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British Man Defrauds Iraq For Millions | Tales From the Bottle

Qxir | September 2, 2025



Can one man scam a government out of millions? Yes – but at what cost?

“The ADE 651 is a fake bomb detector produced by the British company Advanced Tactical Security & Communications Ltd (ATSC). Its manufacturer claimed it could detect bombs, guns, ammunition, and more from kilometers away. However, it was a scam, and the device was little more than a dowsing rod. The device was sold for up to US$60,000 each, despite costing almost nothing to produce. It was widely used in the Middle East, and may have led to numerous deadly bombings in Iraq due to its inability to detect explosives. Its inventor, James McCormick, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2013 for fraud.”

More on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADE_651

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Written by Qxir

Comments

This post currently has 45 comments.

  2. @tylerkinley268

    September 2, 2025 at 12:17 pm

    8000 dollars to MAYBE find a golf ball. Golf balls are available by the bucket for cheap. Granted they are likely used balls recovered by the equipment, but it's still a golf ball.

    Even if you're a pro golfer who needs the best balls with the most engineering, it's a waste of money for golf balls

  6. @timecowx

    September 2, 2025 at 12:17 pm

    If you are convicted of fraud, along with doing time, you should forfeit all your money, both whatever you made defrauding people, and everything you had before that. Maybe that would deter at least a few of these people.

  11. @93MANIAC

    September 2, 2025 at 12:17 pm

    I actually remember there being a episode from the Pokemon anime that called bullshit on these detectors that came out in the late from the 1990s where Ash, Brock and Misty teamed up with a dumbass scientist tried to use a Quadro Tracker like device to track down a gang of Clefairy's that were building a spaceship beneath the city and the main character very quickly realized that the tracker was bullshit the fucking Pokemon anime is officially more intelligent then multiple law enforcement agencies and governments

  16. @peterd1234567890

    September 2, 2025 at 12:17 pm

    1 Im sure they were like "gag gifts" for golfers which makes them even more stupid.
    2 it shows confirmation bias it would point at something, you search it, if you search places you find what your looking for,there for it works. Just ignore the false positives or explain it away "it's probably picking up residue". not even starting with the opportunity to abuse your powers "why did you search all those people of the same race or religion" " the expensive high tec director pointed at them your honor"

  24. @NeverEvenThere

    September 2, 2025 at 12:17 pm

    If you are stupid enough to get fooled you deserve it, the dumb in society are only there to be taken advantage of. You are responsible for your own intelligence and if you have a head full of garbage, that's your fault. This dude should have been given a pat on the back and a certificate of accomplishment for being able to trick so many stupid people.

  28. @Newfoundland_Imperials

    September 2, 2025 at 12:17 pm

    1:31 nah bro i got boxes of these at home if i lost one I'll just open another pack. I would NEVER buy something like that. Thats like buying a gadget just to find the disposable forks and spoons in your house because you didn't do laundry for a few months. Stupid.

  30. @adamant5381

    September 2, 2025 at 12:17 pm

    Here in Brazil, we have a saying that goes more or less like this: ‘Every day a trickster and a sucker leave their homes.’ This story is a perfect example of that.

  38. @taylor-gq4rg

    September 2, 2025 at 12:17 pm

    Moral of the story: the Bible is right. "The love of money is the root of every kind of evil."
    Also, this is a useful example of the Christian doctrine of total depravity, or, to put it in layman's terms, mankind's inability to be good, simply in and of his own choice. For, left to our own devices, we, the human race, will eventually do the things which ought never be done. Pretty obvious if you think about it.

Comments are closed.

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