Hands up those of you who have heard about Nigerian e-mail scams. Anyone ever had an e-mail from Nigeria asking for your assistance in transferring funds?The answer to those two questions are so bloody obvious that it's almost an embarrassment to ask. But ask I must, as it adds a little bit of dramatic licence to this post.
This scam, that nearly everyone seems to know about, has netted more than $7 million dollars - and that's just from Queenslanders! One bright spark gave the perpetrators $2.2 million over two years. Other "victims" (I have another word to describe such people but this is a family blog) include financial advisers, lawyers and University professors. You know, the sort of people high profile geriatrics tell us we should teach our kids to respect.
Mind you, Queenslanders are not alone. It is estimated that US investors lose $1 million per day to Nigerian e-mail scams.
Could I have stumbled upon a "syndrome"? The higher the level of greed, the lower the level of intelligence. I could call it the "Bush Syndrome".
But not everyone on the Internet is a scam artist. So if anyone out there wants to buy a genuine Louis XV coffee percolator, or an American Civil War, Uzi sub-machine gun, please feel free to contact my advisors in Lagos.
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I took tonight's photo as I was walking back from the shops. Plastic bag in one hand, cigarette in the other, the reflections and perspective caught my eye. I wont give too many details as it would constitute a free plug, and I'm buggered if I am going to do that. But the shop is my local hi-fi equipment shop. Actually, it's a bit more than that as it is recognised in the US and UK, as being one of the best in the world.
I must admit I like this shop as it is one of the few places where I can buy Sennheiser headphones, (I have three for different purposes). Sadly I have yet to be able to buy their best headphones - the AUS $28,999.00 (US$ 21,799) asking price is a little out of my price range. Of course, you could all click on the ads and help things along a bit. I could even get one of those increasingly popular little barometer thingies to indicate the progress of my "Get Mike A Pair Of Headphones" fund.
Wherever you may be - be safe!
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