Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Buffett cell phone case finally solved PALM BEACH, Fla., June 11 (UPI) -- When singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett left his cell phone at a Palm Beach, Fla., bar, the case went all the way to the U.S. Secret Service. Advertisement That's because Buffett had stored the phone numbers of all kinds of luminaries -- and at least one of them, former President Bill Clinton, got a prank call, Pollstar reported Friday. Brisa Atlantica busboy Jason Martin, 22, found Buffett's $500 Ericsson cell phone when he was cleaning after hours on May 29, the Palm Beach Post reported. "We were sitting around smoking weed and scrolling down the list on Jimmy's phone, going, 'Wow!'" Martin told the Post's Page Two gossip column. Martin said he decided not to return the phone after a Buffett associate and the singer's wife were "nasty" to him. Advertisement Martin was fired from his job and the police and Secret Service were called in. He eventually returned the phone, but minus its memory card, which he reportedly told friends he would sell to a tabloid. Buffett told the Post he was satisfied with just getting his phone back. "There wasn't much on (the chip)," he said. Jackson hoax is computer virus LONDON, June 11 (UPI) -- A British anti-virus organization Friday warned Internet users to beware of e-mails purporting to contain Michael Jackson's suicide note. SophosLabs experts said the message's creators are using a common tactic by using a celebrity name -- in this case the very-much-alive pop star -- to induce recipients' curiosity. Readers are meant to open a link that claims to be the singer's suicide note, but is actually a Web site containing a Trojan horse virus, the Sun reported Friday. The e-mail, with the subject line: "Re: Suicidal attempt" begins: "Last night, while in his Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson has made a suicidal attempt." "If you click on the link," Carole Theriault, security consultant for Sophos, said, "the Web site displays a message saying it is too busy, which may not surprise people who think it might contain genuine breaking news about Michael Jackson. Advertisement "However, this is a diversionary tactic -- because behind-the-scenes the Web site is downloading malware (malacious software) onto the user's computer without their knowledge." Old laundry basket holds more than socks MUNICH, Germany, June 11 (UPI) -- A German woman discovered a new meaning for money-laundering -- she found more than $120,000 in old deutsche marks and account books in a laundry basket. The Bavarian woman bought the used basket in a flea market in the town of Grafenau, Deutsche Welle reported. However, when she got it home she thought it smelled funny. She removed the basket lining to wash it and found the cash and account books. The woman turned the find over to local police, Deutsche Welle said. Under German law she could receive up to 3 percent as a finder's fee. U.S. allows car-boat Cubans to stay MIAMI, June 11 (UPI) -- U.S. authorities will reportedly allow four Cubans who arrived on U.S. shores in a classic car converted into a boat to stay. The creator of the unconventional contraption, Rafael Diaz Rey, his wife and two children will be allowed to stay in the country because they have the proper paperwork, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Friday. Advertisement U.S. customs officials intercepted the family off the coast of Florida Tuesday in a bright-blue 1948 Mercury. The apprehension marked the third time in two years the U.S. Coast Guard apprehended a classic jalopy on the seas heading for U.S. shores. Last year, a 1959 tail-finned Buick -- also piloted by Diaz -- was found off the coast of Marathon, Fla. In 2003, 1951 Chevy truck was caught near Key West. In 1994, Diaz tried navigating the high seas to the states for the first time in a car-boat made out of a 1947 Buick. Energy conservation may hurt tie makers TOKYO, June 11 (UPI) -- A Japanese government department will study the possible negative effects the government's energy conservation program has on necktie makers. Minister Shoichi Nakagawa of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry said Friday his agency will examine the impact the government's "Cool Biz" campaign -- which promotes casual wear with no ties during the summer -- has on those who make neckties, the Kyodo news agency reported. "It is unfair if the campaign singles out neckties as the villains," he said. A trade group of necktie makers has asked the government to stop spreading what they call a "bad image" of their products." Advertisement Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told necktie makers Friday to develop neckties suited for summer weather, Kyodo said.
