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London Marathon man, 75, runs into 'too fast' cheat row... for covering 12 miles in 43 minutes
By James Tozer
Last updated at 7:47 AM on 20th June 2009

He has run more than 400 marathons all over the world, raising thousands of pounds for charity.
And at 75, Alan Morton is apparently still going strong, coming seventh in the over-70 age group at the London Marathon in April.
But last night, the veteran runner was at the centre of extraordinary allegations amid suspicions that he may have taken a short cut during the second half of the race.

According to the electronic timing chip worn by all runners, Mr Morton finished in an impressive 4 hours 16 minutes and 23 seconds.
But members of his running club began to suspect something was amiss after examining his split times over the course of 26 miles and 385 yards, or 42.195km.

He passed the 20km mark in just under 3 hours 9 minutes, which put him on schedule to finish in around six and a half hours.
However, no more chip times were recorded for him until the 40km mark, which he passed in 3 hours 52 minutes and 30 seconds.

That means he would have had to cover the second 20km (12 and a half miles) in a staggering 43 minutes, far quicker than Haile Gebrselassie's pace when he set the marathon world record of 2 hours 3 minutes and 59 seconds in Berlin last year.
If he had run the whole course at this speed, Mr Morton would have won outright, beating the world's top runners by more than half an hour. :shock:

The absurd times led fellow members of Bro Dysynni Athletics Club in North Wales to invite him to explain. Instead, he handed in his resignation, saying he was 'sick of the whole issue'.

The club chairman Helen Williams said: 'So far as the club is concerned the matter is now closed.'

etc...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... nutes.html
 
Sly children fool exercise study

Children taking part in a study to measure how much exercise they do fooled researchers by attaching their pedometers to their pet dogs.

About 200 children in east London were given pedometers to automatically count how many steps they walked and ran.

Mile End Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine was surprised by the activity levels recorded in some obese children.

Professor Nicola Maffulli said: "Then we realised they were attaching the pedometers to their dogs' collars."

The pilot study in Tower Hamlets required each child to clip a pedometer to their waist, with researchers at the centre collecting the readings by satellite.

"But after a week we found there were some kids who were extremely active but still obese," said Professor Maffulli.

It was "not unheard of" for participants in previous studies to manipulate the readings of pedometers, he added.

Once adjusted to take into account the help from pets, the study indicated that boys in the borough walk or run 12,620 steps a day, below the recommended level of 15,000 steps.

It also found that girls take 10,150 steps, falling short of the recommended 12,000 steps.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8143364.stm
 
Law student who cheated her way out of £3,200 breast op bill
By Chris Brooke
Last updated at 12:48 AM on 11th July 2009

A law student used a fake identity to get a £3,200 breast enlargement operation for free, a court heard.
Nina Burmis, 19, who had her chest boosted to a 32CC, also tried to get a mortgage for a £77,500 house using false details.
Yesterday her hopes of a career in law were in ruins after she was given a suspended prison sentence for fraud.

Burmis, described by fellow students as 'having more front than Blackpool' 8) , won a place at Hull University to study law, despite two previous shoplifting convictions.
But she was unwilling to accept the financial limits of life as a student and soon began to live beyond her means.

In November last year, using the assumed name Jayne Ladylock, Burmis arranged the breast enlargement with the Transform cosmetic surgery clinic in Hull.
Prosecutor Nick Adlington said Burmis handed over a £500 cheque as a deposit. Although the cheque bounced, she had the surgery in Manchester on December 12 last year before suspicions were aroused.
Clinic staff called police in when the second-year undergraduate missed her post-operative check.
At the same time Burmis was involved in an equally brazen mortgage sting for a house in Hull.

She claimed to be working fulltime for a construction company, providing a forged reference and payslip in an attempt to get a mortgage from the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society.
She handed over a £5,900 deposit cheque to estate agents, knowing the bank account had been closed and it would be rejected. Unsurprisingly, her con quickly unravelled and checks revealed she had never worked for the building firm.

Burmis pleaded guilty to three fraud charges relating to the cosmetic surgery and house purchase bid. Sentencing Burmis at Hull Crown Court yesterday, Judge Michael Mettyear gave her a nine-month prison term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered her to do 200 hours' supervised unpaid work, adding: 'You can still regard yourself as lucky. Many other judges would have sent you to prison straight away.'

