Goodizen :: Scams

She had a clipboard, an ID card and a brisk, professional manner as she walked the aisles of ethnic grocery stores in Palm Beach County. Grocers said they thought she was a food inspector with the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Some said they feared if they didn't listen to her, she might shut them down. Lee Ann Kennedy was no government inspector though, officials say. She was posing as one to plug the services of a Delray Beach pest control company, a state investigation found. "This is the first time we've had something like this happen in my tenure [since 2004]," said Michael Page, chief of the Florida Bureau of Entomology and Pest Control. Because Kennedy, 45, is accused of soliciting for a pest control company, that puts the case under the bureau's jurisdiction. Video: Bail sought for suspect in shooting recorded on iPhone The state has asked an administrative law judge to level a $ 1,600 fine against Kennedy, accusing her ...

Herman Edwards (l.) is not happy about the NFL's current minority hiring system. (AP) If all goes as planned, Bill Parcells will replace Sean Payton, his disciple in Dallas, as the New Orleans Saints head coach once Payton begins serving his one-year suspension for his involvement in the Saints' "pay-for-performance" scandal. Parcells has already told multiple media outlets that he would seriously consider the position if asked, and as long as the Big Tuna is all in, it's a great move for a team that had best be prepared for more body blows in the form of player suspensions very soon. "If [Payton] says to me, 'Bill, I need you to do this,'" Parcells told Newsday on March 28, "that's what friends are supposed to be for." However, there's one complication to this happy ending -- if the Saints wish to hire Parcells, they must first comply with the Rooney Rule, put into effect by the NFL in 2003 and named after Pittsburgh Steel...

Bomb squad: SE Portland devices a hoax by KGW Staff Bio | Email | Follow: @KGWNews kgw.com Posted on March 30, 2012 at 10:57 AM Updated today at 1:03 PM PORTLAND -- A bomb squad determined a group of suspicious packages in Southeast Portland was the result of a hoax, police said. "A couple packages with batteries and wires" were reported near SE 79th Avenue and SE Rhine Street just after 10:30 a.m., according to a Portland Police Bureau dispatcher. "Officers arrived and after taking a look at the item called for the Metropolitan Explosives Disposal Unit to respond," Sgt. Pete Simpson said. "Bomb techs examined the suspicious device and determined it to be a hoax device." No street closures or evacuations were put into effect during the investigation. Print Email Share Facebook Share Share! X Digg Delicious MySpace LinkedIn StumbleUpon Newsvine Reddit Read More @ Source Fraudulent Stories Here

Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds Frank Schiefer said an Illinois company's solicitation to sell copies of local property records is a "rip-off." Schiefer said county residents have received a mailed offer from National Record Service Inc. of Northbrook, Ill., in which the firm said it will provide certified deed records to property owners for $ 59.50. A second copy can be purchased for $ 20. "I think it's a rip-off. They are charging almost $ 60, and we only charge $ 5 to certify a copy, plus the cost of the copies," Schiefer said. "And if you don't need a certified copy; you can print one out for free." In its letter, National Record Service Inc. tells prospective customers it is recommended that property owners have an official or certified copy of their deeds. But in small type, the letter advises customers that many records are available for free or at a nominal cost from government agencies. Company officials did not respond...

POSTED: 11:03 am CDT March 29, 2012 UPDATED: 4:48 pm CDT March 29, 2012 FORT SMITH, Ark. -- Fort Smith police said the report of a human baby was being offered for sale on craigslist is a hoax.Investigators said late Thursday afternoon that they looked into the rumor and found it to be a hoax.Earlier in the day, Sgt. Daniel Grubbs said police received a report about a posting that a woman saw on the website. The woman reported the posting said, "Arklahoma area, female infant, blue eyes, just don't want anymore. Free bottles and crib."Grubbs said the post had been taken down from site.Police said late Thursday afternoon the person who posted the ad was a 26-year-old mentally disabled Fort Smith resident. The man told police he posted the listing as a joke. The man has no infant children and said he received no replies, police said.The matter was reviewed by the prosecutor's office and no charges are being pursued against the man. Copyright 2012 4029tv.com. All r...

