fraud - The Art of the Prank

November 24, 2010December 15, 2023

Taliban Impostor Hoax

Top Taliban negotiator in secret talks with Afghan officials an ISI ‘impostor’?
Afghanistan News.Net
23rd November, 2010 (ANI)

Top US and Afghan officials have apparently been conned by a man claiming to be a leading Taliban negotiator in secret talks with Afghan officials.

For months, the secret talks unfolding between Taliban and Afghan leaders to end the war appeared to be showing promise, if only because of the appearance of Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, one of the most senior commanders in the Taliban movement, The New York Times reported.

But now, it turns out that Mansour was apparently not Mansour at all, as US and Afghan officials now say that the Afghan man was an impostor, and high-level discussions conducted with the assistance of NATO appear to have achieved little, it added.

“It’s not him,” said a Western diplomat in Kabul intimately involved in the discussions. “And we gave him a lot of money.”

On Monday, American officials confirmed that they had given up hope that the Afghan was Mansour, or even a member of the Taliban leadership, the paper said. Continue reading “Taliban Impostor Hoax”

July 30, 2010December 15, 2023

Tokyo’s Oldest Living Dead Man

Tokyo’s ‘oldest man’ had been dead for 30 years
BBC News
29 July 2010

He was thought to be the oldest man in Tokyo – but when officials went to congratulate Sogen Kato on his 111th birthday, they uncovered mummified skeletal remains lying in his bed.

Mr. Kato may have been dead for 30 years according to Japanese authorities.

They grew suspicious when they went to honour Mr Kato at his address in Adachi ward, but his granddaughter told them he “doesn’t want to see anybody”.

Police are now investigating the family on possible fraud charges.

‘Living Buddha’

Welfare officials had tried to meet Mr Kato since early this year. But when they went to visit, family members repeatedly chased them away, according to Tomoko Iwamatsu, an Adachi ward official.

Authorities grew suspicious and sought an investigation by police, who forced their way into the house on Wednesday.

They discovered a mummified body, believed to be Kato, lying in his bed, wearing underwear and pyjamas, covered with a blanket. Continue reading “Tokyo’s Oldest Living Dead Man”

April 6, 2010December 15, 2023

Collateral Cover-up

Editor’s Note: This video depicts graphic and deadly American military action against unarmed, non-combatant people, two of whom were Reuters journalists holding cameras standing on a street in Iraq in 2007. The incident was vetted by the military and apparently covered up. WikiLeaks obtained the footage from military whistleblowers and stands by its authenticity. It is difficult to watch. Proceed with caution.

Collateral Murder – Short Version [17:47]

WikiLeaks has released a classified U.S. military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad — including two Reuters news staff. Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.

The military did not reveal how the Reuters staff were killed, and stated that they did not know how the children were injured. After demands by Reuters, the incident was investigated and the U.S. military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own “Rules of Engagement”…

For further information and/or to see the longer version of this video, please visit the special project website, CollateralMurder.com

thanks Don

October 23, 2009December 15, 2023

The Net’s Most Heinous Hoaxes

Submitted by Eliane Arquin:

The Net’s Most Heinous Hoaxes
by Sarah Jacobsson
PC World

We look at some of the meanest (and a few of the funniest) hoaxes on the Web.

Most online hoaxes are mildly annoying, and a few are hilarious. But propagating a false Amber Alert over Twitter? Plastering an epilepsy forum with flashing images? Not cool. We’ll take a look at some of the Web’s most heinous hoaxes over the years, and sprinkle in a handful of amusing ones.

Twitter/Facebook Amber Alert

The Amber Alert system — a child abduction alert system broadcast over radio, TV, satellite radio and other media whenever a child is abducted — was created after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas, in 1996. Recently, some users have also broadcast alerts over text messages and Twitter.

Last July, someone tweeted an Amber Alert for a 3-year-old girl. People responded by spreading the alert as fast and as far as they could. It turned out to be a false alarm. A similar sequence of panicked, rapid-fire tweeting followed another false Amber Alert that occurred in September.

How heinous is this? Though we’re glad that no abduction occurred in either case, there’s a disturbing “cry wolf” aspect to the story — what happens the next time a real Amber Alert goes out? For eroding the value of a potentially vital line of defense against child abduction, this hoax sets the platinum standard for repugnance. Continue reading “The Net’s Most Heinous Hoaxes”

April 30, 2009December 15, 2023

Obama Forgeries Exposed

Submitted by W.J. Elvin III:

Tom Tresh shows a series of fake Obama autographs sold on eBay and talks about how to recognize a phony.