A stolen painting worth $160 million turned up in the bedroom of a small-town couple, and investigators just got a new clue in the case
08/08/18
- When Jerry and Rita Alter died, a painting found in the couple's bedroom turned out to be a famous work by Willem de Kooning, stolen from a museum in Arizona decades before.
- The de Kooning painting, “Woman-Ochre,” is estimated to have a value of $160 million.
- The Alters, described as quiet, nice, and unassuming, worked in the public school system and seem to make for unlikely art thieves—but many signs potentially point to them.
No one would have suspected Jerry and Rita Alter, a pleasant couple who lived in the tiny town of Cliff, New Mexico, of being daring art thieves. Yet the couple, both of whom have died, remain at the center of an ongoing FBI investigation into the unsolved theft of a hugely valuable painting. Now, a new photograph may help officials get to the bottom of the theft.
A painting disappears from a museum, and turns up on the bedroom wall of an unassuming couple 31 years later.
More than three decades ago, a man and a woman walked into the University of Arizona Museum of Art in Tucson, Arizona. While the woman struck up a conversation with the guard, the man went upstairs, then quickly returned, and the couple left, according to The Washington Post.
Uneasy, the guard investigated, and found the Willem de Kooning painting “Woman-Ochre” cut out of its frame. There were no surveillance cameras at the museum at that time, and no fingerprints left behind, reported the Post. The missing painting — and the identity of the thieves — remained a mystery for 31 years.
- The de Kooning painting, “Woman-Ochre,” is estimated to have a value of $160 million.
- The Alters, described as quiet, nice, and unassuming, worked in the public school system and seem to make for unlikely art thieves—but many signs potentially point to them.
No one would have suspected Jerry and Rita Alter, a pleasant couple who lived in the tiny town of Cliff, New Mexico, of being daring art thieves. Yet the couple, both of whom have died, remain at the center of an ongoing FBI investigation into the unsolved theft of a hugely valuable painting. Now, a new photograph may help officials get to the bottom of the theft.
A painting disappears from a museum, and turns up on the bedroom wall of an unassuming couple 31 years later.
More than three decades ago, a man and a woman walked into the University of Arizona Museum of Art in Tucson, Arizona. While the woman struck up a conversation with the guard, the man went upstairs, then quickly returned, and the couple left, according to The Washington Post.
Uneasy, the guard investigated, and found the Willem de Kooning painting “Woman-Ochre” cut out of its frame. There were no surveillance cameras at the museum at that time, and no fingerprints left behind, reported the Post. The missing painting — and the identity of the thieves — remained a mystery for 31 years.
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The painting didn't resurface until 2017, when it was discovered hanging in Jerry and Rita Alter's bedroom after Rita's death (Jerry had died five years earlier.)
The work was hung so that it could only be seen when the door was closed. It was purchased by antiques dealers, along with other possessions, for just $2,000 in a liquidation sale of the Alters' estate.
De Kooning was a leading painter of the abstract expressionist movement, and his artworks regularly sell for some of the highest market values in the world.
In 2006, reported the New York Times, another painting in the “Woman-Ochre” series sold for $137.5 million. The “Woman-Ochre” recovered from the Alters’ house is currently valued at $160 million.
It didn’t take long for the purchasers, the proprietors of Manzanita Ridge Furniture and Antiques, to realize they had something special on their hands.
When antique dealers Buck Burns, Rick Johnson, and David Van Auker researched the painting, reported the Silver City Daily Press, they discovered its mysterious theft. A delegation from the museum confirmed its authenticity, and the painting was returned, but officials were still unable to pin the theft on the Alters.
A newly discovered photograph could help investigators solve the long-running crime.
But new evidence, reveals that the Alters were in fact in the vicinity of the museum the day before the painting was stolen, reports the Arizona Republic. A photo unearthed by Rita Alter's nephew Ron Roseman shows the couple at a Thanksgiving gathering in nearby Tucson, Arizona, right before the theft.
The Alters, Roseman told the paper, also allegedly owned a red sports car similar to the one described as the "getaway vehicle" by witnesses.
