Scamming the unemployed – how heartless can one get?

Screen grab of the cached file of a scam job site - http://jobs.sg-singapore.com/ (deleted)

Via EDMW. There are threads HERE, HERE and HERE, among many others. There are such scam job threads in other web forums as well.

The tactic is always the same. The offer of a too-good-to-be-true job is posted, inviting interested applicants to send in their resume, fill an application form or contact the scammer.

When the victims are in touch, the scammer will then ask for some fees for the uniform or cook up other excuses to collect money from the victims first.

After that, the scammer disappears from the universe with the money collected from all the still unemployed victims, leaving them even poorer than before.

Below is an example, exposed by Sammy01:

Have you heard of "Kasbah Maritime Holdings"?

“Please be careful of the above “Dubai-based maritime career”. It may be an employment SCAM.

An email from them claims that they are a recruitment company called “Blue Star Corporate Services Sdn Bhd” located in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and they are acting on behalf of their client in Dubai called “Kasbah Maritime Holdings” (kasbahmaritime.com).

However when I do a check using Malaysia Yellow Pages for this company name located in Johor Bahru, there’s no such company !

When I go to kasbahmaritime.com, I also realize that the web design seems too simple and that some of its content information are questionable.

For example, it claimed that “In 2008, we were awarded the Service Excellence Award by the International Maritime and Shipping Commission”. Unfortunately if you google search, you cannot find it !

Its management highlighted their Chief Executive Officer: Mr Idris Hussein al-Khofa, and claimed that he has over 20 years of experience in the maritime and shipping industry, and prior to joining Kasbah (initially as Chief Operating Officer), he served in a number of senior management positions in other multi-national companies in Dubai and Jeddah. Again if you google search for this CEO name, you cannot find it despite having 20 years of experiences in shipping industry and holding a number of senior positions !

Furthermore when I do a website Domain check, it reveals that kasbahmaritime.com is only registered on 30/11/2010 !!

What are their motives for such a possible employment SCAM ? Invariably it boils down to money$$$ in some way or the other.

To all the applicants out there, do not just be tempted by the High Pay overseas. Please conduct your Due Diligence check before submitting any critical information about yourselves to them !!”

How low can one get? Scam the unemployed? Scam poor students looking to earn some pocket money during the holiday?

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to spread the awareness that such stupid scams are on the rise. Please help pass this information on to protect your friends and loved ones from falling prey.

If a job offer is too-good-to-be-true, proceed with cautious. Think rationally. Why would the hirer need to resort to posting on a forum to hire someone if the offer was real?

Technorati Tags: edmw, sammy01, edmw sammy01, job scam, job site scam, singapore scam, singapore job scam, kasbah maritime, kasbah maritime scam, malaysia job scam, employment scam, scamming unemployed, scamming students, evil scammer, online scam, online job scams, online employment scam, online employment cheat, singapore job cheat, cheating from the unemployed

Wood Xuan (Jeanette Aw) Funny Video Series

"I look like wood meh? Why people make so many spoof videos of me?"

I have nothing against Jeanette Aw (欧萱), but these videos are quite funny and they really got me laughing. In online forums like EDMW, she is known as “Wood Xuan”, supposedly due to her poor, “woody” acting skills.

Here’s a compilation of funny videos via sgcannotmakeit on youtube:

Jeanette Aw “dancing” to the epic phail Youth Olympic Games “cheer song” – You are the one, Singapore:

Jeanette Aw trying very hard to shake the hands of other stars at the Star Awards (红星大奖):

Spoof trailer of the local TV serial, “当我们同在一起 (Together)” whereby Jeanette Aw played the leading role:

Spoof of Jeanette Aw’s Little Nonya (小娘惹) with funny subtitles:

Actually, I find Jeanette Aw quite pretty and I thought she acted well in Little Nonya (小娘惹), one of the rare local TV serial that I bothered to watch. Netizens seem to think otherwise though – either that or the nickname “Wood Xuan” is really contagious online.

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The weather is so hot these days that even the pigeons cannot tahan

Don’t you find the weather scorching hot these days? I am not a big fan of air-con due to my sensitive nose. However, I have been sleeping with the air-con on in my room for the past few days due to the heat.

Check out these pictures seen via EDMW, posted by Endless Rain. Even the pigeons cannot tahan the extraordinarily hot weather these days! I find it quite cute that they are hiding under the smallest patches of shade available.

