thieves

How To Scare Off Thieves By Making Your Home Seem Occupied
By Phil Villarreal on January 13, 2011 12:00 PM  
If Home Alone taught us anything, it's that even the most determined burglars get a little freaked out when it appears there's activity going on at a targeted house. Not all of us have the wits of a young Macaulay Culkin and access to life-sized, mechanized Michael Jordan cutouts, though. More Â»

(jiazi)

How Often Is Your Car Model Stolen?
By Chris Walters on August 3, 2010 8:00 AM  
The Highway Loss Data Institute keeps track of insurance claims for stolen cars, and it's just released a list of the highest and lowest insurance claims for auto theft for 2007-09 models. The winner is the Cadillac Escalade luxury SUV, followed by the Ford F-250 pickup—both of these vehicles have a relatively high claim frequency and high average loss payment per claim of $9,600-$11,000. On the other end, the Mini Cooper and Toyota Sienna 4WD are infrequently stolen and have average loss payments of around $2,000. More Â»

Thief Steals iPhone While Victim Is Participating In GPS Tracking Demo
By Chris Walters on July 22, 2010 1:02 PM  
On Monday, a man in San Francisco rode his bike up to a woman holding an iPhone and snatched it out of her hand, then took off. What he didn't know was that the woman had just walked out of her company's office to test a new GPS program that provides real time tracking. She went back inside, gave the police location updates over the phone, and man was arrested a half-mile away, reports the San Francisco Chronicle's Crime Scene blog. More Â»

Sprint Employees Fired For Capturing Apple Store Shoplifter
By Chris Walters on April 28, 2010 2:20 PM  
Two employees at the Sprint outlet at Cherry Creek Shopping Center, where that iPad customer had his pinkie ripped off by a criminal earlier this month, were fired for chasing down and holding a different shoplifter one day later. More Â»

Grocery Store Manager Loses Job For Recovering Stolen Purse
By Laura Northrup on July 28, 2009 12:00 PM  

—>It's all well and good to be a hero. Just, if you're an employee of a Randalls grocery store, do it on your own time. That's what an employee at their Round Rock, Texas store learned when he was fired for recovering a customer's stolen purse.  More Â»

Help, Baggage Screeners Stole My Underwear!
By Carey Alexander on July 19, 2009 4:00 PM  

—>Careful travelers, there's a panty-stealing baggage screener lurking in San Francisco's international airport, according to reader Ari, whose girlfriend lost eight days worth of underwear on a recent trip.  More Â»

Never Pack Your Jewelry In Checked Baggage
By Chris Walters on July 3, 2009 4:25 PM  

My suitcase had been opened, my jewelry bag unzipped, and my fine jewelry (gold, diamonds, sapphires) had been hand picked out of the jewelry bag and the inexpensive jewelry (plastic, glass, metal) left strewn across my belongings inside my suitcase.  More Â»

8 Ways To Ward Off Thieves While Traveling
By Carey Alexander on August 23, 2008 2:00 PM  

—>The summer travel season might be winding down, but that won't stop thieves from trying to paw your precious valuables. Keep them at bay with the following eight tips...  More Â»

Disgruntled Computer Technician Outs Super-Rich Tax Cheaters To The IRS
By Meg Marco on July 15, 2008 8:34 PM  

—>U.S. law allows whistleblowers to collect 30 percent of any taxes recovered as a result of their information, and it seems that one disgruntled computer technician is taking advantage of the program. Meet Heinrich Kieber, a nefarious criminal-type turned "good guy" who will be testifying in front of the "Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Thursday via a video statement from a secret location," according to ABC News. Mr. Keiber is from Liechtenstein, a tiny country with very secretive banking laws. He stole banking information that showed how the world's super-rich were skirting their countries tax laws. Keiber then sold the information to tax authorities in 12 countries, including the U.S, hence the whole "secret location" thing.   More Â»

