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California jogger Sherri Papini staged own violent kidnapping, FBI says​

News story

Bloody Hell! This romanticising of, and aspiration to, victimhood has to stop, people like her just make it far worse for the real victims in this world. "Kidnapped" herself, cut off her hair, beat herself up, etc. And blamed two fictional "Latina women", so racist to boot!
It's very rare. Papini seems mentally disturbed and nobody who knew her believed she'd come to harm.
 
It's very rare. Papini seems mentally disturbed and nobody who knew her believed she'd come to harm.
Desperate plea for attention, I suspect. I've known a handful of people who've pulled similar type of stunts, albeit not on that scale. I find it really sad, except for the huge waste of authorities' resources in investigating these made up incidents. At least one of the people I knew got the help they needed though, which was nice.
 
Desperate plea for attention, I suspect. I've known a handful of people who've pulled similar type of stunts, albeit not on that scale. I find it really sad, except for the huge waste of authorities' resources in investigating these made up incidents. At least one of the people I knew got the help they needed though, which was nice.
Exactly. They're not doing it for fun, infuriating as it is.
 
I can't remember if I've spoken of this bloke on here before or not.

I was newly single and branching out into the world of dating again, when I was put in contact (can't remember how now. Small ad?) with a man. We corresponded for a while and spoke on the phone, before I found myself being invited to his house (yes, yes I know, look, I was younger then...). He'd told me about how he worked in some form of the Secret Service, guarding members of the Saudi Royal family etc etc, how he had a villa in France, but had moved back to live in Leeds for a while. I remember thinking at the time that it was a bit odd that he was telling me all about his 'security' work, but obviously, as he was also a spy (!) he couldn't go into any details about what his work involved. I rang him once and was slightly surprised to catch him at home - I asked why he wasn't at work and he spun me a story about how he had flu and was unwell so couldn't go to work.

His house was a surprise. It was furnished exactly like an old lady's. His bedroom was exactly like that of a single man who lived with his mother. I got a long and involved story as to why it looked like that - he was renting as he'd sold his own real house and was looking for somewhere else to live. He made lots of 'I'd love to move in with you' noises (we'd known each other about a week....) He offered to show me his performance car, and told me that I could see it if I looked through the window of the garage of the house next door. He also started going on and on about how his lease was about to expire and he wasn't going to have anywhere to live, until I pointed out that he could go and live in his 'French villa'.

Of course, by now I'd started to work out that this guy was either a terrible liar or a complete fantasist. From his insistence that he was going to move in with me, I'd go for desperate fantasist, unemployed and living with his parents. And he was shockingly bad at the lying, although he'd got his stories ready, there was little to no internal consistency and any sensible questions were deflected with 'I'm not allowed to talk about that', even though he'd already told me!

It was my first introduction to the world of men who really want to be someone else and it was quite an eye opener. And also the world of men who think they will latch on to a woman who is stupid enough to believe their lies...
Sounds like the character called Kirk St Moritz from the sitcom Dear John!
 
I once knew a bloke who pulled a few scams and cons in the early days of the telecoms boom and I am ashamed to say I had a small part in one of them!
Remember the days of the Dial A ... lines? He had quite a few, one being a Dial a Tip for horse racing. He had a line set up connected to 6 answerphones. Each day he would pick a race that had 6 runners. Each answerphone message would last about 5 or 6 minutes, eventually revealing the tip at the end. Of course, each answerphone had a different horse! Those that got the winner would obviously ring again (perhaps even tell their mates), maybe the ones that got the second placed horse as well. My part in all this was that I had a computer based horse racing prediction program and I provided him with loads of print outs that he used to convince BT that his tipping line was providing a service!
Another one he had was an astrology line that was advertised as £10 a minute (BT rules were that the cost of the call had to be advertised). He dressed up as a motorcycle courier and drove around London offices with a package. He would walk into reception and tell them he had a package for Mr X. When the receptionist couldn't find the person he would ask to use the phone to call his dispatcher as the battery on his mobile had run out (remember the big brick ones?). He would have a 3 or 4 minute 'conversation' with his astrology line then apologise to the receptionist saying his dispatcher got the wrong address and move on to the next one!
 
