(Photo: Marike79 )

From the Associated Press:

Citigroup's "account sweeping program" automatically removed positive balances from customers' credit card accounts, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. said. For instance, if a customer double-paid a bill by mistake or refunded a purchase for credit, that positive balance was then taken from the customer without notification, Brown said.

The news stories that announced the settlement last week don't explain why the sweeping program was set up in the first place, or why it ran for so long. They do point out, however, that a whistleblower brought the program to the attention of an internal audit team in 2001, but that person was ignored and later fired.

One unnamed Citibank executive explains Citibank's position pretty succintly in the AG's press release:

In the words of a Citibank executive, “Stealing from our customers is a business decision, not a legal decision.” The same executive later said that the sweep program could not be stopped because it would reduce the executive bonus pool.

Citibank says it admits to no wrongdoing, although we're not sure how you can characterize pocketing overpayments and credits for yourself as crime-free.

According to the settlement (PDF), Citibank must identify all affected accounts and mail a notice via first class mail to the account holder's last known address, or to the person in charge of the customer's estate. You'll have to respond within 60 days of this notice, and then will be reimbursed the skimmed fees plus 10% interest. The bank has until June 1st, 2009 to refund the money.

"Citi pays $18M for questioned credit card practice" [Associated Press]
"Citibank Stole From 53,000 Customers" (Thanks to Claire!)
(Photo: Getty)

Anthony writes:

My name is Anthony [redacted], and I was just robbed at knifepoint in Queens, NY, for my iPhone. I was walking home fairly late at night and a man walked up to me wielding a 10-inch or so blade and demanded my money and my iPhone.

I am writing you because after reporting the robbery to the police, I called AT&T – my service provider for 3 years – and asked if they could possibly work with the NYPD to track down my phone via the iPhone 3G's GPS. They said it was not possible to track any closer than the closest cell tower if the iPhone's functions were used, which kind of defeats the purpose of GPS in many ways. Given the Patriot Act and everything, I figured they can track down where we're taking a piss at this point.

But the big problem came when we started talking about replacing my iPhone 3G. Now I was an early adopter of the original 8GB iPhone and I just purchased the iPhone 3G in July. So when I asked if there would be a free replacement or a discount of sorts, the woman at customer service responded that since I just purchased the iPhone 3G that I would have not qualify for the discounted $199 iPhone 3G and I would have to purchase the phone at the higher price point of $399.

So after being such a long time AT&T customer and supporter of Apple's marquee product of the moment, I have been told that despite the fact that I was robbed by someone brandishing what was essentially a mini-machete I am now being robbed by AT&T.

I feel insulted as a customer, and appalled by the customer service at AT&T. This is beyond poor customer service; this is a lack of basic human compassion.

It's a shame that you're stuck in a 2-year contract because of a phone that you now no longer have. Ugh! AT&T is probably a dead end, but if you bought the phone with a credit card, you might want to call your credit card company. Many credit cards have 90-day "purchase assurance" or "purchase protection" programs that protect your recent purchases from loss, damage or theft.

Most people don't think to call their credit card company when something like this happens, which is a shame because they can be very helpful, and certainly more pleasant to deal with than your cellphone company. Don't delay, however, once the 90-days is over, so is the coverage.

(Photo: jetsetpress )

• Carry On Valuables. Travel guru Peter Greenberg says there are two types of luggage: carry-on, and lost. Keep your valuables with you at all times.
• Don’t Need It? Don’t Bring It. Leave the nice diamond earrings and flashy bracelets at home.
• Pack Valuables In See-Through Bags. Put an extra layer between your valuables and crooked TSA wannabes so they don't have a reason to directly handle your rubies.
• Make Your Bag Screener Friendly. Beyond the clear bag, deter opportunistic thieves and secondary screenings by packing in layers so your bag will image cleanly.
• Don't Throw Loose Items Into Screening Bins. Stash your cellphone and keys in your bag before pushing it through the scanner.
• Don't Leave Your Bags Unattended. Is that your checked bag at the other end of the carousel with the Care Bears tag? Don't put down your carry-on to go look.
• Safes! Use safes wherever you go because they work.
• Trust Nobody. Don't believe tour guides who say it's safe to leave things unattended on a tour bus. It's not.

Amanda Hopkins used credit info from six customers to "make numerous purchases on their accounts" between October 2007 and April 2008. The local Fox affiliate says that Best Buy has issued the affected customers new cards and given them gift certificates.

"Las Cruces Best Buy Employee Accused Of Shopping With Customers' Credit Cards" [KFOXTV]
(Photo: Getty)

Adam says:

I've been mulling this one over for awhile, and by "this one" I mean what I want to do about my experience last week on Virgin America's anniversary flight from JFK to LAX. I flew out on one of the first last year and had an awful experience, which involved a four hour delay and a MacBook Pro power adapter that melted on me, and received a free flight as an apology. I really didn't mind the delay or the melted power adapter. Chances are it wasn't their fault as Apple makes crappy adapters, and they handled the delay very well. One year later it seems they've forgotten how to operate as an airline that serves its customers to the point that I've decided any compensation on their part would be unsatisfactory. Well, that's not entirely true, but it would involve cash and lots of it. But really I'd rather they get a bit of bad press and hope they change their ways. They should be the best airline around.

I got on the plane around 11:00am on Friday, August 8th. I didn't get off the plane for a little more than ten hours later. When we boarded we had a 30-40 minute delay that one should be accustomed to if they've ever flown out of JFK before, but by the time it was our turn to leave one of the air conditioning units broke. So, we went back. They figured it would take about half an hour to fix but quickly realized it would take much longer. They informed us we'd be let back into the airport to hang out in comfort but the messages stopped and the pilot went radio silent. The flight crew didn't know what was going on and no one was let off the plane for a good hour and a half. Those who were finally let off were not let back on. The rest of us, who stayed, ended up waiting well into the afternoon when the plane took off five hours late.

