From big scam to big house

Eighteen people have been charged with stealing at least US$200m in a credit card fraud ring, possibly one of the largest in US history. The scam allegedly involved thousands of fake identities and businesses, lying to credit rating agencies, and wiring some of the proceeds abroad. Beginning in 2007, the elaborate scheme involved falsely improving the credit scores of 7,000 fake cardholders, allowing the scammers to borrow high amounts of money which they never repaid. The accused availed themselves of a virtual cafeteria of sophisticated frauds and schemes, whose main menu items were greed and deceit. In fact, prosecutors allege that in one case a defendant used a six-year-old's Social Security number for a fake utility bill. This is just not on. It's a good thing the bellends involved have all been caught in the act because this type of fraud increases the costs of doing business for every American consumer, every day. In other news, the world's longest domestic cat, a 48.5in (1.23m) Maine Coon named Stewie, has died at the age of eight at his home in Reno, Nevada. Stewie's owner, Robin Hendrickson, said that the record-holding cat died on Monday evening after battling cancer.