The commercials are all over television — and they certainly are attention-grabbing. They’re the ones where the heavy, bald guy is sitting in his easy chair talking in a squeaky female voice about all the clothes he bought — including a bustier. Or the little old lady speaking with the gruff voice of a younger man about the sweet motorcycle she now owned. Identity theft is a serious crime — one that is occurring with an alarming frequency. The
Identity Theft Manifesto explains
how criminals get your personal info, and
what you can do about it.
posted by netbros
on Jun 1, 2009 -
15 comments
GamerDad, a site which has been around since 2003 (and is a registered trademark), has been a source of amusement and reviews for parents who play games, and parents who want to know what their kids are playing. Microsoft decided that they liked the name so much,
they would steal it. But at least they had the courtesy to
admit they knew about GamerDad before they stole the name.
posted by dejah420
on Oct 19, 2006 -
19 comments
Another wifi-related arrest was publicized today. In the past, the only case readily available to researchers involved
additional seedy activities that are what really drew the arrest. The coffeeshop and other open hotspots show up on several sites such as
jiwire and
wifinder which are devoted to helping people find wireless hotspots.
In this case, a coffeeshop noticed someone leeching their WiFi parked in his truck -- over the course of 3 months, without ever entering the coffeehouse and making a purchase. While not yet convicted of anything, he has been arrested for "theft of services," and this could mean the first precedent set for whether or not "wireless piggybacking" is illegal. The case becomes especially interesting for both sides of the ethical debate on "borrowing" wireless. One one side of the judge's opinion will be the fact that the coffeehouse is a public place, not a private home. On the other side, it turns out the man who was arrested just so happens to be a registered sex offender, though this coincidental fact is not technically relevant to the case.
posted by twiggy
on Jun 22, 2006 -
259 comments
They dance and eat as
they steal.
Yomango, a counter-but-consumerist-culture of shoplifting,
surfaced July 2002 in Spain. It's shoplifting as a movement—taught in
workshops, choreographed, organized as missions, and executed with prankish gusto on three continents. Why? One, it's civil disobedience that believes stealing to stay alive should be permitted. Two, it
takes back what once belonged to everyone. Three, there's humor in it, even with the communistic undertones and its little
red book. Discussion:
Dark Matter, Las Agencias, and the Aesthetics of Tactical Embarrassment.
A Poliedric Debate On Collabora Art.
¿Lo quieres?¿Lo tienes? (Spanish). More about Yomango:
Ten Style Tips for a Yomango Life. A
gallery of promos, news, and event photos.
Yomango fashion show.
Yomango tango.
Yomango dinner.
posted by Mo Nickels
on Jul 31, 2005 -
46 comments
"A generation ago, adult children visiting their parents' homes might have left with a Tupperware container of lasagna. Today, many of them stealthily make off with toiletries, groceries, sometimes clothing and even furniture. It is an apparently widespread practice, born of a sense of entitlement among young adults - and usually amusedly tolerated by parents - that gives new meaning to the phrase '
home shopping.'" Guilty as charged.
posted by JPowers
on Jul 29, 2005 -
55 comments
The BBC showed a programme last night about a secretary who stole from her employer. Nothing much unusual about that. But the number of deceptions and the amount of money were unusual.
Joyti De-Laurey was a PA at
Goldman Sachs. Over a couple of years,
she forged thousands of checks worth millions of pounds. The really interesting part of the programme was the insight into the lives of Goldman Sach's executives. They thought nothing of running up a $30,000 wine bill. Joyti was the person responsible for paying the bills so she had a unique insight into the incredible life-style of these people. She claimed that she was treated like a slave. She was on-call 24/7 (in spite of having a husband and child) and was responsible for organising the business and personal lives of her bosses - including covering for her boss when
he sneaked away in the middle of the day for sexual liaisons. De-Laurey started small, signing cheques for small amounts of money to pay for her debts. But she grew in confidence when she got away with signing hundreds of cheques - for increasing amounts of money. Eventually her audacity and greed got the better of her and she was caught cashing a cheque for $3½M. De_Laurey was given a
seven year prison sentence.
It's hard to believe that you could fail to spot millions of dollars going missing but as a former director of Golden Sachs said: "When you're making £60m a year, a few million missing is like a regular person not remembering the last penny on their account."
posted by bobbyelliott
on Jun 9, 2005 -
51 comments
Now I have stolen some things from bars, and I know some people who have a hard time not stealing something. Most of us are just happy with the toiletries from hotels. These guys trump everyone -
they stole an entire house
posted by thebwit
on Mar 24, 2005 -
31 comments
Enron's historical precidents. This L.A. Times article discusses the historical precidents to the Enron debacle. My favorite (among lots of good stuff):
"Like Enron, ITT was a big campaign contributor. But Geneen's idea of how to use political influence made Lay and associates look like choir boys. In 1970, the company offered Republicans $1 million and consulted heavily with the Nixon White House and the CIA when Chile's new socialist president, Salvador Allende, threatened to seize the ITT-owned Chilean Telephone Co. Allende was overthrown with U.S. aid."
posted by electro
on Feb 22, 2002 -
9 comments
