Eton’s Gangnam Style
Students at Eton College have created a viral hit based on Psy’s Gangnam Style. The Guardian says it’s a bit cringe-worthy in this piece, but surely it shows that the power of the Internet is there for us all to harness.
A Classic Phish
I received this today, purportedly from Vodafone.
Dear Customer,
You have a pending security update on your Vodafone account to protect you against online theft.
Kindly visit http://www.vodafone.co.uk/new_security/update/account.html
Regards
The Vodafone Team
It’s been well setup, but it does exactly what you think. It points to a fake site and probably steals all of your details.
It actually points to a site called eadecom.net which is registered by Jose Canyellas Vila, who gave details of.
josep@senyal.com
LLuis Companys, 1 8-2 Lleida 25003
It wouldn’t make any difference to me, as I’ve never had any account with Vodafone.
Nice one, Jose. All it meant that was your details are now with the guys with heavy boots and even heavier truncheons. You better get the toilet paper ready. You’re going to need lots of it.
I’m not the first person to find Jose. He’s mentioned on PhishTank.
Would You Disclose Your Name On Zopa?
Or any other financial site, that gave loans?
Zopa allows me to see who I have lent money to, their payment history and a few other details. Normally, the person is only identified by a code name. So you could lend to someone called MickeyMouse or Graham171.
In two cases though, I’ve been able to identify the borrower. One was actually someone, that I knew and the other is a reputable professional living and working in London.
Both incidentally, have had immaculate payment records, so they have nothing to hide.
But I do find it strange that someone would join a financial site and make it possible to identify them.
Job Scam – Hyde Park Hotel Revisited
In February 2010, I put up a post called Job Scam – Hyde Park Hotel. I’ve checked the hotel on Trip Advisor and there entry is here. it looks very little different to many hotels of this type in london.
My original post has since had a life of its own, if you look at the over a hundred comments on the site. And it is still regularly visited with page counts of
2010 – 1032
2011 – 541
2012 – 275
in the last three years.
It looks like the e-mails are starting to find mugs again, as I’ve had a couple of extra comments on the original post in the last couple of days.
This time though a figure of £210 is mentioned. So it’s obviously a worthwhile scam for those perpetrating it.
The Times On Jimmy Wales
The Times drops its serious front today with a third leader about the marriage of Wikipedia’s founder; Jimmy Wales, in the style of the on-line encyclopaedia.
Disruptive Innovation
I’ve not heard the term before, but read this article. It starts with this question and answer.
Question: what do these companies have in common?
Skype, Spotify, Marks and Spencer, Whipcar, Zopa, Zilok, Kiva, Patagonia, Kickstarter, Café Direct, Taskrabbit, Buzzcar and InterfaceFLOR.
Two of my favourite innovators; Zopa and Kiva are mentioned in the same breath as quite a few companies like, Skype, Spotify and M&S.
If the article has a fault, it’s that it misses out a couple of well known names, who the writer would call disruptive innovators.
I would have thought ARM Holdings and Dyson should be on the list. And I would think that a certain company called Metier Management Systems was one of the first! So we were only a shark in a small pond, but we completely rebuilt the pond.
Do These Scams Still Work?
I got this e-mail today with a title of Heir Information.
Greetings, I am Norman Wong, Chief Auditor Hong Leong Bank. I got your contact email from an online directory; I would need your assistance in re-profiling funds belonging to my late client who shares similar surnames with you. Contact me on my private email for more detailed information.
Regards,
Norman Wong
I still get the occasional one, so sadly they must still bring in the odd mug. The e-mail actually came from Iran, although it may have been routed by South Africa. Could the Iranian connection, indicate it was sent more in hope than expectation? The spelling and grammar are good, which shows a certain level of education.
A Country I’ll Never Visit!
I’ve enjoyed the Czech Republic in the past, but I doubt I’ll be going to the neighbouring country, Slovakia, despite this enticing poster.
A Country I’ll Never Visit!
It’s all because I get around thirty spam messages a day promoting dodgy gambling sites, from a site with connections to the country. Here’s an extract from the domain registration.
fname: Dobran
lname: Sulaj
address: Letaliska 101
city: Kidricevo
pcode: 2325
country: SI
phone: +486-40-167802
email: support@dlypromos.com
Get your act together Slovakia!
Facebook Tries The Gambling Route
Facebook has decided that the way to salvation is to take the gambling route. They’re starting with bingo according to the Daily Telegraph.
That’s all parents want isn’t it! – Kids addicted to bingo on the Internet.
A Verified-By-Visa Scam
Moneywise is reporting a scam on that stupid so-called security system, Verified-by-Visa. I’ve never liked it.
I also only ever use my Visa card on the Internet, when I have no choice. But as the Olympics will be over soon, I shall probably be sticking my Visa card somewhere, where I’m not tempted to use it on-line.
The Anonymous Widower 