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?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
Lala said 6:06PM on 1-28-2008
I am shocked that Terrence O' Brien would make the kind of statement that "If you're an inhabitant of sub-Sahara Africa, maybe you'll pull the plug first". This is very rude. Switched.com should be ashamed of themselves because it is people like them who had to all of the negative stereotypes of Africa and Africans. Little does he know, but Africa is much more technologically advanced when it comes to cell phones than the U.S. Being in its proximity to Asia, Africa gets its cell phones when they come out unnlike the U.S. who does not get its "new" phones until a year or two after they come out.
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AJ said 7:39PM on 1-28-2008
Lala get a grip on reality. Switched.com is only reporting a story, with speculation as to the cause of the fire that killed this unfortunate young man. Don't shoot the messenger because you don't like the message. There is no doubt, that Africa is a sesspool. It's infested with corrupt government officials on all levels. There is genocide in Sudan, starvation in several nations, slavery in many rural ares, and abject poverty is pervasive. Negative sterotypes are not Africa's problem. Their tribal system, which segregates their populations along ethnic lines is the root cause of most of their problems. When one tribe is in power, they un-mercifully take retribution on enemy tribes. Many of the grudges date back hundreds of years, but it's never too late for them. The entire continent is in the 3rd world and bad journalism or rudeness by a switched.com writer isn't causing it. It's not rude to give your opinion which is largely based on facts. If Ghana is such a great place, why don't you take your family and move there? I bet you there is no way in the world you would do it. Possibly b/c you know they would slit your throat if you are "not one of them." You can't put lipstick on that pig. And by the way, I'm black and I have a degree in political science. I have taken a few religious conflicts classes and African comparitive politics. So I am very well versed in African politics and their challenges. My statements have nothing to do with racism, just reality.
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Mia said 7:40PM on 1-28-2008
That is so very sad to happen. My cell phone instructions are to turn the phone off while charging. I have forgotten to turn it off, but have never had someone call while charging it. I hope we will all be more careful from hearing this tragedy.
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jackie said 6:23AM on 1-29-2008
I agree with you Lala. I thought the same thing.
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jackie said 6:28AM on 1-29-2008
AJ, what does that have to do with a man dying bc of his cell phone?
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miche said 8:13AM on 1-29-2008
AMEN, A.J.!!! (On SO many different levels).
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Angie said 11:22AM on 1-29-2008
Lala, reread the story, it said it was probably faulty wiring, not the cell phone. They may get better cell phones because of their proximity to better technology, but they are in a war torn country, and I seriously doubt they have the best of wiring in their houses and communities.
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informed consumer said 11:28AM on 1-29-2008
get the full story at this link...
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/techno/cellcharge.asp
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Sun Dance said 11:32AM on 1-29-2008
All
As an electrician, I will weigh in on this....... My personal experiences with Africans who want to "save" $ (I live in the middle East) is that they do clone good stuff and pass it off as original. From an intellengence view, the shock had to come from the grounding side of the device. Either it was wired bad in the charger or the feed wiring was possible reversed and that is the most common problem in these situations.
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mfaust068 said 11:47AM on 1-29-2008
AJ....I couldn't have said it better myself...I agree 100 %!!!!
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James said 11:48AM on 1-29-2008
Something to think about, the voltage coming into the phone should be DC voltage, and less than 12. My phone only has a 5 volt input. How do you get electricuted with 12V DC? Can't blame the phone manufacturers.
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Em said 11:50AM on 1-29-2008
was there any need for the picture? That's a little disturbing...
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real african said 11:50AM on 1-29-2008
AJ is a moron.You will never see an Irish american or Italian american says such negative things about their ancestral land. Every group of people have their problems.Hope you never visit any part of Africa. I am very successful financially in america even though i came from Africa but i have not questioned the reason behind the many black people who sleep all day and blame the white man all the time. Bob marley said in the abundance of water the fool is thirsty and thats so true about AJ and his people. I hate the history of slavery but AJ one guy africans dont regret selling you into slavery.GOOD RIDDANCE.
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ellesee1202 said 11:50AM on 1-29-2008
Even in America, our cell phones can do the same things. There are warnings in your instruction manual not to answer it while it's charging. I have a Verizon phone and the front 3 or 4 pages of the manual are warnings... so just don't answer the phone on charge!
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tmc said 11:53AM on 1-29-2008
Darwinism meets new technology.
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kelli meiann said 11:54AM on 1-29-2008
I sorry but Lala is right we all know that they are poor in Africa but the comments he made are border line racist... " If you live in Africa pull the plug..." this is 2008 I would hope the story could just be about the facts not your perspective or your views... this is the kind of perceptions that the world gets of Americans and this is probably why they hate us so much...
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kelli meiann said 11:54AM on 1-29-2008
To aj if its so bad then DO SOMETHING.... I absolutely hate when people criticize something that they do not intend to fix... if you don't like it SHUT UP ABOUT IT...If you can't say something nice say NOTHING... Yes we know its horrible whats going on in Africa but really its no Worse than America... We have So many new laws that take away our power as individuals and give it strictly to the Government.. All the laws on Terrorism.. I advice you to take a closer look because if you don't wake and see where they are heading... we are going to be another CUBA by 2012 when they enforce this new national ID card... I wish American could really see whats going... 9/11 was planned... they have so much proof... your government planned to ease us into dictator ship and its eliminating all enemies who could potentially help the us citizens when they wake up and realize whats really happening... If you have doubts I advise you to check out how many people were on the planes that flew into the towers... look at those who were to fly but were advised by our government not to fly on sept. 11. check out the president reactions... check out the other buildings that collapsed and were not even remotely close.. check out who owned the "collapsed building" see how much he made in insurance... Really learn about our new terrorism laws... see how were fighting to keep the Mexicans out... where will we have to go if we ever need to evacuate America? WHO WILL COME TO OUR AID?
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tmc said 11:54AM on 1-29-2008
Darwinism meets new technology
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poppop said 12:28PM on 1-29-2008
LALA-YOU NEED AN EDUCATION.THE US IS FAR MORE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY WISE THEN AFRICA,THAT IS THE MOST STUPIDST THING I HEARD ALL YEAR-IDIOT!!!!
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rose said 12:29PM on 1-29-2008
I tend to agree with the writer. I use my cell phone in my work and am on it all day. It needs a charge every other day so every other day for the past ten years I have answered my cell phone at least 20 times and have never gotten so much as a little shock. It may have been a defective phone or as the author said, the house wiring may have been to blame. I hope an investigation occurs so that if a party is to blame for this tragedy they can be made to pay.
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