Category: Prank Busters

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The Fiddle File #6

fiddler-75Editor’s Note: Ask The Fiddler is a lifestyle advice column that aims to remedy more chaos and confusion than it creates. Questions may be submitted to us here at Art of the Prank, and good luck.

The Fiddle File #6

Here we go with another madcap roundup of hoaxes, scams and damn fool idiocy making the rounds these days. Take heed. Some of these fiddles may soon be showing up on your computer, phone or even up close and personal. Check it out:

Worldwide: Looking for love in Thailand? Hopefully you don”™t use the same password elsewhere.

U.S./U.K.: If your Windows system has been hit by CryptoLocker you probably aren”™t reading this. Otherwise, extreme caution is vital, this ransomware is very effective (Via Graham Cluly”™s Security Newsletter).

Vancouver: The attack-passerby-with-a-fake-axe trick gets you a nice pair of police-issue bracelets to wear all the way to jail.

Colorado: Stick a toy pistol in a cop”™s face. Luckily he doesn”™t react as some might, you”™re under arrest rather than under six feet of dirt.

England: “Night climbing“ on the roof of an 11th century world heritage site cathedral may not improve your class standing.

Continue reading “The Fiddle File #6”

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The Fiddle File #5

fiddler-75Editor’s Note: Ask The Fiddler is a lifestyle advice column that aims to remedy more chaos and confusion than it creates. Questions may be submitted to us here at Art of the Prank, and good luck.

The Fiddle File #5

Here we go with another madcap roundup of hoaxes, scams and damn fool idiocy making the rounds these days. Take heed. Some of these fiddles may soon be showing up on your computer, phone or even up close and personal. Check it out:

scream-197

New Jersey: Superstorm Sandy brought us many tales of heroics but there is a dark side as well, unscrupulous predators using phony charities, inflated pricing and phony promises to scam victims.

Nationwide: Have you been tempted to help billionaire Warren Buffett in his crusade to reform Congress? Sorry, but the popular email solicitation is a hoax.

Everywhere: Do you search your business name regularly? It may have been hijacked for placement of phony supply orders or other nefarious purposes.

Australia: Congratulations, you just won a vacation sweepstakes. Scratch that. You just won a chance to spend 25 years in jail.

Ohio: Sorry about your loss, here”™s a fake bill for funeral flowers to add to it.

California: Spending the rest of your life in a cage hardly seems sufficient payback for ripping off folks who lost homes due to wildfires.

Everywhere: Many of us use PayPal to make electronic payments. Things can go awry.

Australia: But it could happen anywhere. Fake phishing pages planted within genuine web sites. (Similar to Better Business Bureau warning on business names being hijacked).

Global: Swell Internet deals on cars, motorcycles, boats and more, just wire the money to this gang of Roumanian crooks who set up fake sites that look legit.

England: We could fill pages with items on stupid prank 911 calls but here”™s one worth mention. Cops bust the door down in response to a call placed by your cat.

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  1. Fiddle File #9
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Snapple “Real Facts” Debunked

From Joe King:

We Fact-Checked Snapple’s ‘Real Facts’
by Adrienne Lafrance
The Atlantic
October 11, 2013

With 30 seconds and a web connection, you can, too.

snapplecaps-425

Of course a duck”™s quack echoes.

But claims to the contrary are so often repeated that the BBC has aired audio proof of the echo, Mythbusters has investigated the acoustics of a quack”™s reverberations, and others still have uploaded Internet videos of waterfowl in sound studios selected to amplify the effect.

No matter. The myth persists. It”™s the kind of claim that’s repeated as fact but shared like superstition””forwarded in chain emails, published and republished among ZOMG-mindblowing facts, even printed on the cool undersides of bottle caps.

SnappleCap-200“Real Facts,” they”™re called. And though the quotation marks are Snapple”™s, not mine, they”™re fitting.

Since 2002, the tea maker has been slinging bottle-cap factoids. Some are true, some are outright false, and plenty others are incomplete or ambiguous to the point of absurdity. But it”™s easy to pluck out the spurious ones with a search engine and the right kind of bullshit detector. Continue reading “Snapple “Real Facts” Debunked”

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NY AG’s Office Takes on Fake Yelp Reviewers

From John and Deborah:

Fake online reviews crackdown in New York sees 19 companies fined
by Dominic Rushe
The Guardian
September 24, 2013

Attorney general set up a fake yoghurt shop in Brooklyn to ensnare fake online review companies, fined a total of $350,000

Pink yoghurt

New York’s attorney general set up a fake yoghurt shop in Brooklyn in a sting operation to trap fake online review companies.

Eric Schneiderman announced agreements with 19 firms Monday that commissioned fake reviews and several reputation-enhancement companies that helped place reviews on sites like Citysearch, Google, Yahoo and Yelp. They were fined a total of $350,000. Continue reading “NY AG’s Office Takes on Fake Yelp Reviewers”

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Fiddle File #2

fiddler-75Editor’s Note: Ask The Fiddler is a lifestyle advice column that aims to remedy more chaos and confusion than it creates. Questions may be submitted to us here at Art of the Prank, and good luck.

The Fiddle File #2

Here we go with another madcap roundup of hoaxes, scams and damn fool idiocy making the rounds these days. Take heed. Some of these fiddles may soon be showing up on your computer, phone or even up close and personal. Check it out:

scream-197Los Angeles: Quality medical care “¦ The surgeon pranks your face while you are under anesthesia.

Tennessee: Children At Play… Torching neighborhood sewers.

San Francisco Bay Area: Clear the house, we”™re from the government, inspecting for poisonous snakes (and stealing anything of value).

Disney World: Pardon us, we”™re heading for the front of the line with our hire-the-handicapped helper.

Nationwide: You’re due a bundle in unclaimed cash, just give us all your personal info. Story is from Vegas but the scam is running around the country.

Colorado: It”™s the old jump screaming from the closet prank. Bang! You”™re d-e-a-d.

St. Louis: Here”™s a tip “¦ You”™ll never see the whopping big tip the insanely generous customer scribbled on the bill.

Nationwide: Wrap your car with ads while we empty your bank account. This report is from California but it”™s happening wherever the hustlers find a willing victim.

Florida: Flush with cash? Don”™t invest in toilet fans.

Spotted a hoax or scam deserving mention in our next roundup? We”™d be happy to hear from you Art of the Prank. You might save some reader a heap of hurting (or give them wild ideas for their next fiddle).

Related posts:

  1. Fiddle File #10
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  4. The Fiddle File: Scam Report

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