Legendary Tunde

The new "Yahoo! Email Address Confirmation" scam

2011-01-23T23:19:00.006+09:00

Recently, I've received more than a dozen scam emails, saying yahoo is getting overloaded and due to this, they'd have to shut down unused email address. They ask for info like email addy, passwords and all that...Here's a sample email:

Dear Account Owner

Yahoo! is shuting down all Unverified/Unused account within 48hours due to the conjestion of all unsued email account,

Verify Your account now by filling out all below informations,Failure to do this your Yahoo! email account would be deactivated without any further notice.

Your -User name:------------------------------
Your -Password::---------------------------------
Your -Date Of Birth:------------------------------
Your -Occupation:------------------------------
Your Country Of Residence:-----------------

Yahoo! Customer Care Team
Case number: 10417141
Property: Account Verification
Contact date: 2010-10-30

DO NOT respond to this email. Its a scam....WATCH OUT!!!

The different subject titles of scam emails

2011-01-23T22:59:00.005+09:00

Urgent Business Proposal
Reply me
Dear Friend
Business Proposal
I Need Your Urgent Response
You Have Won
I Need Your Help
Dear Lucky Winner
Business Transfer
Loan Proposal
Reply If Interested
Help Me
Your Email Has Won
Congratulations
Reply Please

These are the some of the common ones...If you have more, please add it to the comments and i'll include it

DON'T BE A VICTIM! WATCH OUT!!!

Some weak fake ass documents and pics

2010-12-28T22:54:00.009+09:00

N.B - I put "fake" all over the docs so no one can save and reuse them

1. A weak ass fake "cert of deposit"

2. A "death cert" confirming the owner of the said funds just passed

3. A pic confirming the death of the owner of the funds

4. another pic confirming the death

5. Fake passport page of a Russian lady looking for her love

My Culture/Language Shock Experience Living in Korea

2010-12-19T22:09:00.000+09:00

Living in Korea has become something I am very used to and somewhat enjoying. But this has not been the case for my first six months here. As we know, Korea is a very conservative place and for someone from a very liberal background like myself, I found it extremely hard adjusting to living here.

My first experience of language/culture shock experience was my first day in the language school. The best word to describe the day is “awful”. I felt like I was in a wrong country, a wrong place at the wrong time. I understood nothing that was being taught (although the teacher did not teach in English, other students seem to understand). Looking at the writings on the text book and board, it felt like it was art and I thought I needed to be an artist to read and or write the language.

The food was nothing to write home about as well. During my first week living in Korea, I ate chicken from KFC and burger every single day twice a day. I could not say a simple word like “hi” in Korean let alone try ordering home from a restaurant. I was by myself and had no friend for the first one week and it was extremely difficult to adjust considering my state of mind at that time.

Moving to a different part of the world, thousands of miles away from home where I know the culture is different is enough shock on its own, coupled with the fact that English is not the first language here made it worse for me. I had experienced a very sad event a year prior before the year I arrived here, and thus, I completely felt like I was in a pool of water, I did not know how to swim and was without a life jacket. Metaphorically speaking, I almost drowned in this pool called Korea and thought I had moved to the wrong country.

I can happily say today that is not the case today. I was motivated to study more during my time at the language school, I can go around on my own without the help of a native, I can eat some of the food, and I am almost completely adjusted to life here. Although I would love for some things to change, things like being stared at a lot because of the colour of my skin, the natives learning how to say “I am sorry” and “excuse me”, being bumped into around, stepped on and racial discrimination.

But overall, I am enjoying my time here at the moment and would be getting my masters degree in Korea, which means living here for at least 3-5 more years.

And you think all scams come from Africa? Think again!

2010-07-14T21:53:00.006+09:00

People always get this crazy idea all scams come from Africa, particularly Nigeria. That is so not true! There're tons of scams everywhere, even in Asia where its less known compared to say UK or the US, done by people of these countries. Here's one from a Russian culprit, maybe a male, who got my email addy from the internet where i put an ad for a job. She's apparently looking for the love of her life, and as far as she's concerned, she's found her man, or "mugu" as it is popularly called in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, there are tons of scam emails from outside Africa and unfortunately, people still fall victim. The idea every fraudulent email is from Africa is backed by the fact that its the origin. Back to the Russian "girl", her story - she's looking for her love, she found him (me - at least for a while..lol...idiot) and she wants to move to my country (which she has no clue where), but as usual, a small problem. She bought her flight ticket but she missed her flight and needs some money to reschedule another flight...What a douche bag! Here's the passport page she/he sent.

My point is not all scam emails are from Africa. Watch out!

More on internet scam (transfer scam)

2010-07-04T16:59:00.007+09:00

Just like my previous post, I received an email, and like the others, played along to get info for this blog..lol. I replied playing the "mugu" and of course they happily sent one back thinking they've found one. Here's our emails(unedited). I can't find the very first email I got from them, the ones they send to hundreds of emails waiting for a victim that would fall for it. The summary is the "woman" is almost dying and her husband's dead already and since there's no next of kin, they want whoever replied to be the next of kin so the "money" ($2.5m) can be transferred to the victim's account. Mine in blue, theirs in red:

Dearest in Christ ,

Greetings to you in the mighty name of our lord Jesus Christ. I am very happy for your response to my mail and i am also glad for your willingness to actualize this divine donation appropriately in the way it was instructed in my mail to you.

It was a joy and happiness to me after reading your letter and i pray that the grace of the almighty God will be with you have a plan to uplift the kingdom of God. I must confess to you that coming accross a christian like you as been the most wonderful and marvelous thing that the almighty God as done to me for the accomplishment of this divine project in the way it will glorify his holy name. Meanwhile, i must bless the almighty God who as made it possible for me to be in contact with you for the furthering of the kingdom of God.

My present condition is not encouraging at all because it is almost three months now that my doctor declared to me that i will not last for eight months due to the condition of my health, for almost two months now, i have been placed on a constant diagnosis checkup and the doctor as advised that i will have to go through a dialysis treatment very soon. To this effect i have taking this decision on my own because i realise that if i should die today that the fund will be benefited by the bank since i do not have a child of my own and moreover none of our relatives is aware of the existence of this fund, which as been a burden to me because i do not want this fund to be use by the unbeleivers.

I want this divine donation to be handle with the fear of God and confidential and i do not want an unbeleivers to be included because i was warned seriously by my late husband before he died to keep this away from the unbeleivers including is relatives because he do not want them to know the existence of this fund since they are (MUSLIM). He does not want an atom of this money to be use in anything Islamic, and i don't intend to disobey him even in death. So therefore i will prefer our communication to be through the email because the presence of my late husband relatives is always around me and i will not be able to communicate with you on telephone because i dont want in a situation whereby my late husband relatives will suspect my communication with you, since we are leaving together in the same house.

I will want you to send me your full name and address so that i can swear to an affidavit on oath that will legally and officially approved you as the new beneficiary to this fund, since i want to complete all the legal aspect of this project before my going to the hospital for the dialysis checkup, so that even if i am no more, your claim to the fund will not be in doubt. I will be sending you the certificate of deposit of this fund immediately after the affidavit is ready.

