frauds

Famous Fraud Stephen Glass Is Officially too Crooked to Be a Lawyer

Tom Scocca · 01/27/14 04:50PM

In a definitive work of media criticism, the California Supreme Court unanimously today ruled that Stephen Glass, notorious for fabricating stories for the New Republic and other magazines as a young writer in the '90s, is unfit for admission to the state bar. The court's 33-page decision is a comprehensive and pitiless accounting of not only Glass's initial misdeeds, but of the dozen years of obfuscation and evasion that followed, as he tried to work his way from journalistic disgrace to lawyerly respectability.

Hollywood Conservative Leader Turns Out to Be Holocaust Revisionist

Taylor Berman · 05/05/13 09:22PM

Over the past five years, David Stein has made a name for himself as a leader for Hollywood's conservatives. As an operator for the popular website Republican Party Animals, he hosted right-wing congressmen and celebrities at parties, and he was a regular on conservative talk shows. But it turns out Stein had a bizarre secret.

Howard Kurtz's Shocking Revelation: He Can't Read

Tom Scocca · 05/01/13 04:29PM

How does multi-platform conflict-machine Howard Kurtz crank out so much coverage, people wonder? Maybe it's easier to write a lot of media criticism if you don't read the media you're criticizing. So today Kurtz finds—for two different outlets—a dark shadow in the sunny coverage of NBA player Jason Collins' decision to come out as gay: Collins was at one point engaged to a woman.

Picky Cheater Offers $600 For Solid "Masters Level History" Paper

Ken Layne · 05/01/13 03:48PM

Do you want to make $600 cash by Tuesday? Then get to work on this rich guy's "Masters Level History" papers. We are not talking about a cut-and-paste from Wikipedia here, this guy is a legitimate grad student who needs to learn about World War II by having you write his well-sourced academic papers. "I've done this type of thing before," he writes, "so I am comfortable and experienced with it." What could go wrong?

'It Makes Me Sick': Actress in Muhammed Movie Says She Was Deceived, Had No Idea It Was About Islam

Adrian Chen · 09/12/12 04:29PM

The story of the Muhammed movie which sparked deadly protests in Libya and Egypt gets weirder. The actors who appeared in it had no idea they were starring in anti-Islam propaganda which depicts Muhammed as a child molester and thug. They were deceived by the film's director, believing they were appearing in a film about the life of a generic Egyptian 2,000 years ago.

Even Babies Can Tell You're Full of Shit

Max Read · 12/12/11 06:02PM

You know how you spend every minute of your waking life desperately afraid that you will be found out as a laughable fraud and all your accomplishments discovered to be built on a foundation of luck and lies? Well! As it turns out, even babies can tell how unbelievably full of shit you are.

Cement-and-Glue Butt Injection 'Doctor' Was a Job Creator

Lauri Apple · 11/25/11 04:06PM

As part of their ongoing investigation into Oneal Ron Morris—the Floridian fake doctor accused of injecting "cement, 'Fix a Flat,' mineral oil and super glue" into people's butts—police have arrested Corey Alexander Eubank, Morris's alleged assistant. Now both are unemployed.

Alleged 'J.Lo Butt' Scam Artist Finally Arrested by the Feds

Lauri Apple · 11/18/11 06:11AM

How many American butts had to develop "hard lumps, ripples, skin discolorations, and infections" before alleged, unauthorized butt enhancer Kimberly Smedley was arrested by federal agents last month? Perhaps we'll never know. But we'll definitely sleep more soundly knowing that America's butts are being protected from her silicone-stuffed syringes.

Wikileaks Honors Steve Jobs with Fake HIV Report

Adrian Chen · 10/06/11 12:09PM

There have been plenty of absurd tributes to Steve Jobs. But the most tone-deaf has got to be the one by Wikileaks, which last night tweeted a link to a faked copy of the former Apple CEO's positive "H.I.V. report." RIP, Steve!

Jewish Indiana Jones and the Lost Torahs of Bupkis

Seth Abramovitch · 08/24/11 09:09PM

A "Jewish Indiana Jones." The very words conjure up thrilling scenes of cliff-hanging, deli-sampling adventure! And that's precisely what a mild-mannered Jewish bookstore owner from Maryland was passing himself off as, in what has turned out to be nothing more than an extremely clever con.