Fine, delays happen. However, you'd think during the delays that someone from the flight crew would have the opportunity to stock the plane with food. Apparently they were only able to grab a few sandwiches and chips. Being a vegetarian I could only have the chips. My fault for my abnormal ethics, I suppose, but they were almost out of sandwiches when they got to my row. I was in row 10. By my estimation, half the plane went without food. To their credit, they did have plenty of water. For ten hours most of us didn't eat or had very little. I always bring a few snacks on board just in case there isn't much to eat but nothing to survive for an entire day. Luckily I did bring plenty of entertainment because their entertainment system was down as well. We never got the free movie we were promised. Supposedly we were given a $25 flight credit none of us will ever use, but I haven't bothered to check.

All of this I can deal with. I had no intention of complaining. The whole event, thus far, was almost a blessing in disguise as I wasn't looking forward to being in Los Angeles and by the time the flight was over I couldn't have felt more glad.

Then I got my luggage. One of my bags had been ripped open. It could have easily been unzipped, but it was ripped. I'm not going to speculate as to how it happened but only my Apple TV and some DVDs were missing from the bag. No clothing or other small items fell out, oddly enough, but I wasn't in the cargo bay of the plane so I can't say whether or not it was stolen or simply lost via bag damage during the trip. Either way, I wanted someone to check and see if it had fallen out on the plane. I walked into the bag office and Joyce greeted me, before I said anything, with "all I can do is file a courtesy claim."

Throughout our conversation she continued to tell me there was nothing she could do when all I asked is that she call baggage and make certain they hadn't found any stray items. After half an hour she finally called, but this was long after her numerous accusations that I was trying to defraud Virgin America by claiming they stole my items. To be fair, those are my words and not hers. What she said to me was that her experience can rule out the TSA and airport employees so the only possible option is that it was my fault.

I asked her why she thought it was okay to accuse me and not them. She said, "you want me to accuse the TSA of stealing from you?" I told her "no, I don't want you to accuse anyone at all," at which point she decided to start filling out my claim. Throughout the process she asked me the same questions repeatedly. Given this is the sort of thing you do to a criminal I pretty much assumed she wanted to make sure I remembered my answers, but maybe she was just a complete moron. I feel I should give her the benefit of the doubt there. I could go on endlessly with examples of why this woman was horrible and cruel for no good reason other than what joys one might assume her job can bring, but I would like to mention one more thing. When I let her know which items were missing and how much they cost she laughed at me. She actually laughed at me.

I had a nice cab driver. The cab was cheaper than expected. Those are my silver linings. That and the plane didn't crash nor was anything else of value stolen or lost. What a great day. Thanks Virgin America.

Hey, why not let the DOT know about your baggage complaint? They keep track of that sort of thing. The TSA has admitted that it has a problem with theft. You should give them a heads up as well. Finally, when your baggage seems tampered with, you should report it to the airport authorities so they can investigate. A spokesperson from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport once said: "We find that people often make a claim for an item to the airline, but never report it to the airport or the police, and then we don't know that a theft problem is developing."

(Photo: Maulleigh )

He writes:

OK, so here we go! On or about July 25th, I called Sprint to complete a simple ESN swap. And for those who might not be of the gifted mind to understand what that is, it's simply a Phone Swap...going from one phone to the other. Now keep in mind that I already own both phones.
A Motorola Razr-2 and a SANYO 8400.
That means that I previously purchased them, and have decided to swap between one and the other.

Now I am already expired as of May 1st, 2008.

So after deciding that the RAZR-2 was utter garbage that I could not stomach any longer, I called Sprint's NO Customer Service, and informed that rep that I'd like to perform an ESN swap. Now keep in mind that this unintelligent rep never asked if it was a new or already owned phone. Just said ok....and proceeded to ask for the information.

So...needless to say... I went from the Motorola RAZR-2 TO the Sanyo 8400, which Sprint no longer sells, so it's not a NEW phone!

Lo and behold, just a few days ago, I received a letter from Sprint in the mail that says: "Keeping you in the know"...you've recently made some changes...etc..yadda yadda yadda. And along with that, on the right side of the letter , I notice that My CONTRACT has been extended.

Now keep in mind, I am ALREADY EXPIRED AS OF: MAY 1, 2008! So, what this excellent, educated and "well-trained" Sprint rep did was, RENEW my agreement, without telling me, without asking pertinenet information to make a decision as to renew or NOT renew. Just went ahead and got themselves a nice fat commission that I'm sure Sprint won't do anything to reprimand her for!

Just keep them exployed and working tirelessly, renewing unknowing customers all the time to get themselves false commissions!

I've stuck with Sprint since 20000, defended them against all kinds of craziness and even gone thru it previously with their "well-trained"reps, and I still stayed, but this is the last and I MEAN THE LAST GAWD DAMN STRAW!

My Account Number is: XXXXXXX
My Phone Number is: XXX-XXX-XXXX

I have already been assigned a few different case numbers, of which I have yet to have ANY of them resolved. I am tired of waiting to speak with someone. As quick as it took to extend my contract is as quick as it should have taken for it to be rolled back, but of couse they never help, or the reps never know what the hell they are doing, except for: giving mis-information and extending contracts falsely!

I want this issue resolved and I want BOTH lines on my account to be without contract for this hassle. I want some type of compensation that clearly and truely says I am sorry, and not from someones mouth.

If not, then let me out without obligation, financial or otherwise and I'll take the business to a more Realiable CORPORATION who knows how to run a business, called Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&T!

And to think I canceled my AT&T line to bring that over to my Sprint account, just to take advantage of the old SERO offer.

The only problems with at&t WAS THAT THEIR PRICES WERE HIGH AS HELL. Other than that, they beat Sprint in terms of Customer Satisfaction every step of the way. TIP TO SPRINT: Get these ghetto, non-educated, can't read, add, or subtract, low life people out of your company!

