In 1987, Russian immigrant Nataliya Dyakovskaya moved into a rent-stabilized apartment on the Lower East Side, scoring a dirt-cheap rent-stabilized apartment in the Vladeck Houses. In the years since, she's gone on to live the American dream, using income from her successful real estate company to buy a $700,000 Upper West Side condo, and a house in the Hamptons. And all the while, she held onto that $400-a-month subsidized apartment on the LES, bilking the NYC Housing Authority out of $79,000 over the years, federal prosecutors allege. more ›

Long before Seamless became many New Yorkers' go-to for ordering food without having to talk to a human being, it was SeamlessWeb, a site whose main business was helping white-collar firms organize large food orders for their late-working employees. So color us not surprised to learn that those same employees—especially the Wall Streeters—have been gaming the system for years, getting their corporate masters to buy them steak and mac 'n' cheese dinners on a regular basis. Sadly, unless you work for one of the 3,500+ firms that use the company, you can't try these tricks at home. more ›

Panamanian tourists were spared the indignity of a livery cab scam when the family's 17-year-old son grabbed the wheel of a Lincoln Town Car and crashed it into a guardrail. more ›

Using a clever new technique, "foreign gangs" are attempting to steal your debit card information and the last $64 in your checking account. According to CBS, the criminals set up card skimmers on the outside of the ATM entrance, so when you swipe your card to enter the kiosk, your information has been stolen. Asked if the scanners can be identified with the naked eye, a Yonkers police sergeant said, "Absolutely not." Remember when people used to physically remove your wallet on the subway? Ahh, the good old days. more ›

A reverend in the Bronx was arrested earlier this month in Florida after it came to light that he cashed nearly a quarter million in pension checks that were sent to a dead city school teacher. Though Maria Sicardo died on April 23, 2000, the Reverend Victor Rosa, who lived in the same building as her, kept cashing the monthly $2,084-$2,351 checks that were issued to her until 2010. In total investigators say that Rosa bilked the teacher's pension fund of more than $241,000. more ›

New York's attorney general, Eric Schneiderman is investigating a sweetheart deal being pushed by Bank of America to settle claims from the toxic mortgages they peddled to investors before the real estate bubble. It's understandable that he'd experience some pressure from the banks involved to just let it slide, but members of President Obama's administration are reportedly badgering Schneiderman to lie down and accept the terms. more ›

NYC was a crazy place in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. While many of us were grieving or in shock, others scrambled to make a quick buck (and/or get laid) off the tragedy. Within two days of the towers' collapse, for instance, you could buy T-shirts emblazoned with the words, "I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT OUT!" But it wasn't just souvenir hawkers cashing in on 9/11; a former employee of FedEx claims managers created a system to blame their late deliveries on beefed-up security measures at government buildings. more ›

Identity theft is a serious on-going problem for a city that generally doesn't fall for scams easily. So it's reassuring to see that police have caught Iguosade Osahon, 28, of Brooklyn, who is accused of stealing 750 identities and more than $500,000 from victim accounts. He pleaded not guilty today to 147 counts of of identity theft, grand larceny, and other charges, and is being held in lieu of $150,000 bail. Osahon allegedly stole victims' personal data via illegal online data traffickers; Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance said Osahon subsequently blew through the cash by buying Tiffany jewelry, Rolex watches, and luxury goods from Louis Vuitton and Bloomingdale's. But at least he's keeping his humor about him: As cops were arresting him, he leveled with them, "What can I say? You've got me by the balls." more ›

The 2010 Pickup and Dating Conference took place this past weekend, an historic gathering of the greatest pickup minds of our generation, sharing and consolidating their considerable knowledge for one weekend of intense tutorial and intellectual debate about the finer points of cruising for women at skeezy clubs...oh, you missed it? Well, you're in luck, because the Times was there to witness. more ›

Following in the footsteps of everyone's favorite fake alma mater Trump University, reality TV cooking program Top Chef is breaking the bottle on their own online school: Top Chef University. more ›

Taxi driver shenanigans are certainly no new phenomena, but that won't stop some intrepid reporters from heading undercover to expose the secret world of cabbie trickery. And what they discovered is that many taxi drivers are ignoring their required E-Z pass tags at tolls and bridges to instead use cash lanes that cost riders more. more ›

A Queens used-car salesman has been accused of embezzling $7 million to live out his incredibly cliched and extravagant fantasy lifestyle. Chris Orsaris, 37, was given a 164-count indictment, and is accused of defrauding Major Automotive Co., a $300 million-a-year business which currently has 14 NYC dealerships, including the Queens Major Chevrolet Long Island City, which Orsaris was general manager of, by funneling inflated sales commissions into his own pockets for his luxury needs. more ›

Some food-cart vendors are serving up lunch specials with a hearty helping of identity theft. The NY Post reports the city's Department of Investigation is looking into widespread illegal renewal of food-cart permits by scammers who assume the identities of former food-cart operators. These permits—many of which belong to dead or emigrated vendors—are then renewed and resold for absurd premiums on the black market. Post reporters found some cart permits going for as much as $46,000, sold by a broker demanding, "Everything is in cash. Paid in full." Beyond the whole identity theft thing, of course, the scam also makes it harder for legitimate vendors to obtain permits, which, like taxi medallions, are issued in limited numbers. One Manhattan food-cart operator blames the way permit applications are handled for allowing these cheaters to prosper. Because permits can be renewed by mail, he says the scam becomes "an easy thing to get away with." more ›

If Craigslist wasn't in the doghouse enough these days with prostitution rings getting broken up and murders being linked to the site, here comes consumer investigator Arnold Diaz waving that judgmental finger of his at the site's real estate section. While lately it seems like there's actually been some optimism in the air about the price of apartments around town significantly dropping, along comes a scammer offering "The Homeboy Hookup" to rain on everyone's parade. more ›

A trio of helpful hustlers have hit the streets of New York and are pulling scams on city residents. All in the name of education! Hidden cameras catch their tricks and viewers of their show, The Real Hustle, can learn how to avoid and prevent the sketchy situations. more ›