Monday, May 30, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Don't fall for this crap.
In my continuing effort to educate people on how to spot spam when they see it, here's a little gem that hit my inbox today.
from beng@uni.edu
reply-to bengsengk@live.co.uk
to beng@uni.edu
date Thu, May 26, 2011 at 6:09 PM
subject Read and get back!!
mailed-by uni.edu
I am Mr. KOH Beng Seng Independent Non-executive Director Chairman of Bank of China Ltd, Hong Kong.
An Iraqi named Abrahem Hussein Raheem,a business man made a numbered fixed deposit of Sixty Five Million Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars only in my branch.
He died during a bomb blast in Iraq,After further investigation it was also discovered that Abrahem Hussein Raheem did not declare any next of kin in his official papers including the paper work of his bank deposit. And he also confided in me the last time he was at my office that no one except me knew of his deposit in my bank. So, Sixty Five Million Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars is still lying in my bank and no one will ever come forward to claim it. I am sorry to have used this media to contact with you as i have to use this email for personal security reasons as adviced by my lawyer, so kindly send your response to my personal email below.
I am ready to share 50/50 with you if interested in this deal, kindly note that i have contacted you with a paid domain for security reasons so i need you to copy this email: khobengseng@yahoo.com.hk of mine and send me your complete details if interested.
Your earliest reply will be appreciated as i state my email again for your perusal khobengseng@yahoo.com.hk
Yours Truly,
Mr. Koh Beng Seng,
Independent Non-Executive Director
Chairman of the Risk Committee, Hong Kong.
Email: khobengseng@yahoo.com.hk
Lots of warning signs here. First, note all the different email addresses. You have one that it came from, one that a reply goes to, and another one where they want you to send replies to! This is a classic sign that something is not on the up and up.
Second, do you really think some bank manager in Hong Kong looking over an account for a guy who died in Iraq is going to contact some random person through the internet to help them?
Third, the act he's talking about is illegal. What makes you think anyone discussing such things over the internet is legit?
Fourth, the guy being a bank manager is a nice touch. People think 'bank managers have money already, so they really wouldn't try to screw me'. Except look at the message again. He's trying to rip off several million dollars! Even if you take him at face value, what makes you think he won't rip you off too?
Finally, anyone who deposits $65,500,000 in an account, anywhere in the world, is not going to be able to do so without someone knowing about it. Governments on the lookout for organized crime outfits tend to keep watch on any large deposits. In many places, banks are required to report when someone deposits a sum greater than a certain amount.
In short, if you fell for this load of dung, you deserved to get taken. But to make you feel better, I've got this bridge I'd like to sell you in Brooklyn...
from beng@uni.edu
reply-to bengsengk@live.co.uk
to beng@uni.edu
date Thu, May 26, 2011 at 6:09 PM
subject Read and get back!!
mailed-by uni.edu
I am Mr. KOH Beng Seng Independent Non-executive Director Chairman of Bank of China Ltd, Hong Kong.
An Iraqi named Abrahem Hussein Raheem,a business man made a numbered fixed deposit of Sixty Five Million Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars only in my branch.
He died during a bomb blast in Iraq,After further investigation it was also discovered that Abrahem Hussein Raheem did not declare any next of kin in his official papers including the paper work of his bank deposit. And he also confided in me the last time he was at my office that no one except me knew of his deposit in my bank. So, Sixty Five Million Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars is still lying in my bank and no one will ever come forward to claim it. I am sorry to have used this media to contact with you as i have to use this email for personal security reasons as adviced by my lawyer, so kindly send your response to my personal email below.
I am ready to share 50/50 with you if interested in this deal, kindly note that i have contacted you with a paid domain for security reasons so i need you to copy this email: khobengseng@yahoo.com.hk of mine and send me your complete details if interested.
Your earliest reply will be appreciated as i state my email again for your perusal khobengseng@yahoo.com.hk
Yours Truly,
Mr. Koh Beng Seng,
Independent Non-Executive Director
Chairman of the Risk Committee, Hong Kong.
Email: khobengseng@yahoo.com.hk
Lots of warning signs here. First, note all the different email addresses. You have one that it came from, one that a reply goes to, and another one where they want you to send replies to! This is a classic sign that something is not on the up and up.
Second, do you really think some bank manager in Hong Kong looking over an account for a guy who died in Iraq is going to contact some random person through the internet to help them?
Third, the act he's talking about is illegal. What makes you think anyone discussing such things over the internet is legit?
Fourth, the guy being a bank manager is a nice touch. People think 'bank managers have money already, so they really wouldn't try to screw me'. Except look at the message again. He's trying to rip off several million dollars! Even if you take him at face value, what makes you think he won't rip you off too?
Finally, anyone who deposits $65,500,000 in an account, anywhere in the world, is not going to be able to do so without someone knowing about it. Governments on the lookout for organized crime outfits tend to keep watch on any large deposits. In many places, banks are required to report when someone deposits a sum greater than a certain amount.
In short, if you fell for this load of dung, you deserved to get taken. But to make you feel better, I've got this bridge I'd like to sell you in Brooklyn...
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Reflections and closure
Has it really been almost ten years?
