The Georgia prison story ran in The New York Times Dec. 12. The reporter writes that this is the first time prisoners are known to have used technology to coordinate a movement behind bars.

Another story about the issue ran in Monday’s paper and on www.newsok.com. Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Justin Jones has said he advocates for cell phone jamming technology in prisons.  But the Federal Communications Commission has pushed back.

Jones said cell phones cost from $300 to $700 behind bars. Keeping them out of prisons hasn’t been an easy task. He thinks the only way to keep cell phones out of prison is to make them useless.

Here is video from Newsok about Justin Walker:

This interesting article by Monica Davey of the New York Times discusses a controversial new rule in the Show Me State.

Supporters say it’s another tool for judges to more effectively weigh punishments. Critics claim there is no way to put a price tag on the cost of crime, particularly those it harms.

For someone convicted of endangering the welfare of a child, for instance, a judge might now learn that a three-year prison sentence would run more than $37,000 while probation would cost $6,770. A second-degree robber, a judge could be told, would carry a price tag of less than $9,000 for five years of intensive probation, but more than $50,000 for a comparable prison sentence and parole afterward. The bill for a murderer’s 30-year prison term: $504,690.

It’s an interesting approach and seems particularly up for discussion in a state that has the highest female incarceration rate in the country. Not to mention a state corrections department struggling to make things work on a severely trimmed budget.

Read the story here and share your thoughts.

A hearing has been set for Oct. 15 and a new execution date, if one is allowed, will be determined after that hearing.

In Thursday’s (Aug. 12) Oklahoman, I had an article on a clemency request of death-row inmate Jeffrey David Matthews, who is set for lethal injection on Tuesday. Since then the request for an unprecedented second clemency hearing has been denied. The state Attorney General’s Office laid out their argument against such a hearing in a letter to the pardon and parole board.

I first wrote about Matthews’ case in July with the article “Los Angeles actress, model fights for Oklahoma death row inmate’s freedom.” That article has links to many videos and documents that can give you background on the case, as well as a link to Victoria Redstall’s website. I have not been in touch with Redstall since that article.

But, I have received numerous inquiries from national media outlets about the case. I’ve been happy to help other journalist cover this story. I’m a firm believer that an execution must be covered. It’s the highest form of punishment the law allows and should receive the media’s full attention.

An unexpected response to that first article came from the condemned man himself. In a letter, “response to article by Michael Baker of Oklahoman,” sent to both The Oklahoman and The Tulsa World, Matthews compares himself to the tag line for the movie “Absence of Malice,” “Supposed you picked up this morning’s newspaper and your life was a front page headline… And everything they said was accurate… But none of it was true.”

I guess this comparison would make me Sally Field. Hmmm… Maybe we shouldn’t take the comparison too far.

If you read his letter, linked to above, you should make sure you also read the AG’s letter to the pardon and parole board and a letter the prosecutors sent to the Gov. Brad Henry. And remember the the two victims, Otis Short and his wife, Minnie, whose throat was slashed during the robbery and was forced to lay motionless next to her dead husband as her home was robbed.

I think as citizens, and certainly as a journalist, it’s important to know as much as possible about a case before the state’s harshest punishment is carried out.

In July I posted a blog about a Craigslist rental scam that I encountered. It was a beauty—misspellings, suspicious details and the listing’s poster even asked me to send him money (overseas) before I viewed the house.

It was an obvious scam, but I wanted to put the emails out there so people could see how the bilkers work. You can see the old post here.

The point of this post is to bring attention to my scam savvy. This month, the Internet Crime Complaint Center sent out an intelligence note about the same scam:

Rental and Real Estate Scams Individuals need to be cautious when posting rental properties and real estate on-line. The IC3 continues to receive numerous complaints from individuals who have fallen victim to scams involving rentals of apartments and houses, as well as postings of real estate on-line. 

