fraud
Your Online Dating Lies Could Land You in Jail
Ryan Tate · 11/15/11 04:19PMNo one pays attention to the dumb "Terms of Service" on most websites, but the White House is pushing to make them legally binding. That would outlaw providing "any false personal information" on Facebook (did you really watch Inside Job?). It would criminalize Googling before you can sign a binding contract (looking at you, 17-year-old honors-class delinquents). And it would make illegal any "inaccurate, misleading, or false information" on your Match.com profile.
Beware the 'Black Money' Grift
John Cook · 11/04/11 02:01PMThe Secret Service is raising alarms about a so-called "black money" scam operating in the Northeast that's already relieved three idiots of $170,000. So if someone approaches you with a huge amount of cash that looks like it's been blacked-out with magic marker, don't trust them. Here's how the scam works.
Goldline Execs Charged With Being Fraudsters
Jim Newell · 11/02/11 02:58PMCitigroup Settles SEC Fraud Complaint for $285 Million
John Cook · 10/19/11 02:13PMPolice Bust Biggest Identity Theft Ring Ever in Queens
Adrian Chen · 10/07/11 02:48PMThumb-Toe Replacement Surgery Not Exactly a Success
Max Read · 10/04/11 11:09PMSo, here is the kind of care you can expect if you are a migrant worker in China who cuts off his own thumb in an accident: The doctor will, over your objections, replace the missing thumb with one of your toes. Aaaaand... that's basically it. You say your foot hurts and your new thumb-toe is useless? No, sorry, that's actually not true: "Huiyang Bone-setting Hospital... insists that the thumb has recovered." We tend to agree with this commenter: "Strongly recommended that the doctor transplant his buttocks onto his head!" [ChinaSmack]
‘King of Infomercials’ Don Lapre Commits Suicide
Seth Abramovitch · 10/04/11 12:04AMDon Lapre — the boyish infomercial shyster who lulled millions of insomniacs into pants-wetting states of catatonia via the relentless repetition of the phrase "tiny classified ads!" — has committed suicide inside an Arizona prison cell. Lapre, 47, was facing 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and promotional money laundering in connection with his latest snake oil scam, "The Greatest Vitamin in the World," which parted 220,000 suckers with $52 million.
The 'Private Bank of Denny Ray Hardin' Wasn't a Real Bank
Lauri Apple · 09/16/11 06:28AMThe 9/11 Charity Fraud Shame List
Maureen O'Connor · 08/25/11 01:33PMJewish Indiana Jones and the Lost Torahs of Bupkis
Seth Abramovitch · 08/24/11 09:09PMDunkin Donuts Ensnared in Prostitution, ATM Hacking
Max Read · 08/01/11 08:33PMFake Moorish Scientists Driving Courts Nuts
Lauri Apple · 07/27/11 01:17PMSaying you follow the Moorish Science faith has become the new "I'm 1/16th Cherokee," at least among financial fraudsters. All across our great, greedy nation, people are falsely claiming Moorish Scientist status in order to file phony legal documents, avoid paying taxes, and declare one's self above the law, among other illegal things.
Never Trust a Doctor Who Uses Toothpicks for Acupuncture
Max Read · 05/16/11 08:10PMPlayStation Hackers Hock 2.2 Million Credit Cards on Underground Forums
Adrian Chen · 04/29/11 11:39AMIf You Want $8 Million From Conde Nast, Just Shoot Them an E-mail
John Cook · 04/04/11 11:05AMLloyd Blankfein Made a Fortune Last Year
Jeff Neumann · 04/02/11 10:33AMDolce & Gabbana May Go to Prison for Billion-Dollar Tax Fraud
Brian Moylan · 03/24/11 02:51PMParty King of Scottsdale Accused of Cellphone Fraud
Maureen O'Connor · 03/09/11 02:07PMTime to check in with an old friend: Jason Hope—the Arizona entrepreneur whose $500,000 Christmas party made him the "Party King of Scottsdale" and ignited fake-baked nightlife warfare—is getting sued. Verizon Wireless has launched a legal battle against 26 people and companies they say are fleecing consumers with "premium messaging services," i.e., when your grandma gets a spam text message that enters her into an automatic billing cycle without her consent. Verizon says Hope is "the mastermind behind defendants' fraudulent and deceptive practices."