Here's a new excuse for bad service: AT&T is being plagued by copper thieves in Tennessee. The thefts of copper cables "has caused disruptions to voice and data communications, as well as emergency calls, company officials said." [The TennesseanMore Â»

Microsoft Keeps Your Repaired XBox For 4 Months, Calls You A Thief For Wanting It Back
By Carey Alexander on April 19, 2008 6:05 PM  

—>Microsoft hasn't returned Tiffany's XBox 360 for four months because they think she is a thief, even though she has her original receipt and a credit card statement proving that she is the console's rightful owner. Microsoft repaired the XBox back in January and tried to return it via FedEx, but a shipping snafu landed the box back at Microsoft's service center. Tiffany has called repeatedly. She even sent a letter to Microsoft's legal department, after sending her receipt and statement, asking how else she could prove ownership. That was 22 days ago. She has yet to receive a response.  More Â»

As gas prices rise, fuel thieves come out of the woodwork. [Houston ChronicleMore Â»

Recover Stolen Purchases Without Breaking A Sweat
By Carey Alexander on March 15, 2008 4:25 PM  

—>Lars writes:

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.  More Â»

All Saints Apparel Plagiarizes Shirt Design From Gaming Site 4 Color Rebellion
By Carey Alexander on February 23, 2008 1:21 PM  

—>Posh London retailer All Saints Apparel plagiarized a shirt design from the gaming site 4 color rebellion. The site originally unveiled the 'You Complete Me' tetris-heart figure for Valentine's Day in 2006. Designer Mitch was surprised to find that All Saints had plastered the exact same design on a shirt selling for £40—that's like, $90! Mitch asked All Saints for an explanation, which was enough to prompt a decent resolution.  More Â»

Court Rules "World Yacht" Can Be Sued For Not Distributing Gratuities To Its Servers
By Chris Walters on February 19, 2008 12:34 AM  

—> "Hold on," you say to yourself—"If it's a gratuity, doesn't that by definition mean it goes to the wait staff?" Not if you're a server for World Yacht, a "luxury dining fleet" in Manhattan that will now be sued by its employees for slapping automatic gratuities on diners' bills, then keeping the extra money for itself. New York labor laws require "employers to pass on to workers any payments that customers understand to be tips," but World Yacht argued that the banquet industry was exempt, and its servers should get nothing. Thanks to last week's ruling, the employees can move forward with their suit.  More Â»

Minimize Your Risk Of Theft While Shopping
By Chris Walters on November 23, 2007 10:25 PM  

—> The Seattle PI has a report on car prowls at malls while victims are inside shopping, and some advice on how to minimize your risk. Never leave anything of value in your car, and don't assume that by throwing a coat over it you'll disguise it. Instead, put it in the trunk.   More Â»

Safeway DVD Kiosk Comes With Credit Card Skimming Device
By Carey Alexander on November 4, 2007 7:24 PM  

—>Crafty identity thieves attached a credit card skimming device to a DVD kiosk at a Colorado Safeway. The 2-inch skimming device was discovered only after a customer asked a Safeway employee for help after his card wouldn't scan.  More Â»

Use Rust Stickers To Make Your Stuff Seem Like Junk?
By Meg Marco on September 22, 2007 12:57 AM  

—>Here's a clever idea: Rust stickers that you can apply to your car or bike to make it seem crappy... even though it's secretly awesome.  More Â»

CellHut Can't Understand That You Didn't Order The iPhone, Thieves Did
By Carey Alexander on September 16, 2007 12:55 PM  

—>UPDATE: CellHut disagrees with this version of the events, writing, "Mr. Laurence has played this dirty game to cheat small businesses and to get away from a sudden price drop on the iPhone, which are sold as final sale at Cellhut.com." They threaten various legal hijinx.  More Â»

Thieves Snatch Hilton's Mother's Day Goodies
By consumerist.com on May 16, 2006 3:12 PM  

—>Leave it to Paris Hilton to teach us the value of handmade gifts for Mother's Day.  More Â»