Sprint shouldn't hesitate to dissolve the unilateral contract extension if you call the special hotline they created for Consumerist readers at: (703) 433-4401.

(Photo: The Consumerist)

I pulled out of the lot, turned left, and I wasn't more than 200 yards away when a cop comes up behind me, lights flashing. I knew I couldn't have been speeding so I was genuinely confused. He said the woman at the United Dairy Farmers said I drove off without paying for gas.

Here's Chris' full story:

I had an interesting experience on Friday and a life lesson I think is worth passing onto other readers. On Friday I stopped at a United Dairy Farmers (local Cincinnati convenience store/ice cream parlor) to fill up while gas is relatively cheap. I pulled up to the pump, swiped my card, filled up, and paused before printing the receipt. Usually those things just end up wadding up in my pocket or under the seats of the car, but what the hell, I hit yes anyway. I then went inside to get a soft drink.

"Anything else?" the cashier asked. I said no, paid in change, and went back to my car. I pulled out of the lot, turned left, and I wasn't more than 200 yards away when a cop comes up behind me, lights flashing. I knew I couldn't have been speeding so I was genuinely confused. He said the woman at the United Dairy Farmers said I drove off without paying for gas. I said that was incorrect, and he said "She said it was a silver car, and she pointed at yours." I do drive a silver car, but I had paid for gas, and wait! I told the officer I had my receipt, and he wrote down the details: Amount, pump number, last 4 of my credit card, and the time. I also pulled out the credit card I paid with and my license, just to verify everything was on the up and up. He was cool about it, apologized, and I was on my way.

Lesson here is to always print that receipt out. I rarely check it against my statements now that I don't fill up as often. But without that 3x1 strip of paper I would have had a totally different story to tell. Needless to say I won't be taking my business to United Dairy Farmers anymore - being falsely accused of theft is a dealbreaker.

(Photo: Getty)

I opened a box I received from FedEx and pulled out of a couple of DVDs and then saw what looked like a rusty lid of something. At first, I thought nothing of it, since you can get DVDs packaged in all kinds of weird shit. I thought it might have been a fake film canister of some sort or...something. In retrospect, it might have been the Limited Edition Paint Can "This Old House: The Complete Series." But when I pulled it out I saw it was what you're seeing up there: an authentic $4.99 rusty gallon can of Satinwood Interior Latex Flat Wall Paint. (And please don't mock the wallpaper, it came with the house.)

I called the sender of the package and said, "What's with sending me a can of paint?"

He said, "What the hell are you talking about: a can of paint?" And you can guess where the conversation went from there.

It took a while for John to track down someone from FedEx to investigate, but apparently they're on the case now:

Regardless, the claims process is supposed to be underway, and FedEx Claims was helpful when I got them on the line—after they inexplicably transferred me to somebody who worked somewhere else within the company and had no idea why I was suddenly on their phone and then...on the second call they transferred me into their internal phonemail system, where I was prompted for my mailbox number. But anyway, the third call was fine. Let's just see how they react to this.

"Indiana Jones and the Satinwood Latex Flat Wall Paint" [Needcoffee.com]

We can't really blame Arthur for misreading DirecTV's past scrapes with bribery and thievery as a license to steal. To his credit, he apparently managed to show for a 9 a.m. Sunday appointment. Maybe the judge will see that as a mitigating factor during sentencing? He'll need all the help he can get: if convicted, Arthur faces between two and a half and seven years in jail.

TV installer allegedly swipes over 5G from Staten Island customer [Staten Island Advance] (Thanks to Todd!)
(Photo: brianc)

From ABCNews:

In court documents, federal prosecutors say UBS bankers helped set up many of the secret accounts in Liechtenstein and, overall, hid as much $20 billion belonging to US citizens.

"Sums are enormous and UBS appears to have been particularly aggressive in the way they marketed their activities in the US and elsewhere," said Christensen. "So UBS is extremely vulnerable to losing their license in the US."

One UBS banker, Bradley Birkenfield, pleaded guilty last month and admitted to smuggling cash and diamonds for Americans trying to hide their wealth from the IRS.

In federal court documents obtained by ABC News, federal prosecutors allege that Birkenfield's bank trained bankers traveling to the US in "techniques to avoid detection" by law enforcement authorities, "including training bankers to falsely state on customs forms that they were traveling into the United States for pleasure and not business".

There will be Senate committee hearing tomorrow and ABC says that "among those called to testify are foreign bank account holders, including one of the wealthiest men in Los Angeles," and that the tax dodgers could face criminal prosecution.

Hundreds of Super Rich Under Investigation [ABCNews]

A doctor at the hospital, William T. Kumprey, was tired of seeing Farnam.

Farnam had been to the hospital several times in the last month or so. He had used his fake heart attack routine at Silk — an exotic lounge — at several restaurants and while getting out of various cabs.

The doctor told Farnam he would call the police the next time he caught him faking the clutch of death to avoid paying his bills.

Farnam let it slip that he had, earlier that very day, after a hearty meal for which he did not pay, absconded to Froedtert Hospital.

The doctor called police.

The 52-year-old faces nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine if convicted.

Cardiac arrest: Man faked heart attack when dinner bill arrived [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

[The] undercover operation... at one point had Eastern European hackers chasing a female FBI agent through the streets of New York, trying to mug her for ATM-card-programming gear.

"Stakeouts, Lucky Breaks Snare Six More in Citibank ATM Heist" [Wired Threat Level] (Thanks to Robbie!)
(Photo: Getty)

Rebecca got one of those calls from her mother that everybody dreads. "Is there anything you think you should tell me?" her mother wanted to know. Rebecca's mom got a piece of junk mail with Rebecca's first name and her boyfriend's last name and was under the impression Rebecca had snuck off for a Vegas wedding. She hadn't. After Rebecca calmed her mother down, she tried to figure out how Rite-Aid, where both had worked for a time, had merged her name and her boyfriend's. When Rite-Aid gave her the run around, we advised Rebecca to try an EECB to get some answers. Read her email, inside.

