Steven Frischling: Accident-Prone Superhero

Thank you to a FishFraud MVP who compiled this list of Steven Frischling's amazing injuries. Of course it would be impossible to compile all of his spectacular traumas, but we have already called bullshit on a few. (For example, the time he claims he was assaulted by actor Hugh Grant or shot nine times.)

But it's an impressive list. Of course, few of these accidents ever seem to prevent our superhero from getting his photos. Only problem: where are the photos?

For example, he claims he had not one, but TWO medical issues during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. There is no confirmation and no photos to support him being there, much less working for the Olympic Committee as he's claimed. He also claims he was assaulted by a fan while shooting Manchester United against AC Milan, which is so laughable we don't know where to start. He has no photos of this match.

Digital Wedding Forum 1/30/05
“In 2002 I had to have an emergency procedure on my throat while at the Olympics, released from the hospital at 1: AM, at work at 6: AM. I felt like death hit me with a stick, but my client could not possibly get another shooter credentialed that fast for the Olympics. I am dumb I guess, I often shoot when sick, was outside last month for 6hrs shooting a news story with a 101 fever.”

Sports Shooter
12/13/02
“I spent a day in Park City during the Olympics unable to shoot because my eyes were watering for three hours after I made the mistake of saying I'd like to try a half rack of the hot sauce. The pit roasted chicken is amazing!”

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=693

More tragic stories follow:

I've got a visible dent in my skull from a nasty fall skating in a 1/2 pipe when I was younger, and seem to break myself all of often

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=4380

I have uttered similar words when someone has run into me; panned so fast and hard their lens hood slammed into my lens leaving me a bruise under my eye

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=5827

I have unfortunately had the lovely displeasure of crutches a few times
( broken arms, broken feet, popped knees, busted thumb with a broken
tib-fib).  I started to use a waist pack, I started with the Lowe Pro
Orion AW and now use the Domke OutPack waist pack.  When shooting I
place the crutch out in front of me and use it as a sort of mono-pod.
I hung a single camera a short zoom off my right shoulder, even when I
cracked my right leg (or left leg as well) because it was easier to grab
since cameras are made for righties (I use my left hand more often) .
Use the crutches as your balance.  Cruthces ALWAYS SUCK, but they can be
used to your advantage.
A good chunk of what I do is breaking news, and crutches slow me down
alot , but i made do, I went to the 180f2.8 rather than the 28f1.4, and
300f2.8 rather than my 80-200f2.8.  I found standing on my roof with a
long lens worked OK for me.
Rule of thumb, I have cut my last few casts off after 2-3 weeks, not a
good idea.  I cut 'em off so I could go chase
news/snowboarding/surf/skateboard/climb  , not something I suggest.  I
am regretting it just a lil' bit now that I need to have a few joints
worked on.

http://groups.google.com/group/bit.listserv.nppa-l/browse_thread/thread/9dc20cf4787a9ae5/eb410b4f1ce659e5?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22steven+frischling%22+broken#eb410b4f1ce659e5

I have had my bones broken, stiches requied to heal the wound, and have had to dispose of pannels on a bullt proof vest because it was used to protect myself.

http://groups.google.com/group/bit.listserv.nppa-l/browse_thread/thread/e58f0ddff14081a9/931a0b99d288d5bb?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22steven+frischling%22+broken#931a0b99d288d5bb

here I sit with a minor concussion, still have a ringing
in my ear and have blurred vision in my left eye because I was covering
a "disturbance" yesterday and was smacked in the head by a low flying
beer bottle (yea one day I'll remember the simple word I learned when I
played hockey "DUCK" )

http://groups.google.com/group/bit.listserv.nppa-l/browse_thread/thread/c9673720790cf03a/fb399843b5dc4e?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22steven+frischling%22+injured#00fb399843b5dc4e

I had a lovely encpounter with a flying metal projective
(twice in me, 7 times in a vest...all at once) while in the projects ,
another another time elsewhere.

http://groups.google.com/group/bit.listserv.nppa-l/browse_thread/thread/177b035d8c1f737f/99bf71617cfe6432?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22steven+frischling%22+injured#99bf71617cfe6432

I have developed tendinitos in my right wrist from shooting verticals at
very slow speeds often.   I think every photojournalist has developed a
bad shoulder, bad lower back and favouring one eye (I have a shattered
rotator -cup in my right shoulder from a snowboard racing accident).
Someone asked about skiing accidents?  How about snowboarding?  I used
to compete in slalom & super G...am now missing my right kidney froma
whipe out at 72MPG, torn rottor-cup, busted knee , hips, lower
back

http://groups.google.com/group/bit.listserv.nppa-l/browse_thread/thread/5773d07b82cd821b/63a1b91fb4350280?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22steven+frischling%22+kidney#63a1b91fb4350280


Presently I have a completely torn ligament on the anterior of my right ankle and a nearly completely torn ligament on the interior of the same ankle ... which is drastically changing how I shoot. My stability is significantly thrown off as is my ability to move very quickly and pivot. I have adapted how I am shooting, how I am planning my 2nd & 3rd motion as I shoot, as well as how I am using long lenses.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=36642

Last year I had a fight with a Ford Taurus (I lost) and ended up in a brace which held my right arm at a 90degree angle for nearly four months.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=2258

I broke the lower portion of right my eye socket a few years ago (concrete got tossed at me, photographing a narcs raid in California). It hurts dude!

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=914

My 400f2.8's hood was dented by what appeared to be a beer bootle yesterday at Giants Stadium.

I was on the 2nd level shooting Manchester United vs AC Milan, when Man U failed to make a goal. I made a voice note into the back of my 1D , something like "Nice shot, would be better if ball was in net." Some fan was able to hear this (no idea how over the crowd), and swung a bottle into my hood. The bottle didn't break, but my hood now has a flat spot.

