Welcome to the party.

It being Christmas, and Christmas being the most exploited time of the year, it must be time for my compendium of exploitation!

If it looks too good to be true, then I have a fund...

Nigerian 419 is as old as they come. You would think that it was so old, everyone could see the scam coming from a mile away. Despite this belief, Internet "fraudstars" still take thousands of people for billions of dollars. Sad, but true. Sending an email about the "100% RISKY FREE" transaction, victims blindly follow through, sending thousands of dollars to the scammer before realising they have been done. In some cases, people have lost their lives - murdered by the scammer, or so broken they have taken their own life. Many have been arrested, charged with a crime - their reputations ruined.

419 scammers will target young and old alike (12 year olds are not off limits) - the disabled, no problems. They will support illegal actions to get money to them, they do not just steal money from greedy people - they ruin lives.

419eater, scamwarners, aa419, and many other websites do everything they can to save as many people from this as possible. Through having the info online, warning potential victims and even baiting a scammer to waste so much time on them that frankly, the result is utterly hilarious. They organize attacks on fake websites made to lure the victim into a false sense of security, they offer counselling to broken victims, they do what they possibly can - and the great majority of them are just the average joe that wants to help.

But, there are people in positions to help. The majority of the stolen money is sent via Western Union. Some others by Moneygram, and the smaller amount transferred into a bank account. Yet when a person walks into these businesses with a large sum of cash being sent to some African country - you would think that Alarm bells would go off in the minds of these well informed cashiers... Well, they dont. I am not saying all of them, not by a long shot - and I am sure that some WU & MG staff could not live with themselves if they didnt warn the person in front of them brandishing $15,000 to go to 2 African recipients with no proof of identity required all about Advance Fee Fraud or Fake jobs cashing counterfeit cheques. But WHY isnt this standard? Why is there not a huge warning before sending the money, why not a simple set of questions? How can these companies stand by, money transfer and banks alike, while innocent victims (of their own greed, yes - but a victim all the same) are being taken for a ride.

I am pretty sure the answer is as simple as - Fees. Transferring money overseas always involves fees - which the provider collects.
I recently had an attempt to scam me on Ebay. Thanks to sites like scamwarners and 419e, I noticed it for what it was immediately. I contacted Ebay through LiveChat and all the items the scammer purchased were cancelled, the haul was gone, the potential victims, dozens of them, were also saved. Ebay deserves kudo's for their immediate action, for refunding to the sellers the fees because of the fraud. Others who drag their feet should hang their heads in shame.

I like the pink ones, they taste like money...

I was a little confused on this one actually. I have known for a very long time that many cases of ADD/ADHD were actually food colouring issues. Many a parent experiencing disciplinary problems would be better advised to try the "Food Elimination Test" before ritalin. Yet more and more, ritalin is perscribed and the real issue, food colouring, is ignored. Well, no longer. Finally a newspaper (not that I give it much credit) has reported the findings of a school test into the phenomenon. Wouldn't you know it, they ended up with a school of model citizens. Knock me down with a feather, if the 'quack' homoeopaths haven't been saying it for years. Next thing on the agenda, all schools in Australia should get their hands on that list, print out enough copies and send one home with every, single, student. There is a lot of very frazzled parents out there who would love a copy. - But where is the exploit you ask? Well, thats the confusing bit. I am still trying to work out if its that the colouring is cheaper, or has some form of narcotic effect that causes a kind of dependence. I will leave that one to the experts.

As seen on TV...

We have all seen the great ads on TV for kids. Awesome toys, evil food, bright colours - now go drive your parents nuts. Can you believe that they still happily exploit the kiddies for the advertising dollars? Ever notice it gets worse at Christmas too? Come on guys, straighten up your act, or the dinosaur of free to air will be slain by the monolith of Advertising Free DVD.


Because the voices in your head need their mouths taped shut!

When you have an Aloholic, do you give them a 'pseudo-alcohol' to help them go on the wagon? No, you dont.
When you have a pot head, do you give him fake pot? No, you dont.

Yet why would a smoker, suffering the exact same affliction (addiction), need more nicotine? Thats easy. Smoking is legal, it doesnt make you dangerous, and someone can make money! Its so very simple to see it now, isnt it? The government 'wants' you to quit, yet they wont ban it - they get money from it. They will send you to quitlines that will give you lots of nicotine replacement therapy advice - because they get money from that too - and the NRT will continue to propagate your dependence on nicotine for as long as possible - because they get money.

Wanna quit? Be a man and go cold turkey. Alcoholics do it all the time. If not, do it for the money. Greed is the best motivator.

Closing words..

There was another report in the news today - answered a question for me. Recently there is a man on the run in Australia - he shot and killed a father of 4 who dared confront him about his loud music at absurd times in the morning (2 and 3 am). It was then discovered that this man has killed before. He run a man over with his car, then got out and shot him, killed him too. He served 7 years for Manslaughter?

Today we find out that plea bargaining is rampant in the Australian law - explaining why so many horribly lenient sentences have been handed down in recent times. I have been so shocked by them that I could not understand what was wrong with our justice system.

Now I know.

Now we all know.

You people are a disgrace.