Archive for the 'Fraud' Category

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Inexpensive Pens With Good Ink

Published on August 1, 2007 in Fraud, Handwriting and Report Writing. 2 Comments

Normally I don’t use inexpensive pens, but lately I have found three inexpensive pens I now use for work and when I am travelling due to the good ink they contain. They are the Pilot G-2, Pilot G-TEC-C4, and now the uni-ball 207.

My current favorite, the uni-ball 207, uses an ink that contains color pigments which are absorbed into the paper fibers. The ink is in effect trapped on the paper fibres and can’t be washed off, as some forgers do to alter cheques. Refills are available. Uni-ball 207 is sold worldwide in stationery and office supply stores and other outlets. Mike Shea did some interesting tests of the ink in the uni-ball 207 and the G-2 and three other inks. The G-2 survived water but not soap and bleach. The uni-ball ink survived all the tests.

The Pilot G-Tec-C4 or the G-TEC-C writes with a very fine line. I use it for corrections and margin notes. They are so thin they write like mechanical pencils. The G-TEC-C seems to have a more durable ink, but it is hard to find in North America.

If your handwritten records have to survive intact for a long time, then you have to carefully consider the ink used to produce them. It seems I’ll be using the uni-ball 207 a lot more from now on.

Craigslist Ad Hoax Leaves House Stripped Bare

Published on April 16, 2007 in Fraud and Security. 0 Comments

Laurie Raye, a property owner from Tacoma, Washington was recently the victim of a phoney ad on Craigslist that invited the public to come in and freely strip the house of its contents and fixtures. The advertisement was on the Craigslist website for two hours before being pulled. Unfortunately, that was long enough for the vultures to find the house and pick it clean.

Its not uncommon to find all sorts of scams on Craigslist, but this takes the misuse of Craigslist to a new level.

The Pretext

Published on April 11, 2007 in Fraud, Identity Fraud, Methods and Private Investigator. 0 Comments

We hear a lot about the ‘evils’ of ‘pretexting’ in the media lately. If you want to avoid complications involving the use of pretexts, follow my three simple rules.

The three rules:

1. Do not personate a living person.

2. Do not personate a representative of any existing company (or business) or anything to do with government.

3. Do not cause anybody to be concerned for their own safety or the wellbeing of any person, business, company, or property.

I Was a Cybercrook for the FBI

Published on February 25, 2007 in Fraud, Identity Fraud, Identity Theft, Privacy and The Investigator's Computer. 0 Comments

For 18 tense months, a computer-savvy grifter named David Thomas runs a thriving online crime hub for bank heists, identity theft and counterfeiting, with the FBI paying the bills. Part one of a three-part series by Kim Zetter.

This is an excellent look into how Internet savy crooks go about their business.

LINK

Microsoft Wins $700,000 in Canadian Case

Published on February 19, 2007 in Courts, Fraud and Intellectual Property Rights. 0 Comments

The Federal Court of Canada has recently awarded Microsoft Canada Co. the highest statutory damages in an intellectual property case in the country.

The court’s decision directing Inter-Plus Inc., a Montreal-based software reseller, to pay Microsoft a total of $500,000 in statutory damages and $200,000 in punitive damages was called “ground breaking” by software industry insiders.

LINK 

Fraudster’s Protection Plan

Published on February 9, 2007 in Courts and Fraud. 0 Comments Tags: .

Most Canadians, at least the honest ones, don’t understand that arrest warrants are usually limited to the issuing province for most offences. Only serious violent offences result in a Canada-wide warrant.

The mobile offender need only move to another province, not another country, to evade prosecution or jail.

Only in Canada you say–Pity