Another one he had was an astrology line that was advertised as £10 a minute (BT rules were that the cost of the call had to be advertised). He dressed up as a motorcycle courier and drove around London offices with a package. He would walk into reception and tell them he had a package for Mr X. When the receptionist couldn't find the person he would ask to use the phone to call his dispatcher as the battery on his mobile had run out (remember the big brick ones?). He would have a 3 or 4 minute 'conversation' with his astrology line then apologise to the receptionist saying his dispatcher got the wrong address and move on to the next one!
No he didn't, the highest premium rate tariff was £1.50 a minute.
 
I once knew a bloke who pulled a few scams and cons in the early days of the telecoms boom and I am ashamed to say I had a small part in one of them!
Remember the days of the Dial A ... lines? He had quite a few, one being a Dial a Tip for horse racing. He had a line set up connected to 6 answerphones. Each day he would pick a race that had 6 runners. Each answerphone message would last about 5 or 6 minutes, eventually revealing the tip at the end. Of course, each answerphone had a different horse! Those that got the winner would obviously ring again (perhaps even tell their mates), maybe the ones that got the second placed horse as well. My part in all this was that I had a computer based horse racing prediction program and I provided him with loads of print outs that he used to convince BT that his tipping line was providing a service!
Another one he had was an astrology line that was advertised as £10 a minute (BT rules were that the cost of the call had to be advertised). He dressed up as a motorcycle courier and drove around London offices with a package. He would walk into reception and tell them he had a package for Mr X. When the receptionist couldn't find the person he would ask to use the phone to call his dispatcher as the battery on his mobile had run out (remember the big brick ones?). He would have a 3 or 4 minute 'conversation' with his astrology line then apologise to the receptionist saying his dispatcher got the wrong address and move on to the next one!
Presumably he got the idea of the horse thing from a Minder script. Arthur Daley was the originator!
 
These men ran a major con in Arkansas, claiming they were going to build a wind farm using a revolutionary type of wind turbine. They're now been convicted and sentenced to prison terms.
Men sentenced for fraud, money laundering in Elm Springs wind farm scheme

Two men convicted of defrauding investors in a failed Elm Springs wind farm project and the development of a wind turbine that was never built were sentenced to federal prison and ordered to pay more than $1.1 million in restitution ...

Jody Douglas Davis and Phillip Vincent Ridings were charged with nine counts of wire fraud, aiding and abetting wire fraud, money laundering, and aiding and abetting money laundering. A federal jury found both men guilty on all counts Sept. 3. ...

Both Ridings, who conceived of the wind turbine, and Davis, Dragonfly's CEO, were found guilty of conspiring to commit wire fraud. Both were also found guilty of four counts of wire fraud and aiding and abetting wire fraud.

Both men were also found guilty, jointly, of two counts of money laundering, and both were found guilty individually of another count each. ...

Davis was still on probation for wire fraud and money laundering in Oklahoma when the wind farm scam began. ...

Davis and Ridings intentionally misled investors in the wind farm project about the financial viability of the project and potential returns on investment, according to the indictment.

Specifically, they told investors they developed cutting-edge wind turbine technology, a prototype was being developed, companies were lining up to buy it and a $10 million federal grant was imminent, the indictment says.

None of it was true. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/mar/09/federal-judge-in-fayetteville-sentences-davis/
 

Travel agent lied that boss stabbed her with a pen and now it’s cost her £85,000

A woman has been spared jail after making up a story about her boss attacking her with a Biro at work.

Parivash Kiani sued travel agency Aviareps, saying her line manager, Fawad Shaida, stabbed her in the hand twice with a pen at her desk in February 2015.