Given the nature of her convictions it will now be impossible for Burmis to pursue a career as a solicitor or barrister, said a local Law Society representative.
She faces further legal action under the Proceeds of Crime Act later this year to recover cash to pay for her cosmetic surgery.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... boost.html
 
Shot down - Capa's classic image of war
For decades the authenticity of these classic Spanish Civil War photographs has been debated. But a new study claims to have settled the argument
By Elizabeth Nash
Tuesday, 21 July 2009

The photograph of a soldier falling to his death after being shot on a grassy hillside is probably the best known image of the Spanish Civil War, the photographer hailed as the founder of modern photojournalism.

But the authenticity of Robert Capa's dramatic photo has been repeatedly disputed since it appeared in September 1936, with regular efforts made to establish exactly where it was taken, and of whom.

New evidence revealed this week suggests that the young Hungarian hailed as one of the world's finest war photographers may have staged his classic picture after all.

The so-called "falling soldier" was not photographed near Cerro Muriano in Andalusia, as has been claimed, but about 50km to the south-west, near the town of Espejo far from the frontline on a day when there was no military action, a Catalan newspaper claims.

"Capa photographed his soldier at a location where there was no fighting," wrote the daily El Periodico on Friday. The paper carried out a detailed study of Capa's pictures taken in September 1936, three months after the conflict broke out.

"The real location, some 10km from an inactive battle front, demonstrates that the death was not real," the paper says.

The claim is backed with photos taken very recently on a hillside near Espejo that show a mountainous skyline that appears to match exactly that of Capa's photo. The background to the falling soldier never pointed conclusively to its location. The key to unlocking the decades-long mystery rather lies in two other photos taken by Capa in the same series, which is currently on show in Barcelona.

One shows a militiaman lying on the ground, and the next, a line of kneeling soldiers aiming rifles. The background landscape threads continuously across the three photographs, and this is the skyline echoed in the new photos. Capa's photos purport to show movements of a group of young milicianos in action against Franco's troops who rebelled against Spain's republic. "But the location proves beyond reasonable doubt that the sequence was a flagrant fake, a setup," Ernst Alos, who wrote the report, told The Independent yesterday.

The Capa photos form part of the acclaimed exhibition "This is War" that opened recently in Barcelona, having travelled from New York and more recently from London.

There was fighting in Espejo only on 22 and 25 September, nearly three weeks after Capa and his companion Gerda Taro had left Cerro Muriano. The photo of the falling soldier had by then appeared in the French magazine Vu. Franco's troops were at least 15 miles away, in Montilla, near Cordoba, and the hillside in the shot faced areas still under republican control, Mr Alos said.

It seems "unlikely" that those in the photo could have received enemy bullets, especially since no deaths or injuries were reported by combatants there until the end of September. That would scotch the theory ventured by Capa's biographer, Richard Whelan, that militiamen on manoeuvres were "playing around" for the camera, and were picked off by a sniper.

etc...

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 54405.html
 
Smoker tricked into paying fine
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 183564.stm

A man was conned out of £80 by a bogus council official after dropping a cigarette butt in a town centre.

The 24-year-old victim, from Stone, was confronted by the man on Sunday evening as he walked out of an alleyway off High Street in Stone, Staffordshire.

The offender claimed to be issuing an £80 on-the-spot fine for littering, saying the victim would go to court if he did not pay immediately.

The offender is described as white, in his late 20s/early 30s and 6ft tall.

He is also described as being of medium build and he was wearing a black cap, a green rain coat and black trousers.

Sgt Dave Ingham, from Stone police, said: "Stafford Borough Council wardens have the power to issue £75 fixed penalty notices for littering, but on-the-spot payment is not required.

"Wardens carry ID and wear high-visibility jackets which are clearly labelled 'Streetscene Enforcement Officer'.

"This was an opportunist offender who frightened the man into giving him cash."

Anyone with information has been asked to call Staffordshire Police or Crimestoppers.
 
Hmmm - there were some cheap high visibility jackets on the market and stencilling Enforcement officer should be easy...
 
BlackRiverFalls said:
It's amazing what you can get up to in a high vis jacket :twisted:

Especially if you also have a clipboard and/or an official looking notebook.
 
Colombian guilty of pyramid scam
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8187429.stm

Murcia Guzman has still to be sentenced
A Colombian businessman has been found guilty of running a pyramid scheme that collapsed last year with thousands of people losing their life savings.

David Murcia Guzman, 28, was convicted by a court in Bogota of money-laundering and illicit enrichment.

He led the DMG Group, which promised returns of well over 100%.

