The 38 US states that legalized sports betting after the Supreme Court lifted a ban just so happened to also be places where the average credit score fell by 0.3%, with a drop of a full 1% in areas where online sports betting is most prevalent. That lines up with another recent study, which claimed that 18% of online sports bettors lose money needed for living expenses.

The UCLA and USC team also found an 8% increase in debt collection amounts and a ridiculous 28% increase in bankruptcies in those states. Car loan delinquencies are already on the rise, and these states have seen about 100,000 additional bankruptcies in the years since sports betting was legalized. Great idea, guys!

The research made all sorts of fascinating specific claims like the ones mentioned above. When it discusses the why of it all, it makes some less observant but still very valid points. For instance, it attributes all of this financial loss to the accessibility and addictive nature of online sports betting apps. Turns out that putting a bookie in the pocket of every young broke man in America made people lose even more money. 

The post Sports Betting Is Lowering Credit Scores and Increasing Bankruptcies, Says New Study appeared first on VICE.

And now the Texas Lottery Commission looks like a bunch of dummies for helping them do it. 

In April 2023, a New Jersey-based company called Rook TX orchestrated the insanely large lotto ticket purchase remotely, using stores associated with online lottery sales. According to a Houston Chronicle investigation, the Texas Lottery Commission actively aided them by quickly providing the stores with a massive order of lottery terminals, which they needed to process so many sales. Over twenty times the usual number of Lotto tickets were sold on the day Rook TX won. 

None of this is illegal. But people are upset because the commission didn’t investigate the rush order on the terminals. There was no due diligence whatsoever. Someone called asking for an unusually high number of lottery terminals, and the commission said, “Yeah, sure, fine,” and gave it to them, no questions asked. Many questions should have been asked, considering that immediately acquiescing to such a request is a violation of the commission’s regulations, according to the Chronicle. Regulations like reactivating one of lottery retailer’s licenses without looking into whether they had a viable business that was open to the public.

The buyer collected a lump sum of $57.8 million. They essentially doubled their money by making a few phone calls to a regulatory body asleep at the wheel. It wasn’t risk-free, though. There was roughly a one-in-ten chance that someone else would win that day. If that had happened, they would’ve split the pot—and Rook TX would’ve actually lost money on the whole thing.

Now, Texas lawmakers have called for reforms of the lottery commission, and the commission recently reviewed and adjusted its procedures to prevent something like this from happening again. But considering how lax the commission has been with developing and enforcing regulations, I wouldn’t hold my breath. 

The post Someone Spent $25 Million on Lottery Tickets to Guarantee a Win. And It Worked. appeared first on VICE.

Ottawa news host Bill Carroll uttered those words—“economic disaster”—when explaining the impact of the work stoppage this morning. These two rail lines are responsible for more than 9,300 workers and deliver goods across multiple sectors, including auto parts, agriculture, home building, and energy services. 

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference has been without contracts at the two companies since the end of last year. Now, workers are locked out, after months of failed negotiations and threats to go on strike in the fall. The union had been seeking guarantees to address understaffing concerns; the companies offered pay increases but demanded various concessions on scheduling and availability.

The two major railways have never been shut down at the same time before. How long could this go on for? That remains to be seen, as the two sides are still reportedly far apart. In 2022, CPKC had a 60-hour work strike, according to CBC. CN last had a stoppage during a nine-day strike in 2019. 

Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, said the railroad companies’ “sole focus is boosting their bottom line, even if it means jeopardizing the entire economy.” According to CNN, the shutdown could indeed have major ramifications for US auto plants, farmers, and water treatment plants. Previously, the two companies had transported $1 billion in products each day.

Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, urged both parties to come to an agreement earlier this week to no avail. “It is in the best interest of both sides to continue doing the hard work at the table to find a negotiated resolution,” he said yesterday, according to Reuters, noting that “millions” of workers, farmers, and businesses are impacted by this back-and-forth. 

Today, Trudeau added: “We are not taking this lightly, obviously because Canadians across the country are worried about it. We will have more to say shortly on what we’re doing to make sure that the right solution is found quickly for the economy,” according to CNN. 

The post A Huge Railway Shutdown in Canada Is Trouble for the US Economy, Too appeared first on VICE.

Why? Gold has an inherently limited supply, so it’s famously seen as a hedge against inflation. Central banks, especially the ones in China, have been increasing their gold reserves for months, reducing their dependency on the US dollar. Add in the expectation that the Federal Reserve might lower interest rates soon, and you’ve got yourself a gold boom.