She showed pictures of puncture wounds to her right hand and sued for mental scarring.

However, a document in the background that was dated long after the alleged incident proved that she was lying.

Kiani has now been given a suspended prison sentence for contempt of court and was handed an £85,000 court bill.
Judge, Mr Justice Martin Spencer, said: ‘She must have deliberately in 2017 stabbed herself twice in the hand, waited for the stab wound to scab over, and then either herself – or through another person – taken these pictures of her hand in order to pretend that they were photos taken in February 2015 two years earlier, and represented the position as a result of the alleged assault.’

It emerged that Kiani had been disciplined in January 2015 for breaching client confidentiality. She was sacked in December that year and launched an unfair dismissal claim.

The employment case was thrown out in 2017, but Kiani continued with her £3,000 compensation claim saying her bosses failed to protect her from her violent boss.

Her case was thrown out in March 2020 as it ‘defied logic’.

Aviareps took her to the High Court where she finally admitted contempt.
 
This is an awfully big con. $40,000,000 over about 10 yrs at no more than $10,000 each so at least one every workday. Did not one notice she wasn't doing her job?
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/01/nyregion/yale-administrator-guilty-jamie-petrone.html
That's the thing with large organizations, very easy to skim money without being caught. These characters though are usually greedy and push their luck too far. Probably this character would have not been caught if she had stopped at say $1m, which is more than enough for anyone.

A friend used to work in the accounts department for a huge company. They would get a cheque, bank draft etc for millions of £, and in some cases without knowing what the payments were for, so they were just paid into the accounts. Vast sums of money were washing around with very little control of where it went. Friend said it would have been easy to skim a whole bunch of dosh and he continually brought this to the attention of the bosses but nothing changed.
 
That's the thing with large organizations, very easy to skim money without being caught. These characters though are usually greedy and push their luck too far. Probably this character would have not been caught if she had stopped at say $1m, which is more than enough for anyone.

A friend used to work in the accounts department for a huge company. They would get a cheque, bank draft etc for millions of £, and in some cases without knowing what the payments were for, so they were just paid into the accounts. Vast sums of money were washing around with very little control of where it went. Friend said it would have been easy to skim a whole bunch of dosh and he continually brought this to the attention of the bosses but nothing changed.
Hence, presumably, the vast number of scam emails I get (I checked my 'Spam' inbox yesterday for the first time in weeks) which are addressed to 'The Finance Department' at my email address asking, politely, for urgent payment of Invoice Number XXXXXX which, apparently, has been unpaid for several months.

I can see how such an email would result in a payment without question in a very big company where Accounts basically just pay all invoices that come in without double checking what they are for. Unfortunately for the scammers, I am not a company and pay my bills on time, so it's highly unlikely that an 'unpaid invoice' would ever even make it through the spam filter.
 
In my experience running finance for a large company the people in payables are much more scared of being fired for incorrect payment than for payment. It can be very difficult to get a check cut without the purchasing office and receiving office paperwork aligning, which would need at least 2 sign-offs on the PO for anything - except I guess in this case for something less than $10,000. I'm pretty sure that someone in A/P knew what was happening and possibly someone in purchasing, who at the very least originally approved the off-site delivery address, and there will be dominoes falling. It just proves what they teach us, that it's very hard to control for coordinated fraud. And then the internal audit department must have reviewed off-site deliveries and seen an exception. I just don't get it and frankly I'd love to know how she did it.
 
A former British Airways pilot has been sentenced for fraud in fabricating (or overstating?) his qualifications for the pilot position. It's unclear whether he was an outright impostor or an actual pilot who fraudulently inflated his credentials.

I'd love to know what button it was he pushed that demonstrated his ignorance ...
A pilot who lied about his flying experience to secure a job at British Airways was said to have been caught when he pressed a button 'no qualified pilot would'

A former British Airways pilot was sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty to falsifying his flying experience.