I wonder how they got a glass bottle into the stadium, since they are supposed to check everyone's bag.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=11118

I think the worst was a player from Fordam's woman's basketball come off a shot and kick my camera into my face. My head hit the floor so hard I was seeing stars. The worst part was the player then stood over me swearing at me for being on the line (where I sat for nearly every home basketball game at UMass, because I shot for the University). Her coach reprimanded her and the ref tossed her from the game for unsportsman like conduct.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=18140

Last year I was kicked in the face by player on Fordham's women's basketball team when she flew out of bounds. Nice dent in my 24f2.8 lens hood. My head hit the floor so hard all the cheerleaders thought I split my head by the sound. They surrounded me so my daughter (1.5 year old at the time) who was in the stands with Momma wouldn't see me struggling to get up. Just a bruise on my eye and a massive bump on my head and I was back to shooting the game. (nice to shoot the same arena all the time, the UMass cheerleaders all knew my daughter was a big womens B-Ball fan :0) ) The Fordham player leaned over me and said "@$$hole" before heading back to the court. I could not believe it, neither could the official, UMass coach, cheerleading coach or anyone else who heard it.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=1309

I spent today waist deep in a freezing Dleware River on the New
Jersey/Penn.  boarder shooting flooded homes.  I could not feel my feet
for an hour or so, then they hurt severly and now they are just raw, but I
got good pictures, at least I think. 

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.journalism.photo/browse_thread/thread/1c9eb591961a00d2/3afdb612d2bf1c4?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=steven+frischling+hurt#03afdb612d2bf1c4

My D1 has survied fast moving concrete as 7 World Trade Center collapsed 1.5 blocks from me on Sept 11 in NYC, a direct hit from a tear gas canister being fired from riot cops in my direction, other random riot action, being run over by Ricky Williams (Miami Dolphins) in Dec, me being put on Cirpo (it did not need the Cipro) after Anthrax was found in the Hart Senate Building, many hours and photos following politicians, trials, executives, The Olympics, etc etc etc.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=1252

I had my tonsils out on the 27th of October. The surgery is out patient, no overnight in the hospital. The bill was around $5,500 I think.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=18274

Last summer I got nailed in a car wreck, destroyed my shoulder. The surgery and rehab was covered by the insurance. Months later I got a serious infection in the area of the surgery, my insurance said the visit to the doctor was not required and denied my claim. I did not have the $350 to cover my expenses, because "technically" the infection won't kill me, so I can deal with it (of course it restricted movement in my shoulder.

I broke my tooth, my insurance told me that getting a cap was not required, and considered cosmetic, so I had to find $700 for the work.

When I moved from VT to MA I did not have health insurance, my daughter began getting ear infections. With no health insurance we shelled out nearly $1,900 to deal with the ear infections.

I have also been denied health insurance a few times, once by an employers insurance carrier because I am missing my right kidney due to trauma, and have an on going problem with my throat. My insurance each month is through the roof, some months I have to drop my insurance to pay rent and get my family fed.

My insurance carrier, Blue Cross, once denied my claim for an ER visit to have my throat scoped because while I was totally unable to swallow for nearly 40hrs, I was breathing. Had I lost consciousness then had someone call 911, they would have covered my claim.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=4562

I can't shoot when my shoulder has such an infection that I can barely move it 10 degrees in any direction.

It makes a bad impression to walk into a corporate photo shoot with one of your front teeth missing.

I missed a photo assignment (two actually) when I was down for my throat problem in the above mentioned siuation.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=4562

I was injured racing in the '91 US Open Super G, so I lost out on sponsor money.

In certain situation, such as violent situations, or an extreme example would be having been near #7 World Trade Center when it collapsed on Sept 11, 2001, my gear was the last thing on my mind. I lost a camera body that day and didn't even go back and look for it. In riots I protect myself, not my equipment, I make sure I can get out in one piece. A broken finger or bruised rib is not a big deal, but a busted nose, arm, wrist, leg, are not injuries I want to endure, and simply can't ensure in terms of lost income.

In terms of getting hit by a football when a receiver misses the pass I'd rather get it than have it hit my gear, but in most situations there is no time to think about saving yourself or your gear , so your instinct does what it is going to do. I try and shoot with two eyes open to avoid getting hit on the sidelines, but freak accidents happen.

As for sitting on the sidelines, like most freelancer, I go to work hurt. When I was in a metal brace, with my right arm held out at an 87 degree angle, I went to work, I shot some baseball, soccer and pro lacrosse, was awkward, hurt like hell, but I had to work to survive.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=6979

Ummmm, 1991, lost my 80% of my kidney = $42,000 (100% covered)
1991, had another part of kidney removed = $5,600 (100% covered)
1992 through 1993 , three more surgeries, around $14,00 = 100% covered

Various concusions, lost teeth, broken fingers, leg, rebuilt shoulder,11 procedures on my throat since 1999 all 100% covered, hospital stay, surgery, ER, doc, nurses, drugs, all 100% covered (except down time, excluding the shoulder, I was paid for my down time) ........my camera gear repair is a minimum of $500 out of pocket, so it is cheaper to break me than the gear :0)

OK, I don't like breaking anything, me or gear, so I try and move out of the way now.

......I am joking is NOT cheaper to break me, just have good health insurance (well not good dental any more)

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=6979

The cops at UMass and Amherst Police generally carry MK III 5 &10 OC (5.5% & 10% Oleoresin Capsicum pepper). I have had the displeasure of being sprayed by the stuff at close range while shooting a demonstration by the APD on their techniques.....don't know what he was thinking.