Its collapse last November led to widespread street protests across the country by investors. Two people died in the unrest.

Murcia Guzman was extradited from Panama to Colombia last November to face accusations that his business was a pyramid scheme that amassed millions of dollars and duped at least 200,000 Colombians out of their life savings.

The demise of DMG provoked protests both by those angry at the loss of their money but also by investors who insisted that the company was legitimate and that the government had forced its collapse.

Murcia Guzman is still to be sentenced and faces 10 to 15 years in jail, Colombian media report.

His lawyer said the verdict was "political", the Associated Press reported.
 
I found a new fishing attempt I'd never encountered before when I looked at my inbox this morning....I still fail to grasp how anyone actually from NZ would make such simple grammatical errors, but otherwise it's just like the 419 scams with different scenery. I'm currently job hunting at the moment, and I wonder if this is a response to current trends. Quite who would be fooled into applying for a job as an 'earnest assistant' with these goons continues to baffle....even if it WERE a real tendered offer I'd have trouble telling friends and family I worked at BJ Ball's!

Dear Sir/Ma,
The BJ Ball Group is a leading distributor of Paper & Packaging products into the Australasian and Pacific regions. The BJ Ball Group comprises BJ Ball Papers (New Zealand's oldest paper merchant, est.1921), Kirby Papers, Reel Papers, and the newly acquired Typecut Graphics.

Through our Converting Facility, we offer tailored solutions for our customers and happily provide a full sample and mock-up service.

Most of our customers from Australia, Canada, US & UK pay through various terms of payment which some are not negotiable here in New Zealand. This brings our quest to employ a credible and trustworthy fellow as our representative to handle our payments. This would not affect your present job but add more to your income.

Being our representative and assisting us in processing the payments from our clients should earn you a commission of 10% of every payment you coordinate.

Once we makes a sale we deliver the product to a customer (usually through UPS).The customer receives and check the products. After this has been done, the customer has to pay for the products. About 90 percent of our customers prefer to pay through Bank Wire Transfers. We have decided to open this new job position for solving this problem. Your tasks are;

1. Receive payment from Customers through your Bank Accounts /or Credit Cards,

2. Deduct 10% which will be your percentage/pay on Payments processed

3. Forward balance after deduction of percentage/pay to any of the offices you will be contacted to send payment to. (Payment is to forwarded by Local transfers (Western Union only). A local Money transfer takes barely hours, so it will give us a possibility to get customers payment almost immediately.

For example you have got £50,000.00

You take your income: £5,000.00

You will be able to operate with larger orders and you will be able to earn more.

Our payments will be sent to your bank, deduct your 10% and forward the balance to the company via Western Union only.

We understand it is an unusual and incredible job position. This job takes only 3-7 hours per week.

You Will have a lot of free time doing another job, you will get good income and regular job. But this job is very challenging and you should understand it. We are looking only for the worker who satisfies our requirements and will be an earnest assistant. We are glad to offer this job position to you. If you feel that you are serious about this and earnest worker, All we will need for recording you to our database is below:

Full Name:- ................

Address:- ....................

Age:- ................

Your Mobile Phone Number:- .........

Mr William Smith,

Managing Director,

BJ Ball Group.

121 Hugo Johnson Drive

PO Box 12-544

Penrose,

Auckland.
 
Abendstern said:
I found a new fishing attempt I'd never encountered before when I looked at my inbox this morning....I still fail to grasp how anyone actually from NZ would make such simple grammatical errors, but otherwise it's just like the 419 scams with different scenery. I'm currently job hunting at the moment, and I wonder if this is a response to current trends. Quite who would be fooled into applying for a job as an 'earnest assistant' with these goons continues to baffle....even if it WERE a real tendered offer I'd have trouble telling friends and family I worked at BJ Ball's!

Dear Sir/Ma,
The BJ Ball Group is a leading distributor of Paper & Packaging products into the Australasian and Pacific regions. The BJ Ball Group comprises BJ Ball Papers (New Zealand's oldest paper merchant, est.1921), Kirby Papers, Reel Papers, and the newly acquired Typecut Graphics.

Through our Converting Facility, we offer tailored solutions for our customers and happily provide a full sample and mock-up service.

Most of our customers from Australia, Canada, US & UK pay through various terms of payment which some are not negotiable here in New Zealand. This brings our quest to employ a credible and trustworthy fellow as our representative to handle our payments. This would not affect your present job but add more to your income.

Being our representative and assisting us in processing the payments from our clients should earn you a commission of 10% of every payment you coordinate.

