Return to Robo-Signing: JPMorgan Chase's Lawsuit Blitz on Credit Card Customers

After a nearly decade-long pause, Chase has resumed suing indebted customers. The bank is back to its old ways, say consumer lawyers. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

When Private Equity Becomes Your Landlord

Amid a national housing crisis, giant private equity firms have been buying up apartment buildings en masse to squeeze them for profit, with the help of government-backed Freddie Mac. Meanwhile, tenants say they’re the ones paying the price. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

Despite Decades of Hacking Attacks, Companies Leave Sensitive Data Unprotected

A surge in identity theft during the pandemic underscores how easy it has become to obtain people’s private data. As hackers are all too happy to explain, many of them are cashing in on it. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

Irene Bosch developed a quick, inexpensive COVID-19 test in early 2020. The Harvard-trained scientist already had a factory set up. But she was stymied by an FDA process experts say made no sense. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

A Mother Needed Welfare. Instead, the State Used Welfare Funds to Take Her Son

Arizona spends a majority of its welfare budget on the Department of Child Safety. The agency then investigates many poor parents, sometimes removing their children for reasons stemming from their poverty. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

A Plant That Sterilizes Medical Equipment Spews Cancer-Causing Pollution

Nobody told Yaneli Ortiz’s family that the factory they lived near emitted ethylene oxide. Not when the EPA found it causes cancer. Not when she was diagnosed with leukemia. And not when Texas moved to allow polluters to emit more of the chemical. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

The Extortion Economy Podcast: Exploring the Secret World of Ransomware

The technology that enables ransomware may be new, but extortion and ransom are not. So why is this happening now? And can it be stopped? A new podcast from ProPublica and MIT Tech Review aims to find out. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

Great Inheritors: How 3 Families Shielded Fortunes from Taxes for Generations

In the early 1900s some of the wealthiest Americans claimed their fortunes would never last through the generations. A century of tax avoidance later, the dynasties are going strong. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

Boston Police Bought Spy Tech with a Pot of Money Hidden from the Public

Massachusetts police can seize and keep money from drug-related arrests. No one has publicly reported how that money gets spent. A WBUR/ProPublica investigation found that Boston police used over $600,000 of it on a controversial surveillance device. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

Even on U.S. Campuses, China Cracks Down on Students Who Speak Out

Students and scholars from China who criticize the regime in Beijing can face quick retaliation from fellow students and Chinese officials who harass their families back home. U.S. universities rarely intervene. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

When You’re a Billionaire, Your Hobbies Can Slash Your Tax Bill

Thoroughbred horses, auto racing, massive ranches, luxury hotels. The hobbies and side businesses of the ultrawealthy create huge write-offs that can let them get away with paying little or no income tax for as much as a decade at a time. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

Storm Drains Keep Swallowing People During Floods

An alarming number of people (especially children) have drowned after disappearing into storm drains during floods. The deadly problem should be easy for federal, state and local government agencies to fix, but tragedy strikes again and again. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

An Oil Spill Helped One Billionaire Avoid Paying Income Tax for 14 Years

Phyllis Taylor’s company is responsible for the longest-running oil spill in U.S. history. That’s been a disaster for the Gulf of Mexico — but a tax bonanza for Taylor. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

The DIY Scientist, the Olympian, and the Mutated Gene

How a woman whose muscles disappeared discovered she shared a disease with a muscle-bound Olympic medalist. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

Why Rapid Covid Tests Are So Expensive and Hard to Find

Monthslong silences. Mysterious rejections. Here’s what's behind the shortages of a critical tool for ending the pandemic. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

One of the country’s most important sources of fresh water is in peril, the latest victim of the accelerating climate crisis. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 3 years ago

Poison in the air – “Sacrifice zones” of the US

The EPA allows polluters to turn neighborhoods into “sacrifice zones” where residents breathe carcinogens. ProPublica reveals where these places are in a first-of-its-kind map and data analysis. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

ProPublica Is Hiring Reporters for Its National Staff

ProPublica is hiring reporters. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Ultrawealthy Politicians Avoided Paying Taxes – ProPublica

IRS records reveal how Gov. Jim Justice, Gov. Jared Polis, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and other wealthy political figures slashed their taxes using strategies unavailable to most of their constituents. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Here's Why Rapid COVID Tests Are So Expensive and Hard to Find

Months-long silences. Mysterious rejections. Here’s what's behind the shortages of a critical tool for ending the pandemic. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Poison in the Air

The EPA allows polluters to turn neighborhoods into “sacrifice zones” where residents breathe carcinogens. ProPublica reveals where these places are in a first-of-its-kind map and data analysis. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

America’s Food Safety System Failed to Stop a Salmonella Epidemic

For years, a dangerous salmonella strain has sickened thousands and continues to spread through the chicken industry. The USDA knows about it. So do the companies. And yet, contaminated meat continues to be sold to consumers. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

The material obtained by ProPublica sheds light on the radicalization of a Jan. 6 defendant whom prosecutors have characterized as a “serious danger ... not only to his family and Congress, but to the entire system of justice.” | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Black Kids Jailed for Crime Doesn’t Exist. Nothing Happened to Adults in Charge

Judge Donna Scott Davenport oversees a juvenile justice system in Rutherford County, Tennessee, with a staggering history of jailing children. She said kids must face consequences, which rarely seem to apply to her or the other adults in charge. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

