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?
Late last year, we reported on news that an amazing 82 percent of Americans owned cell phones, with 250 million of the things in use. Now comes an Associated Press (AP) report that says that three out of 10 Americans either prefer their cell phone or rely on it exclusively.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
zargon said 1:27PM on 5-14-2008
There no point for my wife and I to have a landline, it would be a waste of $30-$40 a month.
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mary said 6:07PM on 5-15-2008
i have both home phone and cellphone. when my home phone service was out, i use my cellphone. unfortunatly, it was on a $20 pre-paid calling card plan, and my phone ran out of minutes when i tried to call one of my friends back. so i had to go to a cellphone store near my home. and asked to use one of their cellphones since they also lost their landline service too. but when i finally got home an hour and a half later, my phone rang. my service was back on.....so always keep a cellphone handy in case you lose service to your home phone.
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FLILGUY said 11:11PM on 6-08-2008
I have a land line phone I prefer the sound quality. I have a Tracfone I take with me when I travel out of town, or need to make a call at work. It uses a local cell company. If I need to talk a lot it can cost more than I wish to pay, but normally I always have extra minutes that carry over.
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Will said 8:47AM on 1-25-2009
A related report was published (see www.newmillenniumresearch.org/archive/Sullivan_Report_032608.pdf )
discussing this very issue.
More Americans are switching to cell for emergency use or business and more people are ditching their landlines.
Especially in lower income groups people are more likely to rely on (prepaid) cell phones. Prepaid cell phones are proving to be a cost effective way of running small businesses and just generally staying in touch.
Added to this is the emergence of programs like SafeLink wireless, where people receive subsidized Tracfones if they qualify, based on income.
This certainly pushes the balance even further towards cell phone only households.
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