The Hidden Dangers

The “Times” Summary of the Summing-Up of the Lord Chief Justice on the Trial of Arthur Orton, for Perjury, in the Tichborne Case… London, 1874.

The Tichborne Romance: a Full and Accurate Report of the Proceedings in the Extraordinary and Interesting Trial of Tichborne v. Lushington… Manchester, 1871. 

Whereas identity theft is mostly done electronically these days, this was obviously not a possibility in the late 19th century. The Tichborne Trial was a case of a man named Arthur Orton who was posing as Richard Tichborne, heir to the Tichborne baronetcy. It involved a sad turn of events where a mother attempted to find her son who had presumably been lost at sea and was taken advantage of. Her judgment clouded by grief, she believed the impersonator to be her son whereas the rest of the family saw through his guise.

33 charged in $2M cross-Canada fraud investigation

Police have charged 33 people with over 200 fraud offences after dismantling a massive, cross-provincial criminal ring responsible for defrauding banks and average citizens alike out of over $2 million. Though many people are already in custody, officials still don’t know if the victims will see their money ever again. Investigation into the bust dubbed “Operation Springston” started in Hamilton and quickly spread to Halton and the Greater Toronto Area, but also included fraudulent transactions in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec and Nova Scotia.