Once we makes a sale we deliver the product to a customer (usually through UPS).The customer receives and check the products. After this has been done, the customer has to pay for the products. About 90 percent of our customers prefer to pay through Bank Wire Transfers. We have decided to open this new job position for solving this problem. Your tasks are;

1. Receive payment from Customers through your Bank Accounts /or Credit Cards,

2. Deduct 10% which will be your percentage/pay on Payments processed

3. Forward balance after deduction of percentage/pay to any of the offices you will be contacted to send payment to. (Payment is to forwarded by Local transfers (Western Union only). A local Money transfer takes barely hours, so it will give us a possibility to get customers payment almost immediately.

For example you have got £50,000.00

You take your income: £5,000.00

You will be able to operate with larger orders and you will be able to earn more.

Our payments will be sent to your bank, deduct your 10% and forward the balance to the company via Western Union only.

We understand it is an unusual and incredible job position. This job takes only 3-7 hours per week.

You Will have a lot of free time doing another job, you will get good income and regular job. But this job is very challenging and you should understand it. We are looking only for the worker who satisfies our requirements and will be an earnest assistant. We are glad to offer this job position to you. If you feel that you are serious about this and earnest worker, All we will need for recording you to our database is below:

Full Name:- ................

Address:- ....................

Age:- ................

Your Mobile Phone Number:- .........

Mr William Smith,

Managing Director,

BJ Ball Group.

121 Hugo Johnson Drive

PO Box 12-544

Penrose,

Auckland.


Its quite a clever con because with a stolen foreign cheque it takes three weeks before the bank in the U.K here finds out, so as far as the mark is concerned the funds go into his bank, he takes ten percent payment, forwards the rest, weeks later the bank takes the cleared funds back, the mark has just lost funds to the value of the cheque.
Although the mark is going to be expecting to see cheques made out to the ficticious comapny not just random ones which have been stolen.I suppose that anyone stupid enough to think that a company is going to loose 10% of its income simply to have a cheque cashed isn't going to be thinking too clearly.
 
BT warns customers of phone scams
By Maryam Moshiri
BBC News business reporter

BT is warning customers to be on their guard after a series of phone scams involving people claiming to be calling from the company.

The scammers call up their victim and warn them that their account is in arrears.

They then ask for card or bank details in order to settle the account.

If the person refuses or asks for proof, the fraudsters then offer to prove who they are by disconnecting the phone line then and there.

Once the victim puts the phone down, the scammer stays connected to their line, thus giving the impression that the customer's line no longer works.

Andrew West nearly fell foul of the scammers' latest ploy in August.

But he quite quickly became suspicious of the caller's true identity.

He said: "It was the lack of background chatter initially; there was no call centre noise in the background, which there always is when someone from a big company calls you.

"The line wasn't very good quality anyway, which was a bit strange, but it was the trick with the phones that really tipped me off."

Evidence shows this type of phone scam has been happening all over the country.

Last weekend a number of elderly people in Suffolk fell victim to the scam; there have also been cases in the past year all over England and Wales.

Graham Preston, the lead officer for scams at Trading Standards, admits this type of phone fraud is around.

"Scams sadly are very common, they are variations of a theme and this particular scam seems to be prevalent at the moment," he said.

He warns people to be on guard.

"In terms of advising people, keep your wits about you, be cynical. If somebody calls you, mistrust them if you have to, or don't trust them," he said.

"Particularly if they are asking for money, if they want your credit card details don't be afraid to say no," he added.

etc...

Places affected
Suffolk
Sussex
Kent
Nottinghamshire
Shropshire
Warwickshire
North Yorkshire
Devon
West Midlands
Pembrokeshire

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8263637.stm
 
Warning over 'war-zone' e-mails

Bogus e-mails purporting to be from service personnel serving in conflicts around the world have been sent to a number of people in the South West.

Although the messages contain genuine photographs of military personnel, Devon and Cornwall Police believe the e-mails are fraudulent.

After several weeks of communication, the senders are now asking for money.

Some people have parted with cash, believing the e-mailers are serving in war zones.

A police spokesman said: "After several weeks of communication via e-mail, the victims are told that the men are coming to the UK but first ask for money in order to send a parcel to another country."

Officers are investigating, but anyone who may have fallen for the scam is asked to contact police.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8312024.stm
 
On dating sites, there's a rash of scammers who send fulsome flattering emails, then claim that they're serving in Iraq (with the US army or marines) and that they're coming home in few months, and they're looking for a good woman to settle down with...

