scam

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Cops: Cab Driver Saved Woman, 92, From Scam

He took her to the police station instead of the bank

(Newser) - An elderly woman in northern California would have had her bank account cleaned out by scammers if it wasn't for a conscientious cab driver, police say. Officers say the 92-year-old woman told Roseville Cab owner Raj Singh that she was going to the bank to withdraw $25,000 to...

FedEx: Those Texts, Emails You're Getting Aren't From Us

Company warns it's not sending out package information with bad links to consumers

(Newser) - That text or email you just got from FedEx about your package that starts "Hello mate"? Don't open it, or if you do by mistake, don't click on any of its links. That's because it's a scam, the delivery giant says, and one that'...

Cops: 'Psychic' Charged Big Fee to Rid Girl of Her 'Demon'

Tracy Milanovich allegedly scammed a desperate mom out of more than $70K

(Newser) - A woman claiming to be a psychic stole more than $70,000 from a client by telling the woman her 10-year-old daughter was possessed by a demon and she needed the money to banish the spirit, police in Massachusetts said. Tracy (or Tracey) Milanovich, 37, of Somerset, is charged with...

It Was All a Scam. It Seemed So Real He Killed Himself

Inside the death of 24-year-old US Army vet Jared Johns

(Newser) - The riskiest part of their exchange wasn't the photo she sent him that revealed a bit of her bra. It was that it happened at all. In a lengthy piece for Wired , Vince Beiser shares the story of Jared Johns, a Army vet living in South Carolina who seemed...

Alec Baldwin Got Scammed in Statue of Liberty Tour

Actor livid after he says he and his family were tricked about tour that really went to New Jersey

(Newser) - Give us your tired, your poor, your disgruntled celebrity tourist. Although he's a native Long Islander, Alec Baldwin revealed Monday he'd been taken by what he calls a Big Apple "scam," NBC New York reports. Baldwin posted to Instagram a picture of a ticket he and...

80 Charged in Massive Love Scam Run Out of LA

Man named Valentine, another Nigerian citizen are accused masterminds of scheme out of California

(Newser) - The feds say elderly women and businesses were the perpetrators' targets, and that they managed to squeeze at least $6 million out of their victims in what prosecutors are calling "one of the largest cases of its kind in US history." CNN reports on the arrests Thursday of...

A Harvard Prof Says He Was Scammed. Now, Even More Men

Bruce Hay apparently had plenty of company in his interactions with Maria-Pia Shuman, Mischa Haider

(Newser) - The story of Harvard Law professor Bruce Hay and the jaw-dropping relationship he found himself caught up in with two shady-seeming women has an update. In the original longform for the Cut , Hay described his tumultuous interactions with Maria-Pia Shuman and Mischa Haider, which led to a paternity claim, an...

Dirt-Filled Boxes Enable $370K Amazon Scam: Report

James Gilbert Kwarteng is accused of sending the online retailer returns in dirt-filled boxes

(Newser) - Talk about audacious: A man in Spain is accused of scamming Amazon out of $370,000 by returning items in dirt-filled boxes, Fox Business reports. According to Spanish newspapers, 22-year-old James Gilbert Kwarteng weighed the refilled boxes to match the product weight and received his refunds. The boxes apparently went...

Fake George Clooney Tracked Down in Thailand

(Newser) - After six years on the run, an Italian man accused of impersonating actor George Clooney to sell a line of clothing has been arrested. After a surveillance operation that included the use of a drone, police surrounded a luxury villa in Pattaya, Thailand, where Francesco Galdelli, 58, and his wife,...

They Said They Found Untold Riches. They're Going to Prison

South Koreans claimed they had discovered the wreck of the Dmitrii Donskoi

(Newser) - They told investors they had discovered the wreck of a Russian Imperial Navy cruiser said to be teeming with gold. The only actual wreck is their future lives. South Korea on Wednesday sentenced three executives associated with the Shinil Group to prison after they reeled in $7.6 million from...

Students' iPhone Scam Took Apple for $900K, US Says

Fakes sent in for repairs were replaced by genuine ones

(Newser) - Two college students scammed Apple out of $900,000 by sending fake iPhones to the company for repair under warranty, federal complaints say. The company realized many of the thousands of phones were counterfeit but still returned almost 1,500 genuine replacements to the students, NBC News reports. The phones...

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...

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