I dunked my head in cold water on and off for 3-4 minutes and the burning in my eyes, and on my skin cleared up fairly quickly. I was told to do this in the station by the cops. My guess is his run in was with UMPD or APD, rather than the Mass State PD (not sure what they carry), so I was speaking from direct experience with what he would have come in contact.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=1849

I don't have problems with my lenses getting scratched shooting sports usually, but it is the other assignments I get where my gear can get seriously banged around. I have cracked the glass of a number of filters, I prefer a busted $50 filter to a busted front element. I have not yet replaced my filter for the 17-35f2.8, but I popped two UV filters in a month on it ,when not using the hood, The first while shooting the USCG 25ft Defender Class boats on active patrol in Boston Harbour, we hit a wave, and I went camera first into the butt of a 50cal mounted machine gun, and the other shootiing in a Black Hawk chopper when we hit some turblance and my lens was right into the back of the helment the flight crew chief was wearing.....he was fine, my filter was cracked in a spider pattern.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=1946

Yet despite all these terrible accidents, assaults and misfortune -- concussions, broken bones, being shot nine times, pepper sprayed in his eyes, broken eye socket, hit by a car, kicked in the face by a basketball player -- he then claims the worst thing that ever happened to him while he was out shooting was arriving 20 minutes after his baby mama at the hospital when she was in labor!

This is the worst that has happened to me.

I was in a cell phone dead area when my better-half's water broke! I came back into cell coverage to more than 30 messages from A Lady in Labour, my former editor, night editor, wire editor, 3 reporters, the PR person from the hospital and a medic at the EMS unit.

I think above all else that is by far the worst thing that has ever happened to me while out shooting an assignment.

(No, I didn't miss the birth, I was at the hospital less than 20 minutes after her)


http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=11113

Happy Lying!

Best of FishFraud!

We're playing around with Blogger pages and want to do a "Best of FishFraud" for newcomers. We want to link to the top content that has appeared on this blog in the past. Please leave a comment with your nominees for:


Funniest FishTale:

Most Offensive FishTale:

Favorite FishFraud Post: 

Favorite Frischling Idea to Counter FishFraud:

Just a Reminder What This Blog Is About

Recently we've had to delete some comments accusing other people of also being frauds. It's not that we think these other people are genuine. Are there a lot of frauds out there? Of course. Is Frischling associated with shady people? Naturally. Are there other know-it-all photographers or travel "strategists" who are as full of themselves as they are full of shit? Absolutely.

The purpose of this blog is still to expose blogger Steven Frischling as a dishonest individual who has no credibility whatsoever, who should never be used as a media source and whose advice should be ignored at all costs. However, on legal advice, we are not going to allow other comments that may be libelous against private individuals. After all, the comments are anonymous and there have been a few that seem... suspicious. It could be that Frischling is leaving them himself, trying to get us in trouble. We would put nothing past this guy.

To help keep this blog running, we ask you to restrict your comments to Steven Frischling and his adventures in dishonesty. The only exception is for other bloggers who may be fabricating quotes or lying about their resumes. We would be very interested in this information.

This blog has nearly 3,000 comments. If you feel you have been unfairly targeted, then email us with the link and date/time and we will consider removing it.

Frischling Gets Court Pushed Back.... Again

Frischling is now scheduled for a third time on the docket...

Pending Case Detail

Data as of the Previous Business Day

Docket Information

Docket No:K10K-CR11-0313446-SProgram:Court:Arresting Agency:Arrest Date:Bond Amount:Bond Type:

Activity:	Awaiting Plea	Next Court Date:	7/29/2011 10:00 AM

Miscellaneous:New London GA 10CSP TROOP E6/2/2011$25,000 (This case only)Nonsurety(Released From Custody)Companion:

Defendant Information

Last, First:Birth Year:Times on the Docket:Represented By:FRISCHLING STEVEN E19753

Current Charges

Statute	Description	Class	Type	Occ	Offense Date	Plea	Verdict Finding
53a-123	LARCENY 2ND DEG	C	Felony	1	1/19/2010
53a-138	FORGERY 1ST DEG	C	Felony	1	1/19/2010

What is going on? He still has no lawyer listed.

Of course, Frischling is happy to put a spin on it:

flyingwithfish Flying With Fish 

@ 

@flyddw Had court. Wasn't arraigned. Prosecutor believes it's a civil case, charges will be dropped. @aschonland is being investigated.

9 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Really? If the prosecutor thought it should be a civil case, why did they bring charges in the first place? If charges will be dropped, why does he have a new court date? Why does it still say "awaiting plea?"

The lies never end with this guy. Too bad people on Twittter like @flyddw seem to fall for anything they are told and don't bother to investigate anything.

National Car Rental = WIN!

National Car Rental is awesome and we hope everyone chooses them for their next trip! Frischling will not be working for them after all, thanks entirely to the readers of this blog.

We received the following email today from someone named Megan:

Fish Fraud,

Thank you again for bringing the news to our attention. We have ended our relationship with Mr. Frischling.

We also noticed that you posted to our Facebook wall – if you would like to contact us directly, we’d be more than happy to answer any additional questions.  

Thanks again,

360i on behalf of National Car Rental

Interestingly, we did not contact them directly yet but were planning on doing it today. This was all the work of FishFraud fans!

National Car Rental = FAIL

Today, the same day Frischling was due in court for arraignment for two felonies, giant fraud Steven Frischling announced that National Car Rental has asked him to take over its Facebook page!

Obviously, someone at National Car Rental royally messed up. No doubt he sent them an over-the-top proposal and his resume of outright lies, failed to mention his arrest for embezzlement involving KLM, and whoever it was over there decided to hire him without doing any kind of basic check.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Please help us inform these fine ladies about the trainwreck that is Steven Frischling:

NORTH AMERICA

Laura Bryant
(removed)

Meghan Maguire
(removed)

Lisa Martini
(removed)

UPDATE: National dumped Frischling! Thanks all who contacted them.

Will Frischling Show Up to Court Today?

Steven Frischling had his original court date postponed a week. Will he actually show up today? Has he sold enough lenses to pay for his bail?

Watch this space for updates: http://www.jud2.ct.gov/crdockets/CaseDetail.aspx?Key=1cb9b565-fbc2-4741-8385-04d2dfb5a9b9

Also he has let his Sportsshooter membership lapse after years of obnoxious, self-serving posts. Congratulations, universe!

Celebration here: http://fuckyeahsportsshooter.tumblr.com/post/6785098772/during-your-time-on-sportsshooter-you-posted-5464

Frischling Gets Court Date Postponed!

