# Brian Dunning (skeptoid) pleads guilty to wire fraud **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 20, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-dunning-skeptoid-pleads-guilty-to-wire-fraud/656267 "2013-04-20T22:56:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-dunning-skeptoid-pleads-guilty-to-wire-fraud/656267/1 "2013-04-20T22:56:11Z")
I’ve been expecting to see a thread on this for the last couple of days, but since it hasn’t popped up I’ll put this here for those interested. [http://www.skepticalabyss.com/?p=291](http://www.skepticalabyss.com/?p=291) [Arstechnica’s article.](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/how-kesslers-flying-circus-cookie-stuffed-its-way-to-5-2m-from-ebay/) Basically Brian Dunning plead guilty a few days ago to defrauding ebay for 5.2 mil through a clever “cookie-stuffing” scheme. I’ve been a big fan of his skeptoid podcast, and I spent a day doing touristy stuff with him when he came to Berlin. I always had a positive opinion of him as a person, but this is disappointing to say the least. There’s also an inherent irony in the fact that skeptoid served in large part to protect consumers from frauds and scams by exposing and attacking pseudoscientific beliefs and encouraging critical thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-dunning-skeptoid-pleads-guilty-to-wire-fraud/656267/2 "2013-04-20T23:47:35Z")
What a clever method. He got too greedy though. Lower level of cookie stuffing would not have been discovered. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-dunning-skeptoid-pleads-guilty-to-wire-fraud/656267/3 "2013-04-22T10:52:22Z")
Surprised there’s not more interest here. I actually learned about Skeptoid on these boards a few years ago and subsequently became aware of skepticism as a movement from that. Anyway, agreed **Terr**. Way too much money involved to expect it to stay under the radar. I wonder if he didn’t realize just how effective his scheme would actually be. ---
**Author:** ![RadioWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-dunning-skeptoid-pleads-guilty-to-wire-fraud/656267/4 "2013-04-22T19:46:43Z")
Good. I’ve played poker with the man several times and he’s an egotistical a-hole. Believe me, he’s exactly the type to think he’s smart enough to get away with stuff like this. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-dunning-skeptoid-pleads-guilty-to-wire-fraud/656267/5 "2013-04-22T20:12:18Z")
I started listening recently after he was on SGU. At the time that I heard it I didn’t know anything about this scandal, but I thought there was a weird desperation about his “Internet Paranoia” show regarding cookies and viruses and how they can be totally benign and the government shouldn’t disallow them and I’m not involved in a cookie stuffing scheme or anything! ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-dunning-skeptoid-pleads-guilty-to-wire-fraud/656267/6 "2014-08-07T20:57:31Z")
[Brian Dunning was sentenced to 15 months in prison](http://skepchick.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/dunning-sentence.pdf). [Here’s his grossly misleading attempt at a defense](http://www.briandunning.com/message.html) and a [critical analysis](http://skepchick.org/2014/08/a-critical-analysis-of-brian-dunnings-explanation/) of that defense by Rebecca Watson.