Archive for February, 2012

Australian Woman Takes on Nigerian Scammers and Loses

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February 24th, 2012

How to turn the tables on a Nigerian scammer in one easy lesson

Nigerian email scams are as commonplace as the Internet itself. If you have an email account you receive scam mail from a Nigerian sender. I sometimes read these letters and fantasize about turning the tables and making money out of them. So far, I have no ideas. One Australian woman did, but wound up in jail herself after turning the tables on a group of con artists to the tune of $30,000.

The agent

The Brisbane, Australia newspaper ‘Courier-Mail’ reports that Sarah Jane Cochrane-Ramsey, 23, was employed as an "agent" in March 2010 by the Nigerians. She says she didn’t know they were scam artists. Her "job" was to provide access to an Australian bank account opened in her name where the Nigerians could then transfer money they had received from a phony car sales website. Cochrane-Ramsey was told she could keep eight percent of the transfers. But, then she decided to steal from the thieves themselves. According to the Courier-Mail, she received two payments, totaling $33,350, but spent most of it on herself.

The Nigerian Scam

Here’s a brief explanation in case you’re not familiar with the so-called Nigerian Scam, also known as the (419) scam, or Advanced Fee Fraud. The fraud works by convincing an individual to give money and/or bank account access to a third-party in exchange for future financial rewards.

Money moving

In most of these emails the scam artist will claim to be a wealthy Nigerian individual looking to move huge amounts of money to another country. He then promises the fraud victim a hefty payment in exchange for a temporary loan or bank account access in order to facilitate the move. Of course, the fraud victim never receives the promised payout and instead usually ends up losing thousands of dollars in the process. According to Scam Busters, the Advance Fee Fraud scams often target small businesses and charities. And while the scam has been around for years, the U.S. Financial Crimes Division of the Secret Service still receives a reported 100 calls a day from people claiming to be victims of a (419) crime.

The Cochrane-Ramsey case

In this case the real victims who thought they were buying cars online, reported the scam to the police, who traced the account back to Cochrane-Ramsey. She was ordered to appear in Brisbane District Court and plead guilty to one count of aggravated fraud. For now, the court judge is allowing Cochrane-Ramsey time to come up with the money to pay off the fraud victims while she awaits sentencing in March.

Not the first

Cochrane-Ramsey is not the first person to turn the tables on Nigerian scammers. In 2008, the radio program This American Life ran a story on some anonymous pranksters who sent a Nigerian scam artist on a wild goose chase that spanned 1,400-miles into war-torn Chad for a promised cash payout at a local Western Union branch. And they convinced him to do this while carrying an anti-Muslim/pro-George W. Bush note, which stated his intention to rob the Western Union.

Tags: email scams, Nigerian email scam, Online car sales
Posted in Business, Finance, Identity Theft, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

Take 80 Million Dollars and Go and Bid For “The Scream”

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February 23rd, 2012

Celebrated painting headed for the auction block

Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter and an important figure in the expressionist art world. His best-known composition, ‘The Scream’, is part of a series called The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety. Munch made four versions of this painting, an embodiment of angst and dread. Three are in Norwegian museums and this one, from 1895, is the only “Scream” still in private hands. It is being sold by Petter Olsen, a Norwegian businessman and shipping heir whose father, Thomas, was a friend, neighbor and patron of the artist.

Entire life

Mr. Olsen said, “I have lived with this painting my entire life,” He explained that the painting had hung in the dining room of his family’s home in Oslo along with other Munch works including a portrait of Mr. Olsen’s mother from 1932. He has decided to sell the prized canvas because to own an artwork of this value and art historical import is “a huge responsibility”.

Up for auction

‘The Scream’ has adorned everything from mugs and t-shirts to key chains, anti-George Bush campaign buttons, inflatable dolls and iPad covers. In addition to a vast array of kitsch objects that have been emblazoned with the “The Scream,” it has also been embraced by contemporary artists like Warhol, who produced a series of paintings based on the image in the early 1980s. Now a version of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream’’ will be up for sale at Sotheby’s in New York on May 2nd, the auction house announced on Tuesday morning. Auction officials estimate it could bring more than $80 million.