Giant winner Steven Frischling has moved his arraignment to 6/22/2011 at 10:00 AM.

On Wednesday morning he responded to @Lyingwithfish1 (who is not FishFraud by the way, though we do take credit for Lyingwithfish!) and claimed there is a "twist" in the investigation!

Could it be he needed to buy more time to pay for his bail? He's trying to unload some pricey photo equipment on Twitter and Sportsshooter.

And he can't keep his story straight as to why he's selling it - could he need money to flee the country?

But wait a second... he gives another reason for selling the lens in his classified on Sportsshooter (and again demonstrates he does not know the difference between "its" and "it's").

Meanwhile, when is the last time this guy actually had a photography job? How is he changing what he is shooting?

Happy Lying!

Frischling Gets Arraigned This Morning!

http://www.jud2.ct.gov/crdockets/CaseDetail.aspx?source=Pending&Key=70b92ae5-f7d2-4aea-81fb-2c05aadc0d95

Have Info on Steven Frischling?

Guess what happens if you call up the Connecticut Attorney General's office? While they do not give out the name of the prosecutor, they are happy to share the name of the investigator responsible for Steven Frischling's case:

Robert F Manley Jr.
Phone number: (860) 443-8444
Email: robert.manley"AT-SYMBOL-GOES-HERE"po.state.ct.us

We doubt anyone has info on the charges he is facing, but we think those who have been his previous victims might want a chance to speak out on Frischling's (lack of) character and why he does not deserve any leniency. Please use your real name though - we're sure it will be confidential.

Six days until arraignment.

What Is Wrong with Randy Petersen?

We were sent the following email sent by Randy Petersen, owner of BoardingArea.com, to a Twitter individual, on why his company continues to host the Flying with Fish blog written by Steven Frischling, who was arrested June 2 for forgery/larceny involving KLM.

Randy tries to distance himself from Frischling, even feigning ignorance of how to spell his name! It's poorly written with punctuation and capitalization errors but you can get the basic picture. We will add our comments in red.

Greetings and i trust that the week has been a great one for you.

I remember we had exchanged emails a few years ago so hope you don't mind me dragging it back out. I saw a tweet of yours regarding Steve Frishing (?). While you can tweet whatever you like, I'd just like to add in a few facts that may or may not be relevant. Like you, I became aware of some legal issue that has recently popped up for him. (Yes, you could call being arrested for felony forgery and larceny a "legal issue.") And like you, I likely hope that the bad guys always lose — whoever they are. While you might try and draw a correlation to BoardingArea,let's try and make sure you understand these things: Actually I've never personally met the guy and maybe have only chatted briefly with him once over the years. I have no thoughts one way or the other with the guy. (Then why are you holding onto this giant douchebag?) On the other hand, I have met and chatted with the other party, Addison over the years and consider him a valuable asset to the travel industry. It's a fact that Steve has his blog well before BoardingArea and like others, came on board BA simply because we offer and still do a nice play to host like-minded business travel and related topics blogs. I really believe the effort to try and strong arm BoardingArea into the Steve issue is extremely misguided — though I'm not directing that remark toward you. Steve could easily take his blog and move it back to Blogger. (Then why don't you encourage him to do that?) Would we all hope Google at harm for hosting the blog there? (Anyone can have a blog on Google. Google does not claim to "hand select" its bloggers from "the best of the best" like you claim.) Sad to think so. As for being "employed." Actually he is not on any specific payroll for BoardingArea. (Do you give him money?) Again, we're a hosting platform. He's not the most populat blogger of those on BA, nor is he the least read. I think he is somewhere in the middle.

I've chosen to not involve myself or BoardingArea into the dispute because it seems to be a simple business dispute among two people, neither of which i have a vested interest in the result or party to the original action. (If it were merely a "simple business dispute," then why was Frischling arrested? Why is he going to be arraigned in six days?) The one and only issue that I guide myself and BoardingArea in this is ... the issue of a members privacy. (Huh?) Now, for some, no big deal. However, I have long lobbied for an especially in milepoint.com put forth the absolute wall of privacy for our members. They deserve not only my vigilance, but also my personal action regarding the topic. If or should i get involved in this person's personal dispute, then i believe that i am no longer upholding the principle of his privacy, no different than should i really be looking at your personal ife or others as members of milepoint? (What the hell is wrong with you?) Really not, or else at least i am trying hard to make sure i am walking the talk of defending your personal privacy. I get that this is now a public, not private issue, but making a dialogue from others with public comments does not mean this individual's privacy is unlocked and by privacy, I'm referring to trying to connect it to his blog. Fact is, we've only through the years received two negative comments about his blog .... Gary Leff and Lucky factually have generated more negative comments (OK. only one more) than Steve. So, there is no explicit evidence that he has brought this issue into his blog on BoardingArea and if so, then I would certainly review my position. (Frischling is a pathological liar. Everything he writes on his blog is certainly false. He most definitely fabricated the interviews with the TSA agents last fall. And Randy looks the other way.) 

Regardless of how you might feel, understand only that i don't see this person at all in this, i only see what should i be doing to be consistent in making sure that i do not now or later ever cross a line of disregarding someone's privacy. (You cannot hide your cowardice behind privacy anymore. There is no privacy when someone is arrested - this is very public information. In Frischling's case, there have now been three news articles about it, and he hasn't even been arraigned yet.) Tough call for me — I feel bad for Addison if this is true since I'm a supporter of his, but the steadfast commitment to protect the issue of privacy does trump the issue at this moment.

I really do hope you don't mind the "rhetoric", but i'm thinking that some may be missing the driving issue for me in whatever this is about. I like others I'm sure wish that they would hammer this dispute out, it does not look good for either if we believe the accusations of Addison's active involvement in a counter smear. (The only person who has accused Addison of being involved in FishFraud is Frischling, who is a proven pathological liar. Addison has nothing to do with this site and there is no evidence otherwise. The fact is: Frischling is a despicable individual and has made so many enemies around the world that he will never know who FishFraud is.)