Always put me in your prayer and the almighty God will be with you.

Thanks and may GOD bless us all.
Sister Kate Zakari

I sent my "full name" (a fake name) and address to them(my real school address incase they want to send me a cheque(a fake one of course). Here's my reply to them:

Hello sister Kate,

Sorry for the delay. I was quite busy all day. Here's my full name and address:

Name - Daniel King

Address - Korea University Students' Welfare Center,
Students' Building, 3rd Floor, Anam-dong 5ga,
Seongbuk-gu, 136-701, Seoul.

Im sending this from my phone, thus i cannot attach a pic. I'll send one asap.

Cheers!

I wasnt sending the reply from my phone btw, just needed an excuse not to send them a pic. I'd have sent a fake pic if they kept insisting on it, but luckily for them, they havent, at least up till this point. So, they sent a reply, giving me an email of the bank in charge, that i should contact them for the transfer:

Dear Daniel King,

Calvary greetings to you in the matchless name of our LORD. I hope all is well with you and other members of your family. To the Glory of God, I have procured the Affidavit today from the Ministry of justice. I want to remind you again that this fund will be under your control towards humanitarian and charity services including the propagation of the gospel. The Affidavit declaration is in your name which is legally and officially noted. I am trusting you to channel this fund accordingly. I have attached the Affidavit and also a copy of the certificate of deposit of this fund. Please confirm the receipt immediately, and I beg you to keep these documents very very confidential. You have now been officially and legally known as the next of kin and new beneficiary to this fund.

A copy will also be forwarded to the BANQUE REGIONALE DE SOLIDARITE according to the officer of oath. One more thing, please Daniel King, do not involve an unbeliever or bad people during and after this transaction as i was strictly warned about that by my late husband and i do not want to disobey him not even now that he is no more.You have to contact the Bank Director immediately and instruct them for the transfer of this money to your account.You will also give them your bank account of where you want the money to be transferred. I want this money to be tranfererd to you as soon as possible now that i am still alive so that we can share the joy together. Once again my dear Daniel King, keep unbelievers away from this divine project as i told you earlier.

Here is the contact address:

DIRECTOR GENERAL: Dr. Tiornan Coullibaly

BANQUE REGIONALE DE SOLIDARITE

Tel: +22567548712

E-mail: directorbrsci@ymail.com or bankregionale@aol.com

You have to contact him as soon as possible and give him your direct phone number, always give me informations and always remember me in your daily prayers.You can also call him on phone. I will be having my second medical dialysis operation by Friday this week being 2nd of July 2010. I want you and other members of your family to be praying for me so that this second medical dialysis operation will be successful because the first one i underwent was too painful and the bleeding was too much, so i want this second one to go successful. May God give you more wisdom to handle this divine project in jesus mighty name i pray, AMEN.
Your Sister in the LORD,
Mrs. Kate Zakari.

Note:In case of any question by the bank, remember this fund was deposited
by my Late husband, Mr. Joseph Zakari, from Republic of Kuwait.
Date of deposit: 12/02/2001
Account No: BRS-CI-018942819
Type of Account: General Trust Account.
Amount: US$2,500,000.00.

In sure you know what i did already..I contacted this alleged bank. Here's my message to the bank:

Hello,
I have been instructed by Mrs. Kate Zakari. to tell you to transfer the funds deposited by her late husband to my account ASAP. Here are the details of the account;

Date of deposit: 12/02/2001
Account No: BRS-CI-018942819
Type of Account: General Trust Account.
Amount: US$2,500,000.00.

Transfer the money to my account below:

Name of Bank - Kookmin Bank
Account number - 1002-7485-84521

Here is my direct cell number in case you might need to reach me; (had a real phone number)

I'll be looking forward to your reply.

Best regards,
Daniel King

I was very reluctant to give them my real phone number, but what the hell, I wanted/want to waste their money(the ones they've been scamming people of) anytime they call. As for the account number, I closed my eyes and typed random numbers on my computer and I had an account number..lol. The "bank" then sent a reply with the title "transfer procedure", saying I should contact a certain lawyer. Here's the reply:

ATTENTION:DANIEL KING,

REF: FROM THE OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL

BRS-CI

FOLLOWING THE KIND RECEIPT OF YOUR LETTER TODAY WHICH REFERS TO THE STATUTORY DECLARATION WE RECEIVED FROM THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF JUSTICE ABIDJAN, COTE D'IVOIRE.

WE HEREBY CONFIRMED THAT MRS KATE ZAKARI HAS AN INHERITANCE RIGHT TO HER LATE HUSBAND'S FUND AS THE NEXT OF KIN AND LEGITIMATE WIFE; SHE HAS APPROVED YOU TO BENEFIT THE FUND (US$2.500.000.00) AS HER NEXT OF KIN AS INDICATED IN HER AFFIDAVIT DECLARATION BEFORE US.

NOTE THAT THERE ARE LEGAL NECESSITIES THAT MUST BE FOLLOWED THAT PRECEEDE THE TRANSFER.

(1) LEGALIZATION:THIS ACCOUNT MUST BE LEGALIZED TO PUT MY BANK ON THE SAFE SIDE OVER THIS TRANSFER BECAUSE THIS ACCOUNT IS DORMANT AND MOREOVER THE HOLDER IS DEAD.

(2) AN ANTI-TERRORIST CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE: TO CERTIFY YOUR FUND FREE FROM TERRORISM,AND ILLICIT ACQUIRMENT MUST BE OBTAINED AND THIS IS IN LINE WITH THE RULE OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND.

YOU ARE THEREFORE REQUESTED TO CONTACT OUR LEGAL DEPARTMENT THROUGH AN INDEPENDENT ACCREDITED LAWYER TO OUR BANK FOR THE LEGAL REVALIDATION OF THE ACCOUNT AND PROCUREMENT OF A TERRORIST CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE THAT IS A PRE-REQUISITE FOR THE TRANSFER OF THIS FUND SINCE THE ORIGINAL ACCOUNT HOLDER IS LATE. HERE IS THE CONTACT OF THE LAWYER;

JACKSON SALIMA,
TEL: +22506719469

E-MAIL: jaslawfirm@yahoo.com

BE ASSURED THAT AS SOON AS THE NORMINATED ACCREDITED LAWYER CONCLUDES THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS ON YOUR BEHALF AND SUBMIT TO THE BANK,YOUR FUND WILL BE TRANSFERRED ACCORDINGLY INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT UNDER TWO WORKING DAYS WITH NO DELAY.
REGARDS,
DR. TIORNAN COULLIBALY
DIRECTOR GENERAL
BANQUE REGIONALE DE SOLIDARITE- COTE D'IVOIRE
(REGIONAL SOLIDARITY BANK - COTE D'IVOIRE)
TEL: +225 6754 8712.

Yup you guessed right, I contacted the lawyer..Here's my reply:

Hello,
I was asked to contact you by the bank handling Mrs Kate's account transfer for legalization and anti-terrorist certificate as their lawyer.

