BBC News reports on how to make money in Zimbabwe when the country is facing inflation of 165,000 percent.
From BBC News:
The lack of international traders, the scarcity of foreign currency to import basic goods has opened up the markets to anyone with a calculator and the patience to ride the Zimbabwe dollar and its falling [...]
The United States Attorney General stated that organized crime groups are targeting energy and financial markets.
From CNN:
ttorney General Michael Mukasey warned Wednesday that organized criminal networks have penetrated portions of the international energy market and tried to control energy resources.In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, he said similar [...]
According to a video news report from National Geographic, Mexicans spent $2.58 billion in bribes in 2007.
Based on a report from Transparencia Mexican (the Mexico Chapter of Transparency International), Mexicans paid 197 million bribes in 2007, up from the 115 million bribes paid in 2005.
See the video report from National Geographic here.
[Passport]
In another example of a high level law enforcement official caught with prostitutes, the police chief of Tehran was found with six naked prostitutes in a brothel.
From the BBC News:
Tehran’s police chief, who was reportedly discovered in a brothel, has been arrested, it has been confirmed.
Local media have reported that General Reza Zarei [...]
The New York Times reports on how the online email scam known as Phishing has been targeting high level executives around the United States.
From the NY Times:
An e-mail scam aimed squarely at the nation’s top executives is raising new alarms about the ease with which people and companies can be deceived by online criminals.
Thousands of [...]
Due to the high amount of information available, personal information sold on the black market by identity thieves is losing its profitability, according to virus protection maker Symantec.
From the AP:
Fierce competition among identity thieves has driven the prices for stolen data down to bargain-basement levels, which has forced crooks to adopt mainstream business tactics to [...]
With a tax proposal that would make a pack of cigarette cost $9, New York officials are worried about various methods to smuggle cigarettes.
From the AP:
Cigarettes are sold tax free on tribal lands in New York, and the savings are eye-popping. Once lawmakers approve the state’s latest hike, crafted last week,
smokers will be able to [...]
Newsweek has a special web report on Zimbabwe’s economy and how the US dollar is traded on the black market.
From Newsweek:
Officially, one U.S dollar is worth about 30,000 Zimbabwean dollars. As of last week the real price on the black market was about 35 million dollars, or 1,166 times the official rate. The bill for [...]
As China continues its crackdown in Tibet, authorities in China have repeatedly restricted the news and information that is available to its citizens. People in China attempting to receive news are forced to gather information on the black market due to these restrictions.
An article by the International Herald Tribune mentions the various websites that [...]
Reuters reports on the available estimates of smuggling between Kosovo and Serbia.
From Reuters:
There is no single reliable estimate of the volume of trade between Serbia and Kosovo.
Serb sources say that in 2007 it was $200 million, mostly Serb exports of construction material and machinery, with smuggling accounting for an additional $50 million a year.
Kosovo [...]