I've seen some that a friend's had, she reports them to the site admins straight off.
 
Something in the local council rag (Hackney) - apparently a lot of people are posing as food hygiene inspectors in this area and demanding on-the-spot fines from restaurant owners.
 
Man robbed after rescuing 'dummy'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 343470.stm

The woman ran off with the male attacker
A man was attacked and robbed after he jumped into a lake believing a boy was drowning, only to find it was a dummy.

The dog walker was approached by a "distressed" couple in Foxes Forest, Portsmouth, who said their son had been attacked by a swan in nearby water.

When the 48-year-old jumped into the lake and discovered the dummy he saw the man going through his coat pockets.

He swam back to confront the thief but was sprayed in the face with an unknown liquid. The couple ran off with £100.

The theft happened at about 1045 GMT on 28 October in Foxes Forest recreational area in Peronne Road, Portsmouth.

An e-fit image of the woman has been released by Hampshire Constabulary in a bid to get witnesses to come forward.
 
Banned card cheat is jailed for tricking his way back into casinos
Adam Fresco, Crime Correspondent

A card sharp who has been banned from every casino in the country has been jailed for using false identities to win thousands of pounds at the tables.

Abdullah Toksoz, 40, bypassed security with false documents and used a pinhead hidden under his fingernail to mark the cards, giving him a huge advantage.

Over three years Toksoz played at casinos in Liverpool, Manchester and London, using false Italian, Bulgarian and American documentation, Southwark Crown Court was told.

When the Turkish national was arrested at Heathrow in June, he had thousands of pounds in his pockets.

Toksoz, who is married with a young daughter, was jailed for 16 months after he admitted using six false identities over a three-year period between February 2005 and June 2008.

Nicholas Mather, for the prosecution, said: “His existence has been known of for at least ten years, and from the mid-1990s he has been banned from all casinos in this country.”

Toksoz, who specialised in the game brag, used false identities including an Italian driving licence in the name Rossi Lippi, a Bulgarian ID card in the name Petrov Dramchiyiski, and the Malibu licence as Hoakin Jaklid Malventes.

Mr Mather said it was impossible to determine the amount Toksoz won during his crime spree.

He added: “The records kept by the casinos are not detailed enough, but what we can see is that on one night a figure of £2,980 appears to have been the win, and on another it is £3,100. These are simple examples.”

The court heard that Toksoz was a gambling addict who had run a kebab shop in Doncaster until selling the business in 2003 to fund his habit.

Judge Anthony Pitts, passing sentence, said: “You were determined over a period of three years to use different ID documents that you had obtained, all of them false, to gain entry to casinos, knowing that you were banned as a casino cheat.

“These are very serious offences. There is a persistent period of three years of determined dishonesty.”

Toksoz, from Croydon, South London, admitted two counts of fraud, three of false representation and one of obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception.

Speaking after the sentence was passed, a spokesman for the UK Casino Security Management Association said: “He has plied his trade across the globe, and is well known to the International Association of Casino Security. He is banned everywhere.”

Toksoz faces deportation on his release from jail.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 907151.ece
 
Dentist and work experience son jailed for £110,000 insider dealer scam... son fed tips to father in coded messages about food
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:10 PM on 11th December 2009

A dentist with an interest in investing in shares and his work experience son were jailed for two years and one year respectively today for a £110,000 insider trading scam.
Neel Uberoi, 62, and Matthew Uberoi, 24, were told by Judge Peter Testar at London's Southwark Crown Court: 'It's cheating, and it's important for the economic and social wellbeing of the community that there should be clean markets, and the public rightly recoils from the idea of people treating the possession of inside information as a licence to print money.'

Their trial heard that Matthew Uberoi, of Fulham, south-west London, was on a placement scheme with brokers Hoare Govett while using coded messages about Chinese food to feed his father secret takeover tips.
The information was then used to make a stream of lucrative but forbidden stock deals, the first of which racked up a profit of up to £101,000.

As the days and weeks passed, the business administration undergraduate gave his father, of Kenley, Surrey, two more pieces of information, netting just under £9,000.
The jury convicted them of 12 counts of insider trading between June and August 2006.

etc...

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z0ZTC9jHM6
 
Gary Bellchambers made millions selling fake golf clubs on eBay
Adam Fresco, Crime Correspondent

Within the expatriate community in Pattaya, Thailand, Gary Bellchambers was seen as a successful international businessman who lived in luxurious houses, belonged to all the best golf clubs and enjoyed the finer things in life.