And to think i left this sort of stuff behind on FlyerTalk.

Again, hope you are doing well and thanks for your support of milepoint. If you ever have the time, would love to hear what you think we might be doing well on milepoint (if anything) and more importnat what we aren't doing well.

Cheers,
Randy

Here is a screenshot of BoardingArea.com's "About Us" section that describes their bloggers:

Note the highlighted portion:

The business travel blogs you will find on BoardingArea are the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the cat's meow ... you get the idea. Each blog in the BoardingArea network has been hand selected by our team for its quality of content, its timeliness, and, last but not least, for its entertainment value.

Randy has some serious problems. Is he lying in the letter, or is he lying on Boarding Area's description? Both of these cannot be true. So which is true?

Secondly, Randy is ignoring completely the other facts brought up in this blog: that Steven Frischling is a pathological liar and a raging lunatic. There can be no doubt that he is a pathological liar and a raging lunatic after what we have all witnessed the past few months. He's a terrible individual whose lies including trying to exploit tragedies like TWA Flight 800 and 9/11 to get attention for himself. Add to that this week's revelations from Flight Africa. One of Boarding Area's bloggers tried to extort $1 million from an airline, and when he didn't get his way he created a fake Twitter account impersonating the airline to harass their customers! Does that all conveniently fall under "privacy" for you, Randy?

Randy Petersen, you need to grow a pair of testicles and live up to your statement that your bloggers are hand selected and the best of the best. We could not be more disgusted with you.

Flight Africa's Fantastic Frischling Follow-up!

Earlier today we mentioned Frischling sent tweets to @FlyEU (who runs the Flight Africa blog) asking how @FlyEU could be tracking his Twitter account IP. We were confused because @FlyEU never Tweeted this and it was not in his blog post.

Well guess what... @FlyEU never publicly said that. Instead, he was a message he had sent to the the fake Kenya Air account back in 2009. (Read this if you missed his first blog post.)

It seems the only way Steven Frischling would know about this "we're tracking you" threat is if he was indeed the person behind the fake Kenya Air Twitter! Which furthers @FlyEU's allegation that Frischling was trying to extort the airline for $1 million.

Check out Flight Africa's follow-up blog post today with the screenshots:

http://www.flight-africa.com/2011/06/impersonator-steven-frischling-aka.html

Remember this individual had nothing to gain by coming forward with this information. Please write on his blog to thank him!

Frischling Comes Out of Hibernation...

Steven Frischling: Over 1 Billion Lies Served!

He came out of hibernation to respond to Flight Africa, who shared the tale of Frischling trying to extort an African airline two years ago:

One problem: FlyEU never claimed this. We saw his Tweets and his blog. He never once said he tracked it to his Twitter IP.

Again, Frischling thinks nobody will bother to check out what he says. All he wants to do is get out of something for the next 10 seconds. It's like he thinks he is outsmarting everyone

Happy Lying, folks!

Update: The impostor Kenya Air Twitter!

Simpliflying (Finally) Dumps Steven Frischling aka flyingwithfish!

Shashank Nigam aka "SimpliFlying" finally got a clue and dumped Steven Frischling! Behold the hilarity:

Here was his "About" page before:

After:

Of course this fool had plenty of warning. We've contacted him for months asking why he associated with a known liar and fraud like Steven Frischling, and he ignored us. He only dumped him after we started tweeting his followers with the news that one of his team members had been arrested for larceny and forgery! You can see they were working together recently (how long until he deletes this Tweet?)

People have said Shashank is just as slimy as Frischling and we believe it by how long he held onto him, ignoring the evidence.

Now it seems Frrischling's only professional connection remains Randy Petersen and BoardingArea.com, which brags it hand-selects its bloggers from the best of the best! So how dirty are these people?

Flight Africa Rips Steven Frischling A New One!

The person behind the "Flight Africa" blog and @FlyEU Twitter (11k+ followers) has come forward with the following personal tale of Steven Frischling: "@flyingwithfish or Steven Frischling: The Airline Social Media Fraud"

Brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT!

Highlights: The blogger describes the sudden emergence of social media in 2009 and businesses eager to join in, and consultants showing up offering to help:

But amongst the good fellas who pioneered this new phenomenon, there was one douchebag called Steven Fritschling; a fraudulent guy who had used his skills to build a fishy online brand as a "Travel Strategist". Steven Frischling is to social media campaigns what burglars are to expensive art. Armed with the internet, and I must assume, loads of idle time(the current global job market offers an evil but creative mind some ample playground, especially if this idler has access to the internet), he would hop onto hundreds of airline websites in the "Contact Us" pages collecting email information. What followed next was an avalanche of social media consulting offers. He would search info about airline, pick some tips from Slideshare and package the half-baked ideas carefully as his own; offering road maps to a social media paradise.

Apparently Frischling contacted an African airline (not identified but we believe to be Kenyan Airways) offering to run their social media services. Apparently he was ignored, and did not like this.

A few weeks passed by and then one day, we started noticing a new account impersonating our official airline Twitter account. It was Steven Frischling. He was simply searching for mentions of the airline on Twitter and then replying to conversations from passengers etc with misinformation. It was his way of taking revenge.

Frischling then threatened to sue the airline for $1 million, saying the airline had ripped off all his ideas! Flight Africa posted screenshots of Twitter Direct Messages in which Frischling apparently offers to "help" with the fake Twitter account.

Of course we can't authenticate the screenshots, but what motive would Flight Africa have for making this all up? This person has nothing to gain by coming forward.

Most normal people cannot comprehend this behavior. My boss then, a great guy who was doing wonderful digital initiatives at the airline and who had taken a bold move to adopt social media at a time when it was anathema to most companies including airlines was shocked beyond words. In the corporate world of where people fancy doing things in an appropriate manner, Steven's antics are like a horror movie.

They decided to ignore him because he had no claim.

