Archive for 2009

Surely this isn’t about money?

December 24th, 2009

Get out in front there, Michael, but for goodness sake, drive carefully!

Michael Schumacher, the most successful driver in motor racing history, announced on Wednesday that he will return to race in Formula One next year after three seasons in retirement. The German, who turns 41 next month, who won seven world drivers’ titles in a career spanning 16 years and 249 races, has signed to drive for the new Mercedes Grand Prix team when many men his age are headed for the couch.

Why?
“I was tired of Formula l by the end of 2006,” Schumacher said. “But in three years of absence I got back all the energy that I am feeling right now. I played around with motorbikes and I feel ready for some serious stuff now.” I’m sure that Schumacher knows that Formula 1 has moved on since he retired in 2006, even if he is eager to roll back the years when he makes his comeback with Mercedes in 2010. Despite turning 41 in January that year, the seven-time World champion can be expected to show the same passion for racing, the same hunger for winning, the same ruthless determination.

Age
Age will be against him, another major foe for a driver who always prided himself on being one of the fittest and most professional on the grid, but nobody should rule out what would be a remarkable return to the top. Mercedes will also feel like home, the future champion having started out in sports cars with the German automaker.

Confidence
Schumacher said he was thrilled to be back and still felt “absolutely on the edge”.
“This year, when I got back in a kart, I was immediately on the pace. I have to prove it, of course, but the people at Mercedes have no doubt about my ability.” He will be teaming up again with his close friend, Ross Brawn, the technical director who guided him to all his titles with Benetton and Ferrari, and that won eight of the 17 races last season as well as both championships.

The rivals
World champion Damon Hill said recently: “If I could win a race when I was 37 in a Jordan then Michael can definitely win a race in a Ross Brawn car at 41.” Brazilian Lucas di Grassi, says, “He’s the most competitive guy I know. Everybody I know goes to the karting events to have a good time and enjoy it and have fun. Michael goes there and spends two hours making a seat one millimeter higher.”

New rivals
Schumacher can expect no favors from rivals nearly half his age, men eager to measure themselves against a true great. Kimi Raikkonen, his immediate successor at Ferrari, has moved to rallying but the German will find his previous nemesis, Fernando Alonso, at the wheel of the red car that he once commanded. It was Alonso who won the last two championships in which Schumacher competed and the Spaniard has grown in experience since then.

Tags: Car racing, Formula 1, Michael Schumacher, Motor racing, Racing drivers
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Watch Your Pockets – The Nigerians Are Back

December 23rd, 2009

The 2010 world cup as a crime scene
If you have an email account, you already know all about the 419 Nigerian scam. Now the perpetrators are targeting the 2010 Football World Cup as a fresh hunting ground. The police and the Nelson Mandela Foundation have warned people to be on the alert for the “Fifa 2010 World Cup Lottery draw” – hoping to fleece unwitting South Africans and others of thousands.

Contact
Contact is made by e-mail with the target being notified of winning a $100,000 – about 750,000 rands in South African currency – cash prize in a “Fifa 2010 World Cup Lottery draw”. The e-mail bears a prominent picture of Mandela holding the World Cup, with logos of Fifa and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Details
The con artist initially asks for personal details to be faxed to a UK number and slowly reels in the victim with snippets of information to a point where he wants $850 for lawyers’ fees and stamp duty to be deposited into a bank account. From then on, further personal information is extracted from the victim who is now firmly hooked.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation
Nelson Mandela Foundation spokesman Sello Hatanga and Jerome Hardenberg of the Cape provincial police commercial crimes unit have warned the public to guard against being trapped. “It not only damages the Mandela brand, but also targets vulnerable people in the name of the foundation. Apply extreme caution when receiving such e-mails,” Hatanga said as he condemned the scam which he said was one of several that used the Struggle icon’s name. He said the foundation’s public announcements of its association with promotions or campaigns were a good indicator of when its name was used legitimately.

Certificate
The scammer, who calls himself Semone Chema, has a UK contact number and speaks with a Nigerian accent and “advises” the target to file a claim which gets submitted to “our legal department which will issue your certificate”. After the certificate is issued, Chema congratulates his victim, gives the assurance that the lottery is real and legal and then offers his victim two choices – either submit an affidavit to permit the transfer of the money to a bank account in South Africa, or let “our office nominate an attorney on your behalf to represent your interest and get vital legal documents” that will help facilitate the transfer.

The claim
After the Mercury newspaper faxed an application and inquired about the next step, Chema said: “Don’t worry about a place to stay if you want to come to London. But your details must be sent first. Send it soon and you can have your prize by next Tuesday before New Year’s Day.” During a second telephone conversation two hours later, he began to fend off the writer’s suggestion to fly to London to personally collect the prize. While messages left for Fifa communication officials were not returned, Scotland Yard’s media desk advised that a complaint be lodged online.

Tags: Email scams, Football World Cup, Nelson Mandela, Nigerian scams
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