Elderly Amish Man Caught on Film With Prostitute, Blackmailed
When a 75-year-old Amish widower slept with a prostitute, he -- we feel certain -- felt pretty bad about it the next morning. As if that guilt weren't enough for the old man, the prostitute and her boyfriend demanded $67,000 from him, claiming that they had filmed the scene with wall-mounted cameras and would upload the recording to the Internet. The pair was later arrested and, we can only imagine, the Amish man abhorred technology more than ever.
Bank Robber Gets Away With the Help of Craiglist
In October, a bank robber -- wearing a safety vest, blue shirt, face mask and goggles -- eluded police with the help of Craiglist. Just outside the bank, while the robbery was in progress, stood a group of men who were responding to a Craiglist day labor opportunity. As the advertisement required, they were all wearing safety vests, blue shirts, face masks and goggles.
Nude New Zealander Arrested After Responding to Fake Sexy Text Message
Late in 2007, a Wellington, New Zealand man received a racy text message from two anonymous "ladies," giving him only an address and a request that he show up naked. Well, he indeed showed up naked... at the home of one appalled, unsuspecting New Zealander. Both the nude Romeo and the sadistic texter were arrested, though neither were prosecuted.
Fake Craiglist Ad Costs Man Most of What He Owns
Last Spring, a post appeared on an Oregon Craigslist board stating that the owner of a specific house was leaving all of his worldly possessions (still in said house) to whoever wanted them. When homeowner Robert Salisbury rushed home -- on a tip from a woman suspicious about the offer of a free horse -- he found his house being ransacked by 30 strangers. We suggest he take that horse and collect some vengeance Clint Eastwood-style.
17-Year-Old Jailed for Stealing Virtual 'Furniture'
When a 17-year-old Dutch boy hacked into several accounts on the Second Life-style site 'Habbo' in 2007, the the law got involved. The boy was discovered to have stolen $5,800 worth of virtual furniture and knick-knacks. Apparently, crime -- whether actual or virtual -- does not pay.
Phishers Going After Your Phones in New 'Vishing' Trend
Over the past year, sneaky spammers have begun to forsake the worn-out territory of e-mail in favor of cell phones' fertile frontier. The result? "Vishing." Get it? Voice mail phishing. It might be more ominous if it didn't sound like a James Bond villain saying, "Wishing."
Burglars Break Into Restaurant, Steal HDTV, Leave Money / Food Behind
Around Halloween of last year, a truckload of thieves drove into -- that's right, into -- a Pennsylvania Mexican restaurant, where they -- apparently uninterested in the cash register -- stole a mid-grade 47-inch HDTV and fled the scene. We've all heard about how this generation is lacking in ambition, but this generation's thieves, too?
Vanishing staplers aren't the only employee-related phenomena bleeding the corporate world dry. According to a new study by U.K.-based employment law firm Peninsula, roughly £130 million (or about $264 million U.S.) is lost per day by British corporations due to office workers dillydallying on Facebook. That's the equivalent of 233 million employee hours per month. And British companies aren't the only ones suffering: Australian security firm, SurfControl, conducted a similar study of its own and found that Facebook was swallowing $5 billion (Australian) a year, or the rough equivalent of $4 billion U.S. 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Susie said 5:22PM on 9-12-2007
I wholly agree that any business should be blocking these websites and any personal email sites. This would cut down on the problem immensely without the loss of respect, trust, work productivity and other issues. It would make the day so much easier for the employees, not having it available prevents the sometimes overriding desire to peak at their page. I would love it if they did this at 2 of my kids' work places, as I see that is what they do all the time and know one day it will be discovered, and it will negatively affect their job in one way or another.
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Susie said 10:30PM on 9-12-2007
YOU AND YOUR KIDS ARE DUMB.
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Lia said 4:07AM on 9-13-2007
Boo hoo for those businesses. Their workers are bored, tired and schlepping around a pitiful office all day while the upper management enjoys far more perks than the lowly office worker ever spends on looking at Facebook.
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Steve said 8:17AM on 9-13-2007
I'm a network admin, and we block all those type of sites. Yes, I get a lot of pissed off fellow co-workers saying thats it all my fault even when the order comes from the CEO of the computer.
Guess they don't realize their job is to accounting/marketing and mine is to keep our networks running smoothly.
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Esteban said 7:42PM on 10-26-2007
One thing for certain is that there are two differences in our lives. One is personal and private and the other is work and paycheck. The two do not coincide ever! The young group thinks they can do whatever they want both personally and professionally (yeah right!) anytime. Businesses should block certain websites from those lazy asses who already have too much time on their hands and also cut their hours back because it seems they aren't productive getting the job done. Everyone knows you have to earn it getting paid and it isn't something that includes "goofing off" and milking the clock. I got time to do what I want before or after work. I don't mix my private affairs with my work affair. I don't want Big Brother watching over my shoulder or accessing my personal affair online from work. So for those of you get a life and prioritize your responsibility or work for yourselves.
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qtrapchic8 said 9:17AM on 12-28-2007
I AM (was) Facebook!
When Facebook was introduced in its early stages, it was only for college students. Even more, it was only given to a few select schools. My University was one of the first, and I was a Junior at the time. So yes, I was one of those early adopters.
BUT - and its a big but - I am SO GLAD my company blocks facebook. It's a nice little website for keeping in touch, looking at/sharing picture, etc. But there's no place for it in the workplace.
I had the unfortunate experience a year ago of being left in charge of an office and the intern in it. He was my own age, we went to the same school and I just happened to graduate a year earlier. He spent those entire days, 8 hour stretches, on facebook. It seriously made me ill; made me lose sleep.
It has since been blocked and I'm thankful. There is ZERO reason a company should allow it. I fully believe that if a worker isn't paid for a lunch break and he or she doesn't leave for lunch, then he or she should be able to browse the internet at lunch. News, weather, whatever. But social net needs not to be allowed. Its just stupid.
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