Eventually we decided to simply ignore him and by the time I left, the airline's social media campaign was a shining example for others to follow. Steven the douchebag eventually gave up when he realized that his hope of netting $ 1 million from fraud was just a bad dream but not before giving one last kick. He published an article on Boarding Area in which he expounded on his claims of how the airline had used "his ideas" and how he had a paper trail etc.

This is all vintage Frischling. It's not even shocking how he lists the airline on his resume, claiming he "Developed a total emerging media strategy for Kenya Airways." How deranged is that?

We don't know the guy's name, but thank you for coming forward with your story. This person has nothing to gain by telling this story publicly and it can't be tied to this blog/bitter brides/scheming ex-girlfriends, etc. What wild story will Frischling come up with that explains this all away?

Did Steven Frischling Try to Blackmail African Airline?

Frischling finally came out of his Twitter silence to respond to a Tweep called @FlyEU. Check out the exchange:

Then FlightAfrica left the following comment here:

We were victims of his fraudulent activities some two years back; he sent us some unsolicited emails on social media and then went on claim to that he was "consulting" for us. Then the airline went through another month of blackmails and threats that he would sue us for $1 million for using "his ideas".

He gloated on Twitter and created a fake Twitter account where he posted fake tweets to confuse our tweeting passengers. He even wrote a blog post about the whole episode http://boardingarea.com/blogs/flyingwithfish/2009/11/19/airline-executives-social-media-e-mail-reply-all-blunders/

Reading it, you can see the psychopath was thoroughly enjoying his antics. For someone who is not used to this cruel side of human beings, i was shocked beyond words at this behaviour and the embarrassment this had caused all the hardworking people with whom we had sat for hours and days and months to create a vibrant social media campaign for our airline. When I saw him take over the KLM project, i knew he would soon use these same tactics but I had seen enough of the devil, I wanted nothing to do with him. Besides, I thought the KLM people would read through his antics quick enough and discard him.

Now, if this was an anonymous poster/brand new Twitter it might be suspicious, but this appears to be a very legitimate individual! @FlyEU almost 12,000 followers and http://www.flight-africa.com/ blog looks to be well-established with content going back a year.

We can guess this is Kenyan Airlines as @FlyEU has a Kenyan Airlines plane on his page, and, Frischling claims credit for Kenyan Airlines social media plan in his LinkedIn resume!

We will post more after FlyEU puts up his blog post...

New Article on Frischling's Arrest

A follow-up article in "The Day" with more details!

http://www.theday.com/article/20110607/NWS01/110609665/1047

Niantic consultant charged with larceny

By Karen Florin

Publication: theday.com

Published 06/07/2011 12:00 AM

Updated 06/07/2011 02:15 PM

A Niantic man who calls himself a “globe hopping professional photographer” and consultant to large global airlines is accused of altering an invoice to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines from a La Jolla, Calif., consultant he was working with on a social media project.

Steven Frischling, 35, of 49 Sea Breeze Ave. was charged last week with second-degree larceny and first-degree forgery. He posted a $25,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned June 15 in New London Superior Court.

An arrest warrant affidavit prepared by state police detective Christopher Greer indicates that Frischling was hired by Addison Schonland of the Innovation Analysis Group (IAG) in La Jolla to collaborate on a blogging project for KLM. As the lead consultant on the $22,000 project, Frischling entered into a verbal contract with Schonland in which he was to receive 75 percent, or $16,500, and Schonland was to get 25 percent, or $5,500.

Schonland told investigators that Frischling altered the bank accounting routing information so that he received the entire $22,000. Frischling then told Schonland he deserved the full payment because IAG had failed to provide the promised “back end support” for the project and his business reputation had been damaged by a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) investigation in 2009. Frischling, author of a travel blog called “Flying with Fish,” had been investigated for disseminating TSA search rules/protocol without authorization.

Questioned by police, Frischling said he had simply corrected errors on the IAG invoice at the airline’s request and provided his personal bank account number because he could not contact Schonland.

This is humorous.

First, how was Frischling's "business reputation" damaged by the TSA investigation, and what does that have to do with anything?

Second, his claim that he simply was correcting errors on the invoice: Obviously the police did not buy that lie, but it shows you how bold Frischling is with his lies. It's like he never thinks anyone will ever check anything he says. All they had to do was contact KLM and ask if it was true that the airline had requested that "errors" be corrected, and Frischling would be find out.

Thirdly, if he couldn't contact Schonland, why would his first step be to change the bank account numbers to his own? Who does that? If this was really a misunderstanding in any way, the police would not have chosen to pursue felony charges.

Finally, all this flies in the face of what he has been posting. He has repeatedly said that he did all the work and it was all pitched, executed, etc by him. What does that tell you? That he feels he was entitled to the full amount, period.

He tweeted this the day after his arrest:

The yfrog link goes to this screenshot of the description of the blog:

Remember that the blog ended suddenly and mysteriously at this time. Obviously KLM canceled the project on their end, or Frischling probably would still be writing it, don't you think?

Frischling's outright stupidity never fails to astonish us. Think of how much money he could have potentially made if he had simply acted like a normal individual. We're not in the industry but can still see that writing the official blog for an airline like KLM must be pretty prestigious. He could have gone on to start blogs at all kinds of airlines and raked in way more than $5,500 or whatever the disputed amount was.

Did someone drive a railroad spike through this guy's brain? What is wrong with him?

Frischling Says He Will Plead Not Guilty to Forgery, Larceny!

Those hoping Frischling would plead not guilty and force a trial, guess what? That's what he's planning!

http://www.tnooz.com/2011/06/06/news/tnooz-nuggets-mon-6-june-2011/

Aviation blogger Steven Frischling is slated to appear in a New London, Conn., courtroom June 15 on larceny and forgery charges in connection with a dispute over his writing services for a KLM blog. Authorities allege that Frischling forged an invoice in January 2010 from the Innovation Analysis Group to KLM for blog writing services and pocketed $22,000. Authorities maintain that IAG had a blog contract with KLM and Frischling, who did the actual writing, was a subcontractor who wasn’t entitled to the full $22,000. IAG declined to comment on the matter, and Frischling, who currently pens the Flying With Fish blog, says he will plead not guilty to both counts.

