Fraud and Deception - The Art of the Prank

October 4, 2007January 15, 2019

The Software Awards Scam

This piece is by Andy Brice from his Successful Software blog published August 16th, 2007:

I put out a new product a couple of weeks ago. This new product has so far won 16 different awards and recommendations from software download sites. Some of them even emailed me messages of encouragement such as “Great job, we”re really impressed!”. I should be delighted at this recognition of the quality of my software, except that the “software” doesn”t even run. This is hardly surprising when you consider that it is just a text file with the words “this program does nothing at all” repeated a few times and then renamed as an .exe. The PAD file that described the software contains the description “This program does nothing at all”. The screenshot I submitted (below) was similarly blunt and to the point:

Even the name of the software, “awardmestars”, was a bit of a giveaway. And yet it still won 16 “˜awards”. Continue reading “The Software Awards Scam”

September 18, 2007January 15, 2019

The Rape of Europa

Here’s a trailer for the newly released feature documentary film about the fate of art in the Third Reich and World War II. The film, based on the landmark history by Lynn H. Nicholas, is now playing at select theaters. Check out the schedule at www.therapeofeuropa.com.

via artdaily.org

August 19, 2007January 15, 2019

Pentagon Hosed by Plumber

Plumbing boss charged Pentagon $1m for two washers
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Guardian Unlimited
August 17, 2007

Plumbers are notorious for excessive bills. But none has come even remotely close to matching an extravagant claim by a South Carolina firm: almost $1m (£500,000) for two metal washers worth 19c each.
Charlene Corley, 47, co-owner of the plumbing and electrical firm C&D Distributors, who supplied parts to the military, is awaiting sentence after pleading guilty yesterday to defrauding the Pentagon. She faces 20 years in jail.

The most expensive washers in history were part of $20.5m the company stole from the Pentagon over the last 10 years. The company shipped plumbing and electrical parts to US bases round the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

It took advantage of an automated system intended to cut out red tape by making speedy payments. The company repeatedly added hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of shipping parts.
The company claimed $998,798 for sending the two washers, which could have been put in an envelope and posted through normal mail for a few dollars. Continue reading “Pentagon Hosed by Plumber”

August 14, 2007January 15, 2019

Manipulation 101: Gaslighting

From Kenrick E. Cleveland of maxpersuasion.com

Gaslighting: Stirring Up Doubt And Positioning Yourself As An Ally
August 12th, 2007

Here”s a great example of a powerful strategy called gaslighting and how to use it in your persuasive situations with the affluent”¦

I was flipping through the channels a few nights ago and I stopped on an old episode of M*A*S*H. It was the episode where BJ is bored and in an attempt to entertain himself he decides to have a little fun at Winchester”s expense.

He takes a pair of Winchester”s pants and replaces them with a much larger pair. When Winchester puts them on, BJ casually asks if Winchester is feeling okay, mentioning that lately he”s looked a little sickly. Maybe he”s not eating enough to keep up his energy, and oh boy, does he look way too thin!

A few scenes later BJ replaces the pants with a much smaller pair and when Winchester tries them on, BJ again casually “notices” how much weight Winchester has gained, which sends the vain Winchester into a dieting frenzy.

Having observed this all, Hawkeye asks BJ, “What”s next?”

BJ simply responds, “Tomorrow he gets taller.”

This is an example of gaslighting as a harmless prank, but the technique has far more nefarious potential and conversely when used ethically, some positive potential as well. Continue reading “Manipulation 101: Gaslighting”

August 6, 2007January 15, 2019

How Much Does the Truth Cost?

Global Warming Is A Hoax*
The Truth About Denial
by Sharon Begley
Newsweek Cover Story
August 6, 2007

*Or so claim well-funded naysayers who still reject the overwhelming evidence of climate change.

Aug. 13, 2007 issue – Sen. Barbara Boxer had been chair of the Senate’s Environment Committee for less than a month when the verdict landed last February. “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal,” concluded a report by 600 scientists from governments, academia, green groups and businesses in 40 countries. Worse, there was now at least a 90 percent likelihood that the release of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels is causing longer droughts, more flood-causing downpours and worse heat waves, way up from earlier studies. Those who doubt the reality of human-caused climate change have spent decades disputing that. But Boxer figured that with “the overwhelming science out there, the deniers’ days were numbered.” As she left a meeting with the head of the international climate panel, however, a staffer had some news for her. A conservative think tank long funded by ExxonMobil, she told Boxer, had offered scientists $10,000 to write articles undercutting the new report and the computer-based climate models it is based on. “I realized,” says Boxer, “there was a movement behind this that just wasn’t giving up.” Continue reading “How Much Does the Truth Cost?”