Free Republic

Two fraudsters who ripped off donors of a fundraising campaign that purportedly sought to collect money for a wall along the southern US border during Donald Trump’s presidency pleaded guilty Thursday for their roles in the scam. The swindlers, Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, each copped to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud during a remote hearing before Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan federal court. Kolfage also pleaded guilty making false statements on tax returns to hide from the IRS the hundred of thousands of dollars he siphoned off from the GoFundMe campaign, which was dubbed “We Build...

Pacific Gas and Electric Company is sending a warning about scammers who have already taken tens of thousands of dollars from customers through phone calls. The calls, which look like they’re coming directly from the utility company, warn that a customer's power could be shut off in a matter of minutes unless they pay immediately. “Scammers are very convincing,” PG&E spokesperson Mayra Tostado said. “Their technology allows them to spoof customers. They’ll use numbers that are identical to PG&E.” The utility company said more than a thousand customers were scammed like this, in January alone, bilking them of more than...

DC should cut ties with shady Black Lives Matter organization Whatever good intentions there may have originally been behind Black Lives Matter, the organization has devolved into a scam. It is far past time for Washington to remove its slogan from outside the White House. Founded in 2013 after Trayvon Martin was shot while assaulting a policeman, BLM was little more than a hashtag and a website until George Floyd’s murder in May 2020. That's when the money spigot erupted. Corporations and celebrities became desperate to have their brands linked with BLM and sent tens of millions of dollars to...

For just under $15 per month, in perpetuity, the legality of your homeownership can be protected from identity thieves.Really?Here in California, and most likely elsewhere, in order for a vestee to convey a property title to another person or corporation, a notary has to confirm the vestee's identity. A signature alone is no longer sufficient. After the burst credit bubble of 2008, a thumb print also has to be provided. It's pretty hard to forge a thumb print.The scammers claim that the title thief can then re-mortgage the property, take the money, and stick you with the bill. Again, really?...

On Friday, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based brokerage disclosed that transaction-based revenues attributable to Dogecoin, a Shiba Inu-themed token that was created as a joke, represented 8% of its total net revenues of $364.9 million in the third quarter. And while about $30 million is still significant amount for what is ultimately a fledgling asset, it marks a significant pullback from the second quarter, when Robinhood collected 32% of its total revenues from Dogecoin transactions.

White Square Capital says the shutdown is unrelated, but we're sure Reddit is playing a sad song on the world's most overvalued violin. One of the hedge funds targeted by notorious Reddit investment board r/WallStreetBets is bust, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. The r/WallStreetBets subforum shot to fame earlier this year after its members rallied around so-called “meme stocks”—stocks facing what they considered predatory shorts by big investors—causing their prices to surge to unfathomable levels. The first and most famous target was GameStop, but other companies including AMC and Blackberry saw similar boosts. It didn’t take long for the...

I thought this would be a nice break from bad news. It involves catching scammers in a humorous way. And there are satisfying arrests. I know some posters avoid Ewe Toob but for those who don't, enjoy.

In 1849, police in New York City arrested a man named William Thompson. Charismatic and "a man of genteel appearance," according to a New York Herald report from the time, Thompson approached strangers, engaged them in conversation, and won their confidence, which he then used to convince them to part with their money or valuables. Prior to his arrest, authorities dubbed the prowling swindler the "Confidence Man," the first time the phrase was ever used to describe what would soon be shortened to "con man" or "con artist." An old proverb cautions that "a fool and his money are soon...

...The Batavia Police Department in upstate New York on Tuesday joined hundreds of local law enforcement agencies in asking both potential victims and concerned residents to report allegations of unemployment benefit fraud directly to the state's Department of Labor. Police in Avon Lake, Ohio, in Whitman, Massachusetts, and in Evanston, Illinois, say frustrated taxpayers have called or even shown up at the station holding 1099-G tax forms which show someone is fraudulently reporting income in their name. ..

President-elect Joe Biden has yet to appoint any prominent supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to his incoming administration in the month and-a-half since the November 3 presidential election. The list of his twenty or so hires, both for Senate-confirmed and White House staff roles, includes several long-time aides, many former Obama administration officials

Biden appointed Paris Agreement negotiator John Kerry as his climate czar, a new position that he created to elevate the issue of climate change. He also unveiled a transition agenda that includes “achiev[ing] a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035” as one of its top priorities. Many have discussed their thoughts on the political wisdom or senselessness of this public policy priority. However, few have really called out the elephant in the room: It’s not possible and will only enrich Wall Street at everyone else’s expense. It’s easy to preen “green” when you have enough green to buy a certificate...