We're Losing Our Humanity, and the Pandemic Is to Blame

“What the hell is happening? I feel like we are living on another planet. I don’t recognize anyone anymore.” | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

“What the hell is happening? I feel like we are living on another planet. I don’t recognize anyone anymore.” | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

McKinsey Never Told the FDA It Was Working for Both the FDA and Opioid Makersq

The consulting giant was helping Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson fend off FDA regulations even as it helped shape FDA drug policy. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Facebook Grew Marketplace to 1B Users. Scammers Are Using It to Target People

ProPublica identified thousands of Marketplace listings and profiles that broke the company’s rules, revealing how Facebook failed to safeguard users. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Pharma Money Reaches Guideline Writers, Patient Groups, Even Doctors on Twitter

A series of studies published today documents the vast conflicts of interest in medicine. The way we think about disease “is being subtly distorted” by financial ties, the authors of an editorial write. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Non-COVID patients are paying a price as the delta variant and low-vaccination rates overwhelm hospitals across the country. “Wait times can now be measured in days,” said an expert. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

How Facebook Undermines Privacy Protections for Its 2 Billion WhatsApp Users

WhatsApp assures users that no one can see their messages — but the company has an extensive monitoring operation and regularly shares personal information with prosecutors. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Facebook Undermines Privacy Protections for Its 2B WhatsApp Users

WhatsApp assures users that no one can see their messages — but the company has an extensive monitoring operation and regularly shares personal information with prosecutors. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Boys in Custody and the Women Who Abuse Them

The nation’s system of juvenile justice has long been troubled. But recent studies have revealed a surprising new menace: female staffers at detention facilities sexually abusing the male youngsters in their care. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

An investigation into quality problems with a heart pump shows how hard it can be for patients to get the information they need to make life’s most important health care decisions. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

The CDC Only Tracks a Fraction of Breakthrough Covid-19 Infections

A May 1 decision by the CDC to only track breakthrough infections that lead to hospitalization or death has left the nation with a muddled understanding of COVID-19's impact on the vaccinated. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Suit Seeks to Turn Arbitrations Against a Top Customer Service Provider

Arise Virtual Solutions has been accused of cheating its vast network of customer service agents. The suit, which cites ProPublica’s reporting, seeks a decision that could trigger a wave of tiny legal actions against Arise. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Mass Audubon got millions for “preserving” trees that were never in danger

The Massachusetts Audubon Society has managed its land as wildlife habitat for years. Here’s how the carbon credits it sold may have fueled climate change. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Secret IRS Files Reveal How Ultrawealthy Gained by Trump “Big Beautiful Tax Cut”

Billionaire business owners deployed lobbyists to make sure Trump’s 2017 tax bill was tailored to their benefit. Confidential IRS records show the windfall that followed. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Thousands of Patients Implanted with Heart Pumps FDA Knew Could Be Dangerous

Inspectors repeatedly found manufacturing and device quality problems with the HeartWare heart pump. But the FDA did not penalize the company, and patients had the device implanted on their hearts without knowing the facts. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

What Philadelphia Reveals About America’s Homicide Surge

There are many explanations for the rise in killings in U.S. cities, including the pandemic and the choices made in response to it. In Philadelphia, the causes, the human costs — and the suffering — are particularly stark. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

The largest fraud wave in history? Unemployment insurance fraud during Covid

Bots filing bogus applications in bulk, teams of fraudsters in foreign countries making phony claims, online forums peddling how-to advice on identity theft: Inside the infrastructure of perhaps the largest fraud wave in history. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

How China Exports Repression Using a Network of Spies Hidden in Plain Sight

China sends covert teams abroad to bring back people accused — justifiably or not — of financial crimes. One New Jersey family was stalked as part of a global campaign that takes families hostage and pressures immigrants to serve as spies. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

“We’re Not Allowed to Hang Up”: The Harsh Reality of Working in Customer Service

In their own voices, seven customer service representatives reveal what it’s like being caught between abusive callers and demanding employers. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Campaign Spending at Trump Properties Down, but Not Out

New filings show federal political committees significantly scaled back spending at Trump-owned hotels and restaurants, though some loyalist campaigns remain. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Sports Owners Use Their Teams to Avoid Millions in Taxes

Owners like Steve Ballmer can take the kinds of deductions on team assets — everything from media deals to player contracts — that industrialists take on factory equipment. That helps them pay lower tax rates than players and even stadium workers. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

A Banking App Has Been Suddenly Closing Accounts, Not Returning Customers’ Money

Chime, a “neobank” serving millions, is racking up complaints from users who can’t access their cash. The company says it’s cracking down on an “extraordinary surge” in fraudulent deposits. That’s little consolation to customers caught in the fray. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

Company Got a $10MM PPP Loan, Then Closed Its Plant and Moved Jobs to Mexico

Many American businesses received millions in federal pandemic aid intended to protect workers, but exploited loopholes and rule changes to lay off those employees anyway. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago

The High Cost of Not Testing Backlogged Rape Kits

When reporter Catherine Rentz began looking at the criminal histories of men who’d been arrested for rape based on DNA evidence, she found a system that protected serial criminals rather than survivors. | Continue reading


@propublica.org | 4 years ago