Crime Time

Dallas man got money for nothing, but checks weren't free

A Dallas man and his brother had a scheme to get money for nothing, by ordering millions of dollars of merchandise from Nordstrom. The retailer blocked the brothers' orders because the two previously had been barred from purchases because of excess refunds. But unknowingly, Nordstrom compensated FatWallet, an online site that provides cash-back incentives for purchases, the FBI reports. So Allen J. Chiu of Dallas and his brother Andrew S. Chiu of Seattle would get money back - more than $1.4 million on $23 million in fraudulent orders. But all those rebate checks came with a price. The Chiu brothers pleaded guilty to wire fraud and are headed to federal prison. They are scheduled to be sentenced July 13.  - Lois Norder

 

Arlington home raided in hacker probe

FBI agents last week raided an Arlington house, saying a computer there was used in a cyber attack against PayPal, NBC5 reports. The raid was apparently part of an investigation into a hacker group known as "Anonymous" that attacked PayPal and other sites in retaliation for cutting off service to Wikileaks, which posted confidential government documents. Computers and other electronic devices were seized at the Arlington home.  

Beware: Viruses can deposit child porn to your computer

Computer users are always wary of viruses infecting their machines and causing untold problems.

They can hijack your laptop or PC and cause them to send out spam to other computers or even steal your credit card number, for example.

But, now experts say there is an even more ominous viral infection that can actually ruin people's lives and lead to criminal charges -- viruses that deposit child pornography on your computer without you even knowing it.

-- Lance Murray