Let's hope they set a trial as quickly as they set the arraignment so we don't have to wait for the fun to begin! As to whether he plans to represent himself, we will just have to wait and see.

Frischling's Opinion on People Who Blatantly Steal

Someone linked to this in a comment. It's Frischling chiming in on a 2007 discussion about a woman complaining that a guy was defaming her for stealing his website design.

Read this and tell us if this isn't ironic commentary from a guy facing felony charges for larceny and forgery, and who is trying to excuse his own theft by bashing the people he stole from?

Sep 24th 2007 7:42 pm

Get past the emotion of the original poster seeking sympathy. She is not the victim here, she is the perpetrator. She has not been wronged, she has wronged someone and is now seeking to feel better about it. What she did is wrong and she'd rather go to bed feeling good about herself than bad about herself. Well it ain't gonna happen.

Followed by:

Sep 25th 2007 6:31 am

So to recap, the OP knowingly posted up a web site, regardless of who designed it, with the following

-Stolen custom web page design
-Stolen photographic images
-Plagiarised text in regard to who she is an her experience (even leaving another photogs name in the text)
-Misrepresented herself to her potential clients
-Joined a web forum to simply cry foul when she is the perpetrator
-Joined a web forum to try and defame the victim
-Is unapologetic for her actions

I am shocked at the reaction by this forum. You all think this is OK? You see no problem with lifting intellectual property simply because it is online? Intellectual property is big business, just ask Bill Gates or Mark Getty.

Look past the forced emotion of the "girl crying victim" and look at what she has done. Look at the undisputed facts. Do not defend her actions.


Theft is theft. Deceiving clients about your images and your abilities is wrong. Not saying "sorry" and making the situation is wrong. She fanned the flames and Neil is defending his property legally and intelligently.

Even in her follow up post she comes off as the victim. She implies that she has been wronged. She seems to completely miss the fact that she had the opportunity to back down and apologize to the person that she stole from. She keeps viewing the actual victim of her actions as the perpetrator and that is not how the world works

Instead of doing the right thing ethically, morally and professionally, the OP came here to drum up support for herself. I won't let her do that and I won't let her trash a colleague. Especially a well respected one.

-Steven Frischling
www. fishfotoworldwide. com
fish @ fishfotoworldwide. com


PS: You would NOT seek a personal injury lawyer for defamation of character. Also a copyright lawyer would not tell you that you have a case against your victim. The evidence against you is overwhelming. I am sure you did not present the evidence to the lawyer to try and make yourself look favourable though. At some point he would have seen the evidence and informed you to drop it. None the less, a personal injury attorney is for physical injury, such as an auto accident, industrial accident or any accident where your physical being is in need medical treatment.

Sep 25th 2007 8:00 am

But that's not all... someone complained that new posters in the thread had no knowledge of digital media. So Frischling chimes in with these blatant lies about his accomplishments, which if true would make him an amazing pioneer in digitization:

In 1998 I was integral in converting the Discovery Channel Online to an all digital format with the creation of the DCO's Picture of the Day project. Most people were not stealing photos online yet. But the DCO was area of the issue and was already trying to disable "right click" theft.

From 1999 to 2001 I oversaw the conversion of five daily newspapers from film to digital and had a heavy hand in the implementation of the online presentation of the images from the papers being placed online. The parent company aggressively pursued a few of the image thefts. One by a major corporation and another by a political candidate. The publisher of one paper wrote an editorial on the candidate stealing photos on the day the candidate came to town to stump for office. That was obviously done in the public eye.

From 2001 to 2004 I was responsible for the full digital conversion from film to digital of an NCAA Division I university's athletics department. In this role I dealt with the online placement and digital distribution of the university's 20+ NCAA Div I teams. Theft was a huge problem. The university didn't go after students who stole images for personal sites, but they went after other online venues, such as those who stole images to resell them, those who used the images to try and make a financial gain from the images, and a sponsor of the team who used the image on the back of more than 30 of their regional delivery trucks (I know the details of that one as the company stole five images, all five were mine and I was party to settlement).

In the winter of 2002 I lead a team of photographers that switched the Olympic Committee into digital photography during the Winter Games in Salt Lake City. We were the first to provide real daily coverage of the games for the Olympic Committee, without the IOC needing to rely on news agencies to provide imagery. Many of these images were "lifted" and the IOC went after everyone they found using stolen images with a very heavy legal hand.

In 2005 I oversaw the direct digital conversion of five international business magazines, and peripherally implemented the digital conversion of a dozen other magazines owned by the same corporation. In this role I helped changed the use of photography in both print and the online publications. I also had to handle the rights management issues of the images from around two dozen sources each week to make sure we weren't stealing anyone's images.

Along the way I have also worked with other corporations, two pro sports leagues and a few colleges in helping them switch to digital and better using their visual assets online.

So I am well aware of online image theft. I am also equally aware of many companies that have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars/pounds/euros in the process of trying to steal copyrighted images. Additionally I am also aware people make mistakes and that at times out of court settlements are made as well.

To think we are ignorant because we are photographers is completely incorrect. Take a look at my web site and look at the companies I deal with as a photographer, it might give you some further insight to my base of knowledge.


-Steven Frischling
www. fishfotoworldwide. com
fish @ fishfoto.com

Happy Lying!

Frischling Deletes New Blog!

Frischling erased all the content from his new blog, IAGfraud.blogspot.com! Of course it doesn't matter, because we already laughed at it and pointed out how it made him look even more guilty.

What happened Frischling? Weren't you supposed to prove your innocence through the blog?

Update: A reader posted that Frischling put this on Facebook:

"Well I need to go semi-silent, but a lawyer will be picking up being loud for me shortly. Guess back to regular work and collecting vital information to work towards dismissal."

We think we know who Frischling's lawyer is:



Arraignment countdown: 10 days to go!

Travel Blogger Steven Frischling Shares the Details of Arrest!