Rental scams occur when the victim has rental property advertised and is contacted by an interested party. Once the rental price is agreed-upon, the scammer forwards a check for the deposit on the rental property to the victim. The check is to cover housing expenses and is, either written in excess of the amount required, with the scammer asking for the remainder to be remitted back, or the check is written for the correct amount, but the scammer backs out of the rental agreement and asks for a refund. Since the banks do not usually place a hold on the funds, the victim has immediate access to them and believes the check has cleared. In the end, the check is found to be counterfeit and the victim is held responsible by the bank for all losses.

Another type of scam involves real estate that is posted via classified advertisement websites. The scammer duplicates postings from legitimate real estate websites and reposts these ads, after altering them. Often, the scammers use the broker’s real name to create a fake email, which gives the fraud more legitimacy. When the victim sends an email through the classified advertisement website inquiring about the home, they receive a response from someone claiming to be the owner. The “owner” claims he and his wife are currently on missionary work in a foreign country. Therefore, he needs someone to rent their home while they are away. If the victim is interested in renting the home, they are asked to send money to the owner in the foreign country.

If you have been a victim of Internet crime, please file a complaint at http://www.IC3.gov/.

Here’s a few of our stories you might have missed over the weekend:

–Watchdog reporter Ann Kelley had an update on an investigation into a decorated state trooper who has been accused of improperly handling surplus helicopter parts. The trooper, Joe Howard, continues to draw his annual salary of $57,600 on paid leave as the investigation now drags into its 15th month.

–A plan to protest a pending Open Records request by The Oklahoman may have backfired for the Oklahoma Public Employees Association, whose members could face an ethics investigation for using  state equipment to e-mail and phone the newspaper and the state agency that received the request at their association’s urging. (More background on the newspaper’s request is here.)

The workers were upset because the newspaper requested birth dates, salaries and other basic employment information for all state employees. The request remains unfulfilled. The birth dates of public employees have been deemed public information under a recent opinion by [Attorney General Drew] Edmondson.

Edmondson released the birth dates for his employees to the newspaper last month. Oklahoma City Public Schools this week released birth dates for more than 5,000 district employees in response to an open records request.

–While we’re talking about background checks, Watchdog reporter Sonya Colberg dug into just how much information can be gleaned from the state’s standard background check. Not included in the standard background checks by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation are criminal records from other states, protective orders or civil filings. For a good explanation of what is and isn’t covered, check out the box that ran with the story.

–The debate over what to do with health care reform continues to rage in Washington, but one company based in Tennessee appears to be playing on the fears of customers. Watchdog reporter Vallery Brown has the story in today’s paper about an alleged health insurance scam that has left a trail of unpaid claims across the country, including Oklahoma. (More background on that story here.)

–Courts reporter Nolan Clay had an interesting story on the limits of technology and law enforcement. It turns out a convicted felon who had already served time in federal and state prison for weapons and drug convictions was allowed to wear a GPS ankle bracelet:

Early last year, convicted drug dealer Ricky Fitzgerald Reese was sent to state prison to serve a five-year sentence for selling crack cocaine near an Oklahoma City high school.

He stayed 10 months.

In late November, prison officials put an ankle monitor on him and let him loose. By February, prosecutors allege, he was selling drugs again — even as corrections officials were supposedly monitoring him by global positioning satellites.

–Paul

The Watchdog Team received a phone call today from a 71-year-old woman who wanted to make sure no one fell for a scam that nearly fooled her.

It  was similar to the so-called Nigerian email scam, but it had a few extra steps and more emotional triggers.

The emailer claimed some foreign government had money waiting for her in an overseas account. The government, however, was informed she was dead by a person claiming to be a relative. The emailing “agency” was verifying this was really the case so they could disburse the funds to the appropriate person.

The amount of money was exhorbitant–$30 million. And the emailer made sure to tell her it was in U.S. currency.

She said something funny during the course of our conversation that caused me to chuckle:

Naturally, I couldn’t answer back if I were dead. But they knew that. They just wanted my information and probably, ultimately, some money from me to get the money from them.

Good thing she was savvy enough not to reply.

I’ve posted a lot on the blog about common online fraud schemes, but I also found a great source for email scams that everyone should read up on. Especially, like our citizen watchdog noted, if you are less experienced with email or know someone who needs to coaching on the subject.