Different

This version of the painting is the most colorful of the four, and the only version whose original frame was hand-painted by the artist with a poem describing a walk at sunset that inspired the painting. It is also the only “Scream” in which one of the two figures in the background turns to look outward onto the cityscape.

Exhibitions

Recently, Munch has been the subject of numerous museum exhibitions. In 2005 the Royal Academy in London held “Edvard Munch: By Himself,” nd there has been a major Munch show nearly every year since, including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2006 and the Art Institute of Chicago in 2009. A traveling show, “Edvard Munch: The Modern Eye,” closed at the Pompidou Center in Paris last month and is now on view at the Schirn Art Gallery in Frankfurt, Germany. A large retrospective planned by two museums in Oslo, the National Museum of Art and the Munch Museum, timed to the 150th anniversary of Munch’s birth, are scheduled for June, 2013. Mr. Olsen said the proliferation of these exhibitions also made him certain that the time is right to sell his “Scream,” adding that he hopes it will find a good home.

Bidders

For the kinds of bidders who are behind the auction market’s current high prices, extremely rich collectors who gravitate toward blue-chip artists and recognizable images, “The Scream” will likely seem an irresistible trophy. “It’s a destination picture. Whether the buyer is an institution or a private collector, it’s a defining painting.”

Tags: Art auctions, Edvard Munch, Sotheby’s, The Scream
Posted in Business, Economy, Finance, Money, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

Susan Turns 70 and Throws A Party

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February 22nd, 2012

A recession is as good a time to celebrate as any

We spent the evening at Susan’s 70th birthday party on Tuesday evening. It was a modest affair in the local church hall with many guests, there must have been 60 or 70, and lots of good finger-food. Had we known about the food part we wouldn’t have eaten dinner; I can snack on smoked salmon for hours… Susan looked well and spent the evening chatting to her guests. She also gave a very emotional speech of thanks to everyone.

The economics of a Recession Party

Susan doesn’t have a bean to her name so I guess that she may have taken a small loan to pay for the food. The hall was probably free and there were no other expenses. The drinks were Coke, Sprite and other sodas and the single bottle of scotch on the table remained unopened throughout the evening. Plates were plastic in colors selected to match the paper table-cloths and napkins and the flatware was chromed plastic. Despite the obvious strict budget arrangements, the tables looked great. They were decorated with little vases of wild flowers and grasses probably picked from a nearby field and sprinkled with little silver plastic sea shells. To my delight they were also sprinkled with candies and chocolates.

It must have been a challenge

When Susan decided to celebrate she must have thought everything out very carefully and built herself a tight but realistic budget. In circumstances like hers, a budget is probably a major part of her life.What’s more, she understands the strict discipline that’s necessary to stick to every cent of her budget. No extras and no deviations!

Susan

Susan is a widow – twice. Her first husband collapsed and died in his forties and left her with two teenage children. The second husband, an older man, died when Susan was in her mid-fifties. Neither left her much and she has worked all her life. A few years ago she was laid off her job as a secretary at the university and she ran around frantically seeking work. These days she works part-time at the university who hire her as a temp without any social welfare benefits. She also has some other part-time job in town.

The birthday gifts

One of Susan’s friends asked her if there was anything particular she preferred for a birthday present and Susan said she would prefer money as she had some expenses that she has to pay. The word was passed around, I was asked to do a small painting for a communal birthday card and the guests were asked to sign the card and drop their gifts in an envelope which was handed to Susan. I was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the act of handing over a cash gift was handled – there was no embarrassment on either side and the guests seemed delighted to be able to help Susan. Susan thanked everyone for coming to help her celebrate this important milestone in her life and we went back to the food.

Good party

My wife and I rated this as a good party, truly modest and enjoyed by all. Happy birthday, Susan!

Tags: 70th Birthday party, Birthday party, Budget for a party, Cash gifts
Posted in Employment, Finance, Money, Payday Loans, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

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