To The Board of Directors:

Good Morning. I am sure you can help me with a little problem that I am having with your company.

Last Friday, my mother received a piece of mail from your company's current promotion regarding the "gas giveaway" if I switched my prescriptions to you. Annoying as any other piece of junk mail is, this one was particularly disturbing. It was addressed as:

Rebecca J*****
[redacted]
[redacted] CT

My mother called me where I live, in Vermont, and told me of the mail that I had gotten. It turns out, my last name isn't J*******, it's F*******. My boyfriend's last name is J*****, though. When she called me, she was extremely agitated and excited (and not in a good way), over the fact that I had gotten married behind their backs. My mother had just gotten out of the hospital with congestive heart failure and a massive infection, and the last thing that she needed was to be excited.

I spoke with one of your customer service representatives on Monday, and she assured me that I would get a call with someone from "corporate" yesterday. I waited all day without a call. She told me that the marketing comes from the pharmacy division. My boyfriend hasn't had a prescription filled at a Rite-Aid in two and a half years, the time we've been together.

We both worked together at Rite-Aid, but never once marked myself as being "connected" to him, except by address.

I cannot figure out how my first name got linked with my boyfriend's last name. Simply what I am asking for help with is to find out where this came from.

If you could help me, it would be greatly appreciated. I simply want to know where this name came from, so I can get it removed, and make sure it doesn't happen again.

And about the piece of mail? If your pharmacy can't even get my name right, and is linking me to other people I'm not even related to (yet), how can I trust them to get my prescriptions right? More than likely, I will never do anything personally identifiable with Rite-Aid again. I was once a loyal shopper, but if this problem cannot be solved, I may never shop there again.

Thank you for your time, and for reading my email.

Looking forward to your response,

Rebecca

It's one thing if a customer loyalty program gets confused about your name. Irritating, but unlikely to actually hurt you. It's another thing completely if the pharmacy decides you'd be better off married and starts sending junk mail to your mother's house in another state. If the pharmacy makes such an appalling, counter-intuitive mistake about what name to use on annoying junk mail, how badly are they going to screw up your prescription? If you're having trouble with Rite-Aid, the link with tips for sleuthing corporate contact information is here.

(photo: Clean Wal-Mart)

He writes:

I'm at a loss of words right now, the anger and hatred for Bank of America has tuned me into a raging lunatic. I have been on the phone with them twice now, asked to speak with a manager/supervisor and I'm still sitting here spinning my wheels.

This past week, I went out of town to visit with my family. At the start of that weekend my account had $68.39 in it. I went to a coffee house and spent $8.89 there across two purchases (one for me and one for my wife when she joined me afterwords $5.71 and $3.18 respectively). I also went and spent $12.00 on a car wash. That day I had a fit of allergies hit me so I went to the drug store and bought some drugs to help me which came to $19.89. This now brings my total weekend spending to $40.78 and all done on Saturday. This would mean that my account would now be at $27.61. After I got back (Tuesday), I had money from my savings transferred in (see the $420.00 transfer into my account). I then used my check card two more times on Wednesday (yesterday) which are still pending (see the $44.00 and $5.55 purchase both of which say "pending"). However I went into my account today (Thursday) only to find BofA has slapped me with 3 overdraft fees!

Knowing this had to have been done in error (and knowing that in the past BofA has had really great customer service) I gave them a call to point out the error of their ways and to correct my account. This is where I started to loose my sanity as BofA tries to explain how in fact the charges which are still pending brought my account to $18.84 and that the purchases I made over the last weekend caused my account to go over and in fact is why I have three overdraft fees. (Are you as confused as I am? Did BofA invent a time machine that they never told us about??)

Now they explained to me that when I make a purchase that purchase causes a "hold" on my account for that much (hence the Pending) and my account reflects that amount being taken out. Which makes since, I can understand that, but what I cannot understand is how a purchase I made in the "future" made it so that the purchases I made in the "past" cause my account to go over and thus I get three overdraft fees as apposed to one or in what I thought was my case, none.

Am I missing something here? I mean I never did take a class in quantum physics but I did get a B+ in Calculus and both me and my wife (who is a finance major and works as an auditor for a financial institute) cannot understand the math BofA is using here.

I have attached a snapshot of my bank statement so hopefully you can understand and maybe show me where the BofA math is coming from, because to me, I can't see it.

He later added:

Today I went into my local branch (where I opened my account) and talked with an Account Executive (the people above tellers that have offices, I think that's their title but I could be wrong). After I spoke with them and explained my situation, showed them a printout of my bank statement and also explained what BofA told me on the phone, they preceded to call their customer relations line and get the 411.

After the woman explained my situation to the lady on the other line, they told her something that she couldn't understand and thus handed me the phone so so they could explain it to me. The woman on the line proceeded to explain how the hold on the pending amount $44.00 and the charge for $5.55 made my account $10.00 so all remaining charges caused my account to go under and given an overdraft fee. She said this was because when you make a purchase the bank puts a hold on those funds until the receipt from the transaction gets mailed to them for verification.

I tried to explain to the woman on the line that using HER rules that would mean (minus the 420 I deposited into my account to counter act any of this happening) that only the 44.00 charge would have caused my account to go over and thus I should only be charged one overdraft fee and not three. She did not agree and kept reiterating the same thing she told me over and over again.

At this point I said I was done talking with her and handed the phone back to the Account Executive and she hung up on her. The Account Executive was very kind to me, she understood that there is no reason my account should be charged overdraft fees because it was never bellow zero in the first place. She went to her Bank manager and they agreed to pay me half of the fees back to me.