Get back to me as soon as possible.

Regards

This is when they first ask for money for the so called anti terrorist certificate, legalization of the document and other sudden expenses that would begin to creep in all of a sudden. I sent the reply today(4th July) and they're yet to reply. As soon as they do, I'll publish it.

Like I predicted, they replied and are now asking for money for what they "legalization and anti-terrorist fee". Here's their reply and this time, its from the "lawyer":

JACKSON Salima CONSULTATION (PLLC)
10 BOULEVARD LATRILLE
25 B.P. 795 25,
ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST
Tel:+22506719469.

Legal Revalidation Document,

Attention,

Based on your request for our legal assistance, I went to the MINISTRY OF FINANCE today, and they gave me the gatal file which i signed in your name as your Legal representative towards the transfer of your Fund. Meanwhile, they have approved my application and assured me that the legal document will be issued to me within 24 hours.

Meanwhile, you are requested to pay for the legal & procurement fee of EURO 3.850,00 to enable me obtain the Clearance and Anti-terrorist Certificate and legalize this general trust account on your behalf, and ensure the prompt transfer of your fund according to the officer in the MINISTRY OF FINANCE who told me that the legal document will be issued to me once we meet up with the EURO 3.850,00

Note: that the total amount is EURO 3.850,00 (Three thousand eight hundred and fifty EURO) which covers the followings....................

1) The Anti-terrorist Certificate: EURO 1.950,00

2) Legalization & Clearance: EURO 1.900,00

Quickly go and send the legal fees immediately to enable me to commence my job with no further delay and secure the requested documents from the MINISTRY OF FINANCE Republic of Cote d’Ivoire . Upon the receipt of the WESTERN UNION or MONEYGRAM payment information’s, i shall start my job immediately. You have to send the money through WESTERN UNION or MONEYGRAM for fast receiving.

You have to send the money Through the name of my secretary below;

(1) MY SECRETARY : NJOKU EMEKA REMIGUS

COUNTYRY ......... IVORY COAST

CITY..................... ABIDJAN

Note that our Legal Service fee is EURO 2.000 but you will pay that as soon as the bank transfers the fund to you. The most important thing now is to send the money for the legal documents first so that the bank can start the transfer. Our legal Service fee will be paid later.

Be as well informed that I called the bank director when I returned back from the MINISTRY OF FINANCE and explained the situation to him to see if he can deduct the legal fees from the account in question and pay me so that I can obtain the legal documents, but the bank director, DR.TIORNAN COULIBALY explained to me that it is not possible to deduct this legal fee from the account you have in BANQUE REGIONALE DE SOLIDARITE why because the account where the fund in question was deposited is dormant that is totally blocked in which no body can access the fund until the necessary legal works are done by obtaining the legal document and submit to BANQUE REGIONALE DE SOLIDARITE, then you will have access to the deposited fund.

Do inform us as soon as you make the payment today so that we can cash the money and start our legal duty immediately, and make sure that you send the payment information’s very correct. As soon as you send the money, try to send the following information’s to us...(a) Sender's name, (b) Question and Answer, (c) Control number, that is MTCN.

Be restful assured of our total co-operation, hence we shall complete our legal obligations in less than 24 hours and submit to the bank for the onward transfer of your fund. We are waiting to be hearing from you ASAP.
Thanks,
JACKSON Salima (PLLC)
Principal Attorney.

It says I should "quickly" go and send the money..LOL..and btw, out of the blue, a "nurse" emailed me that i should hurry up with the payments that the "sick woman" would like to see the transfer through before she dies, cos she's dying..very funny! I haven't replied yet, when they send a reply about the money, just as i made up an account number, i'll make up the western union MTCN by closing my eyes and typing random numbers.

I'll keep y'all updated on more types of scam..stay tuned!

Ok, i had closed this post, but i HAD to this; those douch bags emailed again saying the woman died with funeral pics and they called me on the phone crying. Damn! They made my day that day, cos i laughed so hard i almost shit on myself. Still have the silly pics they sent, death cert, and a fake doc about transfer of funds bullcrap. Ima happily send you any if you want them, or put them here on request.

Racism in Korea

2010-02-25T16:25:00.000+09:00

Havent stayed in Korea for more than a year now, i'd say there's definitely racism in Korea. Although the rate isnt as high as in Europe and other parts of the world, but it definitely exist in Korea. It comes in different form. Staying in remote areas and being brown skinned, you get starred at alot, get less priviledges etc. On the bright side, for the people living in the cities, especially in Seoul and with the influx on foreigners in Korea, racism isnt as much of a deal. Looking at a place like Itaewon in Seoul(the area with the highest population of foreigners living in Korea), racism isnt an issue. But in other areas/neighbourhood where they rarely see brown skinned people, it can be an issue. A typical example will be Sinchon, where people living there hardly see foreigners. I once had a a 5year old ask her mum while referring to me, "엄마 어떤사람이야?"[mum, what type of person is this?]. I laughed at it only because she was a baby. This only shows that the child's just seen a black person person for the first time.

Just recently, a friend of mine was turned down on a job just because she's black. That's just ludicrous! I cant even imagine in 2010 people judge others based on the colour of their skin. Thats just bullshit (Please excuse my language). They'd better start getting used to we blacks, cos i recently saw in the news that with the increase of Africa's population, in 2050, one out of 5 people would be African, that means black. So y'all better start dealing with it.

Personally, from my time in Korea till date, i havent had anyone not black use the ''N'' word on me. They'd be in a lot of sh** if they said that to me. I have one Asian friend in school who called me by that on a couple of times last semester. He's a very cool friend of mine, and he obviously wasn't trying to degrade me or anything of that nature. I was completely fine with that. Although i hardly use the word, unless when i sing(which i love to), i'd have a problem with anyone not black referring to me using the word.

Dating Scam

2010-02-05T04:27:00.003+09:00

People desperate for a partner online are usually the target for the type of scam. Lonely women often fall prey. But these scammers do not care if you're a man or woman as long as you have what they want; money. Again, i got an email from a ''Russian'' girl who says she wants to come live with me in my country. Its funny right? My country! They have absolutely no idea where in the world the recepient of the email is, which is me. Like usual, i decided to go with the flow. I believe i still have the messages we sent each other, however, unless upon request, i'll just be briefly talking about it.

The first message came with a picture of a lady who says she wants to get to know me blah blah blah. Wondering how they know im a male? Well, I had an ad on craigslist, on the tv/show section, and posted as a male model looking for an agent. That's how they found me. How i know that's how? their first message was a craigslist reply, saying ''i went through your post and decided to reply you''. Usually, the first message doesnt say much. They just want to make sure its a working email address, not some bot. We got started. I replied and they sent me a long message full of grammar errors saying she's learning english and not really good at it. She would like to come to my country come live with me, get married and stuffs like that. They have no idea where ''my country'' is, and i told them im in Tokyo, Japan. I played along. and they kept writing, attaching pictures with every single message. Until the time for money came.