A venture capitalist sued for the return of his $2.5 million contribution to the non-profit True the Vote’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election through lawsuits that they filed—and precipitously withdrew—in courts around the country. Fred Eshelman, the owner of the healthcare-focused investment company Eshelman Ventures LLC, claims that he took the Houston-based non-profit at its word when it promised results—or his money back—from his multimillion dollar contribution to hunt for evidence that would support outgoing President Donald Trump’s mass voter fraud narrative.

And suddenly people gathering in large crowds and not social distancing is no longer considered irresponsible by the media https://t.co/JisiiJJr78— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 7, 2020 People celebrate on Black Lives Matter plaza across from the White House in Washington, DC, after Joe Biden was projected as the winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. pic.twitter.com/VXjg85T7AR— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) November 7, 2020

To make a fortune selling masks on Etsy, you needed three things. First, you needed to be familiar with the garment industry — ideally, already working in it. Second, you needed to be in or around Los Angeles. (Sorry, New Yorkers.) And third, you needed energy, because shipping tens of thousands of masks a month with a tiny crew meant working late into the night, then getting up early the next morning to do it all again, sometimes, while caring for kids in between. For those who went all in, the effort was worth it: some mom-and-pop Etsy shops became...

Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that the US could reach a point at which people no longer have to worry about the coronavirus "within the next year to year and a half." Fauci said his cautious optimism comes from the success of vaccine development so far, which could ultimately lead to herd immunity.

This is a research article published as information for health care professionals and public officials, and for an open peer review. It is not medical advice. Summary I reviewed the scientific literature on hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), azithromycin (AZ), and their use for COVID-19. My conclusions: HCQ-based treatments are effective in treating COVID-19, unless started too late. Studies, cited in opposition, have been misinterpreted, invalid, or worse. HCQ and AZ are some of the most tested and safest prescription drugs. Severe COVID-19 frequently causes cardiac effects, including heart arrhythmia. QTc prolonging drugs might amplify this tendency. Millions of people regularly take drugs...

I just got a call for a decent job - everything looked really good. The recruiter's name was Alex Jones - funny, he had an Indian accent. I'm out of work and so my resume is posted on the standard sites... free to download by all and sundry. Additionally, this job is 100% remote. Sound too good to be true? Read on... It started with an email from 'Alex Jones', I replied. Then he called. Just another Indian recruiter scouring the USA for tech resources... nothing eye popping so far. They have taken to using fake Anglo sounding names lately...

FTC WARNED INVESTORS OFF HUGE DOLLAR GAINS/TAKE 3Jan 27, 2005 - FreeMarketNews.comby Chris MackWashington’s regulators are supposed to stand up for the little guy. Maybe they also help the little guy stay that way. In the last decade, under the pretense of protecting people from losing their shirts, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released warnings about indium and other strategic metal investing “scams.” Some of these warnings haven’t been updated since - and in any event they are all over the ‘Net. Anyone with a computer and Google can type in “fraud” and “indium” and come up with the following:...

OK, so what’s going on with California’s ventilator supply? California hospitals are using around 32% of their ventilators, with 8,000 remaining unused, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday in the latest development in a saga that’s been giving many of us whiplash. Two weeks ago, the state said it was rushing to procure 5,000 ventilators. Monday, Newsom sent 500 ventilators to other states. Wednesday, surprised and frustrated Riverside County officials said the state recently denied their request for 500 ventilators. Meanwhile, Santa Clara County is offering $1,000 for each ventilator it receives. Newsom defended his decisions Thursday. He pointed out that...

This common email phishing scam just caught a Shark. “Shark Tank” star and real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran revealed Wednesday that she lost almost $400,000 after scammers tricked her bookkeeper by sending a bill that appeared to come from her assistant. “Lesson learned: Be careful when you wire money!” Corcoran tweeted on Wednesday. She also confirmed to ABC News that, “This morning I wired $388,000 into a false bank account in Asia.”