You Can't Make This Up Archives - Page 31 of 34

Don’t Take Nigerian Email Scammers’ Offer Of An Auction-Rate Securities Settlement

The Business Insider: “When a Nigerian prince emails you promising $1.5 million from a deceased relative via a Swiss bank account, you know it’s a scam. But how about the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority promising compensation from auction rate securities settlements?”

FINRA is issuing this Alert to warn the public about a recent auction rate securities (ARS) “phishing” scam that promises compensation from ARS settlements in exchange for personal information. The email looks like it originated from FINRA—although it did not. It purports to inform the recipient of regulatory actions, including fines imposed by FINRA related to ARS, and states that the recipient is due $1.5 million regardless of the amount of their ARS investment or loss. The email then “phishes” for personal information including occupation, address and phone number.

Arizona Gives Records to Parents Suing Over Nude Kid-Pics

Arizona Republic: “After initially ignoring a request for public records, the state Attorney General’s Office has released a stack of documents to a Peoria couple suing the state over an investigation into whether they had sexually abused their daughters. Defense attorneys for the state and Richard Treon, who represents Lisa and Anthony ‘A.J.’ Demaree, were in court Monday over accusations that the state was withholding and secretly altering records that would clear the Demarees.”

The Demaree’s temporarily lost custody of their children after Wal-Mart reported to authorities that the parents gave Wal-Mart nude pictures of the couple’s young children to develop.

California to Ban Big Screen TVs

Los Angeles Times: More creeping loss of freedom proposed by the unelected California Energy Commission in the dying State of California. Apparently the CEC will soon pass the country’s first ban on big-screen televisions.

LA’s Fat Police May Limit New Convenience Stores

Los Angeles Times: “Links found by researchers between snack foods and obesity in poor communities are prompting new calls for more regulation of convenience stores in South Los Angeles. The proposed new regulations under discussion are an outgrowth and expansion of last year’s city restrictions on new fast-food restaurants in a 32-square-mile area of South Los Angeles. . . . A study . . . said calories from snacks were a likely culprit of higher obesity rates . . . .”

Slaw and Order: Hot-Dog Stand in Chicago Triggers a Frank Debate

Wall St. Journal: “‘Felony Franks‘ Is Staffed by Ex-Cons, but Some Neighbors Don’t Relish the Name. When James Andrews opened a hot-dog stand on this city’s rough West Side, he thought he was doing a community service by hiring ex-convicts. But some in the neighborhood think the name he chose — Felony Franks — is a crime. An alderman has refused Mr. Andrews permission to hang a new sign or build a drive-through lane. A pastor accused the restaurant owner, who is not an ex-convict, of “pimping out” the community. Members of a neighborhood association have vowed to stay away from Felony Franks until the name is changed and the décor — including paintings of cartoon hot dogs in prison stripes — is removed.”