Freddie writes that his friend was tricked by a phishing email. All the warning signs were there to tip off his friend—an email saying he needed to click a link, a suspicious url, a page asking for his login info—but he clicked and entered the info anyway. Please do not be like Freddie’s friend, who is now probably on the phone with the real Wells Fargo trying to get his account number changed.
theft
Loomis Rent-A-Cops Have Shopper Cuffed, Hauled Away Over ATM Photo
By 5.11.09
While Shane was standing in the customer service line at a Seattle REI, he watched two Loomis employees open and change out the cash in an ATM machine. Shane took a photo of them with his iPhone. This apparently freaked out the Loomis guards, the REI security staff, and then the Seattle police, who put handcuffs on Shane, drove him to the police station, and then made him sign a statement that he wouldn’t return to a REI store for a year. You might have noticed in that summary that they didn’t actually bring any charges against him, which should make it clear to anyone who wants to side with the faux Po-Po that what Shane did wasn’t illegal, that the rent-a-cops should be fired, and that REI and Loomis owe Shane a big apology.
GameFly Accuses US Postal Service Of Breaking, Losing, And Stealing Its Game Discs
By 5.6.09
Late last year we pointed out that GameFly, a Netflix-style program for video games, was beginning to develop a reputation for rotten service and slow turnaround. It looks like the United States Postal Service may be partly to blame, at least as far as GameFly is concerned. They’ve filed a complaint against the USPS over lost, stolen, and damaged discs, as well as discriminatory treatment when compared to Netflix and Blockbuster.
8 Million Patient Records Stolen From Virginia State Database, Held For Ransom
By 5.5.09
The Washington Post says that a hacker encrypted 8 million patient prescription records from a Virginia state website last week, deleted the backups, and replaced the home page with a ransom note. If the state doesn’t pay $10 million within 7 days, the hacker has threatened to sell the data to the highest bidder.
Best Buy Sells 9-Year-Old Discontinued Hard Drive As Brand New Western Digital, Refuses Refund
By 4.11.09
Jon spent $250 on a Western Digital VelociRaptor but what he received from Best Buy was a Quantum Fireball, a discontinued hard drive that hasn’t been sold for nine years. Best Buy, of course, took no responsibility for the odd swap, and said that Western Digital must have accidentally sold a competitor’s discontinued drive. Western Digital, of course, said that a Best Buy employee stole Jon’s hard drive. We’ve seen this happen before with Best Buy, and Jon has made it clear that he knows how to bite back…
By 4.7.09
../../../..//2009/04/07/a-walmart-cashier-from-shreveport/
A Walmart cashier from Shreveport, LA was caught copying down customer’s credit card numbers and using them to buy items from the store where she worked. As you can imagine, the police caught on to this brilliant scam pretty quickly. She was arrested when credit card numbers were found in her purse. [KSLA]
Reader Finds Card Skimmer On Bank ATM
By 4.6.09
Dan says over the weekend he discovered a card skimmer attached to the ATM at his local WaMu branch. He pulled it off and took photos of it.
Bad Idea: Confessing To Your $100,000 A Year Shoplifting Habit On National TV
By 4.2.09
All the clever shoplifting tricks in the world won’t save you from yourself if you decide to reveal your secrets on Dr. Phil. Last week a fraud task force raided the home of Laura and Matthew Eaton, who appeared on an episode in November to show the audience how they did it and to say they were going straight.
United's Lost And Found Sounds Like A Good Place To Score Free iPhones
By 3.19.09
Jason is one of those people who loses things all the time. He must be like Santa Claus to the people working for United at the San Francisco International Airport, because when he passes through their terminal, he leaves awesome presents behind. We can’t say for certain that a United employee stole his iPhone, but the last he heard of its whereabouts, it had been found by United crew members and was on its way to their Lost and Found—which won’t return his calls or emails.
Yale Student Files $1 Million Lawsuit After US Airways "Loses" His XBOX
By 3.11.09
A 21-year-old film studies major at Yale University is really annoyed that his XBOX 360 went missing from his luggage on a US Airways flight, so he decided to sue them. For a million dollars.
Apple, AT&T Won't Let You Buy A New iPhone For 18 Months, Even If You Pay Full Price
By 3.8.09
Ronny can’t buy a new iPhone for the next 18 months, even though he’s willing to fork over $499 for an unsubsidized model. Ronny swapped his original 8 GB iPhone for a 16 GB version within his first month of service, but recently lost the phone. Now, both Apple and AT&T are telling him that he’s a jailbreaker and he can’t have a new phone for 18 months—unless he’s willing to get a new phone number.
Thefts At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Have Doubled Since 2003
By 2.12.09
If you’re looking to start or end a vacation with having something stolen from your luggage, D/FW Airport is a good place to go. At least that’s the impression you get when you look at the rising number of reported thefts over the past 5 years.
Monster.com Hacked, User Names & Passwords Stolen
By 1.26.09
Last Friday, Monster.com announced that their database had been attacked, and that account names, passwords, email addresses, and phone numbers had been stolen. Unfortunately, they haven’t sent out email alerts to anyone—they just put the announcement up on the security section of their site. As our tipster Erica points out, “Given people’s tendencies to reuse passwords on multiple sites (BAD!), that they aren’t actively emailing and informing members of this breach is quite irresponsible.”
Walmart Sells Blank Disc Labeled "Redneck Sh*t" As Madden 09
By 1.25.09
When Michael’s son used his Christmas money to buy a copy of Madden 09 from Walmart, he thought he was buying a copy of Madden 09, not a blank disc that said “Redneck Sh*t.”
Iowa Woman Arrested For Failing To Return Library Book
By 1.24.09
Thirty-nine-year-old Shelly Koontz was arrested for failing to return a copy of the The Freedom Writer’s Diary that she borrowed last April from the Jessup library. The library had tried to reach Koontz through four calls and four letters, one certified, which she refused to accept. Fed up, library officials asked to press charges, leading officers to visit Koontz’s home with three simple options: return the book; pay the library $13.95 so they could buy a new copy; or, go to jail.
Woot! Replaces Shirt Stolen By The U.S. Post Office
By 1.23.09
Two weeks ago I wrote that Woot! hadn’t replaced a shirt stolen by the U.S. Post Office. Well, I was wrong. Unbeknownst to me, Woot! shipped out a brand new replacement shirt, just as I had requested.
Credit And Debit Card Breach May Affect Over 100 Million
By 1.21.09
The Washington Post has reported that Heartland Payment Systems, a payment processor that services “more than 250,000 businesses,” has had more than 100 million transactions compromised via malicious software that was installed on its network; it will likely turn out to be the largest data breach ever reported. The “good” news is that the criminals were only capturing credit card numbers, the names on the cards, and expiration dates—the info encoded onto the magnetic strip on the card. Because no addresses, SSNs or PINs were stolen, the prospect of full-blown identity theft is pretty small—which must explain why Heartland isn’t offering any sort of credit monitoring package as compensation. Instead, their CFO says, “We recognize and feel badly about the inconvenience this is going to cause consumers.”
Whole Foods Fires Employee For Stopping Shoplifter
By 1.16.09
It must be pretty easy to shoplift at Whole Foods because if any of their employees touch you, they’ll be fired.
