Customer Discovers Card Skimmer On Bank ATM

Customer Discovers Card Skimmer On Bank ATM:

When most of us think about illegal card skimmers on ATMs, we think of free-standing cash machines at convenience stores or on the street. But a sharp-eyed bank customer in Massachusetts spotted a skimmer at the last place you'd expect one: the bank.

The customer tells WBZ-TV that he noticed a loose piece of plastic on the machine near where you insert your card. When he touched it, the piece fell out and it was revealed to be a skimmer that would store users' card numbers and PINs.

The scammers who placed the skimmer did a decent job of making it appear to be an integral part of the ATM. One would only spot the change in appearance in a side-by-side comparison with an un-rigged machine. In the above picture, the ATM on the left contains the skimmer, while the one of the right does not.

While the customer who noticed this skimmer hadn't yet used his card on the machine, it's not yet know how many users' information was stolen by the skimmer -- or how someone managed to tinker with a bank ATM without being detected.

ATM Skimming Device Found At Eastern Bank In Taunton [CBSlocal.com]

Verizon Class Action Settlement: Get Refunds For Accidentally Pressing "Get It Now" Button

Verizon Class Action Settlement: Get Refunds For Accidentally Pressing "Get It Now" Button:

If Verizon "erroneously" charged you for accidentally pressing the "Get it Now" or "Mobile Web" buttons on your phone, you can file for a refund, thanks to a recent class action settlement.

The lawsuit is related to the Verizon insider confession New York Times gadget columnist David Pogue published in 2009 that said the wireless company had rigged their phones to grab $2 a time everytime someone accidentally hit the "Get It Now" or "Mobile Web" buttons on their phone. It was a fee trap for their customers, the insider alleged.

At the time of the controversy, Verizon wrote in a letter to the FCC (PDF) that, "...in order to protect customers from minimal, accidental usage charges, Verizon Wireless does not charge users when the browser is launched, and opens to the Verizon Wireless Mobile Web homepage. If the browsing session ends there without the customer navigating to another webpage, the customer will not incur charges for Mobile Web browsing." However, Pogue's readers wrote him to say that's exactly what happened. That complaint was also among those in the class action lawsuit. Some customers also said they got data charges even when they didn't access the internet on their phones.

Verizon Wireless denies all wrongdoing and has agreed to settle to end the litigation.

You're eligible to request a refund for any mistakenly billed charges that you haven't already gotten a refund for if you are or were a Verizon Wireless customer who paid pay-as-you-go data charges between November 2007 and January 31st 2011.

You can submit an online claim form here in order to get your monies.

DataChargeSettlement.com [via Top Class Actions]

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Verizon Denies It Charges You $2 Each Time You Mistakenly Press A Certain Button On Your Phone

Verizon Configures Phones So You Incur Erroenous Data Charges? (To The Tune Of $300 Million)

Man Accused Of Tossing Molotov Cocktail At Taco Bell For Not Giving Him Enough Meat

Man Accused Of Tossing Molotov Cocktail At Taco Bell For Not Giving Him Enough Meat:

There's better ways to lodge a complaint against Taco Bell than by lofting a Molotov cocktail at the drive-thru window, but filling out a suggestion card wasn't the one this incensed Georgia customer chose at 5am.

Shortly before the Taco Bell was firebombed, a man called up the fast food joint to complain that his two XL Chalupas had insufficient meat and he demanded it be fixed. The worker who picked up said that the place was closing and they wouldn't be able to help him out.

According to a police report obtained by The Smoking Gun, then man then uttered a phrase that used the n-word and added, "That's alright, I'll just come and redecorate the place."

Shortly thereafter, a blaze erupted outside the drive-thru window. Police found a melted plastic bottle with liquid inside at the scene. Also at the scene: a large sign that says "Come Try The New XXL Chalupa. Bigger Is Better." The suspect is still at large, the search impeded by the poor quality of the security cam footage.

Cops Hunt Man Who Firebombed Taco Bell Because His Chalupas Had Too Little Meat [The Smoking Gun] (Thanks to SkokieGuy!)

DNA Tests Show Cheaper Fish "Mislabled" As Pricier Kinds At Restaurants

DNA Tests Show Cheaper Fish "Mislabled" As Pricier Kinds At Restaurants:

In an investigation, the Boston Globe gathered fish from 134 restaurants, supermarkets and fish-mongers. They hired an independent lab to test the fish for authenticity and discovered 87 of the 183 fish tested were "mislabeled," a whopping 48%.

The Boston Globe found escolar being sold as white tuna, and the Alaskan butterfish being sold at a celebrity restaurant was sablefish, both much cheaper. $23 flounder was actually swai, sold for $4 a pound. It's a kind of Vietnamese catfish. Another common trick the paper found was for restaurants to put cod on the menu and serve up haddock.

Escolar is banned in Japan because it can sometimes make people sick. It's also referred to as "ex lax" fish because of its effects on the digestive system.

Sometimes it's error, "mislabeling," or outright fraud.

"Mislabeling fish is at a ridiculous level,'' Eric Hesse, a Cape Cod commercial fisherman told the Boston Globe. "The dealers and restaurants have a vested interest in keeping the illusion going. Every time they can say they are selling fresh local fish and get away with selling [Pacific] frozen, they don't have to buy from us. It kills us.''

Regulation is lax, enforcement is hard, and a lot of fish just looks the same after it's been cooked, turned into a fillet, or fried up.

"A lot of people do it until they get caught,'' a seafood wholesaler told The Boston Globe. "We don't play the game. But too many people do. And the average consumer just doesn't know.''

On the menu, but not on your plate [The Boston Globe] (Thanks to ABM!)

Mom Crusading Against Dirty Fast Food Playgrounds Says She's Now Banned From 11 McDonald's

Mom Crusading Against Dirty Fast Food Playgrounds Says She's Now Banned From 11 McDonald's:

Over the summer, concerned mom Erin Carr-Jordan made headlines around the country with her online crusade to clean up filthy playgrounds found at McDonald's and other fast food chains. It seems her efforts have rubbed at least one Golden Arches franchisee the wrong way, as Carr-Jordan claims she's been barred from all of his eateries.

Posting earlier today on the Facebook page for her Kids Play Safe campaign, she writes:

Had a visitor at my home this morning at 7a. I was hand delivered a notice from the attorneys representing the owner of the MRSA location informing me that I am prohibited from entering any of his 11 McDonald's (I had only previously been to the 1). What does that tell you about him and his establishments? Im thinking it means he doesn't want me to find out what's in there! I will give you a list of the exact addresses. FYI the Chick fil A's all said I was welcome and could swab whenever I want.

Reading through Carr-Jordan's previous posts, it looks like the "MRSA location" is a reference to one particular McDonald's Playland at which she claims to have, through her swabbing of slides and other playground surfaces, detected the presence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Just last week, she wrote:

Found out that the MRSA playland was not shut down like I thought! Was told that it was disinfected and it was not. There was still sand etc all over and the swab I took was black. When I went back I was actually told to leave as I was writing my name, contact info, and lab results down for the manager on duty. Since I thought it was going to be clean I had 3 of my kiddos with me (obviously did not let them touch anything). The person who told me to leave threatened to have me arrested while my children were standing next to me. I learned today that the owner of the establishment gave that order. I also learned from him that telling the managers is a useless thing to do and that if you complain you should have a "business card" to prove you have credibility??? Why is one persons complaint more valid than another because they have credentials?

Just for fun, here's her original video that got the ball rolling over the summer:

Thanks to Mike for the tip!