He was handed the 12-month sentence at Snaresbrook Crown Court in East London, UK, on Monday after pleading guilty to four counts of fraud and two breaches of the Air Navigation Order 2016, which regulates safety standards, according to the Civil Aviation Authority and court documents seen by The Times of London.

The pilot falsely claimed to have flown 1,610 hours as a captain and fabricated training certifications while applying for a job with BA CityFlyer, British Airways' regional airline ...

Between April 2016 and March 2018, he was employed as a pilot by BA CityFlyer, operating out of London City Airport, and by the now collapsed Irish regional airline Stobart Air, which was owned by Aer Lingus. He was with each carrier for a year ...

Officials at BA CityFlyer became suspicious after an incident "on the ground" in Switzerland when the pilot pressed a button "no qualified pilot would," a source told The Times without providing further details.

He was investigated by the CAA, which took legal action.

The Times reported the pilot manipulated the log of his flight hours while working for a previous employer, Hangar 8 Management, which operates the same Embraer 190 jet as BA CityFlyer. He also falsely said he'd held a private pilot's license since 1998 ...

When contacted by Insider, British Airways said the pilot was fully qualified and certified. The case was related to incorrect information provided in references he provided during an application, the airline said. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.businessinsider.com/bri...esume-flying-experience-pressed-button-2022-4
 
A former British Airways pilot has been sentenced for fraud in fabricating (or overstating?) his qualifications for the pilot position. It's unclear whether he was an outright impostor or an actual pilot who fraudulently inflated his credentials.

I'd love to know what button it was he pushed that demonstrated his ignorance ...

FULL STORY: https://www.businessinsider.com/bri...esume-flying-experience-pressed-button-2022-4
It probably said Do Not Press This Button.
 
Copilot.jpg
 
Fake nun banned from monastery.

https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/su...stery-after-eccentric-behaviour-41514670.html

"A fake nun banned by a court from going within 150 yards of a monastery says she is praying for its parishioners.

Rachel Mulcahy was served with an interim injunction after priests at Clonard complained about her behaviour.

Dressed in a brown habit, the bogus nun disrupted several services at the west Belfast church which is famous for its annual summer novena. An application for a full injunction will be heard at Laganside court later this month."
 
I'd love to know what button it was he pushed that demonstrated his ignorance ...

FULL STORY: https://www.businessinsider.com/bri...esume-flying-experience-pressed-button-2022-4

“There appear to be conflicting reports of what exactly happened. A relatively detailed one says the pilot has accidentally cut power to the aircraft, while sitting on the tarmac. This has been mentioned by The Telegraph.

But suspicions concerning Butfoy's performance were roused when he apparently plunged a jet into darkness while stationed at an airport in France, the Telegraph understands.

There is more than one way to lose power. One example scenario that involves specifically a button rather than a switch:

  • The pretender starts the APU by mistake, while ground power is connected and sufficient.
  • Their mistake is pointed out by the other pilot.
  • The pretender turns the APU off, but it keeps running, which is by design.
  • In a haste to fix the mistake, they push the APU Emergency Stop button on the overhead panel.
  • Since starting the APU disconnects AC ground power on the type, the plane goes dark.
This is something that no qualified pilot would do. They would know the correct power transfer procedure, and if not, just let the APU run and waste some fuel. This action would instantly out someone as a fraud, it's an "are you a real pilot?" kind of mistake.”

https://aviation.stackexchange.com/...led-to-them-being-caught-for-falsifying-exper

maximus otter
 
It's very rare. Papini seems mentally disturbed and nobody who knew her believed she'd come to harm.

Update.

Five years after claiming she was kidnapped and abused, a California woman has admitted in court that she faked the entire thing.

... Prosecutors say the faked kidnapping wasn't impulsive, and that she planned it. Papini is ordered to pay more than $30,000 worth of psychiatric treatment for which she billed a state victim compensation fund and which is now part of her restitution. Aside from the victim compensation, she must also repay nearly $128,000 in disability payments, according to the Associated Press.