Here is an excerpt from onguardonline.gov.

Some email users have lost money to bogus offers that arrived as spam in their in-box. Con artists are very cunning; they know how to make their claims seem legitimate. Some spam messages ask for your business, others invite you to a website with a detailed pitch. Either way, these tips can help you avoid spam scams:

• Protect your personal information. Share credit card or other personal information only when you’re buying from a company you know and trust.
• Know who you’re dealing with. Don’t do business with any company that won’t provide its name, street address, and telephone number.
• Take your time. Resist any urge to “act now” despite the offer and the terms. Once you turn over your money, you may never get it back.
• Read the small print. Get all promises in writing and review them carefully before you make a payment or sign a contract.
• Never pay for a “free” gift. Disregard any offer that asks you to pay for a gift or prize. If it’s free or a gift, you shouldn’t have to pay for it. Free means free.

Filter Tips: 10 Scams to Screen from Your Email

1. The “Nigerian” Email Scam
2. Phishing
3. Work-at-Home Scams
4. Weight Loss Claims
5. Foreign Lotteries
6. Cure-All Products
7. Check Overpayment Scams
8. Pay-in-Advance Credit Offers
9. Debt Relief
10. Investment Schemes

But you never know who is on the other side of a Craigslist listing. Case in point:

I was perusing home sales and postings on Craigslist this week. I found a cute little house in Oklahoma City for a very reasonable price. The listing included pictures, descriptions of the home and nearly everything but an address. I contacted the listing poster and encountered yet another Craigslist scam.

I’ll outline the scam, just in case you don’t want to read the email exchanges. 

• The scammer finds an old Craigslist posting with real information or scours the internet for a rental listing on another site.
• The scammer posts a detailed listing on Craigslist.
• When you contact the person who posted the listing on Craigslist, someone emails you back pretending to be the person whose name was listed with the rental in the past.
• The scammer gives you a way-too-detailed account of how he is in another country and wants to entrust his home to you.
• He asks you to fill out an easy application (of course, you’ll be approved.)
• Then, the shyster asks you to send a rental deposit. Via Western Union, of course.

I know most people would never send a person in another country money for a home they’ve never seen, but certainly there are people falling for this.

Here is the email exchange. (It is kind of funny, and I enjoyed stringing them along.)

Rick Marfil [mailto:rickmarfil@ymail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 12:34 PM
To:Vallery Brown
Subject: Re: $800 / 3br – 3BR/2BA Single Family House For Rent (Oklahoma City, OK)

— On Tue, 7/14/09, Vallery Brown wrote:

From: Vallery Brown
Subject: RE: $800 / 3br – 3BR/2BA Single Family House For Rent (Oklahoma City, OK)
To: “Rick Marfil” <rickmarfil@ymail.com>
Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 8:14 PM

Rick,

I am very anxious to get this process started…….. Could you please email me back with what you need to get this started? Also, can I mail the application form and whatever else you need?

Thank you.

From:Rick Marfil [mailto:rickmarfil@ymail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 4:14 PM
To:Vallery Brown
Subject: RE: $800 / 3br – 3BR/2BA Single Family House For Rent (Oklahoma City, OK)

IF YOU ARE REALLY INTERESTED I WILL WANT YOU TO FILL THE
RENT APPLICATION FORM.

From:Rick Marfil [mailto:rickmarfil@ymail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 6:59 PM
To:Vallery Brown
Subject: APPLICATION ACCEPTED….CALL ME ASAP

Thanks for getting back to me with the Rent Application Form. I just wanted to let you know that we have  decided to let you live in our house. As we have found your application very satisfactory and acceptable by my family.  So we would want you to go through this email and get back to us on what you feel so we could proceed in renting the house to you.We would like to send the following documents and keys to you via FedExto the address you sent to us and the tracking number will be sent to you so that you can possibly occupy our house, Please once again, we are giving you this on trust and do not dissapoint us and i promise you that, you will love the house  so we are with the below document and keys here with us.. You will need to make Payment for the first ($800) to enable shippment of the Keys and document to the address you  have to provide to us, afterwhich you could move in at your convenience. The rent starts counting when you move in, so you could go ahead with the payment straight away to make things faster….Here are the contents of the document that needs to be sent.after the deposit of ($500) i will have to send you the laese agrrement form so that you can sign for prove and send back to me asap.
 