Back at home in Rainham, Essex, he lived in an ex-council house and drove around in an old Ford Escort, in an effort to avoid the scrutiny of the authorities.

In reality he was the head of a global network of criminals who duped thousands of eBay customers into buying millions of pounds' of fake golf clubs in the largest fraud uncovered by the online auction site.

To those he recruited to work for him he was known as The Man.

Investigators believe that he made millions of pounds from the scam, which they are still trying to trace. So far they have found at least ten houses in Thailand that he rents out or sells, a part share in a £1.5 million yacht, a floating restaurant in Australia that he owns and shares in more than 20 British and international companies, including many blue chip companies.

Bellchambers, 46, was the head of the operation that sold golf clubs, as well as clothing, accessories and passes for an airline lounge, "on a scale that, it is believed, has never been seen before", Snaresbrook Crown Court in East London was told.

Investigators found nearly every top brand — including TaylorMade, Odyssey and Callaway — being copied. The clubs were made in several factories in China, at less than £3 each, and sold on eBay as the genuine article for up to £100.

Bellchambers recruited family and friends to help in the deception and authorities have found that he had people working for him all over the world.

etc...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 956425.ece
 
Wildlife Photographer of the Year wolf picture at centre of fakery claims
This winning shot in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is at the centre of a fakery investigation after claims that the wolf was a tame animal held in captivity.
Published: 7:30AM GMT 22 Dec 2009

Jose Luis Rodriguez, a Spanish photographer, beat 43,000 entries to claim the £10,000 prize at a ceremony in October. He said that the wolf was wild and that he had laid some meat as bait to tempt it over the fence.

However, the Natural History Museum, which organises the contest in conjunction with the BBC Wildlife Magazine, received a complaint that the wolf was tame. The rules state that no "animal models" can be used.

A spokesman said: "The Museum is aware of an allegation as to the veracity of the photograph, Storybook Wolf, by Jose Luis Rodriguez, specifically that an animal model was used in breach of the competition rules. We are investigating this thoroughly with the judging panel and will report back in the New Year once our investigations are completed.

"Mr Rodriguez strongly denies any wrongdoing or breach of the competition rules."

In his notes about the photograph, Mr Rodriguez said he had "visualised this image many years ago" and that the picture symbolised "the ancient conflict between humans and wolves". He explained how he tempted the wild animal over a fence into a disused cattle corral every night for several weeks until he captured the perfect shot, with the wolf triggering the flash via a trip beam.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildli ... laims.html
 
A fuller account here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/ ... otographer
They have been sent evidence, apparently from rival photographers, that the pictured animal is a wolf called Ossian who lives at a zoological park near Madrid. A wolf expert, quoted by Finnish nature magazine Suomen Luonto, which revealed the allegations, also said the wolf appears to have been trained to jump the gate, because a wild specimen is likely to squeeze between the bars.
 
This story reads like the synopsis of a proposed block-busting novel - but so far it lacks a happy ending:

The fall from grace of an aristocrat's wife
Lady Amanda Bruce had it all. Married into one of Britain's oldest aristocratic families, she lived on a 15,000 acre estate in a historic country house where she brought up her three doting children. Her latest home is far removed – it is a jail cell in Texas more than 4,500 miles away.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -wife.html
 
Fascinating story. I'm reading a message board thread - which much of the news coverage seems to be cribbed from - and in an interesting coincidence, there seems to be another Amanda Bruce (fraudster) fitting a similar physical description operating in the USA (while this one is under arrest). What are the odds?
 
James_H2 said:
Fascinating story. I'm reading a message board thread - which much of the news coverage seems to be cribbed from - and in an interesting coincidence, there seems to be another Amanda Bruce (fraudster) fitting a similar physical description operating in the USA (while this one is under arrest). What are the odds?
I'm just skimming that thread now. A lot of confusion (and possibly some disinformation), but it does seem as if there are two Amanda's - a fat one in Virginia and a thin one (with UK links) currently in Texas.

As one poster commented
Almost sounds as if one Amanda Bruce franchised the name and con.

Or else there is just one Amanda who can bilocate and shape-shift! :shock:
 
Wildlife photographer stripped of award
By Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News

The winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award has been disqualified after judges ruled that the featured wolf was probably a "model".

The 2009 winning image, dubbed the storybook wolf, was taken by photographer Jose Luis Rodriguez.

