Category: Fraud and Deception

In latest scare, China finds fake veterinary drugs
by Ben Blanchard
June 21, 2007

Beijing (Reuters) – Almost one-fifth of veterinary drugs tested in China in the first quarter were not up to standard, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday, unveiling a long list of fake products.

Still, that one-fifth figure is a slight improvement over the same period of last year, the ministry said, putting a positive spin on the announcement.

“Although more of the veterinary drugs tested were up to scratch, there remains a problem with the illegal production and sale of fakes,” it said in a statement posted on its Web site (www.agri.gov.cn).

“There is especially a glaring problem with underground dens selling fakes,” the ministry added, vowing tougher action.

It published a five-page list of problem drugs it had found, saying some claimed to be made by companies that don’t exist, some falsely claimed to have government approval, while others had been banned long ago.

Others were just undisguised fakes. Continue reading “Fatal Fakery”

Thieves Steal Herman Munster’s Identity
by Ted Bridis

Washington (AP) — Did Internet thieves steal Herman Munster’s MasterCard number? Crooks in an underground chat room for selling stolen credit card numbers and personal consumer information offered pilfered data purportedly about Herman Munster, the 1960s Frankenstein-like character from “The Munsters” TV sitcom.

The thieves apparently didn’t realize Munster was a fictional TV character and dutifully offered to sell Munster’s personal details – accurately listing his home address from the television series as 1313 Mocking Bird Lane – and what appeared to be his MasterCard number. Munster’s birth date was listed as Aug. 15, 1964, suspiciously close to the TV series’ original air date in September 1964.

CardCops Inc., the Malibu, Calif., Internet security company that quietly recorded details of the illicit but wayward transaction, surmised that a Munsters fan knowledgeable about the show deliberately provided the bogus data.

Read the rest of the story here.

‘Mrs. Grace’ Sees Her Future in Jail
June 19, 2007

Rockville, Md. (AP) — A fortuneteller now sees her future – and it involves 18 months behind bars. Grace Uwanawich, also known as “Mrs. Grace,” was sentenced this week in Maryland after admitting that she defrauded clients by convincing them to hand over tens of thousands of dollars so that she could crush destructive curses.

“This is beyond fortunetelling for entertainment purposes,” Montgomery Assistant State’s Attorney Carol Crawford said Monday. She compared Uwanawich to a “leech” who drained money from vulnerable middle-aged women.

“I promise in Jesus’ name I’m not going to do this again,” Uwanawich said before being sentenced to 18 months in jail. “I know it sounds like I’m using Jesus. I am ashamed.” Continue reading “Fortune Felon”

In China at least 18 people, most of them in Guangdong Province, died in a month last year after they ingested contaminated medicine.

From China to Panama, a Trail of Poisoned Medicine
By Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker
The New York Times
May 6, 2007

The kidneys fail first. Then the central nervous system begins to misfire. Paralysis spreads, making breathing difficult, then often impossible without assistance. In the end, most victims die.

The syrupy poison, diethylene glycol, is an indispensable part of the modern world, an industrial solvent and prime ingredient in some antifreeze.

It is also a killer. And the deaths, if not intentional, are often no accident.

Over the years, the poison has been loaded into all varieties of medicine “” cough syrup, fever medication, injectable drugs “” a result of counterfeiters who profit by substituting the sweet-tasting solvent for a safe, more expensive syrup, usually glycerin, commonly used in drugs, food, toothpaste and other products.

Toxic syrup has figured in at least eight mass poisonings around the world in the past two decades. Researchers estimate that thousands have died. In many cases, the precise origin of the poison has never been determined. But records and interviews show that in three of the last four cases it was made in China, a major source of counterfeit drugs. Continue reading “Deadly Pharmaceutical Scam”