deception - The Art of the Prank

October 1, 2013December 15, 2023

Fiddle File #3

fiddler-75 Editor’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 #3

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:

Maine: Free groceries if you”re over sixty. Whoops, sorry, no free lunch, just hustlers phishing for personal info.

Everywhere: It”s called “pet-flipping.” Your dog is lost or stolen. Watch for it for sale on Craigslist and probably other classifieds.

Kansas: Pranksters toilet paper this guy”s house, he isn”t happy, shotguns the neighborhood.

Florida, California, Arizona, etc.: This one is called “swoop and squat,” the auto in front of you jams on the brakes, the one behind collides with you. One of several collision scams.

China: Fabricate a terrorist threat, win up to five years in a Chinese jail that probably lacks the comforts of home.

California: The water company employee needs to check your house for pollution. Hint: The public water company isn”t responsible for checking water problems inside your home.

Everywhere: You search for sites featuring Lily Collins. Your reward? A computer loaded with malware. Other dangerous searches noted by McAfee security firm, in order: Avril Lavigne, Sandra Bullock, Kathy Griffith, Zoe Saldana, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Jon Hamm, Adriana Lima and Emma Roberts.

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

September 20, 2013December 15, 2023

Fiddle File #2

The Fiddle File #2

scream-197 Los 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).

September 8, 2013December 15, 2023

The Fiddle File: Scam Report

The Fiddle File

Here”s our latest survey of activity in the scamming industry, a thriving segment of the economy in these troubled times:

scream-197 South Dakota: The computer security expert on the phone needs remote access to fix your computer. This one also reported from several other states.

Missouri: Victims of a tragedy need your donation.

California: You”ve placed an illegal order on-line. Send in your fine or face jail.

Illinois: In order to complete delivery, click here (a program then sucks up personal info from your computer)

Vermont: Your debit card is locked, give us needed info to have it released.

New York: We have your son and he will die if you don”t pay up now.

Georgia: Hey, you”ve got a flat (courtesy of the Good Samaritan who says he”ll fix it for you)

Everywhere: Pick up a few extra bucks and help your local pharmacist scam Medicaid

Remember our motto here at camp: “If you take advice from The Fiddler, you need advice.” Send comments and questions to: Art of the Prank.

image: excerpt of The Scream by Edvard Munch

The Fiddler is a creation of W.J. Elvin III

February 17, 2012December 15, 2023

$6 Trillion Scam. No, Not the U.S. Budget…

Italy confiscates $6 trillion in fake US bonds
Washington Post
February 17, 2012

Milan – Swiss authorities have confiscated $6 trillion in counterfeit U.S. bonds at the request of Italian prosecutors, authorities in Italy said Friday.

Eight people were arrested in Italy and placed under investigation for fraud and other crimes.

The bonds, carrying the false date of issue of 1934, had been transported in 2007 from Hong Kong to Zurich, where they were transferred to a Swiss trust, according to prosecutors in the southern Italian city of Potenza.

Watch the newscast:

Continue reading “$6 Trillion Scam. No, Not the U.S. Budget…”

March 26, 2011December 15, 2023

Buyer Beware: That Expert’s Diploma on the Wall May Be Fake

Fraud U: Toppling a Bogus-Diploma Empire
by David Wolman
Wired
January 2010

It started with spam. On a quiet August day in 2002, a physics professor named George Gollin was working in his office at the University of Illinois when an ad popped up on his computer screen. The product on offer: college degrees.

In a nearby computer lab, the ads leaped from one monitor to another, seeming to spread like a contagion. The spam barrage was raging across the Urbana-Champaign campus. “They were sending bazillions of them, for weeks,” Gollin recalls. “It was like a telemarketer calling over and over.” He decided to dial the phone number listed in the ad to find out who was behind the electronic assault.

No one answered, so Gollin left a polite message. A few days later he received a call from a man, speaking with what sounded like an Eastern European accent, who delivered a pitch for various degree options from Parkwood University. Gollin, who is 56 and has a BA from Harvard and a PhD from Princeton, listened in amazement as the man cheerfully explained how, for about $4,400, he could supply a PhD in systems engineering. Continue reading “Buyer Beware: That Expert’s Diploma on the Wall May Be Fake”