scam

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Homeless Man, NJ Woman Admit GoFundMe Scam

They pleaded guilty to federal charges

(Newser) - A homeless man and a New Jersey woman who scammed more than 14,000 kind-hearted people with a fake story on GoFundMe are facing time in federal prison. Johnny Bobbitt, Jr., 36, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit money laundering and 28-year-old Kate McClure pleaded guilty to conspiracy to...

Love Seekers Lost $143M to Scammers in 2018: FTC

That's more than any other type of consumer fraud found by the agency last year

(Newser) - If you wanted the Federal Trade Commission's take on Valentine's Day, here it is: Beware of getting scammed seeking love online. The warning comes via the agency's latest revelation, which cites more than 21,000 reports of people getting swindled by internet "paramours" in 2018, NPR...

She Conned Dozens Out of Savings, All to Fund a Lavish Lifestyle
As She Lived
Lavish Life, Dozens
Lost Life Savings
in case you missed it
Jan 26, 2019 6:30 AM CST

As She Lived Lavish Life, Dozens Lost Life Savings

Keisha Williams was sentenced Friday

(Newser) - For four years, Keisha Williams convinced more than 50 people to hand over their savings to invest in Austrian healthcare software she said she had purchased, but still needed to pay taxes and fees on in order to get it out of "escrow." Authorities say she promised would-be...

All Money Refunded in Alleged GoFundMe Scam

Donors who gave money to help homeless man get it back after criminal charges brought

(Newser) - Anyone who fell for the tale of the down-on-his-luck Good Samaritan on GoFundMe has gotten their money back. The crowd-funding website says it has refunded all of the more than $400,000 that came in from more than 14,000 people, reports People . Police have since charged Johnny Bobbitt Jr....

GoFundMe Scam: Lawyer Plays Tape on Woman's Behalf

Katelyn McClure's lawyer says she was duped by her boyfriend

(Newser) - Last week, New Jersey prosecutors dropped a bombshell : that the heartwarming story of a homeless man who helped a stranded New Jersey woman buy gas with his last $20 was a scam cooked up to generate money via GoFundMe. Now, the lawyer for that woman says she was tricked into...

New Risk for Climbers in Nepal: Your Guide May Scam You

Companies push air rescues for minor reasons, then reap big profits

(Newser) - Since a deadly 2015 earthquake, Nepal's 2,600 trekking companies have had to lower their rates to attract a smaller pool of explorers eyeing Himalayan peaks. They've made up for the lost income with what a government report describes as a multimillion-dollar insurance scam involving tour operators, helicopter...

Shipwreck Packed With Gold May Be a Convoluted Scam

So much for the $132B slumbering on the ocean floor

(Newser) - It sounded too good to be true. Now, officials say it really might have been. In mid-July, the South Korea-based Shinil Group announced that it had discovered the wreck of the Russian Imperial Navy cruiser Dmitrii Donskoi and that the 200 tons of gold it was carrying when it sank...

'A Sinking Feeling': Men Get Letters About Their 'Secrets'

The FBI says it's a new breed of scam

(Newser) - "I know about the secret you are keeping from your wife and everyone else," the letter read. "More importantly, I have evidence of what you've been hiding." Jeff Strohl, resident of a wealthy Washington suburb, admits he wasn't too thrilled to read the July...

&#39;One of the Most Elaborate Scams to Ever Hit Hollywood&#39;
'One of the Most Elaborate
Scams to Ever Hit Hollywood'
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jul 15, 2018 6:33 AM CDT

'One of the Most Elaborate Scams to Ever Hit Hollywood'

Con artists impersonate female execs and dupe victims into turning over money

(Newser) - It's a con job that sounds straight out of Hollywood—and this time, that is literally true. Scott Johnson of the Hollywood Reporter reveals a bizarre international scheme in which a very talented con artist impersonates some of the film industry's top female executives and dupes people out...

Facebook Pics Bust 'Despicable' $30K Scam of 'Cancer Patient'

Hanna Dickenson sentenced to 3 months in jail for fleecing people for money she used to party

(Newser) - An Australian woman who perpetrated a "despicable" scam when she was 19 is headed to jail for three months after being busted by her social media pictures. Per the BBC and News.com.au , Hanna Dickenson, 24, pleaded guilty to obtaining property by deception—meaning she pretended she had...