1) Entrance and the rooms Keys
2) Paper/Permanent house form
3) The house documetary file.
4) Full Description of the house
5) Payment Receipt
 
All i need now is for you to make the deposit of ($500) so that the keys and documents can be send to the address you send to me in your rent applications form, so get back to me asap.so next time you will be getting back to is on how you will be making the payment via western union
i will be looking forward to your reply.
 
Thanks And God Bless You.

From:Rick Marfil [mailto:rickmarfil@ymail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 7:10 PM
To:Vallery Brown
Subject: WESTERN UNION INFORMATION GET BACK TO ME ASAP

Below is the information on how you are to make the payment to my shipping agent from the shipping company..
 
Attn;Vallery Brown
 
Thanks for your response…All you need to do now  is to send the month which is $500 which is the Month to the underlisted informations of my shipping agent which is from my shipping agent company so you are to send the money  through Western Union in order for him to be able to send the keys and other documents to you via FedEx…Please i want you to note that i am taking this bold step of sending you the keys based on trust and i really hope you wont let me down…. i am just coming back from the FEDEX company and i told them everthing they said no problem that as soon as the payment is comfirm that they are going to send the keys the next day…
 
below is his information from FEDEX
 
RECEIVER’S NAME:RICHARD LEWIS
 
ADDRESS: 142 VICTORIA ISLAND RD
 
STATE: EDO
 
COUNTRY: NIGERIA
 
CITY;BENIN
 
ZIP CODE: 23401
 
TEST QUESTION: WHO MADE YOU ?
 
ANSWER: GOD..
 
 
AMOUNT SENT : $500
 
ALSO GET BACK TO ME WHEN PAYMENT IS BEEN MADE WITH THE FOLLOWING INFORMATIONS
 
SENDERS NAME……………..?
 
SENDERS ADDRESS………………………?
 
AMOUNT……….$500
 
MTCN#………………………………..?
 
TEST QUESTION…………..AS INSTRUSTED ABOVE
 
ANSWER…………………….AS INSTRUCTED ABOVE
 
as soon as you have maked the payment today  Kindly get back to me with the 10 digits MTCN (money transfer control number) given to you at Western Union after you have made the payment today,and also the Sender’s full name and address so that he  can immediately arrange for the delivery of keys to you through FedEx next day delivery…..I will instruct you on how to make the monthly rent payment to me after you have moved in,and concerning the utilities,that will be taken care of by me every month so you need not to worry about that because the rent paid already covers that……Have a very wonderful day and your prompt response is awaited…….
 
Remain Blessed,

Thanks And God Bless You.

— On Wed, 7/15/09, Vallery Brown wrote:

From: Vallery Brown
Subject: RE: WESTERN UNION INFORMATION GET BACK TO ME ASAP
To: “Rick Marfil” <rickmarfil@ymail.com>
Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2009, 12:15 AM

Ok. I will do that tonight or tomorrow and get back to you.

If I have any problem while I am there, is there a way I can have them call you from Western Union?

From:Rick Marfil [mailto:rickmarfil@ymail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 7:33 PM
To:Vallery Brown
Subject: RE: WESTERN UNION INFORMATION GET BACK TO ME ASAP

This story features a 19-year-old who was convicted of a sex crime five years earlier.

“Tim, who asked that his last name not be disclosed, said he was rejected by military recruiters and a college admissions office after he informed them of his history. And he is concerned that a year from now, a federal law might cause his full name, photo and address to be displayed on the Internet, just like adult sex offenders,” wrote Tribune reporter John Keilman.

The article also has insight from University of Oklahoma psychologist Barbara Bonner, who treats teenage sex offenders.

The sheriff says he can no longer afford to send evidence to private labs to be analyzed, leaving thousands of cases in jeopardy unless more money becomes available.