Every so often, you have these quintessential events, burned into the psyche of a people so deeply that everyone not only remembers the event, but that event changes who we are. Pearl Harbor was one. JFK's assassination was another. For my generation, the generation of kids who were still in school on 9/11/2001, the events of that day have shaped our lives.
There are kids in high school today who were only in kindergarten when the planes hit the towers. The majority of their lives have been colored by this event. I was older, in high school at the time, and so I was old enough to appreciate the change that came over the country on that day.
Without trying to sound too poetic, that day is like a scar upon my soul. Even ten years later, I can never think on that day without tears welling up, as I remember the emotions of that day. The disbelief at what I was seeing, the growing realization turning to horror and fear, feeding a righteous anger. I may disagree with many of the things Bush did during his term, but I have always given him credit for his restraint in those first few days. Knowing how my emotions were running in those first few days, my reaction to seeing the tapes of bin Laden congratulating his men on how well the attack went would have been to turn all of Afghanistan into a nuclear wasteland, slagging down the entire Tora Bora mountains into rubble that would glow in the dark.
What my generation lost that day was more than towers or lives. We lost our innocence. As a generation, we were forced to realize that the world was a dark, terrible place, that would hurt you if it could. Oh sure, we knew about the lesser dangers close to home, the bullying, muggings, and crime we saw on the TV from day to day. But nothing like the unreasoning hatred that could cause someone to do something like this.
The attacks on the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 happened a month before I was born. It was something out of the history books for me. I was eleven when the federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed in 1995. I saw the reports, was fascinated by the sight of a building with a big hole in it, and then turned the channel to watch cartoons. The bombing of the Cole in 2000 I remember, but that was a small thing, very remote. It was 'over there'.
What happened on September 11, 2001 was not 'over there'. It was immediate, it was here. And as a generation, we were forced to deal with that horrible discovery that the world was not a nice place, that it would kill you if it could, and that death could come in an instant from the skies above.
Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, I find myself once again praising a president for his restraint. I would not have given bin Laden a respectful burial at sea. I would have had him shipped back to the US, tied him to the back of a Harley, and drug his corpse through the streets of New York, before planting his severed head on a pike on the White House lawn.
bin Laden's death will not erase the scars from a decade ago, but I find myself with a sense of closure. The monster responsible for all those deaths has been slain. It won't bring the people back, but no more will be killed because of him. I feel as though a weight that had been hanging from me for so long that I didn't even realize it was there had suddenly been lifted.
bin Laden is dead, but threats still remain. Still, the death of this one viper gives me hope that we can root out the rest of them. It has been a long time since I had that kind of hope.
Every so often, you have these quintessential events, burned into the psyche of a people so deeply that everyone not only remembers the event, but that event changes who we are. Pearl Harbor was one. JFK's assassination was another. For my generation, the generation of kids who were still in school on 9/11/2001, the events of that day have shaped our lives.
There are kids in high school today who were only in kindergarten when the planes hit the towers. The majority of their lives have been colored by this event. I was older, in high school at the time, and so I was old enough to appreciate the change that came over the country on that day.
Without trying to sound too poetic, that day is like a scar upon my soul. Even ten years later, I can never think on that day without tears welling up, as I remember the emotions of that day. The disbelief at what I was seeing, the growing realization turning to horror and fear, feeding a righteous anger. I may disagree with many of the things Bush did during his term, but I have always given him credit for his restraint in those first few days. Knowing how my emotions were running in those first few days, my reaction to seeing the tapes of bin Laden congratulating his men on how well the attack went would have been to turn all of Afghanistan into a nuclear wasteland, slagging down the entire Tora Bora mountains into rubble that would glow in the dark.
What my generation lost that day was more than towers or lives. We lost our innocence. As a generation, we were forced to realize that the world was a dark, terrible place, that would hurt you if it could. Oh sure, we knew about the lesser dangers close to home, the bullying, muggings, and crime we saw on the TV from day to day. But nothing like the unreasoning hatred that could cause someone to do something like this.
The attacks on the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 happened a month before I was born. It was something out of the history books for me. I was eleven when the federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed in 1995. I saw the reports, was fascinated by the sight of a building with a big hole in it, and then turned the channel to watch cartoons. The bombing of the Cole in 2000 I remember, but that was a small thing, very remote. It was 'over there'.
What happened on September 11, 2001 was not 'over there'. It was immediate, it was here. And as a generation, we were forced to deal with that horrible discovery that the world was not a nice place, that it would kill you if it could, and that death could come in an instant from the skies above.
Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, I find myself once again praising a president for his restraint. I would not have given bin Laden a respectful burial at sea. I would have had him shipped back to the US, tied him to the back of a Harley, and drug his corpse through the streets of New York, before planting his severed head on a pike on the White House lawn.
bin Laden's death will not erase the scars from a decade ago, but I find myself with a sense of closure. The monster responsible for all those deaths has been slain. It won't bring the people back, but no more will be killed because of him. I feel as though a weight that had been hanging from me for so long that I didn't even realize it was there had suddenly been lifted.
bin Laden is dead, but threats still remain. Still, the death of this one viper gives me hope that we can root out the rest of them. It has been a long time since I had that kind of hope.
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