In the first half of 2024, central banks bought over 17 million ounces of gold. Regular consumers were not that far behind, as we collectively bought over 14 million ounces in the first half of 2024. Individual investors don’t usually buy such large bars directly; instead, they opt to buy shares in index funds that hold physical gold (like GLD or IAU) or smaller, more affordable gold products. A gold necklace or a tasteful gold grill studded with rubies and emeralds. That kind of thing.

Gold analysts think the wild passion for the stuff will continue for a bit since economic conditions are still a little shaky, even if things are looking up for the most part. If you’re one of the few who has been hiding some gold bars in a mattress or a hollowed-out bible, now would probably be the time to take them to a local pawn shop so they can stare in bewilderment.

The post Gold Bars Are Worth $1 Million for the First Time appeared first on VICE.

Malibu is already an upscale neighborhood, but within it, there is an even more upscale area called Broad Beach, which Attanasio and his neighbor James Kohlberg call home. Kohlberg is suing Attanasio for allegedly excavating sand from a public beach to use on his private property.

The lawsuit says that Attanasio is a public nuisance and a private nuisance, which I didn’t know was a thing you could be criminally accused of.

The suit claims that Attanasio is violating the California Coastal Act of 1976 by using construction equipment from his company to collect sand from the beach and transfer it to his private property. Attanasio’s legal team begs to differ. They say that they’ve got legitimate permits to repair a seawall that could damage Attanasio’s home. 

The lawsuit alleges that the excavators made a mess of the beach, prevented the public from accessing the beach that is rightfully theirs, and stole The People’s sand.

Sand is a big deal in Broad Beach, where the beaches have suffered from severe erosion in recent years. The many celebs who live there—including Dustin Hoffman, Ray Romano, and Pierce Brosnan—have poured millions of dollars into a project to replenish the sand to protect their homes.

Malibu property values are soaring—it’s the site of California’s most expensive mansion—so, of course, the big names who call it home want to protect their investments. And sometimes you gotta (allegedly) steal a little sand from the general public to protect your palatial seaside mansion. 

For as silly as this little battle sounds, the legal right to sand is a legitimate issue facing coastal cities across the United States. Be warned, rich people in giant seaside homes that look like they should be toured by Architectural Digest: climate change is coming for your seawalls, and it doesn’t give a shit who you are. 

The post Billionaire Steals Beach (Allegedly) appeared first on VICE.

French’s dad bought a 120-year-old train car from a farmer, who’d used it to store grain and feed hay, for just $2,000. It was a smelly, rotting hunk of junk that several cats called home.

After five months of work and a slightly less inspiring renovation cost of $147,000, they’d converted it into a gorgeous vacation spot in Idaho.

Inside, it pretty much looks like a train—but a nice old wooden one!

French said the train car was originally owned by the Potlatch Timber Company. Starting the early 1900s, it was used for nearly 50 years to transport Western white pine logs out of northcentral Idaho. Then, somehow, it wound up in the barn of an old Idaho farmer, where it remained for decades. 

Renovating a train car for Airbnb isn’t exactly as cool as riding the Beast in Mexico. But French’s dad turned something that looked like it should have been burned to ashes by a team in hazmat suits into a vacation hotspot that looks like the setting for a cozy murder mystery. And that is pretty cool, no matter how you slice it. 

There’s even a soothing video of them re-painting the original lettering.

The post This Guy Perfectly Renovated a 120-Year-Old Train Car He Bought for $2000 appeared first on VICE.

Initially, the hackers were looking to sell the private info for $3.5 million on the dark web. Then, on August 6, a hacker affiliated with another group straight up leaked 2.7 billion records, which Bleeping Computer verified were at least partly accurate. The person claimed to have access to another, even bigger dataset, too. 

“If this in fact is pretty much the whole dossier on all of us, it certainly is much more concerning than prior breaches,” said Teresa Murray, director for the consumer watchdog U.S. Public Information Research Group. “And if people weren’t taking precautions in the past, which they should have been doing, this should be a five-alarm wake-up call for them.”

So, what can you do to protect your information?

At this point, it’s probably safe to assume that if someone wanted to steal your identity, they could. So you should always closely monitor your credit reports to ensure there’s no fraud or other suspicious activity going on. If you do notice inconsistencies, immediately contact credit bureaus and request a freeze on your accounts. 

