Princess Fraud Story

From a servant girl to a Princess, using fraud

If the title you just read suggests a fairy tale, and you are expecting to read one, you should stop reading right now. Still if you want to read a very interesting scam story about a cobbler’s daughter who managed to fool the nation, you are in the right place.

Story about Princess Caraboo

On Thursday April 3, 1817, a strange woman appeared in Almondsbury, a small town near Bristol in Gloucestershire, England. A cobbler in England met an apparently disoriented young woman with exotic clothes who was speaking a language no one could understand. Because she appeared to have been wandering the countryside alone, either lost or destitute, she was sent to see the Overseer of the Poor, who, in turn, sent her to Knole Park, home of Samuel Worrall, the Magistrate of the County. It was a dangerous time in England to be a homeless foreigner wandering the countryside. The British had recently defeated Napoleon and sent him into exile on the island of St. Helena, but the British authorities were still worried that foreign agents might be present in the country gathering information or trying to foment revolt. Anyone found guilty of disturbing the peace was in danger of being shipped to Australia or even executed. However, because the girl was very pretty, gracious and her hands were soft, not those of a laborer, the Worralls found her very interesting, and they tried really hard to help her and discover who she really is. This was very difficult, since she spoke a language they have never heard before. The girl soon began to collect the sympathies of the locals, and they brought many foreigners who tried to find out what strange language the lady was talking, until a Portuguese sailor “translated” her story: she was Princess Caraboo from the island of Javasu in the Indian Ocean. She had been captured by pirates, then jumped overboard in the Bristol Channel and swam ashore. Carboo being royalty meant a great deal for Worralls and they immediately announced her presence at their house to the newspapers, and soon all of England knew about Princess Caraboo. Few coming weeks were real easy street for princess Caraboo, she lived in a grand style, spending her days dancing, fencing, climbing trees, praying to her god 'Alla Tallah,' entertaining the numerous visitors who came to see her, and swimming naked in the lake when she was alone. She acquired exotic clothing and a portrait made of her was reproduced in local newspapers and this exotic royalty became favorite with the locals.

The truth always comes out

Exotic or not, the portrait of Caraboo, published in the Bath Chronicle daily paper, was the thing that brought the end to her royal living. A woman called Mrs. Neale recognized Caraboo, and revealed that Caraboo had recently been employed as a servant at her house, where she had entertained the children by speaking a strange, nonsense language of her own creation, and that her true name was Mary Baker, daughter of a cobbler in Witheridge, Devonshire. Caraboo reluctantly admitted that she was a fraud. Caraboo has actually been a servant girl in various places all over England but had not found a place to stay. She had invented a fictitious language out of imaginary and gypsy words and created an exotic character. Things got even more bizarre when it was discovered that she was actually the cobbler’s daughter. Princess’s Caraboo reign lasted very shortly, but years after her story was the basis of the 1994 movie "Princess Caraboo", written by John Wells.

Food Labeling Scam

Is the food labeled as “Natural”, “Organic” or “Sugar-free” really all that it is claimed to be? Labels on different kinds of foods saying, “Natural!”, “Fresh!”, “Healthy!”, and most of all, “Organic!” make you want to jump off your sofa and head to the store to get your hands on some of that “delicious edible health”. But is “organic”, “fresh” or “gluten-free” really all that it is claimed to be, or is it just another scam, a game of words carefully put together by the marketing master minds? In a study that has been lead in 2011; the participants were asked to compare non-organic and organic food. All of them described the food that had the label “organic” as being tastier, fresher, and richer in fiber and so on. Now, all this would be just great if the participants hadn’t been given non-organic food that was only labeled as organic. This “halo effect” that leads consumers to blindly believe that some foods are more nutritious than others is all too common, and it was in full force these past few years. Lately there has been plenty of misleading “health foods” on the market, from “organic cookies rich in fiber” to “fresh” fast food”, “natural yogurt” or “cage free eggs or chicken”. Still, no amount of labels, smart marketing tricks or the big fonts saying “ORGANIC” can change the fact that these foods are anything but wholesome. In the following text, we are going to give you some of the most deceiving food labels in stores and restaurants, and the facts about what’s really being sold. Are you being scammed?

“Natural” or “All Natural”

A product labeled as “natural” must not contain synthetic or artificial ingredients, according to FDA policy.5 However, it may still contain pesticides, genetically modified ingredients, high fructose corn syrup and be heavily processed, which negates what many consumers think of as natural. In translation, label saying “Natural” means absolutely nothing. If you are expecting it to contain food that isn’t processed or meat that has been raised on pastures, you are so not getting what you are hoping for. “Natural” or “all natural” just means that some part of the food was originally grown or produced from actual food. This can be considered fraud.

“Made With Whole Grains”

So, when you see this label on a delicious piece of bun or a pastry of any kind, you instantly think it is healthy, and it is going to help you in fulfilling your healthy carb, healthy calorie diet plan. You can’t be more wrong! Many products claiming to be healthy source of whole grains contain refined flour as the first and the most important ingredient. The only way you can tell (besides tasting it) if the bread or a bun is made with whole grains is by picking it up. If the bread is heavier and denser, then it probably contains enough of whole grains.

