Local officials in Philadelphia with assistance from the FBI are investigating the case of four mentally disabled people who were found locked up in a basement so their social security checks could be stolen.

A janitor says they were doing checks of the building where the crime occurred and found the people locked up, he quickly let them go and then called authorities to report the crime.

Among the victims were a 29-year-old female and three males (31, 31, and 35).

According to police the victims were locked up for approximately one week and they were suffering from bed sores and other “injuries that are very, very hard to describe.”

Speaking about the incident Lt. Ray Evers said the group had moved from Texas to Florida and then to Philadelphia on October 4.

Police say that the people responsible are likely two men (51 and 51) and a 50-year-old female. Names for those suspects have not been released at this time.

Evers says of the people responsible:

“They’ll be charged with pretty much everything we can find in the crimes code … from aggravated assault to kidnapping to false imprisonment,” and “You name it, we’re going to stick it on them.”

Because of the human trafficking allegation the FBI have stepped in to help the investigation.

Social Security Fraud Investigation After Four People Found Chained In Basement is a post from: The Inquisitr

AT&T would like you to know that they are relentless in their quest to redefine the term “unlimited.”

Perhaps you’ve signed on for a 2-year contract for your iPhone or smartphone, and are tethering using your “unlimited” data plan. Consumerist posted a friendly plea from the carrier to customers suspected of tethering their devices without paying an additional $20 a month on top of pricey unlimited data plans for the tethering privilege. According to the email, AT&T has noticed your tethering, and would like you to please stop it now. Oh, and call them by May 13th, or you’re out another $240 a year on your cellphone bill.

Full text of the email below. This isn’t the first time AT&T has complained that customers are using their unlimited service too liberally- is it time for AT&T to just find a new word for that particularly limited plan?

We’ve noticed your service plan may need updating.

Many AT&T customers use their smartphones as a broadband connection for other devices, like laptops, netbooks or other smartphones — a practice commonly known as tethering. Tethering can be an efficient way for our customers to enjoy the benefits of AT&T’s mobile broadband network and use more than one device to stay in touch with important people and information. To take advantage of this feature, we require that in addition to a data plan, you also have a tethering plan.

Our records show that you use this capability, but are not subscribed to our tethering plan.

If you would like to continue tethering, please log into your account online at www.wireless.att.com, or call us at 1-866-679-7118 Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. CST or Saturday, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. CST, by May 13, 2011 to sign up for DataPro 4GB for Smartphone Tethering….

If we don’t hear from you, we’ll plan to automatically enroll you into DataPro 4GB after May 13, 2011. The new plan – whether you sign up on your own or we automatically enroll you – will replace your current smartphone data plan, including if you are on an unlimited data plan.

If you discontinue tethering, no changes to your current plan will be required.

AT&T asks users nicely not to tether… or else is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you ask anyone who doesn’t have an iPhone what they know about the ubiquitous smartphones, you’re likely to hear comments about frequently dropped calls or the devices doing everything but making phone calls.

Despite rampant criticism about the level of service available on AT&T’s network, the company’s CEO told investors that he personally does not believe poor signal quality or other service complaints will drive customers from the carrier even if AT&T loses their exclusivity for the popular handset. At a Goldman Sachs sponsored conference of investors, Randall Stephenson said:

“If you look at the iPhone base, about 80% is either on a family-talk plan or in a business relationship with us,” Stephenson added. “Those customers tend to be very sticky. They don’t churn very frequently.”

Stephenson said two-thirds of subscribers were contract customers prior to obtaining iPhones, and 53% of users with contracts are smartphone users- leaving signficant room for expansion for those who might upgrade to devices that generally warrant more expensive data plans.

AT&T CEO not concerned about post iPhone exodus, or so he claims to investors is a post from: The Inquisitr

A few days ago I let my fellow Canucks know what kind of prices they could expect on May 28th for the iPad – the newest world changer, and magical – let’s not forget magical, cool toy from Apple. Unfortunately that was only the one shoe that we were all waiting to drop with the second being what it was going to cost us to be able to actually use the thing.

Right off the bat the bad news is that Rogers will once again be responsible for spreading the Apple goodness to the citizens of Canada, not that any other carrier would have been any better news really. So it was just now a matter of waiting on Rogers to just how badly they would put the screws to us and thankfully, I guess, we didn’t have to wait too long.

Word came out yesterday via fellow Canadian blogger Kris Abel that unlike the US there would be no unlimited plan even though at first they said there would be. As well there would be no sharing plans which means that even if you already had a plan with Rogers you would have to sign up for a new one if you wanted the iPad.

So what are we getting for this shafting?

Well as Kris posted:

The Wi-Fi models can access the internet , but only if there is a wireless hotspot nearby. To be able to connect to the internet everywhere you go, you’ll need to opt for one of the more expensive “Wi-Fi + 3G” models. This gives you the option to add a data plan from a wireless carrier. The Apple Canada store lists data plans from Rogers Wireless as follows:

250 MB of data per month will cost  $15

5 GB of data per month will cost $35

Rogers explains its pricing on the fact that the iPad is a new category and they highly doubt that anyone will use anywhere near the 5GB cap in a month.

But isn’t this the magical device that will encourage us all to become massive consumers of rich media, you know .. things like video and music and books – lots of books. All of which usually mean very large files.

Thanks Rogers. If I was ever sitting on the fence about getting an iPad for my wife you just convinced me not to.

iPad and Canada – only if you don’t mind getting jacked by Rogers. Again. is a post from: The Inquisitr

Earlier this week, I posted about how AT&T is whining that people who have iPhones want to like, use them and stuff and that’s causing them to have to put hard earned profits into shoring up their network. A waaahmbulance may have been called.