"We have no idea when they got [the painting], how they got it, if they were involved, if they bought it from someone. Ultimately there’s a lot of coincidence," he told The Republic.
At first glance, the couple would seem to make for extremely unlikely art thieves. Jerry Alter was a musician, teacher, and writer, and Rita Alter worked as a speech pathologist. But the couple also seemed to have a lot of money, and traveled to locations around the world over the years, visiting all seven continents and over a 140 countries, ostensibly on their public school salaries, reported the Washington Post. They also left behind more than a million dollars in their bank account.
"I can’t believe Rita would be involved in anything like that," Mark Shay, one of Rita Alter’s former coworkers, told The Washington Post. He suggested that perhaps the Alters had simply purchased the painting from someone else, unaware of its origin.
Police sketches done at the time appear to resemble the couple, though. The New York Times notes the sketch more closely resembles Jerry Alter dressed as a woman and the man resembles the couple’s son, Joseph Alter. In 2011, Jerry Alter self-published a collection of short stories titled The Cup and the Lip. In one of the stories, two people steal a valuable gemstone from an art museum after outsmarting and then killing a security guard.
According to the New York Times, the FBI’s investigation into the case is ongoing, and they have declined to comment until their investigation is closed. It’s possible that the mystery could never be fully resolved — but many believe there may have been more to Rita and Jerry Alter than met the eye.
Cops net scammers, seize assets
25/07/18
Thirty-four suspects, including foreign nationals, have been arrested in Bangkok and three other provinces for operating call centre scams and online gambling, the Royal Thai Police announced Monday.
The arrests were made during raids conducted in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Chon Buri and Phuket last Thursday with assistance from the Chinese authorities.
Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, the Tourism Police Bureau deputy chief, headed a press conference at the Royal Thai Police Office.
He said more than 50 million baht worth of evidence, including luxury cars, land title deeds and a large amount of cash was confiscated from the suspects. Police said the cash included 20 million baht and money in other currencies worth 10 million baht.
Police teams, made up of officers from the tourist police and the Technology Crime Suppression Division, launched the crackdown in 14 locations across the four provinces.
They netted 34 suspects in two cases. In the call centre scam, 19 suspects were caught: 17 Chinese, one Myanmar and one Vanuatu national.
In the online gambling case, 15 people were arrested: nine Chinese, three Myanmar and three Thais.
Pol Maj Gen Surachate said in the call centre case, the suspects were linked to a gang which operated out of Phuket.
The commander said the gang posed as a financial institution offering to lend people money through WeChat, a Chinese multipurpose messaging, social media and mobile payment app. The gang targets mostly Chinese people.
People who fell for the scam transferred their money to the gang's accounts in order to open a "line of credit", which was the first step towards obtaining the bogus loan.
After the money was wired, the gang closed the accounts.
The commander said a Chinese victim had committed suicide after losing his life savings worth more than two million baht to the gang.
Pol Maj Gen Surachate added that the gang had also used Thailand as a base to speculate on the stock market in China. The gang opened a company as a front three years ago.
The arrests were made during raids conducted in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Chon Buri and Phuket last Thursday with assistance from the Chinese authorities.
Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, the Tourism Police Bureau deputy chief, headed a press conference at the Royal Thai Police Office.
He said more than 50 million baht worth of evidence, including luxury cars, land title deeds and a large amount of cash was confiscated from the suspects. Police said the cash included 20 million baht and money in other currencies worth 10 million baht.
Police teams, made up of officers from the tourist police and the Technology Crime Suppression Division, launched the crackdown in 14 locations across the four provinces.
They netted 34 suspects in two cases. In the call centre scam, 19 suspects were caught: 17 Chinese, one Myanmar and one Vanuatu national.
In the online gambling case, 15 people were arrested: nine Chinese, three Myanmar and three Thais.
Pol Maj Gen Surachate said in the call centre case, the suspects were linked to a gang which operated out of Phuket.
