Rubber Ducks, Explosions, and Cheddar Cheese: It Must Be Another Edition of Strange Security
While October did not offer up many scary security-related stories for this Halloween edition of Strange Security, it certainly offered plenty of bizarre fodder. Here’s a look at some of the strangest stories that crossed our editors’ desks this month.
As always our disclaimer: We know security is serious, and while we take a lighter approach to this monthly round-up, we do not wish to diminish any suffering that the actions in these stories caused.
Man Arrested for Using Rubber Duckies to Intimidate Witnesses: When they make the movie or limited series on the Karen Read murder trial—and make no mistake, someone will make a movie or limited series of this bizarre case—will they include the alleged antics of Richard Schiffer Jr., a Karen Read supporter accused of leaving rubber duckies outside witness homes and places of business? Why rubber duckies? You’ll have to read the story.
Would-be Kidnappers Target Cryptocurrency Thieves: Bust out the flowchart tools if you want to follow this story. It chronicles how a group of Florida-based men used online forums to identify a person they think was involved in a social-engineered theft of $243 million in cryptocurrency. The men allegedly assaulted and kidnapped the suspected cryptocurrency thief’s parents in a plan to ransom them. Told you you’d need a flowchart, and I didn’t even mention the Lamborghini.
Bomb Explodes Near Runway at Japanese Airport: Usually a bomb exploding at an airport would not be in the Strange Security lineup. Usually such an explosion would likely be tied to terrorism, war, or criminal activity. This bomb, however, was an American bomb from World War II that had been inadvertently buried at the facility.
Bluey Coin Heist Update: In last month’s Strange Security, we linked to the theft of $400,000 worth of collectible coins related to the Bluey cartoon series. The next step in the investigation led Australian authorities to arrest an alleged accomplice who drove the getaway car and recovery of more than 40,000 of the coins. The theft was an inside job; one of the employees of the warehouse where the coins were located was arrested last month.
That’s a Lot of Cheddar: No need to try to improve on that New York Times headline on a story about a scam that led to the theft of 22 metric tons of cheddar cheese with a street value (Does cheddar have street value?) of $390,000. A bogus company appears to have placed the order and disappeared after delivery. Authorities have made no arrests in the case. One British food writer interviewed by the Times on the difficulty of unloading stolen high-end cheddar had a very high opinion of the cheese in question: “It’s a bit like, you know, if you steal a Van Gogh painting, it’s quite hard to sell it, because everybody knows it’s a Van Gogh painting.”
And now a few other stories from the last month that caught our editors’ eyes:
- German police raid pizzeria serving side order of cocaine
- Chestnut Championship in England Is Roiled by Accusation of Cheating
- Montana man gets 6 months in prison for cloning giant sheep and breeding it
- Mafia cocaine trafficker arrested after posing by Escobar's grave
- He Called 311 on the Police. They Called Back Making Dolphin Sounds.