They sent a VERY fake passport page of the lady(you almost cannot tell its fake) saying she wants to go get her visa, and i should tell her the nearest airport close to me so she can arrange to land there. Along the line like it always is, she ran out of money and wanted me to send $700 to her through Western Union for emergency stuffs and fixing her flight ticket problems. I closed my eyes and ramdomly pressed the number keys on my computer until i pressed 10 of them(MTCN are usually 10 digits). I sent them this number and told them i sent more than they requested cos i'd like to see her asap. LOL. They were hopping from bank to bank trying to withdraw $1k i never sent. They replied within hours and said the number wasnt right. I told them i made a mistake and removed the last number for another one. Of course they had same thing. They requested i scan the receipt, and i told them i couldnt find it that i never keep western union receipts since i've never had problems with it. They emailed back and forth until they got tired.

I was having so much laugh emailing them. I really feel sorry for people falling for these types of scams. For some of us, its surprising how people fall for these scams. There are still people who fall for these cheap scams and they need to read blogs/articles like this one to enlighten them.

A number of ways of identifying a dating scam; they send you pictures almost with every email, they're quick to ''love'' you and there's always an excuse for one to send money to them.

Watch out for these people. DON'T BE A VICTIM!

Why is cigarette legal and marijuana is not?

2010-01-13T19:55:00.001+09:00

A majority of us would probably argue that marijuana ban is totally called for. But the question is, why are cigarettes legal when it causes worse damage to the human body compared to marijuana? When you get the perspective of those who smoke both, and access their experiences, then you can come to the conclusion that cigarettes should be banned.

For many smokers, the most common substances in cigarettes are nicotine and tobacco, which by all means, are very harmful to our health. These are the most common substances, but not the only substances in cigarettes. Looking at nicotine for example, it contains carbon di-oxide (co2), benzene and ammonia, which like some of us know is highly flammable and it causes great damage to our body system; it blackens the lungs, causes cancer amongst others. It really beats my imagination why cigarette smoking is still legalized. It does absolutely no good, only negative effects. Marijuana on the other hand has some disadvantages of course, but it has a good side as well.

Looking at the bad sides of marijuana, it makes people act like they are “up there”, above everyone, and sometimes do things they would not normally do. Just like other hard drugs, it makes one high. But then looking at the good sides, for cancer patients, it helps reduce the impact of cancer. Doctors legally prescribe marijuana only for patients with cancer. Apart from its usefulness to patients with cancer, while cigarettes are addictive, on the contrary, “weed” (like it is commonly/informally called) is not. For a cigarette addict, not smoking at least a stick a day is like living in hell. On the other hand, a person who smokes marijuana can do without smoking for a couple of days. While marijuana smoking is very easy to quit, cigarette smoking is very difficult to quit. It takes real dedication and determination to stop smoking it.

Statistics shows that five percent of the world’s population are killed by cigarette smoking. Unlike alcohol, most adults who take alcohol know when to stop drinking if they do not want to get drunk. But cigarettes smoking does not get people drunk or high, so people tend to smoke as many as they can afford, which will in turn increase the chances of its side effect in the body system. Marijuana makes one high, thus people tend to reduce or control its intake to avoid getting “too high”.
Although marijuana is illegal in most countries, people still have access to it.

It seems evident to me that both should be banned, not just cigarettes. Especially cigarette, looking at the amount of things it does to the human body, which in most cases, it is relatively unknown to many people.

A Marriage is a Partnership

2010-01-13T19:48:00.003+09:00

I took a course last semester called social problems. Now that my class has come to an end, I can definitively say that my view marriage has changed drastically. Like most my age/generation, I think I had the romantic interpretation of what a marriage is made of: two people in love. Though my mind remains unchanged that love is the most essential element in a successful and long lasting marriage, I now know that many other components must be in harmony. It’s only in the movies that one can live happily ever after; in reality, we have to deal with just that: reality. The factors such as personality differences, financial and economic conditions, infidelity, or perhaps most traumatic: physical or verbal abuse; these factors are all reasons that a marriage may not last. The maturation of society’s view of women may be the most paramount factor.

The source of my sentimental view of marriage lies within my own home. My parents, married for 27 years, showed love for the family and love for each other every single day. My dad would always take us out on trips during the holidays, and because he worked outside our state and comes home every weekend, we(my siblings) would always expect sometime nice from him(like a gift), and he never fails to bring us one.

My mother and father had a mutual understanding and respect for each other. I grew up thinking this is how it was with every family. Perhaps worldwide we grow up with the same utopian perspective: every story we hear as children and throughout our formative years ends with, “…….and they lived happily ever after.” Most Disney films we see growing up maintain this same ending. Most major motion pictures we see end with the two main characters finding and falling in love with each other. We rarely see what happens the day after the dreamy couple gets married: there must be a mutual understanding and coordinated plan. From the beginning, my mom and dad agreed that she would be the one to take care of the home and the children, but that she would also keep her job and work. Because my parents constantly and effectively communicated with each other, their marriage lasted. According to our class statistics, almost 50% of married couples aren’t as fortunate and end in divorce.

During class discussion, one common factor cited among the reasons for divorce is the evolving status of women in society. Demonstrative of this are the class discussed points such as, “The unwillingness of some men to accept the changing status of women,” and “more women have become economically self sufficient,” and, “the rate of divorce involving women age 45-54 has increased, especially in Korea”

It is an antiquated notion that upon marriage, a woman’s only duties are to clean the home and clothe and feed the family. Even if two people were to enter a marriage with this archaic mindset, things soon would change because the world is in a different place. One hundred years ago, it would take all day for a wife to prepare the family meal: she has to find coal or firewood for the oven, she has to make every recipe from scratch, and the ingredients used in said recipe also made from scratch. She has to hand-wash all the laundry, she is responsible for the children getting to and from school on time, she must make sure her husband stays well fed, healthy, and happy, so that he can continue to work, as well as provide for the family, and the family can maintain the home they have. With the advances made in modern technology, a home maker now has running water, a gas or electric stove, washing machine, maybe even a washing service or house keeper, the home maker has parent carpools, readily prepared meals: there’s no need for her to surrender all her time and energy to the home. Time may be made available for personal development: once considered selfish for a housewife, now very helpful, so to speak.

Even outside of these logistical issues, the sphere of contemporary society does not coordinate with the idea that a woman should, as outlined in her wedding vows; love, honour and obey her husband. She has education and her own opinion, and though in the past it was considered disrespectful for her to voice it, there is little reason for her not to now. She need not fear the consequence of an irate husband who may threaten to leave her. Today’s woman is financially secure, or has the skills to enter the workforce and support herself if need be, therefore the need to have a husband as provider is also antiquated.

In the class, we learnt that in the last several years, the opportunities made available for women have increased dramatically.

In these contemporary times, people, women in particular, do not feel the obligation to stay in, as labelled in our class, an “empty shell” marriage. Our Social Problems class noted that the divorce rate in 1978 was a mere 0.5%. Compare this with the divorce to marriage ratio of 47.4% in 2002. These numbers are the proof that people no longer feel they have to stay married.

