Faking Cancer to Get Leave Donations

As scams go, it doesn't get much lower than this: the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that a U.S. Geological Service Survey employee in the city is facing federal charges that he faked cancer as a means of getting other employees to donate leave to him. Investigators say the employee forged four doctor's letters to document his "illness" and ended up collecting 869 hours of annual leave, worth about $35,000 in pay for time he wasn't working.