St.George said the scam has been reported to the Australian Federal Police. Picture: File Source: PerthNow Email scammers target St.George Bank customers Hoax account asks for people to log personal details St.George says the scam has been reported to police BANK customers have been warned of an email scam targeting St.George accounts. The hoax email alleges that a customer's "new statement is currently available" and asks them to log in with their personal banking details at a separate website. The scam emails are sent from the address "onlinebanking@stgeorge.com.au". A spokeswoman for St.George said the bank's security systems detected the fraudulent email and website about 8am yesterday and the scam has been reported to the Australian Federal Police. "Our security teams are working closely with all relevant authorities to remove the offending site," the spokeswoman said. Scammers generally build or buy lists of addresses, the...

DOUGLASVILLE, GA (CBS ATLANTA) - Scammers looking for quick cash are resurrecting an old dirty trick. They're telling people they're agents with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and they'll take care of an old arrest warrant if victims wire them money. The scam artists tried to swindle a Douglas County Sheriff's deputy out of $ 5,000, and now she wants to alert the public that you can't buy yourself out of an arrest warrant. "When they called me back my heart fell out of my chest," laughed Deputy Tina Cheatwood. "He advised me that back in 2003, when my name was Tina Wingo, I had purchased some items on the internet with my credit card - and they had made an arrest out of the Dominican Republic and my name was brought up and they had a warrant for me." But Cheatwood says she's never had a warrant out for her arrest. She's been a Douglas County Sheriff's Deputy for five years, working as a resource officer at the new Mancheste...

   LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A former L.A. school police officer who staged a shooting hoax will pay the city $ 309,046.23 in restitution. A judge agreed Monday to allow Jeff Stenroos to post bail in exchange for the money. Related Content Story: LAPD to seek felony charges for shooting hoax Story: LAUSD shooting hoax cop's arraignment delayed Story: Stenroos convicted for lying about shooting Story: LAUSD shooting-hoax cop gets 2 years in jail Last January, Stenroos claimed a burglar shot him near El Camino High School. El Camino and eight other schools were locked down, while hundred of officers searched the area. The motive was never made clear, but Stenroos was convicted of several crimes and sentenced to five years in jail. Friends and family paid the restitution. (Copyright ©2012 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Los Angeles News » Tags: court case, los angeles news Comment Now Email Print Report a typo Recently Published ...

PRWeb  –  1 hr 36 mins ago Mortgage Phony Examiners, the investigative firm who warned the public about the "criminal loan modification trap, useless "forensic loan audits," the "administrative process" scam, and "pretender defenders" is now warning homeowners and the public of the latest worthless service— Securitization Audits. (PRWEB) March 27, 2012 With many homeowners facing foreclosure and looking for help across America, many worthless services have cropped up with such promises as "mortgage elimination" or other foreclosure tactics that in some cases are patently illegal. One commonly advertised service is a Securitization Audit. A number of companies have been pushing "forensic loan audits," aka TILA/RESPA audits. Since knowledgeable attorneys and homeowners recognize these "audits" are basically useless, the "wolves in sheep's clothing" are now peddling, securitization audits. Mort...

Jeffrey Stenroos, the former Los Angeles school police officer who staged his own shooting last year in a bizarre hoax that caused three schools to be locked down and forced closure of streets across the the western San Fernando Valley, will pay the city a lump sum of $ 309,000 in restitution, authorities said Monday. In exchange for the restitution, Judge Richard Kirschner agreed to let Stenroos post bail from Los Angeles County jail pending the outcome of an appeal. The lion's share of the payment was to compensate the city of Los Angeles for deploying more than 500 officers, plus traffic management workers.  The restitution also will be discussed at a court hearing next month. "It's highly unusual to receive such a large amount in a lump sum but we welcome receiving the money," said William Carter, chief deputy to City Atty. Carmen Trutanich. He said the money, raised by Stenroos' friends and family, is expected to be received by the city Wednesday. Ste...

Story Topics Business_Finance Law_Crime Chad Elie John Campos U.S. District Court Follow Us On Facebook Question of the Day Will President Obama's "hot mic" incident negatively affect his re-election bid? NEW YORK (AP) - One of two men nearing trial in a case that shut down U.S. operations for three Internet poker companies has admitted he conspired with others to deceive U.S. financial institutions so they would process hundreds of millions of dollars in gaming transactions. Chad Elie, of Las Vegas, entered the guilty plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to a count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and to operate illegal gambling businesses. The plea came as the money processor was scheduled to go to trial April 9 along with former bank executive John Campos, who has asserted his innocence. A prosecutor said the government will likely know within days whether Campos intends to go to trial. A plea deal reached between prose...