"I am deeply ashamed of myself for my behavior and so sorry for the pain I've caused my family, my friends, all the good people who needlessly suffered because of my story and those who worked so hard to try to help me," Papini said in a statement released by her attorney, William Portanova, reported earlier by Newsweek. "I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done."

Papini faces up to 25 in prison or additional fines of up to $250,000. She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.

https://www.newsweek.com/ashamed-sherri-papini-pleads-guilty-faking-abduction-1698775
 
No, you can't get away with adding a car to your auto insurance policy minutes after it's been involved in an accident.
Man insures car 26 minutes after crash, WA officials say. Now he’s charged with fraud

A Washington man was charged with insurance fraud after he was accused of adding a car to his insurance policy shortly after getting into an accident.

The Battle Ground man was charged with false claims or proof and attempted theft ... he was involved in a two-vehicle crash in April 2019, and that his car wasn’t insured at the time.

The man added his 2004 Nissan to an existing policy without telling his insurance company that he had just been in an accident ... The other driver filed a claim against his policy the next day, and the insurance company Progressive found that the Clark County Sheriff’s Office had responded to the crash 26 minutes before the man had added his car to the policy ..

Progressive denied the man’s claim for $3,730.03 and reported the incident to the state insurance commissioner’s criminal investigation unit ...
SOURCE: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/m...ls-say-now-he-s-charged-with-fraud/ar-AAYePQv
 
Some real conartists involved in running children's homes.

Staff at a firm whose chief was touted as a speaker on how to make thousands of pounds from children's homes had to buy a child essential items themselves.

Toiletries, towels and bedding were purchased by staff at a home run by Northamptonshire-based Bttlr Limited, according to Ofsted, because there had been "no money available" to them.

Director Lizzy Ringisai was advertised to speak at webinars, with one on how to earn up to £14,000 per child a week.

Lizzy Ringisai


She has yet to respond to the BBC.

In March, Ofsted social care inspector Caroline Brailsford visited one of its home. Ms Brailsford said the complaints included that "staffing arrangements were not sufficient" and were over "concerns about a lack of money in the home to meet the child's needs".

Other findings included that staff were not "appropriately qualified", that staff felt pressured to work extra shifts and that low staff morale was having a negative impact on the care.

The report also said: "Staff say that they do not have access to sufficient funds to purchase household items or to provide a range of activities for the child.

"There was no petty cash in the home on the day of the monitoring visit. Staff have purchased toiletries, towels, bedding, pens and paper out of their own money because there has been no money available."

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-61799497
 
Some real conartists involved in running children's homes.

Staff at a firm whose chief was touted as a speaker on how to make thousands of pounds from children's homes had to buy a child essential items themselves.

Toiletries, towels and bedding were purchased by staff at a home run by Northamptonshire-based Bttlr Limited, according to Ofsted, because there had been "no money available" to them.

Director Lizzy Ringisai was advertised to speak at webinars, with one on how to earn up to £14,000 per child a week.

Lizzy Ringisai


She has yet to respond to the BBC.

In March, Ofsted social care inspector Caroline Brailsford visited one of its home. Ms Brailsford said the complaints included that "staffing arrangements were not sufficient" and were over "concerns about a lack of money in the home to meet the child's needs".

Other findings included that staff were not "appropriately qualified", that staff felt pressured to work extra shifts and that low staff morale was having a negative impact on the care.

The report also said: "Staff say that they do not have access to sufficient funds to purchase household items or to provide a range of activities for the child.

"There was no petty cash in the home on the day of the monitoring visit. Staff have purchased toiletries, towels, bedding, pens and paper out of their own money because there has been no money available."

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-61799497
To be fair, that poster says 14,000 per MONTH rather than a week, so it's not that much of a moneyspinner. Mind you, it doesn't actually say 14,000 what. In my experience of bringing up children, the only thing you get 14,000 of in a month, is empty biscuit wrappers stuffed under the sofa cushions.
 
