Gullible suburban mother of four regularly duped in her half-century life. Exploring hoaxes and schemes as the ExSCAMiner, she attempts answering the nagging question: Should I have fallen for that? Got scam tips, email Karin at ScamExaminer@gmail.com.

More Articles
Topics

Pay attention to the scanner

Free champagne (courtesy of The Real Hustle)

Shoulder surfers can be more than an arm's length away

Exploding toilet risk for young and old

Cash gifting the Chocolate Rain Guy way

Better Business Bureau

Multi-level marketing

Dept. of Health and Human Services

Examiner Feeds

These websites were picked by the Scam Examiner as useful resources.

View: All Sources

First-Class Salesmanship

Snopes (Latest Urban Legends) - 11 hrs ago

Holiday season cyber scammers target victims

FBI (Internet Crime Complaint Center) - 23 hrs ago

New Rules Requiring an Automated Voice or Keypress Opt-Out for Recorded Message Telemarketing Calls Take Effect Today

Federal Trade Commission (Consumer Protection) - 1 day ago

MSG Mickey

Snopes (Latest Urban Legends) - 1 day ago

Kettle Chits

Snopes (Latest Urban Legends) - 2 days ago

Reporting scams online (no postage required)

Checking Stuff Out

E-mail addresses

Directly forward unsolicited commercial e-mail to spam@uce.gov

National Examiners

Darrell Proctor
Business Examiner
Most Recent Post
Report: Former AOL chief looking to buy Yahoo

Melissa Alvarez
Paranormal Examiner
Most Recent Post
The disclosure project says UFO's and alien beings are among us

Jay McDonough
Progressive Politics Examiner
Most Recent Post
Ford submits their recovery plan

Bruce Hosking
Boomer Biker Examiner
Most Recent Post
Sennheiser MKE 400 Shotgun Microphone

Liz Barrett
Celebrity News Examiner
Most Recent Post
Oh no they didn't: Facebook disabled Lindsay Lohan because they thought she was a fake

Send us your topic suggestions

Promoting Denver's image through the DNC

Add a Comment

July 30, 9:27 AM

by Karin Malchow, Scam Examiner

Lou Blonger (www.blongerbros.com)

As Denver busies itself preparing for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, including giving homeless residents free zoo, museum and movie passes so delegates, protesters and media won't bother them (and the reverse), the city nostalgically looks back at its previous democratic convention hosted one hundred years ago: Shipping down mountain snow for a delegate snowball fight; a spontaneous raucous demonstration celebrating nominee William Jennings Bryan lasting an hour and a half; Indians in traditional garb greeting visitors; citizens sporting "I Live in Denver. Ask Me." buttons.

Still, despite putting its best face forward, every city has its seamy side. In 1908, 50-year-old Denver was reputed to be the country's scamming capital, the Big Store. Not only did gambling and con man boss Lou Blonger reportedly have local police and politicians in his pocket, visiting con men regularly found refuge in Denver when their chosen careers commanded too much attention elsewhere. Under Blonger's twenty-five year reign, grifters ran both short and long-term cons, including the Magic Wallet.

One hustler "found" a money-stuffed wallet with the designated sucker, typically an out-of-towner. A second con artist played the wallet's owner, rewarding the mark by bringing him to a stock office. As the recommended stock price climbed on phony ticker tape, the stooge committed to purchase. The con man advised selling, but sealing the deal required the original purchase price to reap the profit. Too bad when the mark returned with cash, the stock collapsed and he owed the money.

Historical reports indicate little more than a pickpocket problem during the 1908 Democratic Convention, although embarrassed victims of bucket shop investment schemes infrequently reported the crime. Or did Denver officials broker a deal with the ubiquitous grifters to lay off conventioneers for the sake of the city's image? Perhaps someone gave them free passes.

For more local dirt: Dig up a copy of author/historian Phil Goodstein's The Seamy Side of Denver. (Apologies to Denver DNC Host Committees past and present.)

Topics: Con artists , DNC , Denver , Lou Blonger

Feed

Comments

Pay attention to the scanner

1 comment

November 29, 9:39 PM

Remember the 1992 story of President George H. W. Bush marveling at grocery store barcode price scanning when they were commonly used for over a decade? Although the politicized tale has been debunked (he doesn't look too amazed in this video),... Read More
Topics: President Bush , bar code scanners

Free champagne (courtesy of The Real Hustle)

5 comments

November 28, 8:12 AM

BBC series The Real Hustle includes tips on hustling free drinks. This segment features scamming some free champagne. Another bar trick from The Real Hustle appears here. Not that the Scam Examiner recommends cheating your... Read More
Topics: The Real Hustle

Shoulder surfers can be more than an arm's length away

3 comments

November 25, 8:59 PM

Heading out Black Friday with a debit card or stopping at the ATM? Remember that identity thieves don't have to be standing right behind you anymore. They can be up to fifteen feet away and still get your PIN and account number. How? ... Read More
Topics: Debit card , Theft

Exploding toilet risk for young and old

9 comments

November 22, 5:48 PM

For the last few months, a number of scam artists posing as water company workers have victimized senior citizens in New Jersey. Some demand money for nonexistent services or threaten to turn the water off, while others keep the occupant... Read More
Topics: Con artists , impersonation

Cash gifting the Chocolate Rain Guy way

18 comments

November 19, 12:01 PM

Cash gifting is a pyramid scheme falsely claiming legality. Practitioners cite irrelevant IRS rules allowing $12,000 to be distributed annually reducing a $2+ million taxable estate. (The tax allowance lets people give others, usually their... Read More
Topics: pyramid scheme , cash gifting

Reasons to hate rebate coupons

6 comments

November 16, 7:23 AM

Encourages impulsive product choice.Neglected reading rebate instructions prior to disposing of box with UPC code and yesterday was trash day.Just forgot to send in the form.Once sent, who remembers to track these things, anyway?Never knowing what you... Read More
Topics: sales tactics

Turkeys drown in gravy, not rain

2 comments

November 13, 12:01 PM

Ironically, many of us choose to question a turkey's intelligence while groaning, half-conscious after Thanksgiving dinner.Two enduring turkey stories told around the table: Turkeys are so stupid, they look up into rain and drown, and ingesting... Read More

Remembering Joe Schmo

3 comments

November 12, 6:27 PM

Now that the surreal election with its plethora of Joe references (Plumber, Sixpack, Biden and Lieberman) is behind us (well, those last two will still come up), let us fondly recall a true Everyman, Joe Schmo. In 2003, television viewers... Read More
Topics: reality television

Not so charitable

3 comments

November 11, 10:46 AM

Below are five charities Charity Navigator describes as "not living up to their mission." Why? Because they spend over 50% of their budget on for-profit professional fundraising companies and very little providing services.CharityProgram... Read More
Topics: charities , Veterans Day