The man behind a rescue business for pets left behind in the Rapture now says it was all a hoax. The New Hampshire Insurance Department is now investigating. Copyright © 2012 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required. LAURA SULLIVAN, HOST: An update now on a story we first told you about last spring. Bart Centre of New Hampshire claimed he was running a pet rescue business for animals in case they were left behind by owners during the rapture, or the end of times, as some Christians believe. Centre told NPR and other media outlets that he charged hundreds of people more than $ 100 apiece, promising the business would care for their pets after the owners were carried up to Heaven. The self-described animal loving atheist called it Eternal Earth-Bound Pets. The New Hampshire Insurance Department thought some monkey business might be going on and decided to investigate. Last week, they sent Centre a...

Published: March. 22, 2012 at 6:24 PM THE HAGUE, Netherlands, March 22 (UPI) -- The man who claimed to have created a bird-like flight machine confessed Thursday on Dutch TV it was a hoax. Netherlands artist Floris Kaayk, who went by the name of Jarno Smeets during his "Human Birdwings" project, said the hoax was eight months in the making, Wired Science reported. Kaayk appeared on a Dutch television program called "De Wereld Draait Door" ("The World is Turning"). Kaayk said he attempted the hoax because "it's everybody's dream to fly." "He wanted to chase a dream, as most artists do. He wanted to inspire people and I think he succeeded," neuromechanics scientist Bert Otten of the University of Groningen told Wired Science. "As an artist he has succeeded, but he has fooled most of us. We all want to fly, don't we?" Kaayk asked Otten in August 2011 about the mechanics of flight. Otten said he was not in on t...

A cleverly designed human birdwings hoax has the whole Internet bummed out it's not real. by Dave Rosenberg March 23, 2012 7:02 PM PDT Birdman is a fake. Bummer. (Credit: Floris Kaayk) Curse you fake birdman! Just when it seemed like we humans might get to spread our wings and fly, it turns out the whole shebang -- videos, plans, everything -- was part of an elaborate plan/scam/hoax by filmmaker Floris Kaayk. I wrote earlier in the week about the footage produced by Dutch mechanical engineer Jarno Smeets that looked real, if questionable, and has now been disproved and admitted as a very disappointing hoax. As Kaayk put it on his Web site: Today, I revealed my latest project on Dutch prime-time TV show 'De wereld draait door.' In the past months I have been working on an exciting fictional online storytelling project called Human Birdwings. To be precise, Human Birdwings was an online adventure and invention story in which fictional character Jarno Smeets develo...

FRAUD and theft is costing federal government agencies nearly half a billion dollars a year. One agency, Centrelink, investigated almost 25,000 suspected incidents of fraud totalling nearly $ 76 million. Of those, 3500 cases were prosecuted, with a conviction rate of nearly 100 per cent. The figures are contained in a report by the Australian Institute of Criminology, which drew together 2009/10 data from 152 commonwealth agencies. It said a total of $ 498 million was lost to the Commonwealth through fraud, misuse or theft. The report listed 613,527 incidents of people claiming benefits for which they were not entitled. Cases of visa and citizenship fraud totalled 66,302. Accessing information on computers without authorisation (1011 incidents) was the most common form of fraud committed by staff at government agencies. Obtaining or using personal information without authorisation (869 incidents) was also common. All up, the agencies surveyed by the commission reported 70...

The man who claimed to achieve bird-like flight with a custom-built contraption came clean today: It was a hoax 8 months in the making. Netherlands artist Floris Kaayk, who went by the name of Jarno Smeets during his "Human Birdwings" project, admitted to the hoax today on a Dutch television program called "De Wereld Draait Door" ("The World is Turning"). "My name is Floris Kaayk I'm actually a filmmaker and animator. I am now 8 months working on an experiment about online media," Kaayk told the show, according to a Dutch-to-English translation in a YouTube video. Kaayk said attempted the hoax because "it's everybody's dream to fly." Kaayk's website states he was born in Tiel in the Netherlands in 1982. He's been living in The Hague, where the faked bird-man stunt took place. Kaayk claims on his website that he graduated with honors from St. Joost Academy and earned a Masters of Fine Arts. The website says he ...