I can't knock the Account Executive or the Bank manager because they understood my situation and understood where I was coming from and did everything in their power to correct the situation. Granted if Corporate BofA had better policies or a calculator that can add and subtract properly I would have never needed to go to them in the first place.

All in all, I still would like the remainder of my money back but I feel somewhat vindicated that at least my local bank understood where I was coming from and did what they could to mend my wounds.

Jason is still out over $50 for Bank of America's error, and not an inch closer to understanding the bank's justification for its ludicrous charges. We're not ones for math, wormholes, or mathematical wormholes, but maybe one of you scientists can untangle Bank of America's convoluted logic. Publish your hypotheses in the comments for peer review.

You might have a harder time finding kosher meat in the coming weeks, because the country's largest kosher meat packing plant, Agriprocessors, was raided this past Monday. At least 300 of its nearly 1000 employees were arrested for using fraudulently obtained Social Security numbers, and immigration officials have said they expect the number to go as high as 700.

Agriprocessors is located in Postville, Iowa, which might seem like an odd place for the nation's largest kosher meat packing plant:

About 200 Hasidic Jews arrived in Postville in 1987, when butcher Aaron Rubashkin of Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood reopened a defunct meatpacking plant with his two sons, Sholom and Heshy, just outside the city limits. Business boomed at the plant, reviving the depressed economy while pitting the newcomers against the predominantly Lutheran community.

"Iowa meatpacking plant raided in ID theft investigation" [USA Today]

RELATED
"Immigration Authorities Arrest Hundreds in Raid on Nation’s Largest Kosher Meat Plant" [Forward]
(Photo: Getty Images)

From the Toronto Star:

Nicole Lilliman, 27, was fired yesterday from her Tim Hortons job for giving one of the 16-cent blobs of fried dough to a tot.

"I have been fired for giving a baby a Timbit," Lilliman said yesterday.

"It was just out of my heart – she was pointing and going `ah, ah...' I should have gone to my purse and got the change, but it was busy."

Lilliman, who has worked at the store for three years, said she thought little of the incident since Timbits are often doled out to dogs and children.

She said the baby was about 11 months old, and she gave her the treat to quiet her, since her mom – a Tims' regular – had been ``having a bad day."

"I could see (the dismissal) if it was a sandwich or something," she said. "But it was a Timbit."

Three managers greeted her yesterday, saying she had been caught on video giving free food to a child.

"They said, `Remember, Monday you gave out a free Timbit,' " she said.

"I had to think, then I was like, `Oh yeah,' and I smiled because I thought I'd get a warning."

Instead, she was fired for theft.

That's harsh, Tim Horton's. Very harsh.

Tim Hortons fires single mom over free Timbit [Toronto Star]

(Photo: FlyGuy92586 )

UPDATE: Hey, she's been rehired!"We're working with the store owner on this policy,” said a Tim Horton's spokesperson, calling Lilliman’s firing “an overreaction and not appropriate.”

My name is Matt [redacted]. Last week, I purchased a refurb iPod nano 4GB from apple.com for my mom for Mother's Day. Today, it was supposed to be delivered to my work. When I received the package, the seal was broken, and all that was in the box was the packing slip and the packing material. No iPod. It has been stolen by FedEx. I filed a claim with FedEx over the phone a few munutes ago.

What I need is for you to replace my iPod in time for me to give this to my mom for Mother's Day on Sunday 5/11/08. Please help. I am a loyal Mac user and have purchased several iPods in the past

We're not actually sure what effect emailing Steve Jobs will have in this case, but Matt's Mom... if you're out there... you have a very nice son who wants you to get your gift in time.

(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Here's MGD's email to us:

I wanted to advise your that the fraud charge from prophotosland.com is part of a massive fraud operation perpetrated by an organized crime syndicate operated from Eastern Europe. This long running multi-year fraud operation has been hijacking millions of dollars a year from consumers debit and credit cards, virtually undetected by the financial institutions. They utilize an elaborate scheme that takes advantage of several weaknesses in the merchant account vetting system. The criminal enterprise is driven by the ability to obtain vast amounts of consumer card data.
 
I have been tracking and documenting this crime syndicate for almost three years, and have several hundred hours of research into the project. prophotosland is a subdivision documented here:
 
"fraud: www.prophotosland.com & www.photogey" [dslreports]
 
However, the master story of the criminal enterprise is here:
 
"Ebook websites, fraud charges, Devbill/DigitalAge/Pluto" [dslreports]
 
A few months ago Shaun Waterman, the UPI Homeland and National Security Editor ran a story on one aspect of the case which was published here:
 
"Analysis: Detroit trial shows cyber-scam" [UPI.com]
 
Recent victims of this fraud have included US military personnel including many stationed in Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Germany. There has been many reported cases of hardship as a result of having to cancel their cards due to their location. There are numerous military victim reports on the net. The first reports began shortly after rangerjoes.com database was hacked by these criminals. Many of the overseas victims had purchased supplies from there before heading offshore. Military victim reports began to show up around here:
 
Military reports on main thread [dslreports]
 
and in numerous other places on the net. Mostly under searches of the phone numbers from the fraudulent sites as they were listed on the line item charges on the statements.
 
Regards,
MGD

I just noticed a charge for $9.87 on my WAMU VISA card from someone called prophotosland.com. I had no idea who or what that was, so did a quick google search hoping to jog my memory. What I found was quite a few websites complaining about the same mystery $9.87 charge from the same company and talking about how they couldn't manage to speak with any live person at said company.
 
So I skipped right to calling WAMU to report this fraudulent charge. The person I spoke to expressed no concern at my story and promised to send me a charge dispute form in the mail. I asked her if I should worry about the fact that this is clearly not an honest mistake and she said it was nothing to worry about unless they charge my account multiple times. I asked her what about the phenomenon of multiple people having the exact same fraudulent charge on their accounts and she said WAMU could do nothing about it.
 