Consumerist posted about Operation Chokehold- editor Ben Popken, like me, can’t seem to make a phone call in New York. Apparently, we’re not the only ones, because a fed up Fake Steve Jobs called for users to implement “Operation Chokehold” to teach AT&T a lesson about withholding bandwidth. The staged “digital disobedience” is scheduled for this Friday at 3pm EST, noon Pacific. Participants are organizing through a Facebook group, and plan to simultaneously use data-heavy applications to strangle AT&T’s already weak data network:

Subject: Operation Chokehold

On Friday, December 18, at noon Pacific time, we will attempt to overwhelm the AT&T data network and bring it to its knees. The goal is to have every iPhone user (or as many as we can) turn on a data intensive app and run that app for one solid hour. Send the message to AT&T that we are sick of their substandard network and sick of their abusive comments. THe idea is we’ll create a digital flash mob. We’re calling it in Operation Chokehold. Join us and speak truth to power!

While some users are already complaining that the “digital flash mob” will impact everyone on the network Friday, the fact remains that AT&T users signed a contract (with heavy ETFs) in exchange for a service. We should all be able to use the service we pay for, which includes unlimited data, whenever the hell we want to- even if our friends plan on using it at the same time. At this point, I’d personally be thrilled if I could make a phone call without getting the dreaded “call failed” screen, much less watch a YouTube video on the iPhone I pay well over $100 for the privilege of not being able to use every month.

Cult of Mac posted a response from AT&T downplaying the threat of a few people using YouTube on their iPhones at the same time:

We understand that fakesteve.net is primarily a satirical forum, but there is nothing amusing about advocating that customers attempt to deliberately degrade service on a network that provides critical communications services for more than 80 million customers. We know that the vast majority of customers will see this action for what it is: an irresponsible and pointless scheme to draw attention to a blog.

AT&T has also hinted that services like 911 will be adversely impacted if enough users participate but again I posit- isn’t it their problem to ensure we can connect to emergency services? What if one of my kids starts choking or my house catches fire on a day where a particularly popular video of a cat riding a segway is being passed around, am I just SOL?

AT&T users staging “Operation Chokehold” to protest sucktastic network is a post from: The Inquisitr

AT&T, who recently ranked last across 26 cities for customer satisfaction, has hinted at “incentives” to get customers who have the audacity to use the service they pay for to limit their unlimited data.

Oh, cry me a river. As an AT&T iPhone customer, I pay a lot for the service that serves as my sole phone. Most iPhone users pay at least $100 a month, without extras like unlimited texts. Over the past three months, nearly every call I make is cut off with a message of “call failed,” hours pass without data push updates- and reports are rampant on the internet of missed texts and voicemails, dropped calls and call failures. But apparently reliable unreliability isn’t enough of a disincentive for potential customers (current ones are often trapped by contract)- hints at charging a larger amount for the same sucky service seems to be on the docket:

“We’re going to try to focus on making sure we give incentives to those small percentages to either reduce or modify their usage, so they don’t crowd out the customers on those same cell sites,” he said.

The company might consider a “pricing scheme that addresses the usage,” Mr. de la Vega said. But he said that would be determined by regulatory factors and industry competition, among other issues.

Indeed, if AT&T has proven anything this year, it’s that they excel at whining. They ran crying to the FCC when Google hurt their feelings, were exposed for encouraging employees to astroturf against net neutrality and got all pissy over the Verizon “there’s a map for that” ads. (They also introduced an app this week conceding their coverage sucks.) With their track record of acting hard done by while raking in cash after nabbing iPhone exclusivity, does anyone else think these “incentives” might be the type Tony Soprano would employ behind the Bing?

AT&T: Stop using the service you’re paying for, please is a post from: The Inquisitr

As the news still continues to come out of Iran the government is trying everything it can, short of pulling the country’s Internet plug, of silencing the people. Part of that silencing unfortunately also includes people being killed. It would seem though that the Iranian forces are deciding that this could be a good time to earn some extra cash. For one Iranian family this blackmail meant having to pay a $3,000 ‘bullet fee’ – the fee charged by the Iranian forces for the bullet used to kill their son – before they could claim their son’s body.

In a post that appears on the Wall Street Journal today Farnaz Fassihi relates the story of the Alipour family and how the elder Mr. Alipour had to plead with morgue officials to have his son’s body return.

Mr. Alipour told officials that his entire possessions wouldn’t amount to $3,000, arguing they should waive the fee because he is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war. According to relatives, morgue officials finally agreed, but demanded that the family do no funeral or burial in Tehran. Kaveh Alipour’s body was quietly transported to the city of Rasht, where there is family.

Yup an enlightened society.

In Iran the bullets killing Iranian citizens is worth $3,000 is a post from: The Inquisitr

“Adrienne’s tour with Cheetah Girls will be over December 22nd, so she is then free to pursue other projects and wanted to be seen as more adult and sexy,” Jaxson said. “So after the laptop was stolen we used it as an opportunity to drum up some publicity and start speculating about nude photos, but we never expected anything to get out.”

“Adrienne and her boyfriend (Kim Kardashian’s younger brother Robert) swear they didn’t leak them, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Adrienne did.”

It’s either her or someone very close to her,” Jaxson added. “Things are pretty ugly, what should have been an image boost has really turned around and bitten her in the butt.”

We don’t know about that. The NY Post is reporting that Playboy has offered her $100,000 to be in the magazine. Playboy says the photos will be “stylish”. Right.

Adrienne Bailon: PR Rep says they leaked photos to spice up her image is a post from: The Inquisitr