Hiding under a bench

Hiding under a tree

Hiding behind a pillar

Hiding in the shadow of a lamp post!

Technorati Tags: singapore weather, scorching weather, hot singapore, pigeons hiding, pigeons feel the heat, singapore pigeons, cute singapore pigeons, pigeons hiding from sun, hot weather, edmw, endless rain

zSimplicityz: The Sakae Sushi Prankster

Leonard Zhou Anjian

I am back. 🙂 The flickr photo issue has been fixed after a few email exchanges with the friendly staff at flickr and wordpress. More about that in another blog entry.

For now, check out the two videos below.

A boy who goes by the nickname, zSimplicityz uploaded videos of himself adding extra wasabi with his bare hands into two pieces of unagi sushi at a Sakae Sushi restaurant and returning it back to the sushi conveyor belt.

In the second video, it seems like zSimplicityz and his friends returned empty plates onto the sushi conveyor belt to avoid paying for the sushi they ate – not too sure as it was not too clear from the video.

Some netizens had left comments on his video, criticising him for his actions, but check out what he has to say in rebuttal below:

Click to Enlarge

After the recent Indian Rojak food poisoning scare, I think this boy is either extremely dense or extremely insensitive. The forummers at EDMW have done a good job CSI-ing out his identity. If you want to know more about zSimplicityz, click HERE.

His basic profile:

Name: Leonard Zhou Anjian
email: leonardz-@hotmail.com
D.O.B: 15.04.87
Employment: Student

UPDATE: Since youtube removed the original video, here’s the link to another version of the video, edited with a cartoon music:

Technorati Tags: leonardz-@hotmail.com, lenoardz, zsimplicityz, leonard zhou, leonard zhou anjian, edmw, the sakae sushi prank video, sakae sushi prankster, sakae sushi prank, indian rojak poisoning, leonard zhou the sakae sushi prankster, extra wasabi sushi, extra wasabi unagi sushi, adding wasabi with bare hands, dirty sushi

Exposed: Friendster profiles of the 4 teens charged for recent Chinatown fatal attack

Via EDMW. Nowadays, when someone is involved with a crime or have his or her name splashed in the newspapers for all the wrong reasons, it is relatively easy to sniff out their online profile tucked somewhere in one of the many social networking sites.

Remember the fatal attack last week at the beginning of the new year? The senseless, unprovoked attack amid the Chinese New Year decorations in Chinatown has left one young man, Marcus Siah Wui Xiang, 19, dead and his family heartbroken. You can read the full story here via The Electric New Paper.

Four youths were charged for the crime (via Straits Times.com):

Jan 9, 2009
Chinatown murder
4 charged over fatal attack
By Elena Chong, Court Correspondent

FOUR young men were charged in court on Friday with the murder of a teen at a carpark last Saturday.

Liu Wing Sing, a Hongkonger, Joshua Leong Wei Jun, Kan Zhan Peng, all 19, and Lee Chang Feng, 21, are alleged to have caused the death of Mr Siah Wui Xiang, 18, at the carpark of People’s Park Centre, Havelock Square, at about 1.20am last Saturday.

They were arrested at their homes on Thursday morning, four days after Mr Siah and three friends were attacked on their way home.

Mr Siah was taken to hospital where he underwent surgery. He died on Wednesday.

He was a student of digital media at Institute of Technical Education (Bedok) and had been waiting for his examination results.

All four were remanded at Central police division.

They will be back on Friday.

If convicted, they face the mandatory death penalty.

All four of them have photos and profiles in social networking site, Friendster. Here are the photos of two of the  young men who were charged:

Boy A

Boy B

Don’t they look like any other ordinary teens whom you see along the streets? There’s nothing particularly menacing about them from their Friendster profiles. One of them even uploaded cutesy photos of himself posing together with his baby son. The only sign betraying an aggressive streak is where the same guy described himself as follows: “I’m a hot-tempered guy so don’t provoke me otherwise mishap happens,don’t blame me!”

Indeed.

What purpose did  the attack serve? The victim is dead and no amount of remorse or punishment to the perpetrators will bring him back. The four youths who are being charged face the mandatory death penalty if convicted; at the very least, they will have to spend a good portion of the rest of their lives behind bars.

For what?

Staring?

Not happy with the other person’s face?

In the end,  the ones who are the worst off are their family and loved ones. My sympathy goes out to them. Let this be a lesson for other hot-headed teens out there – think twice before you act with aggression.

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