounts using personal information obtained from loan applications and has been charged with grand larceny, says the NYT.
Mr. Milton is an immigrant from Bangladesh who was granted political asylum by the United States who had a cable television program in Queens for fellow immigrants from his homeland, the police said.
Alleged "Gunman" In Walmart Parking Lot Was Actually A Guy Returning A Toy Gun
By 10.9.07
When returning a toy gun to Walmart here are two things you should not do:
Cellphone Companies Typically Take 2-6 Weeks To Release Call Records That Could Help Catch Thieves
By 10.5.07
Here’s another good reason to know how to exploit the executive customer service system for your cellphone company: so you can give them to the cops. If your cellphone is stolen and you try to request call records to help you track down the thieves, making a request through grunt-level customer service can take two to six weeks. By then, the trail is probably pretty cold. But if law enforcement gets your request in to the right level, Sprint says they can turn it around within a “few hours.”
Man Gets 11 Years After Geek Squad Reports Child Porn On His Computer
By 10.4.07
A man got 135 months in jail and a $10,000 fine after Geek Squad reported the computer he brought in for servicing had child pornography on it.
FlyJumper Ad Promises To Make You Awesome, Then Rich, Then Dead
By 10.4.07
In the U.S. they’re called PoweriZers, but in the U.K. those springy pogo-boot things are called FlyJumpers, and the company that sells them has come up with a bizarre ad that appeals to… materialistic and amoral fame-seekers who are suicidal, we guess? The commercial—which is available on the Amazon.co.uk product info page—shows a bank robber making an amazing escape on his FlyJumpers, and getting away with thousands of pound notes. Then, inexplicably, it turns into a scene from “Final Destination.”