“Cage-free”

Animal enthusiasts are usually the ones that don’t mind paying more for chicken or eggs containing a label “Cage-free”. But are they really getting their money’s worth, or are they the victims of fraud? If they are, would we be writing about this? So, of course not! Label saying “Cage-free” just means that animals weren’t being held in a small cages but in a large, open chicken houses, crammed together on the floor. It does not mean they have access to the outdoors, much less that they are fully pastured. It is no healthier than caged chickens, and certainly not more ethical.

“Sugar-free, healthy or a scam?”

Usually in the healthy food section in a store or a supermarket, there are plenty of products labeled as “Sugar-free”. What does this mean? Now, be careful whit the answer, you are probably going to get it wrong. If your answer is that the labeled product doesn’t contain sugar, you are wrong. “Sugar-free” label in translation means that the product contains artificial sweetener, which also isn’t healthy at all so you are basically choosing among two evils. Even if the label on the product says “no sugar added”, it always means that it uses some form of fruit concentrate to sweeten. It’s an improvement over GMO beet sugar or corn syrup, certainly, but you may not want it.

“0 Grams of Trans Fats”

Legally, if food contains 0.5 grams or less of trans fat per serving, it can be labeled as “0 grams of trans fats.” Not so scary if you look at it this way, but if we take into consideration the fact that almost all of us, almost always, eat more than just one serving size, the trans fats taken with the “0 Grams of Trans Fats” food can build up significantly. This is just yet another proof of food labeling scam being so obvious, misleading consumers and scamming them into buying something unhealthy. So, always check the ingredients list for “partially hydrogenated oil” -- if this is listed, the food probably contains a measurable amount of trans fat and is better off avoided -- even if it claims to be “trans-fat free.”

There are several ways to protect yourself from being scammed, and fraud! There are a lot of ways to become the victim of fraud, so make sure to check out my articles about fraud! Check out my other articles on this blog to find out more!

Spring Break Fraud

There is an interesting scam praying on students. Specifically scam artists are targeting spring break students looking for a deal on vacation travel. Knowing how busy police are performing normal duties during spring break, criminals looking to commit fraud are becoming extremely bold in their attempts to steal someone's money. These scams come in many forms, and news programs across the nation are reporting on it. Some examples are vacation package scams, misleading information on hostels, or even vacation packages that are misleading, seemingly offering hotel accommodations or the like, but really offering something much less substantial. A lot of news outlets are warning people about these criminals, telling them to avoid anything that seems too good to be true, also avoiding any company without a reputation. Of course there are many ways for students to protect themselves from fraud. Of course this includes avoiding deals that are way to inexpensive to actually be legitimate. But students should also avoid any package that makes them pay before obtaining a rate. Ensure that you receive any receipts or paperwork for the package that you buy. Also avoid any claims stating that you have won some sort of prize, its surprising that this sort of thing still works on people. Pay with a credit card for more easy tracking, and also make sure that you contact any companies that are in the package to ensure that they have actually made a deal with the third party company giving you the package deal.

5 Scams You Should Watch Out For

The work at home scam

This is a classic scam where people promise you that you can earn a full-time wage, or often more, by buying one of their "packages." When you buy this you'll get one of two things. Either you'll get nothing, or you'll be told to sell this package to your friends and essentially be part of a pyramid scheme scamming the people around you.

The Weight loss scam

This is a very common one. It's one you've probably heard about. But thousands of Americans fall into this trap every year. There is no "magic button" to lose weight, avoid anything that tells you that you can lose weight with anything but dieting and exercise.

The 900 phone number scam

This scam is becoming increasingly common nowadays. If you are told you one a prize and all you have to do is call a 900 number, don't do it. Every second that you talk on that number money trickles out of your bank account. thieves are becoming increasingly clever about this one, so don't be caught unaware!

The Ponzi Scheme

This scheme is probably the most notorious and well known. Charles Ponzi spearheaded the technique in which he convinced thousands of people to invest into a pyramid scheme. Ponzis system has been used by several con artists ever since.

Fake anti Malware Scam

Don't download anything but the most reputable of anti malware. This is because you can download a anti virus program, thinking itll fix your computer when actually it is uploading your personal information to a criminals computer!

Renowned Japanese Composer Commits Fraud

A terrible thing happened when renowned musical composer, Mamoru Samuragochi. Admitted to committing fraud recently. Mamoru Samuragochi was known for being a modern "Japanese Beethoven," known for his work in the Resident Evil games as well as having sold several best selling albums in japan.  In 2001 the Times magazine was quoted as saying, that Samuragochi was a "digital age Beethoven" and that his deafness was a gift from god. The world was praising his work all at once. Untill he admitted to committing fraud recently.

So what did the renowned composer do exactly that he admitted to as fraud? He never wrote any of the music that made him famous. That credit goes towards Takashi Niigaki, who was paid to create music for Samuragochi for a measly sum of $69,000  was for around 17 years of work. Nigaki says that the composer might not even be deaf, although it probably isn't true.

Samuragochi since his fraud, has lost his record label, which have stopped selling his products. The city of Hiroshima has retracted the citizens award that was given to Samuragochi. Its a sad thing, really. No one knows yet as to why he decided to make this revelation. Perhaps his conscience wouldn't let him stand it any longer.