A clerical error on a federal grant application has cost the city of Denver nearly $2 million in funds that would have financed the “Lead Safe Denver” program for another year. Officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) say they never looked at Denver’s grant application because a city staffer used an incorrect DUNS number (a nine-digit number used to track where federal grant money is sent) on the paperwork.

Lead Safe Denver, a 9-year-old program that tests low-income children for lead exposure and offers assistance and info on lead poisoning to needy families, nearly collapsed from the financial loss. The city had identified $360,000 shifted from other programs that will be used to keep the program alive for another year. At that time, the city can apply for another federal grant.

HUD is quick to point out there was no guarantee Denver would have received the funds, but it had received similar grants for the three previous years before the clerical error incident.

Officials say the mistake was made by a “pretty well-seasoned” city employee, but that staff shifts have been made since to prevent similar errors from happening again in the grant application process.

In a bid to improve the number of taxpayers who choose to file their state tax returns online, Maryland’s Comptroller has turned to tickling funny bones as a manner of persuasion. In a spoof of Budweiser’s “Real Men of Genius” advertising campaign, the state office has posted it’s “Real Taxpayers of Genius” on YouTube.

“Today, we salute you, Mr. Frustrated Taxpayer,” begins the announcer. He’s then backed up by singers who repeat his falsetto phrases announcing an alternative to paper-based confusion — individuals can file their taxes electronically.

At the video’s end, Comptroller Peter Franchot reminds viewers online filing is faster and easier than mailing a return — not to mention far less expensive for the state. The state spends $1.98 processing each paper return, compared to a paltry $0.38 for those filed online.

The slip-up happened in November 2007, when two new workers in Maryland’s state assessments office were inputting the value of taxable real estate in Montgomery County. They mistakenly entered $179 billion, when the real number was closer to $163 billion.

But the error wasn’t unearthed until late summer of 2008, when workers in the state’s budget and treasurer offices figured out that Montgomery property taxes were more than $18 million below their projected level.

By then, the error had found its way through at least 18 counties and wreaked havoc on many budgets — including the State Department of Education. The Department uses a sophisticated formula which shifts money from school systems with more wealth to those that are less well off.

Because of the Montgomery Country overstatement, $4.5 billion in state education fund was misallocated among Maryland’s school systems.  Schools in Montgomery (which appeared to be flooded with property wealth) were denied funds, while schools in other districts were given too much money.

State officials claim the workers responsible for the error have been disciplined, but are calling for further audits of a system that would allow such an error to remain unnoticed for months.

In a new experiment to help cheer up travelers, George Bush Intercontinental Airport will be offering people a chance to sing their favorite karaoke tunes while they’re waiting for flights to depart or arrive.

Located just past security, passengers can try their hand (or voice) at hundreds of song titles. According to aviation officials, small prizes will also be given to the singers, depending on the specific date of their flights.

The good news: Because singing stops at the terminal, your road warriors will only have cramped seating and crying babies to deal with during their business flights.

The letters, sent last month by the Army’s Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operation Center, gave families a list of private organizations that assist families of veterans killed in service.

But the letter printing, handled by a contractor, never included the specific names of those whose sons and daughters had perished in Afghanistan and Iraq. Instead, the placeholder greeting “Dear Jon Doe” remained on all letters — more than 7,000 in total.

The Army’s Chief of Staff is sending a personal letter of apology to each of the families, but he’s admitted “there are no words to adequately apologize for this mistake or for the hurt it may have caused.”

As pink slips become more common, so is the urge to steal corporate secrets on the way out. According to the Cyber-Ark Software survey, “The Global Recession and its Effects on Work Ethics,” a full 71% of polled office workers said they’d definitely steal corporate data if faced with immediate firing.

In fact, 58% of those polled in the U.S. have already downloaded sensitive data — whether it’s to trade for a new job at a competing organization or just out of spite.

The survey says customer and contact databases, product information, company plans, proposals, and company passwords are the most plundered material. While USB memory sticks are the smallest, cheapest and least traceable way to download the data, respondents said they’d use encrypted storage Web sites, DVDs, smart phones and even iPods to copy sensitive materials.

After George Bates found the service he received from an Abbey National customer service operator lacking, he gave the employee a low rating during a post-call satisfaction survey.

But after the carpenter visited a brick-and-mortar branch of the bank, he found that he was unable to access his account because of “security reasons.” Some investigation by Bates and the bank’s employees found that the call center worker had changed Bates’ identity to that of a Ugandan divorcee.

Debits going into Bates’ account had also been cancelled, causing $100 in various bank charges.

Eventually, Bates’ account was straightened out and the charges were removed. An investigation into the incident was launched, but Abbey call center supervisors could not say whether any disciplinary action had been taken against the employee.

Have any call center horror stories? Share them in the comments section below.

Suraj Samaroo recently pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $400,000 from an IKEA call center in Baltimore County, MD. In less than a year at his job, Samaroo learned how to manipulate the company’s phone and mail order system to make a tidy profit.

According to prosecutors’ records, Samaroo would issue himself refunds for purchases made by customers and then alter inventory records to cover his tracks. He gave the money to friends and family, and bought himself a new car, motorcycle and crystal pieces — but notably, no furniture.

Samaroo faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, but because he admitted his actions were motivated by “pure greed,” his lawyers are pleading for a 10-year sentence followed by five years’ probation.

When an automatic e-mail alert system at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, England, red-flagged a message, tech workers were surprised to read the subject line: “Naughty Knicks.”

Nurse Sheena McMillan had been running a side business selling her “knicks” — short for knickers, the British term for panties — to fetishists. According to McMillan’s eBay profile, customers could purchase clean underwear for $32, or a worn pair for $37.

A hospital spokesperson said the messages were clearly inappropriate because eBay bidders would know the underwear was for sale by a registered nurse.

McMillan admits she shouldn’t have linked her company e-mail account to the eBay page, but argues that her actions have nothing to do with her ability to perform nurse’s duties.

What do you think? Should McMillan be terminated, or are her eBay habits unrelated to her job?

In a move to boost security nationwide, Britain’s first identification cards were released, complete with fingerprint and facial details. The biometric details on each ID card would essentially eliminate identity theft and other fraud.

Of course, it would have helped if the government also completed the electronic readers for the ID cards. A spokesperson for Britain’s Home Office admitted that no employers, police forces, colleges or hospitals have been given a machine that can read the ID cards — and that there are no future plans to issue them.

Instead, authorities will have to rely on visual checks of the cards, making them no more secure than typical photo identification. They can call a UK Border Agency hot line to verify whether or not a card is genuine, but the Home Office asserts this should only be done for a “minority of cases.”