The commander said the gang posed as a financial institution offering to lend people money through WeChat, a Chinese multipurpose messaging, social media and mobile payment app. The gang targets mostly Chinese people.
People who fell for the scam transferred their money to the gang's accounts in order to open a "line of credit", which was the first step towards obtaining the bogus loan.
After the money was wired, the gang closed the accounts.
The commander said a Chinese victim had committed suicide after losing his life savings worth more than two million baht to the gang.
Pol Maj Gen Surachate added that the gang had also used Thailand as a base to speculate on the stock market in China. The gang opened a company as a front three years ago.
Shown are some luxury cars seized from a call centre gang operating out of Phuket. The vehicles are being used as evidence in the police case after officers raided locations in Bangkok, Phuket, Nonthaburi and Chon Buri last week, during which they arrested a number of suspected gang members. Somchai Poomlard
UK ‘complicit in killing civilians and risks being prosecuted over illegal drone operations’, major report suggests
17/07/18
British military personnel could be prosecuted for killing civilians in drone strikes and risk becoming complicit in alleged war crimes committed by the US, an inquiry has found. A two-year probe by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Drones revealed that the number of operations facilitated by the UK in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia has been growing without any public scrutiny.
As well as launching its own strikes, the Ministry of Defence is assisting operations by the US and other allies that could violate both national and international law, it said.
Professor Michael Clarke, chair of the parliamentary drones group, said the UK was working with countries including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar that “do not work on standard Nato rules”.
As well as launching its own strikes, the Ministry of Defence is assisting operations by the US and other allies that could violate both national and international law, it said.
Professor Michael Clarke, chair of the parliamentary drones group, said the UK was working with countries including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar that “do not work on standard Nato rules”.
“As the trend of British personnel being embedded with foreign forces increases there is a danger they will find themselves complicit in drone strikes that are not legal on our terms,” he told The Independent.
“If we’re prepared to be a bit lax, which we are, it will get considerably worse as the use of drones proliferates.”
Professor Clarke, the former director-general of the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), said any airstrike must be proportionate, with care taken to avoid civilian casualties.
“If civilians are going to get killed for a strike that ‘might be helpful’, that’s not good enough,” he added.
“Anecdotal evidence shows that operations that would previously not regarded as worth it are now, because drones are cheaper and lower the risk to the attacker.”
The UK currently has a range of small unmanned surveillance aircraft flying alongside a fleet of 10 MQ-9 Reapers, which are set to be replaced in 2024 with more than 20 Protector drones.
Military leaders told MPs that drones have become “a normal part of the business of gathering intelligence and conducting precision strike operations” and their use will continue increasing.
The killing of British Isis militants Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin in 2015 marked a departure from Britain’s previous practice, seeing the British jihadis droned in Syria without parliamentary approval.
They were followed by the British militant known as Jihadi John, who was killed in an American drone strike supported by UK intelligence, and several other jihadis whose deaths have been revealed by relatives or in domestic terror cases.
Professor Clarke said the government put forward “weak and inconsistent” legal arguments to justify the operations.
“’Arguably lawful’ is just not good enough,” he added. “No one objected because everyone was very glad to see the back of Jihadi John, but behind that the principles being compromised are very important.”
The government says the targeted militants constituted a significant threat to the UK but has not presented any information that would allow MPs or parliamentary committees to make a judgement.
A now deleted line in the MoD’s Joint Doctrine Publication on Unmanned Aircraft Systems stated that the UK had “a practice of targeting suspected terrorists outside of the armed conflict itself” and the defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, has stated his wish to “hunt down” suspected terrorists in “Iraq and Syria and other areas”.
The drones group found growing evidence that Britain is taking on military commitments to assist allies without parliament’s authorisation. “The current government does not consider parliamentary approval necessary when providing assistance to allies,” it concluded.
“As cooperation is likely to increase in the future, this approach leaves an expanding oversight and accountability gap. Moreover, it leaves UK personnel and ministers vulnerable to criminal liability in allies’ unlawful strikes.”