I find it a bit ridiculous that I have to sit around waiting for her to put this form in the mail to me (as opposed to having something built into their website) and that I have to go to the trouble of "disputing" the charges from a documented fraudulent company. I don't expect to have any problem with the dispute, but it's still a bit irritating.
 
Anyway, you might want to warn your readers to look out for this $9.87 charge... it's small enough that I imagine people who use their cards often won't really notice the difference unless they're paying attention.
 
Thanks!
Megan

I too like other readers had signed up for this service. After a few months (and a few $14.95) charges, I decided their service wasn't worth it. I have no issue with the money spent, that is my fault..
 
However, when I went to cancel my monthly subscription, the first thing the operator asked for was my SSN... not the last 4, but the full SSN.. Why in the world would a company who's job it is to alert you to credit issues ask for something like that? I mean, one of their services they offer is related to identity theft.
 
But it gets worse...
 
After the CSR was able to (through some sort of magic or wizardry) pull up my account via my phone number, in oder to "verify" who I was, she wanted my mother's maiden name !!!! After being on-hold for 20 minutes while she escalated to a manger, the call was disconnected..
 
Can you imagine the audacity of a company who's job it is to "protect" your credit report and help with identity theft asking for full SSN and Mother's maiden name? Keep in mind, all I was trying to do was cancel a subscription to a credit monitoring agency I was able to register on-line with...
 
I then called back in, and this CSR was able to cancel my account with my phone number and birthday (yes, he too asked for my SSN and mother maiden name, but again, through some magic he pulled my account using other info. I will say, while he tried to up-sell me, (Sir, I realize you think this service is ineffective, but for only 29.95 a month you can add this service and get more info) and then tried to convince me that I still had some time left on my account, and I should call back closer to my billing date to make sure I got full utilization , I stood strong and insisted on canceling my account..
 
I think I will be checking my credit card to make sure they canceled it...

Tiffany writes:

I'm writing to you in hopes (just like Dustin at the military base, but possibly a little more desperate) that some day in the near future I can get my Xbox360 back.

I sent it to Microsoft to fix on January 5, 2008 and shipped it back to me on February 2, 2008; however, FedEx shipped it to my home address and I unfortunately couldn't sign for it because I was stuck at work. I requested that FedEx change the delivery address to my work address, but they said they couldn't without Microsoft's permission. I asked FedEx to hold it at the shipping center but it accidentally got returned to Microsoft's service center.

At that point, Microsoft had done no wrong, but this is where it starts to get frustratingly nightmarish. I contacted Microsoft who assured me that they would send the package back, this time to my work address where the package could be signed for during normal work hours; however, somewhere along the line, Microsoft decided I had stolen the Xbox from the original owner since it was suspicious that I was "opening two repair orders" in such a short time. Countless (I lost track after 10ish) phone calls were made to Microsoft customer support about my case in a fruitless battle to get them to send me my console back, but they kept dancing around the reason(s) they were refusing to send it back to me. Eventually, a customer service representative admitted that all along they were unauthorized and had no means to actually help me, so all the times they claimed a supervisor assigned to my case would contact me about my case were lies. They eventually coughed up an address to the Microsoft Legal Department and said if I sent a letter their way, they would help me out. She hinted that the reason corporate had put a hold on my console may be because they didn't believe I was the original owner, despite the fact that I sent them a copy of my receipt and credit card statement as bona fide proof of purchase.

My coworker had suffered similar bad luck with his console repair and also had to write the legal department several letters before finally receiving his console back, so I felt like I finally had a chance to get my missing console returned to me. I sent a letter to the Microsoft Legal Department and CC'd a copy to the Vice President of Consumer Affairs at Microsoft 22 days ago begging for at least a response to my letter. Thus far, my e-mail inbox has remained vacant and my phone has not rung with news from Microsoft.

At this point, I'm quite at the end of my line and know that contacting customer support would just wring what little humanity I have left out of my soul. I noticed last week you posted about Dustin's grief with Microsoft not sending him a box to ship his Xbox in for repairs and also provided some links to file a small claim and contact my attorney general. I'm wondering if you can assist me further in any way, or know of someone who can since you've mentioned that multitudes of people of submitted similar complaints. Being completely left in the dark as to why they won't send my Xbox back to me after four months is making me more than a little crazy.

Thanks,

Tiffany

You can try going even higher, straight to the top, and emailing big billg@microsoft.com, but reason apparently has no home at Microsoft.

Our advice to reader Dustin, who, after three months, still hadn't received a shipping box, was to speak with his credit card company, consider small claims court, and to launch the mighty Executive Email Carpet Bomb. Tiffany wants even more, a customer service weapon so powerful, so effective, that it hides beyond our conception. For that, we're going to turn this one over to you, our beloved and infallible Consumerists. Tiffany has reasoned, waited, begged, all without results. What should she do next?

PREVIOUSLY: It's Been 3 Months And 12 Days Since My XBOX Broke And Microsoft Still Won't Send Me A Box
(Photo: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com)

A lot of the data is old and potentially of little value—one hospital says the accounts it passed to the agency were all at least three years old or older. On the other hand, a gas company said that because it only had last known addresses on the accounts it handed over, it actually had no way of contacting the victims to alert them to the theft.

The agency president told the IndyStar, "We're obviously heartsick about this. We've been in business since 1972, and nothing like this has ever happened before." Responses from companies who had passed their customers over to the agency, however, varied from taking it seriously to regretting any inconvenience. We suspect they're not feeling too much concern for their non-paying clients.

"700,000 Hoosier IDs exposed after theft" [IndyStar] (Thanks to Deon!)
(Photo: Getty)

Dear Consumerist,

I stopped in my local East York Wal-Mart in PA on 3/22/08 around 12:00 pm to pick up an Easter gift for my daughter. I went to the electronics department to pick up the Rock Star video game for the PS3. They did not have any on the sales floor so I asked a sales associate named John if there was any in the back. John went to the back and brought one out. John told me that the purchase must be made in the electronics department. As if I would have walked out with it without paying for it. I guess this policy only affects the PS3 version of the game. If I wanted a 360 version I could have picked it up off the shelf and paid for it up front since I did have some other shopping to do.

