WASHINGTON — A government report says money lost in Internet crimes hit a new high last year, approaching about $240 million. The FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center said Thursday the number of Internet scams dropped slightly from previous years, but the total lost jumped by $40 million. The report says more men than women filed complaints saying they were scammed. The average loss for men was $765 and for women, $552.
@3. Headline Briefs 14 no:Spitzer sparks boom in souvenirs
The hotel where then-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer allegedly had a tryst with a high-priced call girl has been doing a brisk business in souvenirs since news of the scandal broke last month. At the Mayflower Hotel’s tiny gift shop, people have been snatching up merchandise with the Mayflower logo and the longtime catchphrase, “Washington’s Second Best Address.” A resident manager said sales have increased sharply since the scandal, which led to Spitzer’s resignation.
North Dakota: Nuclear management
The Air Force wing blamed for an embarrassing mix-up last year in which a bomber mistakenly flew to Louisiana armed with nuclear missiles has passed a new inspection, the military said Thursday. Minot Air Force Base’s 5th Bomb Wing was recertified in the handling of nuclear weapons after the inspection, which followed months of retraining and the sanctioning or outright replacement of some airmen. “Basically, the wing was graded and found ready to perform their strategic mission,” an Air Force spokesman said.
California: Roommate Web site liable
A roommate-matching Web site can be held liable for violating fair housing laws by requiring users to state preferences that could be used to discriminate against others because they are gay or straight, male or female or have children, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Thursday. The ruling by 11 judges of the San Francisco-based court said that Roommates.com, a Web site that helps people nationwide seek housing, could be sued for violating federal housing law by requiring users to provide information that people would be barred from seeking in person or on the telephone.
@3. Headline Briefs 14 no:Inmates assault three prison guards
Two gang-affiliated inmates rushed three guards at a state prison Thursday and stabbed them, putting them in the hospital, officials said. All state prisons were locked down as a precaution after the stabbing at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, a prison spokeswoman said. The victims, two sergeants and an officer, were in stable condition at hospitals, she said.
Michigan: Robber forgets her ID
A would-be bank robber came away empty-handed but left behind something useful for police in Warren: her photo identification. The woman filled out an account application Thursday morning, then pulled a handgun and demanded cash, police said. She panicked and fled without getting any money; police found an address on the account application, along with her photo ID. “We’re probably not dealing with the smartest person in the world,” a police official said.
Canada: Charges in seal hunt
The Canadian government will file charges against the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for allegedly getting too close to seal hunters as it protested the country’s annual hunt, Canada’s federal fisheries minister said Thursday. The minister announced in parliament that the activists’ vessel, the Farley Mowat, ventured too close to a group of fishermen as they hunted seals on ice floes north of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, on Sunday. The annual hunt, the largest marine mammal hunt in the world, began last week.
Suriname: 19 die in airliner crash
A plane crashed Thursday en route to a remote gold mining region in southern Suriname, killing 19 people, officials in the South American country said. The twin-engine Antonov-AN28, operated by Surinamese carrier Blue Wing airlines, crashed in the jungle on approach to an airstrip in the Benzdorp region, near the country’s border with French Guiana, officials said. All 19 people on board, including the pilot and co-pilot, were killed, an air traffic supervisor said.
Australia: Wife saved from crocodile
A man rescued his wife from the jaws of a crocodile in remote northern Australia by jumping on its back, police said Thursday. The woman, 36, suffered leg and hand injuries in the attack late Wednesday in an Outback creek where the couple were swimming, a police spokesman said. “It was real Crocodile Dundee stuff,” he said, referring to the 1986 movie featuring an Outback hunter who can kill crocodiles with a knife. It was the fourth close call involving a crocodile this year in the Northern Territory.
From Herald news services
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