Beware This Scam Targeting Netflix Users

Email asks users to restart membership by clicking link

(Newser) - Pay extra attention to Netflix emails arriving in your inbox, because one may hide a scam. Police around the country are warning of a phishing scam included in an official-looking email asking Netflix users to restart their memberships, per ABC 11 . The email claims Netflix "could not validate the...

Rocker Faces 30 Years in Prison on Fraud Charges

Michael Davenport of The Ataris allegedly defrauded 100K people out of $27M

(Newser) - From hundreds of thousands of fans to 100,000 victims. The Santa Barbara Independent reports a pop-punk bassist is facing fraud charges and more than 30 years in prison over an alleged real estate scam. Prosecutors say Michael Davenport of The Ataris defrauded approximately 100,000 people in all 50...

Louisiana Man Arrested in Infamous 'Nigerian Prince' Scam

Michael Neu faces 269 counts of wire fraud and money laundering

(Newser) - You know that Nigerian prince who's always sending you emails promising to trade your bank account information for some sort of mysterious inheritance? Good news! They finally got him. OK, so Michael Neu isn't actually a Nigerian prince, but police say the 67-year-old Louisiana man bilked people out...

Couple Scammed Elderly Man Out of $3M to Live Big in Vegas

Hiep Cong Van, Thy Minh Phan sentenced to prison

(Newser) - A couple who scammed more than $3 million off an elderly Oregon resident are heading to prison after blowing their ill-gotten funds in Las Vegas, the Oregonian reports. The victim, identified only as RW, was a customer of 41-year-old Hiep Cong Van's landscaping business in Colorado but moved to...

They Dreamed About an NBA Future. Instead, They Got Scammed

Yearlong Fusion probe into prep school basketball reveals the common cons of the industry

(Newser) - They were young hoops shooters who paid more than $25,000 a year to attend what they thought was an elite basketball academy that would prep them for the NBA. What they got instead, per a deep dive at Fusion , was ripped off. It's a close look by Luke...

She Put Life Savings in a Bag, Came Home With Corn Starch

'New Yorker' looks at rising 'blessing scams' in Chinatown

(Newser) - It was a slick con. In Brooklyn's Chinatown, a small group of Chinese women working as a crew found their victim in another Chinese woman, this one a 61-year-old immigrant destined to lose her life savings in a "blessing scam." A story by Jiayang Fan in the...

Fed-Up Neighbor Offers Bounty on 'We Buy Houses' Signs

Within 48 hours, he'd maxed out on his $200 limit, at $1 per sign

(Newser) - You've seen 'em. The ubiquitous little signs that say "We Buy Houses" or something to that effect and pop up on street corners and utility poles. One man in Philadelphia got so tired of looking at them that he publicly offered a $1 bounty for every sign...

Billionaire Branson Reveals 2 Crazy Scams—and 1 Worked

Conman impersonates him, scores $2M from a Branson friend

(Newser) - Billionaire Richard Branson thinks one conman, apparently a master impersonator, is getting rich off his name. In a blog post , the Virgin Group founder reveals two scams in the last year, one of which worked and netted the con artist $2 million. "This story sounds like it has come...

Wife to Presidents, 'Mom' to Ivanka, or Maybe Just a Con

Madame Giselle has some stories to tell

(Newser) - “I’d never met anybody like her in my life,” Bob Underwood says. He says his neighbor, known as Madame Giselle, claimed to be the former wife of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and current secret wife of Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi. She told him she was...

&#39;Rotten Scam&#39;: NYC Food Fest Flops
'Rotten Scam':
NYC Food Fest Flops
Sep 13, 2017 10:22 AM CDT

'Rotten Scam': NYC Food Fest Flops

State probe launched into the 'Fyre Festival' of pizza

(Newser) - Pizza lovers are blasting a Brooklyn food festival that apparently wasn't what it was sliced up to be. Fans who trekked to a "shady parking lot" for the New York City Pizza Festival on Saturday say they paid up to $75 for tickets, only to receive slices that...

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