To be fair, that poster says 14,000 per MONTH rather than a week, so it's not that much of a moneyspinner. Mind you, it doesn't actually say 14,000 what. In my experience of bringing up children, the only thing you get 14,000 of in a month, is empty biscuit wrappers stuffed under the sofa cushions.

The fact that she was pushing it as a money-spinner makes me suspicious of her though. She was obviously skimping on basic necessities for children given the findings in the Ofsted reports.
 
The fact that she was pushing it as a money-spinner makes me suspicious of her though. She was obviously skimping on basic necessities for children given the findings in the Ofsted reports.
Anyone using children as a money-making exercise should be firmly investigated.
 
A Washington woman conned friends and online acquaintances out of more than $600,000 with sob stories that were baldfaced lies.
Tacoma woman pleads guilty to stealing more than $600,000

A 40-year-old Tacoma woman has pleaded guilty to wire fraud involving a scheme to defraud friends and acquaintances out of more than $600,000.

Sabrina Taylor admitted to lying ... to steal money from people who had offered to help her ...

From 2013 to July 2019, Taylor convinced people to provide her with funds by claiming she needed to buy medicine for multiple sclerosis, pay tuition at the University of Washington, or bail her brother out of jail, Brown said.

In fact, Taylor didn’t have multiple sclerosis, wasn’t paying college tuition and didn’t have an incarcerated brother. Taylor used most of the funds to pay for luxuries including almost $60,000 for trips to Japan and Korea, nearly $38,000 for online purchases, more than $29,000 for clothing, and nearly $16,000 for make-up. ...

Taylor also made false claims about how she would repay loans, prosecutors said.

Taylor met some of the people she defrauded online, using shared interests like Japanese anime, comic books, or video games to establish a relationship. Taylor admitted stealing over $550,000 from one victim.

She faces up to 20 years in prison and must pay restitution. ...
FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/article/entertai...ngton-tacoma-318c243c71c107224c86050152c684c4
 
Hence, presumably, the vast number of scam emails I get (I checked my 'Spam' inbox yesterday for the first time in weeks) which are addressed to 'The Finance Department' at my email address asking, politely, for urgent payment of Invoice Number XXXXXX which, apparently, has been unpaid for several months.

I can see how such an email would result in a payment without question in a very big company where Accounts basically just pay all invoices that come in without double checking what they are for. Unfortunately for the scammers, I am not a company and pay my bills on time, so it's highly unlikely that an 'unpaid invoice' would ever even make it through the spam filter.
When I was the "computer department" at a doctors office, the person paying the bills was paying 3 differnt phone companies that did not provide services to the company, one of them was MCI (which used to send bills out to every address charging people for not using thier service). At one point a manager left and the doctors decided to eliminate that position. That manager was the one who was signing off on paying all those bills. I had to take care of the phone lines as well as the computer networks and all equipment (desk tops, etc) so it fell to me to approve all the phone bills. U.S. West was one of the companies that was billing for services not rendered and it took me months to get a refund and adjust their billing. I spent hours a day calling MCI and the other phone company and finally got them to quit billing the company but no refunds were given. U.S. West had convinced the new "CEO" to sign a 5 year contract for trunk lines that did not exist (company only had 12 doctors, and the guy was a glorified office manager who never asked anyone any questions). Since there was a contract I could not get them to stop billing but I was able to get them reduce the billing after they sent a repairman out to find out why the trunk lines weren't being used. I had to let him into the switching room and I asked him to show me where the US West trunk lines were. There were none and he was angry at his bosses for sending him out to fix something that did not exist. I think the office manager should have been fired, but he was hired specifically for his ineptness because the doctors were milking the company for all they could and preparing to shut down. I could tell that was their plan based on the fact that 6 manager positions became one and higher paid employees were encouraged to find better jobs, paying their replacements half of industry standard (in other words unqualified people). I got a new job just before they closed their doors.
 
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