The Savvy Boomer

Got $5k and a bad disguise? You too can immigrate to Canada!

Here is the Cole's Notes version of this story:

• In October 2010 a young Asian man (we don't know his country of origin because that's privileged info) gets on a plane in Hong Kong destined to Vancouver disguised as a very old Caucasian.
• No one checks his passport or ID
• On the plane, he sheds his disguise.
• In Vancouver he is taken into custody
• On Feb 10 he is released on $5k bond until his refugee claim is heard

"Adjudicator Anita Merai-Schwartz said that even though he had used a smuggling operation to get to Canada, the debt to them appeared to have been paid and that any influence they might have had on him appeared to have diminished."

WTF does that even mean?  It's OK if you use a criminal organization to get you into Canada as long as you pay them?  This scumbag now gets to live in Toronto and that's probably the last anyone is going to hear from him.

Most days I am proud to be a Canadian.  This isn't one of them.  Surely I can't be the only Canadian pissed off with Anita Merai-Schwartz's decision.  The worst part of this whole story is we may not have ever heard about it unless someone leaked it to CNN.  Read the sordid details on the Vancouver Sun website.

How to ensure you won't be infected by Conficker

Unless you have been in a coma for the past week, you are well aware of the fact that the Conficker worm may be launched on upwards of 10 million computers tomorrow-April 1 appropriately. 

Besides taking all the necessary precautions of ensuring your windows updates are current and that you are running an anti-virus program, the only way to ensure you won't be struck is to not turn on your computer or at least connect to the internet.  That's what I intend to do for a few hours until I hear on the media just what, if any problems users are facing.  Some people are saying this will be a non-event, but I'd rather hear a confirmation of that first.

Of course, at some point tomorrow I'll connect to the internet-or buy a MAC since this is a Windows-only threat.  Nahhh, that's not going to happen so at some point I'll be connecting but it may be later than sooner.

Reply to a lottery scammer.

This is a standard letter I send off to scammers.  Of course it's necessary to change the details for each scam but the basics are the same.  One recently wrote back saying that they couldn't wait to meet me.  Other than them, I never get more offers.

Hello Mr. Brant:  I won the lottery?  This is absolutely amazing.  This is the best day of my life-of course until I meet you.  It means I will be able to pay for my mother's nursing home fees and my son's rehab treatments.  Also I can get my car out of repossession, pay my wife's bail bond and tell the bank that they no longer have to foreclose on my house next Friday.  Until a few minutes ago, I had no idea how I could survive with all my financial problems but your email has changed my life.  I was actually contemplating suicide but now, thanks to your email, my life has changed forever.  Praise you and God for the English lottery.

I knew when I bought those tickets when I was in London last week visiting my mother in the hospital, that I was going to be lucky.  I can't believe I won the 2 million pounds.  I was so worried I would never be able to come to London to see her again, but when I told her the blessed news, we reserved a bed for her in a much bigger and better home overlooking the Thames River.  She will be wheeled down by the pond to feed the swans every morning.  I think maybe you have also saved her life as she was becoming very desperate.

You  wanted me to send you some money to cover the cost of expenses of getting my winnings to me, but I have a much better idea.  You won't have to spend any money getting the prize to me because I have decided to help you out.

I am so excited that I am going to fly back to London tomorrow to claim my prize.  I have already booked a first class ticket from Seattle.  It was so expensive but now that I am a millionaire, it is no problem so I just put it on my credit cards-I had to use 4 because I didn't have enough limit left to charge  it all on one because while I have 17 credit cards, most are in serious arrears and some have been canceled. 

I leave at 2:40 pm Seattle time tomorrow and arrive at Heathrow on American Airlines flight 98 on Sun Mar 21 at 11:30 AM.  Is it possible to have your limousine pick me up at the airport?  It would be great if you can, because I will be celebrating the whole way in first class and will still probably be very drunk or even passed out completely.  If not, no worries,  the Four Seasons Hotel where I have booked the best suite will have their limo waiting for me.  It's just that I hope I can get my money immediately.

If you can't meet me, I can then take a limo to your offices later in the day after I sober up and have a spa treatment.  The address is XXXXX London -is that correct?  Should I ask for Mr Campbell or Mr Brant?

If you can send me an email confirming that someone can pick me up at the airport in London by 9am Seattle time (PDT) which is when I will leave for the airport, that would be awesome.  But I may not even get it because I'll probably be shitfaced by the time you send it.

I look forward to meeting you and I will also be bringing some very special gifts for you and all your staff from the Pacific Northwest-some smoked salmon, which I know that all English people enjoy heartedly.  As a matter of fact, I am just waiting to be picked up by my best friend right now and we will buy the salmon (well, actually he will because I only have $12 right now) before we go to the local bar and drink a lot of champagne to celebrate my good fortune.  Do you like American champagne?  I will also bring some for you so we can also celebrate when I get to your venerable offices.

This is the best night of my life.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Sneed Hern

Beware of long distance telemarketers who "phone slam" seniors

Phone slamming is a new term to me that I discovered on the CBC website about a telemarketer doing this to a 95 year old woman.  Be sure to read the article and if you are friends or children of seniors who may get confused from time to time, ask to look at their telephone bills to make sure some ratbag organization isn't ripping them off.

What pisses me off most about the article is that the telemarketer must have known that he was dealing with an older person who was confused about what was going on and took full advantage of the situation.  If there's a hell, these kind of people should get VIP passes.

Who to complain to in Canada

 

If you live in Canada, there are various agencies that you can complain to if you are having problems with various types of services.   Some of these are national and some only for B.C. but if you are in another province you could contact them to see who to contact in your province.

• Local phone, long distance including calling cards, wireless phone service and internet access-Commissioner for complaints for telecommunications online complaint form or call 1-888-221-1687.
• Telemarketers, home inspectors, metro Vancouver taxi, travel assurance fund-Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority online complaint form or call (604)-320-1667.  They have a very comprehensive list of agencies you can contact.
• Cable companies-Cable Television Standards Council-www.ctsc.ca (not working when I wrote this) or call 1-800-426-4170
• Door to Door Selling-Direct sellers Association complaint form or call 416-679-8555
• Restaurant and food service inspection-each province has its own agency you can contact from the information on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency website.
• Measurement-Any type of product you buy by measurement such as food and fuel.  Each province has its own agency you can contact from this list on the Measurement Canada website.
• Scams-A list of scams to watch out for and you can also report a scam at Phonebusters, the Canadian anti-fraud call centre, a service supported by Canadian government and law enforcement.

Before you start complaining, you may want to check out CBC's advice on how to complain effectively.

This is why Nigerian scammers keep sending spam emails

I find it hard to believe that anyone is gullible enough to fall for these obvious scams but here is living proof why it just takes one fish taking the bait to make it very profitable-$400,000 in this case.

Dateline exposes "Annuity University"

Tyrone Clark tells his trainees to treat seniors "like they are 12 year olds."

Watch the Dateline expose of this low life snake oil sales process.

Before you spend money on DNA testing

You'll want to check out CBC's expose on the industry.  I wonder if Mike Arrington at TechCrunch did?