Even Korea is not immune: in this, a homogenous society where custom and traditions are highly revered; Korea now has one of the world’s highest divorce rates. According to our class notes, the rate of divorce in Korea has jumped 10 times in the last 30 years. With the changing status of women, the number does not seem likely to decrease soon.

Some useful websites in Korea

2009-12-23T05:45:00.005+09:00

www.worknplay.co.kr - job searching
ww.englishspectrum.co.kr - job searching
www.gmarket.co.kr - online shopping market
www.watzupkorea.com - party planner, meet friends, and chat.
www.smrt.co.kr/Train/Subwaymap/Eng/Subwaymap.jsp - Korea English subway map
seoul.craigslist.co.kr - buy, sell, community, personnels, jobs, housing, discussion forum e.t.c
www.seriousteachers.com/ - For people searching for teaching jobs in Korea
ww.kyobobook.co.kr - For all kinds of books
www.pandora.tv - TV shows
www.arirang.co.kr - Korea's all english television station
ww.auction.co.kr - For auctions
www.iaminkorea.com - English teaching jobs, translation jobs, etc.
www.guesthouseinkorea.com - Korea Guesthouse
www.jimsclub.net - Hotel reservation, car rentals
http://gis.seoul.go.kr/englishMap/index.jsp - Seoul bus transportation map

First time in Korea

2009-12-23T05:25:00.004+09:00

I moved to korea spring last year. The reason for choosing Korea is that my parents do business here, so we figured it would be a good idea, and during my stay and study, i get to learn alot of things concerning the business.

I applied for Korean language school from home and i got the admission and applied for my visa, and the rest is history. My sponsor picked me up from the airport and i stayed at a family friend's place. The next day, he found a house for me close to the school, we drove down and he dropped me there without telling/showing me where the school is, or how to find my way around the neighbourhood. He said ''you're an adult right, Yonsei university is around the corner, just look for it and figure it out''. The next day i was ready for school, and fortunately, in my house, i found that there are two yonsei KLI students there. They explained to me how to get to the school. We were suppose to leave for school together, but before i knew what was happening, they were gone, leaving me completely fraustrated.

I found my way to the school, walked for about 1hour trying to find the language school. Fortunately, after about 1hour of trying to fing KLI, i finally asked a girl who spoke english and she tok me there.

The problem didnt end there. My first day in class was terrible. I completely lost interest in learning the language, because i thought it was more than difficult seeing it for the first time. AFter class, it was time to go home, i couldn't find my way home. LOL.

To cut the story short, i started developing interest again, and i successfully passed the exam, promoting me to level 2. I passed 2, 3 and 4 before i stopped because i got an undergraduate admission in a rival university(korea university - which is the second best here).

Too many stories in Korea. After about one year, i discovered Korea isn't as terrible as i thought. On the contrary, i was beginning to enjoy my stay here.

If you have questions about moving to Korea, settlement, jobs, or what ever, i'll be happy to answer your questions

Scam Emails

2009-12-23T04:28:00.005+09:00

I got an email from scammers, a lotto scam email. Since i have been writng about internet scam, i decided to play games with them. I have here all the unedited copies of the emails they sent me, and my replies. My replies to them is in blue, thiers in red.

From: award department u.k headquarters
Subject: Join me - help Jim Himes win
To:
Date: Thursday, December 3, 2009, 9:16 AM

LOTTERY RESULTS 2009
ONLINE WEB PROMOTION
WINNING NOTIFICATION

We Congratulate you for being one of the 5 TOP Lucky Winners of the 2009 Euro-Afro-Asia-American Sweepstakes online Web promotion held in Nottingham UNITED KINGDOM.

YOUR E-MAIL ID HAS WON YOU GBP£550,000.00 (FIVE hundred and Fifty Thousand British Pounds (GBP) in Cheque.In the 2ND category of our computer ballot free e-mail lottery prize.

Participants were selected randomly from the Internet Users through a computer draw system extracted from over a million personal and corporate e-mails that were listed online.

Your Winning Ticket no is MNX986574 TQ and your Batch no is 4583JL/WIN/IDS.

No ticket was sold but it is to encourage the use of Internet world wide,and to receive your prize you are requested to contact the OVERSEAS PAYMENT AGENT In charge of Your Region in Indonesia and send your full details including your full name, Address, Nationality and your winning ticket number.

PROF.ABDUS SHAFI.
Director International Payment Center Indonesia
(Europe,America,Middle East,Asia and Africa)

E-mail:jakarta_internal_paymetoffce@live.com
Fax:+62-2199082690.
Mobile:+62-8176011603.

All winnings must be claimed not later than 30days;

NOTE: THAT NOBODY,EVEN THE APPOINTED BANK HAS THE RIGHT TO TOUCH, DEDUCT OR GET ACCESS TO YOUR PRIZE MONEY FOR ANY REASON. THEY HAVE BEEN WARNED STRICTLY!

IF you can travel to Indonesia to pick your bonus prize, you should try and do so.If you can't travel,your cheque will be delivered to your home address by the security company where all the winners cheque have been deposited or to your bank account through bank to bank telegrafic transfer by our paying bank.

DR.] MRS.VICTORIA CLINTON.
Lottery director General,[D.G]

DR.JOHN SMITH.
director foreign remittance
E.A.A.S INC .
UK HEAD DEPARTMENT
TEL:+447031888701.

You'll notice the UK head office telephone number starts with 70...Only UK numbers made over the internet starts with +4470....There's a way to get a UK number on your phone. Its diallable and it makes the caller totally think the scammer is the UK. I decided to open a new gmail account, and i gave the scammers a call, pretending i was in to it.

Hello Prof Shafi,
we talked on the phone, hope you remember. Here are my information:

Full name - Daniel King
Nationality - American
Winning ticket number - MNX986574 TQ
Address -
Please send a reply....Thanks

Daniel King is not my name, and im not an American. I just came up with all those to playgames with the scammers. Then they sent a mail and attached the ''claim application form'' which im required to fill ASAP and send back to them.

DEAR WINNER,

YOUR MAIL WAS WELL RECEIVED THIS MORNING IN OUR OFFICE.MEANWHILE,ATTACHED IS THE CLAIM APPLICATION FORM,KINDLY PRINT AND FILL IT IMMEDIATELY FOR YOUR PRIZE PROCESSING AND VERIFICATION.PLEASE RETURN YOUR FORM EARLY ENOUGH TO AVOID ANY CANCELLATION AND DISQUALIFICATION.READ THE APPLICATION FORM WELL BEFORE YOU CAN FILL IT TO AVOID MISTAKE.PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEM IN FILLING THE FORM.

THANKS AND ALLAH HAFIZ.

REGARDS,

PROF.ABDUS SHAFI.