Because the use of force outside conflicts Britain is directly involved with is not protected by combatant immunity, British servicemen and women can be prosecuted for murder.
“There is growing concern that the UK is likely supporting a drone programme where the US commits unlawful acts,” the report said. “This Inquiry has found that the support provided by the UK constitutes the provision of material assistance to a state that appears to be violating international law.”
American forces operate four bases in the UK, while Britain operates and flies military drones from partner bases around the world. Britain both shares personnel and intelligence with allies that can be used in the commission of strikes, and its personnel pilot American drones.
The report said the situation was “deeply problematic” because of the lack of oversight, while almost every request for information is “categorically dismissed”. The government has refused to detail its policy on targeting or the process of launching drone strikes to parliament – or what is defined as a “combatant”.
While American forces have confirmed the death of more than 900 civilians in airstrikes on Isis strongholds in Iraq and Syria since 2014, the UK puts its own total at one after more than 1,700 strikes in those countries, and claimed a single operation caused civilian casualties in Afghanistan.
Professor Clarke called the British government’s claims “ridiculous”, adding: “They don’t look for evidence and they don’t try to look for evidence.”
The parliamentary group called for proper mechanisms to identify civilian casualties, which are frequently reported in Isis territory and other areas where no British forces are present on the ground.
It warned that drone strikes can be used as propaganda by terrorist groups, while local residents experience psychological trauma and economic loss that continues to drive the cycle of violence.
MPs were also concerned about a shift in legal interpretation on a country’s right to defend itself against “imminent” attack, which the US has applied broadly to suspected terrorists worldwide.
In January last year, the attorney general suggested Britain had adopted America’s “dangerously expansive” interpretation of the right to self-defence.
Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas, who sits on the drones group, said the government has “adopted a ‘kill policy’ in secret, and without parliamentary debate or the prospect of proper independent scrutiny”.
Labour MP Clive Lewis said: “Parliament is mandated to hold military policy and practice to account, but that role is slowly being hollowed out. When it comes to scrutinising Britain’s drone warfare, we’re kept in the dark.”
Adam Holloway, a Conservative MP and co-chair of the group said: “Taking back control means nothing if parliament has no mechanism to scrutinise the big questions of war,” he added. “There is an opportunity to set an example to the world through our drones policies: the government should seize it.”
Baroness Vivien Stern, a crossbench peer and co-chair of the drones group, said: “When Britain shares its bases, intelligence and personnel with drone partners, we risk acting unlawfully. We need know that the right safeguards in place.”
“If we’re prepared to be a bit lax, which we are, it will get considerably worse as the use of drones proliferates.”
Professor Clarke, the former director-general of the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), said any airstrike must be proportionate, with care taken to avoid civilian casualties.
“If civilians are going to get killed for a strike that ‘might be helpful’, that’s not good enough,” he added.
“Anecdotal evidence shows that operations that would previously not regarded as worth it are now, because drones are cheaper and lower the risk to the attacker.”
The UK currently has a range of small unmanned surveillance aircraft flying alongside a fleet of 10 MQ-9 Reapers, which are set to be replaced in 2024 with more than 20 Protector drones.
Military leaders told MPs that drones have become “a normal part of the business of gathering intelligence and conducting precision strike operations” and their use will continue increasing.
The killing of British Isis militants Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin in 2015 marked a departure from Britain’s previous practice, seeing the British jihadis droned in Syria without parliamentary approval.
They were followed by the British militant known as Jihadi John, who was killed in an American drone strike supported by UK intelligence, and several other jihadis whose deaths have been revealed by relatives or in domestic terror cases.
Professor Clarke said the government put forward “weak and inconsistent” legal arguments to justify the operations.
“’Arguably lawful’ is just not good enough,” he added. “No one objected because everyone was very glad to see the back of Jihadi John, but behind that the principles being compromised are very important.”
The government says the targeted militants constituted a significant threat to the UK but has not presented any information that would allow MPs or parliamentary committees to make a judgement.