No big deal I will just pay for it in the electronics department as I was told. So John rang me up and paid with a my signed credit card. I signed the signature pad at the register. John gave a brief glance to the back of my credit card and asked to see an ID.

A little bit about me: I have worked with credit card processing and acceptance for a government agency for several years. And also worked with law enforcement agencies in regards to credit card and identity theft. And also provided training to them on this very subject.

I know that the less personal information you give out in a store or online the less likely your credit card or identity will be stolen. So I have a State Issued ID what has my picture, my name, and my signature. Everything that is needed to confirm that is my card. But, all of the other info such as address, birth date, license number has been blocked out for security reasons and are not used to confirm the rightful card holder. Since some of those things can be used with the credit card number and CVS number to complete a fraudulent credit card transaction.

John told me "This is not a valid ID and you can not use it". I told him that was no where in any credit card processing agreement that asks you to view a persons address, DOB, or licensee number before completing a credit card sale. So he called over another sales associate and asked him. He said basically the same thing probably out of not wanting John to look bad. So I explained that I would be informing Wal-Mart headquarters about this to make sure this is their policy. John said "I will have to call a CSM". Now keep in mind that I already paid for the item and he at this would not give me back my credit card or ID.

After waiting around for about 5 minutes I made a decision that I now regret. I showed him another ID that had all my info on it. I just wanted get out of there and do the rest of my shopping. Now John tells me that since I will be calling Wal-Mart headquarters I have wait for a CSM. I was like "WHAT?" John will not give my credit card and 2 forms of ID back until he talks to a CSM. A few minutes later a CSM showed up and basically agreed with John. Then John said "since I showed another ID it was okay "

I regret giving up most of my personal information. I should have stood my ground. I did think about just leaving with my purchase and calling the police to get my credit card and ID back. But the police have better things to do.

Regards
Steve

(photo:SIRBERUS)

"Patients' Data Stolen, Hospital Says " [New York Times]
(Photo: alexstaubo)

One reader, Meiran, put it this way: "I'm rather impressed by their reaction, it seems like most modern companies would attempt to push this under the rug and pretend it didn't happen, leaving customers to wonder what those strange charges on their statements are."

According to Wikipedia, the company is mostly owned by McDonald's and Coinstar, so it's not like this is an example of a start-up that's never encountered the heavy hand of corporate influence. This means Redbox's board of directors intentionally chose to be proactive on the matter. They seem to have figured out something that lots of other companies still struggle with, which is that if you empower your customers to help protect themselves, they'll help protect you, too. We wouldn't be surprised if the next time a skimmer is detected, the alert comes from a customer who remembers Redbox's email.

"Redbox Security Alert - Credit Card Skimmer Attempt" [redbox](Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)

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We take you to the quiet Philadelphia suburb of Upper Moreland, PA where Eric W. Johnson is accused of stealing $28,000 worth of merchandise. Mr. Johnson was stealing all sorts of expensive stuff (examples include a $900 Troybilt Pony lawn tractor, a $1,099 John Deere lawn tractor, and six charcoal grills costing $169 each) and selling the items to friends for 1/2 off. He explained that he was "using his employee discount" to buy the items. Right. He even brought his unwitting accomplices to the store to help him shoplift.

Johnston was arrested March 21 for retail theft after store loss prevention employees, who had suspected him of stealing, caught him trying to remove a pallet with $1,033 worth of merchandise on it.

Employees saw Johnston talking to Bryan T. Gordon, 36, of Upper Moreland, in the store and then later take the pallet to Gordon's truck, which was parked near the contractors' entrance, said police.

Both Johnston and Gordon were detained, and police said they admitted that they intended to steal the items. Gordon was also charged with retail theft.

But Gordon paints a different story. He says he never knew Johnston was stealing from the store and had no intentions of stealing anything himself.

Gordon says Johnston, whom he knew from sometimes doing landscape work on his property, had asked if he could bring his truck to Lowes to pick up some heavy items Johnston had. Johnston also told Gordon that he could use his employee discount so Gordon could buy some bathroom tiling for half off the price.

"I thought everything was on the up and up," said Gordon. "This was poor judgment on my part."

As Johnston was about to load a skid of merchandise, including the tiling, into Gordon's truck, loss prevention employees came out and grabbed both of them.

"I'm embarrassed about the whole thing. I'm just sick to my stomach," said Gordon, who said he tried to explain the situation to police.

Police: Stolen Lowe's items sold to friends [PhillyBurbs]
(Photo:cmorran123)

• I Caught The Fraud Early: I dive into my accounts regularly, like Scrooge McDuck without the gold. I caught the charges the day after they cleared and quickly ended the theif's joyride. Once someone gets ahold of your card, they charge as much as they can before the credit line snaps.
• I Called My Bank: I immediately called my bank and reported the fraudulent activity. I asked them to cancel the card, issue a new one, and make sure no shady happenings were affecting my other accounts.
• I Filed A Fraud Alert: Just to be safe, I put a fraud alert in my credit file to make it difficult for anyone—myself included—to open new lines of credit. I filed the request online with Equifax, which then notified the other two credit bureaus. Filing a fraud alert also entitled me to a free copy of my credit report, which I requested.
• I Asked For Help: Sure, I'm a consumer advocate and I know how to handle these situation, but I'm also a forgetful yutz who can't remember what happened yesterday. To be sure I didn't leave anything out, I touched base with Ben, Meghann, and Chris. It turns out I did everything right, but there is never any shame in asking for help.
• I Was Grateful: This happened last Saturday, the Ides of March. Things could have been worse.