If anything, this is a great reminder to stay on top of your accounts—could be a good time to update your old passwords and set up two-factor authentication.

The post Pretty Much Everyone’s Social Security Number, Name, and Address Was Leaked appeared first on VICE.

But you know things are rough when Home Depot is concerned. For a company so closely tied to the housing market, perhaps they might know a thing or two about just how the economy is doing.

In a widely circulated earnings report for investors, the home improvement chain noted a dip in consumer spending, which they said was likely a result of high interest rates and economic woes. Home Depot blamed the economy for the fact that, within the last quarter, sales at its stores that had been open for at least 12 months dropped 3.6%. Additionally, the company expects stores’ end-of-year sales to fall up to 4% lower than last year.

“During the quarter, higher interest rates and greater macro-economic uncertainty pressured consumer demand more broadly, resulting in weaker spend across home improvement projects,” Ted Decker, Home Depot’s CEO, said in a news release. 

Some of this pullback is also probably a result of people spending more on experiences, like travel and concerts, as opposed to home goods. During the pandemic, of course, it was the other way around, with customers stuck at home. What else was there to invest in other than your quarantined space, or to pay the professionals (who buy their tools at Home Depot) to fix it up for you?

Now, house prices are up and home renovation is bottom-of-mind, and Home Depot—and similar companies—are experiencing the brunt of it. Even real estate agents are losing their minds.

It’s not great! But maybe there’s a bright side. If people stop renovating their adorable 90s houses, they’ll stop making them ugly.

The post The Economy Is So Brutal That Even Home Depot Is Complaining appeared first on VICE.

In a tight market, you need creative solutions to carve out your niche. Perhaps this is why many real estate agents are taking such a unique approach to selling homes: acting completely unhinged online.

Consider these virtual home tours.

Margie Marasco out of Naperville, Illinois, leads what you could call a “hardcore tour,” where the realtor’s intensity leads viewers through an energetic, albeit chaotic journey. She uses puns and rhymes throughout the viral video, such as, “I’m about to go on Zoom…in the bonus room.”

Trent Miller, a younger realtor in Pennsylvania and Maryland, developed a signature style: the speed tour, where he sprints through houses cracking jokes. It’s funny and fitting, too, as if he’s in a rush to sell the place and move on (aka, secure his next paycheck).

One realtor’s Gen Z employee had their own idea of a property walk-through: creating a video solely consisting of pre-takes. In the clip, Mike Hege, a Charlotte and Lake Norman, North Carolina realtor, gets into character, clears his throat, or fixes his hair. The awkward yet endearing video captured the hearts of many million viewers—but did little in actually showcasing the home, of course.

Brad the Realtor has dedicated his entire TikTok page to the modern realtor bit—and apparently, it’s working for him. He even teamed with our fav speed realtor, Miller, to appear at a marketing bootcamp. In light of today’s tragic housing market, he’s channeling his frustrations by filming aggressive home tours: 

“This shit’s available now,” he says, standing in front of the home for sale. “Starting in the 500s, may as well just stop the video now…Can’t fucking afford it.”

The wacky real estate video genre has even spawned parodies: Aaron Goldenberg of the comedy duo “Mean Gays,” shared a one-off video leading homebuyers through a gorgeous property—but not without some disapproving glares and condescending one-liners. Nothing like some warm hospitality to welcome you into your new home. But don’t worry, as the “Mean Gays” point out in the video: you probably won’t be able to afford it, anyway.

When push comes to shove, we could all use a little more humor today—especially when inundated with countless Zillows that we’ll probably never buy. You might not be purchasing a new property anytime soon, but at least you can live vicariously through these unhinged virtual home tours—from the comfort of your criminally overpriced monthly apartment.

The post Real Estate Videos Are Out of Control appeared first on VICE.

Thanks to the invention of the Internet, crooks now have infinite ways to separate you from your money. We checked in with some hackers and scammers we know to ask what sneaky new ploys they’ve been dreaming up to impoverish and humiliate you.

We spoke to ‘Bravo’, a London accountant in his twenties who likes to dabble in online fraud—or as they call it, “pocket money projects”—and ‘Moodie’, who claims to hack “for shits and giggles, never for evil”, as well as a (possibly fairly evil) friend of Moodie’s who didn’t even want to give up their alias.

Fake AI Therapists

Anxiety isn’t hard to find in the modern world: at times, therapy can feel more like a necessity than a luxury. Scammers aren’t holding back from cashing in on the self-help market.

