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A recent discussion I was having with another telecom-buff friend of mine brought back to light one of my favorite little cases of hackers and organized crime: the great Las Vegas telephone racket. Which really, for all we know, could still be taking place today.

“Then, all of a sudden, the phones stopped ringing,” says [Larry Duke] Reubel, gravel in his voice. “There’s no reason for the phones to stop ringing.”

[…]

“Going over your testimony, you seem to blame Sprint for the loss of your business,” [counselor Patrick] Riley says, with mock bewilderment. “Is that correct?”

“They’re providing a service to me, and they’re not providing the security they should,” Reubel replies. “So, yes.”

Although the article dates to 2002, it’s quite an interesting read, and given that its implications are still relevant today, it’s a stark reminder of how open to attack a device usually seen as low-tech to most really can be. The full article can be read here.

So after announcing a horrid last quarter, the CEO of RadioShack (who also happens to be a baptist minister, or so he claims) is also embroiled in a scandal over a rather un-Christian fib on his resume.

Edmondson had claimed that he received degrees in theology and psychology from Pacific Coast Baptist College in California, which moved in 1998 to Oklahoma and renamed itself Heartland Baptist Bible College.

The school’s registrar told the Star-Telegram that records showed Edmondson completed only two semesters and that the school never offered degrees in psychology. The school official declined to comment to The Associated Press.

Interestingly, at the same time that Edmonson’s name was quietly removed from the corporate roster, RadioShack’s corporate website has removed all corporate biographical information from their website for their remaining execs while they “update and validate” the info. What a classy move!

Okay, I can understand that everyone has a “right” of sorts to fall for a ‘net scam at least once. Even I admit that once, long, long ago, I really did believe that the wife of the late Nelson Mandella was e-mailing me from Nigeria, and wanted my help in smuggling Three Million, Six Hundred Seventy Thousand Dollars only ($3,670,000) from some Nigerian Bank Account into the US. Fortunately for me, I googled before I acted, and was so much the wiser.

But now, it seems the vogue scam du jour is the “Free [insert big ticket item here]” con job, where if someone signs up to a website, pays a “nominal” fee and agrees to encourage other people to also “register” and pay similar fees in a pyramid-scheme fashion, one can earn “credits” for each “referral” towards receiving a “free” big ticket item of their choice. Usually the item is an iPod or other currently-faddish gadget. And sometimes, it’s a laptop. Like, what this guy got scammed with.

Now, you’d think that if this guy had already been burned once, throwing away his money and time and getting nothing in return while the scammer’s web site mysteriously goes dark for good, he would know better than to fall for such a con job again the future. But nope! He got burned a second time, different website address, same scam. Way to go!

And as if that isn’t enough, it appears that just as one scam site closes, another suspect and allegedly shady website with similar traits opens up. A new laptop for only $10? Sounds a little too good to be true, doesn’t it? Probably because it is!

While the proliferation of net scams realllly burns me up, the fact that these scams are so common indicates how incredibly successful they are. And that can mean only one thing: the mast majority of ‘net users are stupid, stupid people. And it has occurred to me that these stupid people are probably the same types of folk who are also running around the ‘net with unprotected computers, teeming with worms, spyware and and virii, and are probably pumping out spam e-mails in the billions and filling up MY inbox without their dumb, fat brains not even realizing what incredible harm they are doing by simply existing. Why are people who are so incredibly gullible so attracted to the ‘net? Why can’t they either make an effort to learn, or find some other shiny thing to play with, instead of being fodder for the low-lifes who make life in a tech-dominated world such sheer hell?

So, at the end of 2005 RadioShack dumps its retail relationship with Verizon Wireless, a company who, despite being #2 in the industry, is currently #1 in the number of subscriber additions for the last four quarters. RadioShack then replaces Verizon with Cingular who, after getting to the #1 spot the old fashioned way (they bought their customers through merging with AT&T Wireless) has been almost dead last in subscriber adds for three of the last four quarters.

RadioShack probably figured that it was because of them that Verizon got such stellar subscriber adds, and that Cingular’s fortunes would turn once the deal took hold.
But nope! The new figures are in. Verizon wireless still has stellar subscriber additions without much of RadioShack’s help, ourperforming Cingular. And how did RadioShack do? Wellll……

NEW YORK (Reuters) – RadioShack Corp. (RSH.N: Quote, Profile, Research), whose chief executive has admitted to lying on his resume, on Friday said quarterly profit fell 62 percent after a switch in wireless providers led to an inventory write-down, sending its shares to a nearly three-year low.

The consumer electronics retailer, which said it was hiring legal counsel to investigate the admission by CEO David Edmondson, also announced a new turnaround plan that includes closing 400 to 700 company-operated stores and liquidating slow-moving inventory.

The company said it was “unwise” to issue earnings forecasts for 2006 given the uncertainty of the turnaround plan, which could cost up to $100 million.

Yeowch! So it’s safe to say that RadioShack had this “because of us” menatility all wrong.