scam

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Internet Crusaders Wrongly Attack Legit Fundraiser

21-year-old supposed scammer harassed via Reddit

(Newser) - Reddit users are a bit red in the face after launching a crusade against an alleged scammer—who turned out to be a real 21-year-old college student fundraising for cancer. The student, who is shaving her head to raise money for children's treatments, had too many apparent red flags, including...

Feds: Firm Used Dementia Patients in $200M Scam

Health center charged with Medicare fraud

(Newser) - Federal authorities charged the nation's largest community mental health center today, alleging the Miami-based company billed Medicare $200 million in a scam that preyed on patients with severe dementia and altered their clinical files so the company could charge for more services. Prosecutors alleged that American Therapeutic Corp. paid the...

Search for Diaz, Biel at Your Own Risk

 Search for 
 Diaz, Biel at 
 Your Own Risk 

most dangerous celebs
Aug 19, 2010 5:40 AM CDT

Search for Diaz, Biel at Your Own Risk

McAfee ranks most dangerous celebrity search terms

(Newser) - Searching for Cameron Diaz, Julia Roberts, or Jessica Biel is risky business, warns online security company McAfee. The stars top the company's annual list of the most dangerous celebrities to search for online, the AP reports. The celebs are used as bait by scammers seeking to lure people to malicious...

The Facebook 'Dislike' App Is Bogus
The Facebook 'Dislike' App
Is Bogus
Aug 16, 2010 2:57 PM CDT

The Facebook 'Dislike' App Is Bogus

Spam malware preys on your desire to insult your friends

(Newser) - A Facebook scam is taking advantage of users who want to hate on posts, links, and pictures. The purported "dislike" app, ostensibly from a Facebook friend, forwards would-be curmudgeons to a page that promises "shocking video"—but instead prompts them to complete surveys, which the BBC notes...

Facebook Hit With 'Truth About Coke' Scam

Whatever you do, don't click on 'horrific video'

(Newser) - If one of your Facebook friends posts a link to a video that promises to reveal “the TRUTH about Coke!!!” do NOT click on it. The link has been spreading around Facebook, accompanied by a message that reads, “I am part of the 98.0% of people...

Scammer Invests in Canned Sandwiches
Scammer Invests in Canned Sandwiches 
Seriously
Jul 8, 2010 12:04 PM CDT

Scammer Invests in Canned Sandwiches

Man had promised to put dough in real estate, feds say

(Newser) - How do you get people to invest in a canned sandwich? You promise to invest in something else and steal their money, naturally. The SEC has filed a lawsuit against Utah money manager Travis Wright, alleging that he promised clients he’d earn them a 24% return with real estate...

Imposter Tricks Army to Become an Officer

26-year-old with no experience put in position to lead troops

(Newser) - A Texas man with no military experience managed to trick the Army into letting him enter a reserve unit as a noncommissioned officer earlier this year, putting an untrained soldier in a leadership position in a time of war, an AP investigation has found. Jesse Bernard Johnston III, 26, joined...

Heads, Torsos Found in Medical Waste Shipment

Company claimed it had cremated them

(Newser) - Police have arrested the owner of a company they say claimed to cremate bodies, but instead dismembered them and dumped them as medical waste. The saga began when seven human heads and torsos, which appeared to have been cut up with a chainsaw or something similar, were found inside of...

Runaway Calif. Prius Driver Has Sketchy Past

Bankruptcy, bad real estate deals have some thinking scam

(Newser) - The driver of the Toyota Prius he says went haywire and took him on a 94mph terror ride earlier this week has a checkered past that leads some to doubt his story. “Immediately I thought this guy has an angle here,” a dissatisfied client of real estate agent...

Offered a Free iPad? It's a Scam
 Offered a Free iPad? 
 It's a Scam 
ATTN. FACEBOOK, TWITTER USERS
Mar 2, 2010 8:45 PM CST

Offered a Free iPad? It's a Scam

Con artists will dupe you, friends in bogus cell charges

(Newser) - If you spend much time on Facebook or Twitter, chances are you’ve been given the chance to get a free Apple iPad by signing up to test the product. And if you’re at all familiar with the Internet, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that it’...