One anonymous charlatan we spoke to explained how they were getting rich charging people for AI-powered therapy sessions. They start by training a talking chatbot on the work of real psychologists—experts like Esther Perel, Lori Gottlieb, Dan Savage, and Jay Shetty—by “feeding it all their books, podcasts, interviews, you name it.” Then, they “make a fake website on GoDaddy or Namecheap, make a fake profile of a therapist with fake qualifications and testimonials, and boom.”

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Because the bot lives online, it can hold as many sessions as it wants at the same time at any hour with clients from any part of the world. Our source hasn’t quite perfected video calls —so for now, they only offer audio calls. “Technically, my therapist holds the knowledge of the best experts in the world and for a fraction of the price,” says our scammer, shamelessly pleading innocence. “Why should only people who can afford therapy get help?”

Selling AI Products That Never Even Existed

Thanks to the wonders of artificial intelligence, anyone can create images and videos of pretty much anything and sell them online to unsuspecting buyers. ‘Bravo’ has been pocketing hundreds per week by selling non-existent products. While he won’t send us links revealing his bogus wares, he points us in the direction of some dubious-looking Star Wars baby cribs and cat-themed furniture. These are the kinds of things customers end up buying that have never actually existed, or that do exist, but look nothing like what’s advertised.

The unhappy customers don’t faze brave Bravo, though: “I have a very positive mindset, at the end of the day you’ve got people doing tax fraud and extortion and other kinds of crazy shit. No one’s really going to get me for some small online transaction.”

If Bravo ever does start experiencing pangs of guilt, at least he has recourse to a dirt cheap AI therapy-bot to help shrug it off.

The ‘Honeypot’ Free Wifi Scam

Finding free wifi in public when you’re travelling, or low on data, is like finding a stash of ice-cold Vichy Catalan spring water in the middle of the desert. But what may seem like an oasis, is often a treacherous mirage.

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Moodie says that hackers will routinely set up fake wifi networks in public places, aping the brand names of legitimate nearby businesses in malls and airports. By rerouting the VPN, the scammer can project their own wifi signal as (for example) a Starbucks signal, and leave it open so that anyone can sign into their network. “Anywhere that tourists go is good, they’re always desperate for wifi, especially when they’re tired and run down and not thinking straight,” says Moodie. “Drunks are even better because they’re even more vulnerable.”

Signing into these ‘honeypots’ or ‘evil twin’ wifi networks will take you to a dummy page where you’ll be asked for your email or banking details. Once you’re in and browsing, the hacker is with you every step of the way, accessing your usernames, passwords, browser history, and even files stored on your device. So you may want to think twice before desperately clicking anything just to see those four beautiful curved bars.

QR Code Jacking

An honourable mention must go to QR jacking, a variation of the free wifi scam above. As we increasingly pay for things using QR codes we find in public, fraudsters have started sticking their own (evil) QR codes near restaurant menus, parking metres, and even electric-car charging points. These will direct you to a fake website, which requests your bank details for payment.

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The Virtual History Tour Scam

A few years ago, during lockdown, demand for virtual online ‘tours’ of ancient sites and museums skyrocketed, with frustrated adventurers young and old happy to pay for a quick shot of second-hand escapism. Moodie’s anonymous scammer friend was among those who started a site offering the service, after a “semi-serious request from someone who wanted some scenery when he got stoned.”

So, Moodie’s friend set up a website offering ‘immersive’ virtual experiences and live-streamed tours of famous and obscure historical sites for a small fee—the catch being that all the content is ripped from pre-recorded footage that is freely available.

“To be fair, he’s a massive history nerd, so the places he offers are places you’ve probably never heard of, or would even think to look up,” says Moodie, seemingly unaware that 1.5 million people visit Machu Picchu—one of the key tours on offer—every single year.

To be fair, the Inca citadel isn’t the most accessible place on Earth, and other destinations—like the sinking Pacific nation of Tuvalu and the British Museum—would either take days to travel to or explore fully in real life.

Moodie’s mate promises an experience that’s “free of tourists and crowds, without the price of an entrance fee or plane ticket.” Conveniently, it also ensures the scammers are keeping you right where they want you—sitting behind a screen, credit card details at the ready.

Follow Naeun on X at @naeun_k

The post Scammers Told Us Five Ways They’ll Scam You in the Future appeared first on VICE.