Mr Rodriguez strongly denied that the wolf was a trained animal, according to a statement from the organisers.

His photograph was chosen out of more than 43,000 competition entries in October 2009.

Louise Emerson from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition office explained that the judging panel had been "reconvened" and had concluded that it was likely that the wolf featured in the image was an animal model that could be "hired for photographic purposes".

This, she said, was in breach of the competition rules which are made available to all entrants.

"The judging panel looked at a range of evidence and took specialist advice from panel judges who have extensive experience of photographing wildlife including wolves," continued Ms Emerson.

"They also considered the responses to specific questions put to the photographer."

Wildlife photographer Mark Carwardine was one of the competition judges. He told BBC News that this was the first time in its 46 year history that there would not be a winner.

Mr Carwardine explained that he and his fellow judges had gathered evidence and sought the opinions of wolf experts in order to reach their decision.

The experts compared the winning picture to pictures of Ossian, a tame wolf that lives at a zoological park near Madrid called Canada Real.

"You can see several very distinctive markings and the experts all agreed that, yes, it's the same wolf," said Mr Carwardine.

"We disqualified [Mr Rodriguez] and banned him for life from entering the competition again, so I think that sends a strong message."

Mr Carwardine added that Mr Rodruiguez had, throughout the investigation, denied "hiring" Ossian for the photograph. The disqualified photographer maintains that his subject was a wild wolf.

Mr Rodriguez was not immediately available for comment.

"This is very sad and I think it might make us more suspicious of entries that are too good to be true," said Mr Carwardine. But he added that he hoped it would encourage honesty in the competition in the future.

The disqualified photograph will be removed from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, which is being held at the Natural History Museum in London. The exhibition tour will also take place without a winning image.

The annual competition is owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8470962.stm

I had two photos in the local rag this week. But not only did I not get a picture credit, they even captioned one of them wrongly - bastards! :evil:
 
'Bomb detector' maker Jim McCormick arrested

Jim McCormick sells the hand-held detectors from his offices in Somerset
The director of a company which sold a bomb-detecting device to 20 countries, including Iraq, has been arrested.

ATSC's Jim McCormick, 53, was detained on Friday on suspicion of fraud by misrepresentation, Avon and Somerset police said. He has since been bailed.

It comes after a BBC investigation alleged the ADE-651 did not work.

Earlier, the British government announced a ban on the export of the device to Iraq and Afghanistan, where British forces are serving.

Mr McCormick has said the device, sold from offices in Sparkford, Somerset, used special electronic cards slotted into it to detect explosives.

But a BBC Newsnight investigation reported that a computer laboratory said the card it examined contained only a tag used by shops to prevent theft.

There are concerns the detectors have failed to stop bomb attacks which have killed hundreds of people.

The device consists of a swivelling aerial mounted to a hinge on a hand-grip. It does not operate by battery, instead promotional material says it is powered only by the user's static electricity.

The ADE-651 has been sold to a range of Middle Eastern countries and as far afield as Bangkok.

The Iraqi government has spent US$85m (£52m) on the hand-held detectors, now used at most checkpoints in Baghdad.

It is understood Iraq paid about US$40,000 for each device. No Western government uses them.

The BBC has learned the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered an investigation into the bomb detectors, expected to report shortly.

The government ban, brought in by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, starts next week.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8476381.stm

I posted an earlier item on ATSC here:
http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewt ... 025#924025
 
Unlike the UFO Hacker case, I'd have no objection to McCormick being handed over to the US, or Iraqi, authorities.
 
Scams affect one in 10 Britons, says OFT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8490275.stm

Cash going up in flames
Two million adults in Britan have lost more than £50 in a scam

Almost 10% of adults - more than 4m people - in Britain say they have responded to a scam in their lives, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said.

Almost a half of those who did respond to a scam had lost more than £50, while 5% lost more than £5,000.

The OFT said 73% of adults had received a scam e-mail in the past year.

Some 6,500 people are also receiving letters from the authorities warning them that their names are on a "sucker list" being circulated by fraudsters.

Advice

The OFT is launching a "scamnesty", calling on consumers to drop scam mailings into designated boxes at public places or into an online "bin".

OFT chief executive John Fingleton said: "Scammers are using ever more sophisticated and cunning tactics to dupe people out of their cash.

"We want people to recognise the warning signs, and feel confident enough to seek advice from friends or family or from Consumer Direct."

Consumer Minister Kevin Brennan said the government had spent £7.5m to create "scambuster" teams across the UK.