All in all, this isn't a biggie. I spent 45 minutes on the phone and relied on my backup card for a few days. I don't have debt collectors clamoring for buckets of cash and my credit isn't ruined. If this was bona fide identity theft, I would have used this post as a guide back to sanity.

Perversely, it was almost fun to use the tools I spend so much time writing about. It's something I hope none of you ever experience, but if you do, staying calm and knowing how to respond can make all the difference.

Something pretty bad happened to me the other week that ended up being pretty cool, and speaks well to the quality of customer service at my local Burlington Coat Factory.

I bought a couple of shirts and a sweater there, and after which went to continued shopping. Upon returning to our car, my wife and I noticed that our doors were unlocked and that the sack of clothes from Burlington were missing. Someone had reach their apparently skinny arms into the crack we left in the window and unlocked the passenger side door.

My immediate reaction was, "bummer, but at least nothing else was missing and no one got hurt." My wife, with over a decade of retail experience, knew that our best chance of getting the stuff back was to go back to the store and ask them to look out for someone trying to return the items. A security employee named Justin took my information and said he would give me a call if anything came up.

Sure enough, 8 PM that night, Justin called and said that my items were back in the store after someone, who was still in the store, had attempted to rerun them. Since I had used a credit card, he couldn't get cash, so he was trying to find something he wanted in exchange. Justin also informed me that they had called to Police.

Great! So, what happened? Sure enough, the supposed thief tried to book-it out of the store once he saw the cop, and was apprehended. After a short and pleasant phone conversation with officer Rutherford of Clackamas PD later that night to corroborate my story, I was informed that I could come retrieve my clothes the next day.

Has one of your shopping expeditions ever ended with a loss? Tell us what happened and how you responded in the comments.

(Photo: aturkus)

Tmobile is not budging regarding $1500 dollars worth of charges on a SIM card that was stolen from my lost phone and put into another device. Its so obvious the phone was stolen, my bill is typically $40 a month, the person took someone out of my "Fave 5" and put in someone named Mostofo. I called Mostofo who said he wants to help "find the criminal" but Tmobile says they don't really care about the fact that it was stolen, that I owe the total amount regardless. Super annoying! Anything I can do? I get that Tmobile says, until I officially report it stolen I'm responsible for the charges, I just think that's ridiculous when its SO obvious the charges aren't mine.

That's a tough one, that is most cellphone company's policy. The only thing we can suggest is raising a ruckus with this contact information in these posts, "Email Tmobile Executive Customer Service" and "Contact Tmobile Executive Customer Service. Maybe they will go halfsies on it. Or you could move to California and become an AT&T customer. Until the laws change, cellphone companies will continue to make a profit on calls made by thieves and unauthorized users, at your expense. Credit card companies have fraud detection and mechanisms, how about some for cellphones?

(Photo: JasonJT)

"People were looking at an incredible number of accounts," Joan Shafer, WE Energies' vice president of customer service, said during a sworn deposition last year. "Politicians, community leaders, board members, officers, family, friends. All over the place."

Her testimony came in a legal case involving an employee who was fired in 2006 for repeatedly accessing information about her ex-boyfriend and another friend. An arbitrator in November upheld the woman's firing. The AP reviewed testimony and documents made public as part of the case.

The misuse came to light in 2004 when an employee helped leak information to the media during a heated race for Milwaukee mayor that a candidate, acting Mayor Marvin Pratt, was often behind in paying his heating bills. Pratt lost to the current mayor, Tom Barrett.

Pratt said he's convinced the disclosure cost him votes and unfairly damaged his reputation. Pratt said he recently met with top company executives and was satisfied it has stopped the problem as much as possible. He said he has dropped earlier plans to explore a lawsuit.

Worker snooping on customer data common [AP]

He writes:

Either way, I'm just a college kid who draws for fun. I don't know what to do, what step to take next or even if I'd have enough support to really make these guys realize what they're doing. I realize that this situation could possibly be a result of art scouts giving the corporation designs without really crediting anyone (and, as a result, not be any fault of the company themselves), but I feel like this deserves an explanation or an apology at the least. Maybe even compensation, since they seem to be making a Swiss mint on these things.

You know, I didn't expect it to happen, but things actually did end up with (somewhat of) a happy ending. I managed to get back in touch with the head of Manches, the guys that do administrative or production or whatever for All Saints, and we managed to work out a settlement.

Because they deal with plagiarism of their stuff a lot, they were apparently very receptive and sympathetic. Apparently, designers get about 2 - 3 percent of the profits in royalties. I managed to squeeze 7.5% out of them. So, that equals out to about $2,400 with the weak dollar.

Long story short, I've licensed the design to them for this run, and I'm still in ownership of it.

All in all, they were kind to me about it - however, from what I hear, them paying me wiped out all of their profit on these shirts. Should teach their designers a lesson!

Your website continually runs stories about how merchants aren't allowed to ask for ID during a credit transaction. I work on the management team at a nationwide retailer, and credit card fraud occasionally hits our location. Every so often, we are hit with something called a 'retrieval request' from one of the big 4 credit authorization companies (Discover, AMEX, MC, Visa). This means we have 48 hours to provide a legible signed receipt, and video evidence of my staff checking a photo ID to verify the cardholder.

If we are unable to verify that my staff checked the ID of the cardholder, we are hit with a 100% chargeback to our account. That's right, they charge back the entire amount, because WE DIDN'T CHECK ID. Thusly, I have informed my staff to check photo ID on ALL TRANSACTIONS, as I am tired of dealing with bad debt. If a customer will not provide ID, I will not take their payment. I am not sure what merchant agreement your readers keep referencing, but this simply isn't true. How can I not check ID, per their agreement, and yet still be held liable for passing a stolen credit card? I would rather lose a customer than lose thousands of dollars in chargebacks every month. Just my two cents.

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(Photo: Brett L.)