Why Hoax Emails Refuse To Die


A rather persistent hoax has been floating around blogs, Facebook, and Twitter recently. The "warning" alleges that a company put a flier through your letterbox claiming that they were unable to deliver a parcel - and that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911. Apparently this will immediately charge your phone £315. Before we go any further, this "warning" is a hoax. The original scam was closed in 2005! So, why is this propagating now? One reason that I can find is that this …

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Police, Camera, Action...


As I was walking home from work, I spotted an unusual sight - a police van parked in a disabled bay near my local train station. I snapped a picture of it. Police van in a disabled bay As soon as I had taken a shot, PC Smith (40144) came out from the train station and asked to speak with me. She asked why I'd taken a photo of her van. I told her that it was parked in a disabled bay. She told me that she'd been called because a woman was self-harming on the station and that was the only…

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FoI BTP


Still from a video. A police office in a crowded train station.

Following on from my encounter with the police, I decided to file a complaint against Office 4825 for refusing to show me his ID via the BTP's public complaint form. Dear Sir or Madam,Office 4825 of the British Transport Police refused to show my his ID or Warrant Card when asked. I had been stopped under S.44(2) of The Terrorism Act 2000. The incident happened at around 0854BST on 19/08/2008.The officer was, I consider, rude and unprofessional. He made a protracted phone call using what…

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Am I A Dick?


Still from a video. A police office in a crowded train station.

Well. Yes, probably. I have a small character flaw. I don't like authority. I question authority. I overreact sometimes. This is me being stopped under Section 44(2) of The Terrorism Act 2000. I informed the police that I would be videoing and streaming to QIK. The video was cross posted to Phreadz and discussed on BoingBoing. (Note - the Qik video service died in 2015 and I rehosted a copy of the video on YouTube. The video is missing a few minutes from the end.) So, is my…

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