"We are determined to fight these crooks," he said.

The National Fraud Authority has estimated the cost of fraud - including scams, online theft, insurance cheats and tax fraud - at £30bn year in the UK, the equivalent of £621 per adult.

The OFT is giving the following advice to help avoid being scammed:

* Stop, think and be sceptical. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is
* Don't rush to send off money to someone you don't know, however plausible they might sound
* Ask yourself how likely it is that you've been especially chosen for this offer - thousands of other people will probably have received the same offer
* Think about how much money you could lose from replying to a potential scam
* Seek advice

'Master list'

Meanwhile, a list of 10,000 names - including thousands with addresses and telephone numbers - which was being shared by fraudsters has been seized by the City of London Police and the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

The two authorities have now written to 6,500 people on the list to warn them that they could be targeted by fraudsters looking to sell worthless shares.

These so-called "boiler room" scams have cost UK victims an estimated £200m a year. The 734 people who contacted the FSA last year to report becoming victims lost an average of £24,000 each.

"We are all potential victims for fraudsters and need to be aware of the heartless way they operate," said Det Chief Supt Steve Head, of the City of London Police.

Boiler room fraudsters usually contact people by telephone and use high-pressure sales tactics to con investors into buying non-tradable, overpriced or even non-existent shares.

The businesses running the scams are unauthorised, overseas-based, with bogus UK addresses and phone lines routed abroad. Dealing with an unauthorised firm means victims do not have access to financial complaints and compensation schemes.
 
Warning over Devon and Cornwall council tax refund scam

Householders in Devon and Cornwall are being warned about a council tax rebate scam operating in the two counties.

Police say that fraudsters have contacted a number people by phone and told them they have paid excess tax and are eligible for a refund.

The caller is then asked to provide their bank account details so that the refund can be deposited into it.

Police are urging people never to give personal or financial details to unsolicited contacts.

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: "One of the warning signs to watch out for is when you receive an unsolicited letter, phone call or e-mail - if the offer seems too good to be true, then it probably is.

"We advise members of the public who receive any such calls to never give financial details out over the phone without confirming that the caller is genuine.

"We are treating these incidents as fraud and potential fraud."

Anyone who is contacted about a council tax refund is advised not to release any details and to report the incident to police and the relevant council.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8501072.stm
 
Fraudster impersonates City chief executive to steal £790,000 from Barclays
A fraudster stole £790,000 from Barclays bank after impersonating the chief executive of one of Britain's leading wholesale companies, it emerged yesterday.
By Matthew Moore
Published: 8:00AM GMT 13 Feb 2010

Bryan Wilson, 59, assumed the identity of Charlie Wilson, a former Marks and Spencer executive with a fearsome reputation in the City, to carry out the opportunistic fraud.

The conman even obtained a passport in the name of the boss to convince Barclays staff to deposit the cash in his account, before fleeing to Thailand.

The real Charlie Wilson, 43, who is now chief executive of the cash-and-carry chain Booker, alerted authorities after noticing that the funds were missing in September 2007, three months after the fraud.

Police at Heathrow Airport detained Bryan Wilson in September last year as he attempted to re-enter the country. He was yesterday jailed for two years for after pleading guilty to making a false representation for gain.

Chichester Crown Court heard how Bryan Wilson, from Swindon in Wiltshire, saw his chance to make a fortune after being contacted by Barclays staff who wrongly believed he was the Booker chief, one of their wealthiest clients.

Wilson exploited the administrative error to full effect, obtaining documents in the name of the high-flying executive to get around Barclays anti-fraud measures and secure the windfall.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Russ Jones of Sussex Police’s major fraud unit said: “Bryan Wilson was an opportunist thief who took advantage of an administrative mistake.

“Any honest person would have immediately pointed out that they were not the real owner of the account but it was just bad luck that he reacted with clear criminal intent.

“This was a virtually million to one mischance, but although he initially gained control of the money, like so many thieves his attempts were doomed to failure as soon as the real Mr Wilson realised what was afoot."

Charlie Wilson's account was immediately reimbursed by Barclays, which last night conceded that its security systems had failed.

The bank said in a statement: "Barclays takes stringent precautions to minimise the risk of any fraud although in this instance we haven't met the high standards we set ourselves.

"We advise customers to check their bank accounts carefully and regularly and let us know immediately if anything seems wrong. Any customer who is an innocent victim of fraud will be refunded and not financially disadvantaged."

...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... clays.html
 
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