If you look closely to the ''claim application form" above, you'll clearly see how fake it is. First, the fake number, grammar errors and spelling errors. Well, I filled out the form and sent it via email to them. I got an email back from them saying i should choose my mode of payment;

Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:03:43 +0900
Subject: Re: PAYMENT PROCESSING/APPLICATION FORM
From:
To: jakarta_internal_paymetoffce@live.com

Hello prof Shafa,
Attached with the mail is a copy of the completed form. The address column is blank because my address won't fit into the space provided. therefore, below is my full address. Please include my name and phone number in the parcel.

Address - Korea University Students' Welfare Center,
Students' Building, 3rd Floor, Anam-dong 5ga,
Seongbuk-gu, 136-701, Seoul.

Thank you very much. Awaiting your reply.

Regards,
Daniel

ASSALAMUALIKOM

THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR APPLICATION FORM HAS BEEN RECEIVED IN OUR OFFICE AND YOUR WON PRIZE HAS BEEN PROCESSED.MEANWHILE,ATTACHED HERE IS THE UPDATE OPTIONS,KINDLY READ IT VERY WELL THEN MAKE YOUR CHOICE AND GET BACK TO US IMMEDIATELY TO ENABLE US DELIVER YOUR WON CHEQUE TO YOU.PLEASE WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED YOUR ID CARD OR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT,KINDLY SEND IT TO US FOR YOUR CHEQUE DELIVERY.

THANKS AND ALLAH HAFIZ.

REGARDS
PROF.ABDUS SHAFI

Below is the attached ''payment option document''. It is a microsoft word file, i just copied it to notepad.

DEAR WINNER,

I am PROF ABDUS SHAFI, the fiduciary agent assigned to your case to help you in the claims process of your funds. I wish to congratulate you and to say you are a lucky person to have won this lottery BONUS. All the winners in the Lottery were selected randomly through a computer ballot system from Email addresses and Names from the World Wide Web Site.

You are to choose only one (1) from the Three (3) given options on how to claim your prize. For any option you choose, you are to send us information for the option you choose. NOTE: that we are not demanding any money from you before we can release your bonus prize. The options we gave to you is the normal procedure forwarded to us by our paying bank and courier company. So any option you have chosen, your information will be forwarded to them to enable them contact you.

OPTION 1:COMING IN PERSON TO OUR CLAIM OFFICE INDONESIA
You will required to come to our prize Disbursement center in Jakarta Indonesia to pick up your prize of Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand British pounds (GBP550,000.00) in Check.

THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS:

(a) A PRINTED COPY OF YOUR WINNING CERTIFICATE

(b) AN INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT OR DRIVER'S LICENSE

(c) SIX BY(2) PASSPORT PHOTOGRAPH(3*4 size)

OPTION 2: SHIPMENT DELIVERY/POLICY
However if you can not make it to the Disbursements Center within the stipulated time due to non availability of some requirements, arrangements can be made at your approval to have your Certified Check of Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand British Pounds (GBP550,000.00) alongside other winning security documents delivered to your nominated address.

You will employ the services of our affiliate Cargo Diplomatic Security company to ship your Award Certificate and Certified Bank Check parcel to you.(Time of delivery 2 working days) and will also pay the sum of [GBP315] being Shipment delivery service Charges.

SHIPMENT DELIVERY/INSURANCE CHARGES

Shipment Charges: …………………………..... GBP130.00

Administrative/Handling: ……………...........GBP60.00

Insurance: ……………………………………... GBP125.00

TOTAL CHARGE………………………….........GBP315.00

1) THE DELIVERY/INSURANCE CHARGE MUST BE PAID BEFORE PARCEL SHIPMENT.
2) NO CHEQUE CAN BE DELIVERED WITHOUT INSURANCE COVERAGE.
3) NO DEDUCTION CAN BE MADE ON THE CHEQUE.
4) IF YOU PAY YOUR SHIPMENT/INSURANCE CHARGE AND YOU DID NOT GET YOUR WON CHEQUE IN 2 WORKING DAYS,PLEASE KINDLY CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY.

OPTION 3:BANK TO BANK TELEGRAFIC TRANSFER
Transfer of your funds to your local bank account by Telegraphic Bank transfer. The said amount claim Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand British Pounds(GBP550,000.00) will be wired to your bank account via swift bank transfer. Condition: The cost of transfer (C.O.T) charges being charged by our transferring bank is(GBP510) i.e of the cash being transferred will be paid by you and will be paid before the transfer of your fund. If you prefer this option please send your bank details to us..

YOUR BANK DETAILS MUST INCLUDE:

(1).THE NAME OF YOUR BANK......................

(2).ADDRESS OF BANK...............................

(3).ACCOUNT NUMBER..................................

(4).SWIFT CODE,IF ANY...............................

(5).ACCOUNT HOLDER'S NAME........................

(6).YOUR PRIVATE CONTACT NO.........................

Note: That your prize is protected by a hardcover insurance policy which makes it impossible to deduct any amount from the CHEQUE before it can be remitted to your bank account.

This means that the above charges cannot be deducted from the prize and hence must be provided by you first before your prize is transferred to you. Please respond to this email by making a selection from the three options above.

NOTE: Services Render by any of the COURIER/DIPLOMATIC SECURITY COMPANY is to be paid by you and not the lottery board.

CONGRATULATION ONCE MORE, PROPER ADHERENCE TO THE ABOVE INSTRUCTIONS WILL YIELD MAXIMUM AND EFFECTIVE SERVICE.

For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claim is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize. This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned!!!
Best Regards,

PROF.ABDUS SHAFI.

I sent a reply to them saying i'll be going to Thailand next week so maybe i could stop in Indonesia. Instead, they insisted the office was almost closing due to the christmas holiday

Hello Prof. Shafi,
How are you? I'm sorry for the late reply. The option of coming to Idonesia looks more convinient for me. I'll be going to Thailand maybe next week or the week after that, I could stop by to claim my check. Is that convinient for you also? Please get back to me ASAP.
Thanks and happy holiday,
Daniel

DEAR MR.DANIEL,

THANKS FOR YOU MAIL.PLEASE WE WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT WE WILL CLOSE OFFICE ON 24TH DECEMBER 2009 FOR XMASS HOLIDAY AND SO IF YOU WANT TO COME HERE MAKE SURE YOU WILL BE HERE BEFORE THEN OR YOU PAY YOUR SHIPMENT CHARGE WE SHIP YOUR CHEQUE IMMEDIATELY BEFORE WE CLOSE ON THAT 24TH.I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND ME WELL.

THANKS

I was hoping they would send my check like they always do. The amount of the cheque is usually over the amount ''you've won'', so they ask you to sent the balance to them. I was hopig they would send me a cheque, so i can publish that as well, but unfortunately, they didnt, and till now, i haven't heard from them.

Be warned, don't fall a victim. Refer to the ''internet scam'' article here on the blog for tips on how to identify a scam mail.

Send comments and let me know what you think.