Steven Frischling's arrest for forgery and larceny did indeed involve none other than airline giant KLM! What a shocking turn of events for a self-described travel blogger and travel strategist!

As two newspapers have reported, Frischling turned himself in on an arrest warrant Thursday and is out on bond. (Though contrary to evidence in the public record, he denies he was ever arrested and denies he is out on bond and produces nothing to substantiate these claims.)

On his hilarious/pathetic/deranged new blog, iagfraud.blogspot.com, he has posted only two sections of the arrest warrant that lays out the case against him. Why doesn't he post the whole thing? It's going to be available online soon enough. What is he trying to hide?

Add to that, he's arguing about details that have jack shit to do with the crimes he's accused of committing! Is he going to show up in court and defend himself against larceny and forgery by arguing his title was "Director of Emerging Media" and not "Director of Emerging Social Media?" Oooh if the title does not fit, you must acquit!

However, then he posted the letter he received from IAG attorneys back in March that lays out their complaints against him. He made reference to receiving this letter at the time and is now stupidly sharing it:

The letter, voluntarily posted by Frischling in yet another bonehead move, and the news report fill in the pieces:

From the Norwich Bulletin newspaper:
"Police say Frischling was a consultant with Innovation Analysis Group and forged documents on a company invoice for personal gain."

From the letter:
"We are in the possession of clear evidence that at the completion of that contract, after IAG invoiced KLM for the work performed, you fraudulently redirected KLM to wire funds directly to a bank account controlled by you and/or your wife."

Now we can put two and two together. Frischling already wrote in March about some dispute with IAG over this KLM blog, which was only around for a few weeks, mysteriously. Frischling "forged documents on a company invoice" to get KLM to pay him the entire amount directly using IAG letterhead! This is felony forgery and larceny, plus wire fraud (a federal offense). This would not be difficult to track in any way and in fact is one of the stupidest things we've ever heard of! How stupid are you, Steven Frischling?

Naturally, Frischling does not mention this part at all. There is nothing on his new blog that admits what he did or defends it. However, you don't need to read between the lines to see that he is thinks he and he alone deserved the money:

"This dispute stemmed from a December 2009-January 2010 for a project I had created, pitched, built and executed for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. The original terms of the verbal contract were for a US$30,000 project, in which IAG would receive 10% to provide support. The project was eventually negotiated to US$22,000 and then executed, at which time Addison Schonland began stating he intended to take US$5,500 from the project.

During this project, where I have evidence of my creation of the concept, pitch and sole execution, Addison Schonland and IAG failed to provide any support, with the exception of an analytics platform with a cost of approximately US$20."

OK, so you say. This fails the stink test. If Frischling alone "created, pitched, built and executed" the project as he is stressing, then why was this other group of people involved at all? Why did they even deserve 10 percent? Is this group of people so desperate they are begging to ride Frischling's coattails to success at even 10 percent? Why did KLM think they should be paying an invoice sent by IAG in the first place? When you're talking about this kind of money, there must have been a contract. Frischling insists this was all a verbal contract but that's ridiculous. Does KLM do verbal contracts for five figures? Or did they in fact have a written contract with IAG?

Secondly, he is again being inconsistent. Back in March in his Facebook tirade (thoughtfully preserved on flight attendant Brad Sapit's blog here), Frischling claims he was going to give $3,000 (more than 10 percent) back to IAG (why, if they were not involved? Was it a charitable donation?) but that IAG demanded $5,000 and THEN demanded $7,000! Now he claims it was a yet another amount: $5,500!

Thirdly, even if Frischling felt he fairly deserved the majority of the $22,000, that is something sane professionals negotiate before they do the work! Can you imagine in your job or in any business partnership, if you simply altered a customer invoice to pay directly to you and not your company, because the project was "created, pitched, built and executed" by you and therefore you deserved all the money? You would be fired and hauled away in handcuffs! What kind of sociopath does this kind of thing and expects to get away with it?

How deranged is this freak?

Frischling apparently posted this on Facebook today: "I've got news for you folks ... anyone can accuse anyone of anything. Being accused means nothing without the evidence to support the accusation."

Isn't that exactly what he is doing? Where is the evidence that he is innocent of these charges? He is accusing IAG of fraud AND of being behind this blog and now he's accusing them of texting his 10-year-old daughter, but where is the evidence of ANY of that? (How would anyone get the cell phone number of a 10-year-old kid they are not related to? It makes no sense!)

Once again we state for the record and swear on a stack of Bibles, Torahs, Korans and Oprah Book Club selections: This blog is NOT associated with Addison Schonland or IAG in any way, shape or form. We have never, EVER met Addison Schonland or anyone involved with his business and we would like Frischling to produce an iota of evidence to the contrary. The sole and continuing purpose of this blog is to expose Steven Frischling aka flyingwithfish as a giant liar. That he is also apparently a criminal is a nice surprise for us... but is entirely his choice.

Oh he's also arguing the following two stupid (pointless) points about the attorney's letter:

The correspondence from Attorney Winick is posted below. Oddly, in the first decade of being admitted to the California Bar Association, Attorney Winick has twice been listed as "Inactive.” These periods of being listed "Inactive” were 27-December 2006 and 14-February-2007 and between 28-January-2008 and 23-October-2008.

...

Additionally, Attorney Winick's letter has glaring errors, such as the ownership of the KLM Project, which the airline acknowledges as being executed by Steven Frischling of Flying With Fish. The letter also refers to my wife ... I am not now, nor have I ever been, legally married.

First part, who cares? What does the guy's lawyer's period of inactivity have to do with anything in this case?

And the second part... this guy sure is special. How many times has Frischling made reference to his wife, even mentioning "my wife" in the March Facebook post still on Brad Sapit's blog? So is he now admitting he was lying? Click here to see a search results on Sportsshooter alone to see how many times Frischling has referred to his wife!

For the umpteenth time, we ask, what the hell is wrong with this guy? Is he a sociopath? A lunatic? Is he mentally challenged in any way?

We hope he will address that on his new blog.