French Nailed for Selling Fake Pinot to Gallo

E and J Gallo unwittingly sold fake Red Bicyclette

(Newser) - French winemakers have been convicted in a massive scam to dupe unwitting Yanks by passing off 18 million bottles of a cheaper wine as Pinot Noir. The French producers sold the wine to major US buyer E and J Gallo for its popular Red Bicyclette brand. By calling a cheaper...

'Terminally Ill? $2K in CASH' Schemers Profit Off of Death

Investors recruit dying for no-risk death benefit

(Newser) - Federal prosecutors are investigating a Rhode Island lawyer who recruited terminally ill people so he could buy annuities in their names and cash in when they died. The lawyer, noted local philanthropist Joe Caramadre, began taking out ads in 2007 in the local Catholic diocese’s newspaper, proclaiming “Terminal...

HuffPo Blogger Unmasked as Fake Rothschild

'Stefan de Rothschild' is really Brit hoaxer Monty Roberts

(Newser) - Huffington Post editors were thrilled to find blogger Stefan de Rothschild, a wealthy heir whose $2.5 million donation to Haiti made national news. The only problem? None of it was true. Stefan "Monty" Roberts of Britain was unmasked by a group of flinty-eyed Wikipedia editors who noticed his...

Cops: Con Man Scammed $140K From Online Dates

Posed as multimillionaire pal of George Bush

(Newser) - A New York lothario posing as a multimillionaire Navy commander and confidante of George Bush scammed close to $140,000 from women he met on online dating sites, according to Westchester authorities. After cultivating relationships with women met on sites like Match.com, Jesus Nasser asked for loans, explaining that...

Mint Unwittingly Finances Tahiti Trip, and More

Frequent fliers buy dollar coins—at cost—with credit cards

(Newser) - Crafty frequent fliers have racked up thousands of free miles by buying coins from the US Mint on their credit cards, and then taking them right back to the bank. The Mint, which ships free of charge in order to get more in circulation, finally got wise to “large...

Gold Mine Scamster Rips Off Couple for $5M

Fraudster spent elderly couple's cash on oxygen chamber

(Newser) - A California man who claimed to have a new way of extracting gold from old mines has been busted for bilking a couple in their '80s out of nearly $5 million. John Arthur Walthall blew the couple's cash on cars, alimony, film school fees for his son, and a $60,...

Beware 12 Scams of Christmas
 Beware 12 Scams of Christmas 
Nov 21, 2009 3:12 PM CST

Beware 12 Scams of Christmas

Online schemes take advantage of the holiday spirit

(Newser) - The holiday season brings out the best in online scammers. CNET runs down common schemes to beware of, courtesy of McAfee:
  • Fake delivery invoices: They look like legit emails from UPS, Federal Express, and the like, asking for address confirmation and credit card info to ensure delivery.
  • Holiday e-cards: Make
...

Virus 'Scareware' Scams Millions
Virus 'Scareware'
Scams Millions
Oct 19, 2009 5:07 AM CDT

Virus 'Scareware' Scams Millions

Alarming virus warnings part of major rip off

(Newser) - Alarming warnings that internet surfers' computers are being invaded by a devastating virus are almost always scams used to either hack into computers or rip off consumers for phony protective software. More than 40 million people have fallen victim to the "scareware" scam in the past year. Experts have...

Madoff in Prison Yard Tussle
 Madoff in Prison Yard Tussle 
Oct 13, 2009 5:21 AM CDT

Madoff in Prison Yard Tussle

Bernie shoves another senior citizen in stock market argument

(Newser) - Scam king Bernie Madoff got into a shove match with another con during an argument about the stock market, according to jailbird witnesses. Another oldster con at the North Carolina fed pen where Bernie's serving 150 years shoved Madoff as the argument escalated. Madoff pushed back, causing the other inmate...

Mortgage Scammers Prey on Strapped Homeowners
Mortgage Scammers Prey
on Strapped Homeowners
investigation
Sep 24, 2009 7:50 PM CDT

Mortgage Scammers Prey on Strapped Homeowners

So-called rescue firms promise to negotiate lower rates, then take money and run

(Newser) - Mortgage brokers who made a mint during the housing boom setting up homeowners in toxic loans are now profiting from a different sort of shady deal. So-called foreclosure rescue firms are proliferating across the US, taking money upfront and promising to negotiate with homeowners’ banks for better interest rates. Instead,...

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