Internet Scam

2009-12-22T12:33:00.001+09:00

There is no way one can talk about Internet scam without mentioning Nigeria. The Nigeria scam, according to published report, is the fifth largest industry in the country. Nigeria has the highest number of Internet fraudsters in the world, although, Internet scams also exist in China, Australia, East Europe, to mention a few. With the vast increase of Internet scam in Nigeria, it has become the “home” of Internet scam. It is gradually becoming a global problem, with the safest countries such as Korea beginning to experience it. Internet fraud as defined in Wikipedia “generally refers to any type of fraud scheme that uses one or more online services to present solicitations to prospective victims, to conduct fraudulent transactions, or to transmit the proceeds of fraud to a financial institution or to others connected with the scheme”. This can be done in chat rooms, email, message boards, and websites. The rapid increase of Internet scam in Nigeria calls for great concern. Many people see it as a quick way of making money. With the Internet being technologically improved every day, it makes it easier for these fraudsters to defraud unsuspecting people.
Many methods are being discovered every day. It has been said that Internet scam started in the 90s with evolution of the Internet. Some of the terms associated with Internet scam in Nigeria are: maga, mugu, g-man or yahoo man, bombing or scratching, extracting, amongst others.

To explain, Maga or mugu in Pidgin English means a person who is stupid or foolish; thus the victims getting defrauded are referred to like this by the fraudsters. The yahoo man is the scam artist. Bombing or scratching refers to the act of sending multiple emails to hacked email addresses, while extracting is the process of hacking these email addresses. There are also several types of Internet scam, some of which include lottery, dating, loans, website scam, Western Union scam and many others. Also, they tend to use victims weaknesses to exploit them.

Irrespective of the type of Internet scam, one common feature is the use of Western Union money transfer or money gram as the mode of payment by the victim. Fraudsters insist on this mode of payment because it is fast, and almost untraceable.
These scammers work full-time. They eat, live, and sleep in Internet cafes. Very few of them use personal computers. The reason for this is because it could be traced online via the IP address. However, with the IP address changing software emerging everywhere, more fraudsters bomb in the comfort of their homes. Usually, there is a hierarchy. Before a scammer can be called a yahoo man by fellow scammers, he would have to work under another yahoo man for a significant amount of time, and pending how much he makes for his boss - usually referred to as “chairman”, he can start working for himself.

Webmails are used for Internet fraud. A webmail, as defined in the Oxford dictionary is an email available for use online and stored in the Internet server mailbox, and that is not downloaded to an email program or used offline. The reason why webmails are used is that, unlike an email, a webmail can send multiple amounts of email messages at one time. Multiple can be 50, 100, or several hundreds. The process starts with an extraction of thousands of email addresses online, divided into groups, depending on how much the webmail can hold at one time, then with an already hacked webmail, they copy/paste accordingly in the subject line, to and contact column and start bombing.

With the Internet advancing every day, hacking software is progressing and becoming faster and easier, as a result, these fraudsters capitalize on this for webmail hacking. A paid webmail account, a university webmail account, or a company webmail account is usually used for sending scam emails. For example, they could hack into and send email from an address such as XXXX@XXXX.ac.kr. Now, the fraudster needs his already extracted email addresses from which to send from. Fraudsters usually target a new webmail email that has not yet been bombed, which in most cases are referred to “good” email address. While the “bad” email addresses are those that can be easily found online without having to use software or having to pay for it. However, many of them have had at least one fraudulent email received before at one point or another.

According to a recent interview conducted by the economic and financial crime commission (EFCC) of Nigeria, a commission set up to help eradicate all types of fraud in Nigeria – scammers believe, as interpreted by one youth, a 21 year old university drop out, that they could be regarded as “doing productive jobs” as well, contrary to what society thinks. According to a recent report from March 3, 2009 on the website www.efccnigeria.org, in his words, “We invest time and money scratching emails, buying emails, bombing, sending replies, and other things, just as other people who work invest time and money toward what they do.”

According to a report, the most common type of internet scam is the “lotto scam.”
In this type of scam, the scammer sends multiple “you have won!” emails to potential victims. The recipients of the email, whom is always referred to as “Sir” or “Madam” is told that they have won a large amount of money in a recently conducted lottery, winning via random selection or assigning random numbers to an email address. In a typical lotto scam email, and perhaps in other methods of scam emails, the fraudster requests information such as full name, occupation, date of birth, phone number(s), address (es). In most cases, a “’mix up” occurs and therefore the scammer has a reason to ask the recipient to keep the email confidential. Because of the large sum of prize money involved, and perhaps the manner in which the message is conveyed, victims who fall for this type of scam immediately and enthusiastically reply to the scammer with the requested information. After an exchange of several emails, the scammer then requests for funds to process the prize money, often giving a different email address of an agent that the victim has to contact to pay for this processing fee. Usually, the fee is in the area of $50 to $500.00 USD. In actuality, the agent is the same scammer, using a different email address. After this “fee” is paid, which can take two or three days, they then ask the victim to contact the company lawyer. Just like the agent, the lawyer is likely the same scammer with yet another email address. Depending on how much the deal has progressed- this can be measured by the number of emails and the amount of money sent by the victim- the supposed legal fee is usually in the region of $500 to $5,000.00 USD. Until the victim realizes and stops all contact, the scammer will continue to give more reasons to send money. By this point, the victim would have lost a significant amount of money and time.
Some major ways of identifying lotto scam email:

• It is impossible for one to win a lottery unless the lottery was actually played.
• The scammer asks for money upfront for “processing”, “legal” and other types of fees. No eligible lotto company would demand a fee be paid up front.
• Although these scam emails are sent using webmail, the scammer always requests the replies be directed to other email accounts. In most cases, it is created with a free email account such as Yahoo, Gmail, hotmail, and Exite.
• Just as in other scam emails, in the “to” column of the email, since it is always sent to multiple email accounts, and the bcc (blind carbon copy) column is always used, the “to” column will read “undisclosed recipients.”

Below is an unedited lotto scam email that was sent to my email dated 4 December, 2009:

LOTTERY RESULTS 2009
ONLINE WEB PROMOTION
WINNING NOTIFICATION

We Congratulate you for being one of the 5 TOP Lucky Winners of the 2009 Euro-Afro-Asia-American Sweepstakes online Web promotion held in Nottingham UNITED KINGDOM.

YOUR E-MAIL ID HAS WON YOU GBP£550,000.00 (FIVE hundred and Fifty Thousand British Pounds (GBP) in Cheque.In the 2ND category of our computer ballot free e-mail lottery prize.

Participants were selected randomly from the Internet Users through a computer draw system extracted from over a million personal and corporate e-mails that were listed online.

Your Winning Ticket no is MNX986574 TQ and your Batch no is 4583JL/WIN/IDS.

No ticket was sold but it is to encourage the use of Internet world wide,and to receive your prize you are requested to contact the OVERSEAS PAYMENT AGENT In charge of Your Region in Indonesia and send your full details including your full name, Address, Nationality and your winning ticket number.

PROF.ABDUS SHAFI.
Director International Payment Center Indonesia
(Europe,America,Middle East,Asia and Africa)

E-mail:jakarta_internal_paymetoffce@live.com
Fax:+62-2199082690.
Mobile:+62-8176011603.

All winnings must be claimed not later than 30days;

NOTE: THAT NOBODY,EVEN THE APPOINTED BANK HAS THE RIGHT TO TOUCH, DEDUCT OR GET ACCESS TO YOUR PRIZE MONEY FOR ANY REASON. THEY HAVE BEEN WARNED STRICTLY!

IF you can travel to Indonesia to pick your bonus prize, you should try and do so.If you can't travel,your cheque will be delivered to your home address by the security company where all the winners cheque have been deposited or to your bank account through bank to bank telegrafic transfer by our paying bank.

DR.] MRS.VICTORIA CLINTON.
Lottery director General,[D.G]

DR.JOHN SMITH.
director foreign remittance
E.A.A.S INC .
UK HEAD DEPARTMENT
TEL:+447031888701.

Another type of Internet scam widely known around the world is the Loan Scam. The scammers, just as in the lotto scam, send multiple emails stating they own a legitimate lending company, and the company is offering the email recipient a loan ranging from $100 to $100,000.00 USD at an unbelievably low interest rate; as low as 3% in most cases. To prove the legitimacy of the email, the scammer attaches a fake loan lender certificate. Similar to other types of internet fee fraud scams, the recipient is expected to reply with private information: name, date of birth, sex, occupation, purpose of loan, amount of loan requested, and the tentative pay back date. After the scammer replies, the fraudster edits the previous loan certificate that has been bombed before, depending on the amount the victim has indicated as the amount of loan in a document called the “loan approval document’’.
Without question, the loan is easily approved by the fraudster, and just like the lotto scam, all other types of fees come in to play.
As like the lotto scam, some ways of identifying a loan scam are:

• Loans are approved without questions
• The email is always sent to ‘’undisclosed recipients’’
• The reply email is usually an email from a free mail account, like yahoo and gmail
• Little or no work is done by the scammer to confirm if the recipient can/will pay back this loan
• Even if the recipient is reluctant to take this loan, the scammer always persuades them.

A third major type of Internet scam is the dating scam. Lonely women are often the victims of this type of scam. The scammers register a fake account with a dating website, in most cases, famous dating sites. They find women registered on the site, email them, and they start communication from here. After the woman is convinced she is dealing with her potential soul mate, they give her reason to send hundreds, in some cases, thousands of dollars to them. Along the line, the scammer convinces the victim to send money for visa processing, so he could join her where ever she is. Just like other types of scam, the scammer continuing persuading the victim to send more money. One major way of identifying this type of scam is that the scammer is usually a “rich businessman who has his money tied up somewhere”.

Other types of less famous Internet scam include the Western Union Scam, website ad scam and “work at home” scam. For the Western Union Scam, the victim is told they have been awarded a certain amount of money for using Western Union frequently and is scammed in the process. For the “work-at-home” scam, the scammer advertises on website how lots of money can be made simply by working in the comfort of your home. Victims are usually told o buy starters kits, manuals and other payable things.

The majority of Internet scammers are college dropouts, undergraduate and graduate students. Unless legitimate jobs are provided where they can make a substantial amount of money for a living, the number of scammers will keep increasing. One major way the government can help in eradicating Internet scam is by providing well-paying jobs for qualified candidates. Another way is by taking time to educate the public all about these scams, by use of media for example.

I put this article on wikipedia. You can check it out;

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_fraud

Meme versus gene theory

2009-11-15T14:49:00.000+09:00

As defined in the oxford dictionary, meme is an element of culture or system of behaviour that is passed from one individual to another by non genetic means, while gene is a unit of heredity that is transferred from parent to offspring and determines some characteristics of the offspring.

While it is very difficult to separate both of them, from my point of view, I see meme surpassing the gene theory. There are a number of reasons. Here are a few of them;

· It is said that about 90% of the population of dairy societies can easily digest fresh cow milk, while in other societies, drinking fresh cow milk makes one sick. (Wikipedia). This is a meme, in the sense that, the environment and or culture influence this. A good example is looking at people from poor economies that drink unclean water. This doesn’t affect their health, and the reason is because of their environment which they have highly adapted to. Of course adaptation is not genetical, it’s due to meme.

· Meme influences the way people think, their mindset, personality and attitude. A typical example would be Americans who live in Korea and bow when they greet older people, because it’s the way of life in Korea. Americans aren’t raised this way, but meme influences them to do this. It wasn’t passed on from their parents, and it’s obviously not genetically (gene) related. Another typical example is the gyopos (Korean Americans). Although they look Korean, their ways of life, thinking, and mindset are all influenced by meme.

An important point worth knowing is that, meme and genes sometimes cannot be separated. A typical example is of me. I have sickle cell anaemia because of the genotypes of my parents, which cannot be changed. That is genetical, but it influences my mindset, thinking, what I do (and do no not), what I eat, and so many other cultural and societal things, which is meme related.

Having said this, meme has more influence on people than gene does.

Watch It - Inspired by the movie ''super size me''

2009-11-15T14:34:00.003+09:00

There is no one who would want to be obese or overweight, at least not any sane person. But today, obesity has become a major problem, not just in the U.S (the highest, or ‘’fattest’’ country in the world), but virtually everywhere around the world. Apart from being a problem, it also brings about other problems like diabetes and heart problems, to name a few, as seen in the movie, ‘’supersized me’’.

Being obese or the term obesity means to be grossly fat or overweight. It is rarely caused by genetic or other types of medical condition. It is also worth knowing that obesity reduces life expectancy. There are some diseases associated with being obese. These include heart disease, diabetes, amongst others. This has been on the rise, as people, whether consciously or unconsciously tend to eat anything without knowing its effect. Living a healthy life is a priority for everyone, that is the reason we need to ‘’watch it’’, as the topic says, in terms of our body fat. However, for every problem, there should be a solution, or at least, a way of avoiding or preventing the problem, and obesity is no exception.

Firstly, the most common cause of obesity in our society is excess food intake or eating unhealthy food. The term unhealthy food could be defined as food with unbalanced diet. Like it was shown to us in the movie ‘’supersize me’’, burgers and chips can be classified as a type of an unhealthy food, because of its unbalanced diet and contents of the food. Being conscious of what we eat will help reduce the surprisingly increase of obese people around the world. This will help us know what is good for our health and what is not.

Another cause of obesity is lack of physical exercise. People tend to be lazy or feel unconcerned or perhaps do not know the importance of physical activities in our physical well being, and most importantly, our health. Physical activities are types of activities which enhances or maintain physical fitness. These may include exercises, workouts amongst others. In schools, if authorities have to, they should enforce it on students. Also, apart from enforcing, people should be advised to the need for physical activities in our lives.

Other cases that rarely cause obesity include medical conditions, genetic reasons, amongst others. People should be made aware through different ways, like the movie ‘’supersize’’ me, publicities, and other media methods. Our lives are most vital, that is the need to take care of them. Also, like mentioned earlier, it also leads to dangerous diseases which are life threatening such as diabetes and heart failure.

Like we saw in the movie, we should stay healthy, by eating healthy balanced food, and also try to incorporate physical activities in our lives