A now deleted line in the MoD’s Joint Doctrine Publication on Unmanned Aircraft Systems stated that the UK had “a practice of targeting suspected terrorists outside of the armed conflict itself” and the defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, has stated his wish to “hunt down” suspected terrorists in “Iraq and Syria and other areas”.
The drones group found growing evidence that Britain is taking on military commitments to assist allies without parliament’s authorisation. “The current government does not consider parliamentary approval necessary when providing assistance to allies,” it concluded.
“As cooperation is likely to increase in the future, this approach leaves an expanding oversight and accountability gap. Moreover, it leaves UK personnel and ministers vulnerable to criminal liability in allies’ unlawful strikes.”
Because the use of force outside conflicts Britain is directly involved with is not protected by combatant immunity, British servicemen and women can be prosecuted for murder.
“There is growing concern that the UK is likely supporting a drone programme where the US commits unlawful acts,” the report said. “This Inquiry has found that the support provided by the UK constitutes the provision of material assistance to a state that appears to be violating international law.”
American forces operate four bases in the UK, while Britain operates and flies military drones from partner bases around the world. Britain both shares personnel and intelligence with allies that can be used in the commission of strikes, and its personnel pilot American drones.
The report said the situation was “deeply problematic” because of the lack of oversight, while almost every request for information is “categorically dismissed”. The government has refused to detail its policy on targeting or the process of launching drone strikes to parliament – or what is defined as a “combatant”.
While American forces have confirmed the death of more than 900 civilians in airstrikes on Isis strongholds in Iraq and Syria since 2014, the UK puts its own total at one after more than 1,700 strikes in those countries, and claimed a single operation caused civilian casualties in Afghanistan.
Professor Clarke called the British government’s claims “ridiculous”, adding: “They don’t look for evidence and they don’t try to look for evidence.”
The parliamentary group called for proper mechanisms to identify civilian casualties, which are frequently reported in Isis territory and other areas where no British forces are present on the ground.
It warned that drone strikes can be used as propaganda by terrorist groups, while local residents experience psychological trauma and economic loss that continues to drive the cycle of violence.
MPs were also concerned about a shift in legal interpretation on a country’s right to defend itself against “imminent” attack, which the US has applied broadly to suspected terrorists worldwide.
In January last year, the attorney general suggested Britain had adopted America’s “dangerously expansive” interpretation of the right to self-defence.
Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas, who sits on the drones group, said the government has “adopted a ‘kill policy’ in secret, and without parliamentary debate or the prospect of proper independent scrutiny”.
Labour MP Clive Lewis said: “Parliament is mandated to hold military policy and practice to account, but that role is slowly being hollowed out. When it comes to scrutinising Britain’s drone warfare, we’re kept in the dark.”
Adam Holloway, a Conservative MP and co-chair of the group said: “Taking back control means nothing if parliament has no mechanism to scrutinise the big questions of war,” he added. “There is an opportunity to set an example to the world through our drones policies: the government should seize it.”
Baroness Vivien Stern, a crossbench peer and co-chair of the drones group, said: “When Britain shares its bases, intelligence and personnel with drone partners, we risk acting unlawfully. We need know that the right safeguards in place.”
Breaking News | Stella Rimington should stop fuelling paranoid fantasies about Jeremy Corbyn
31/05/18
Chemical weapons watchdog amends claim over Salisbury novichok
04/05/18
OPCW corrects own director who had said 50-100g of nerve agent was used in spy poisoning
The international chemical weapons watchdog has amended a claim made by its director general that as much as 50-100 grams of liquid nerve agent was used in the attack on the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.
On Thursday the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Ahmet Üzümcü, said the amount of novichok – a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union – used in the attack on 4 March was significantly more than needed for research purposes and indicated it was likely to have been created for use as a weapon.
He told the New York Times: “That quantity – a range from slightly less than a quarter-cup to a half-cup of liquid – is significantly larger than the amount that would be created in a laboratory for research purposes, meaning that it was almost certainly created for use as a weapon.”
Within hours of the report, however, startled chemical weapons experts were challenging the figure, insisting a miscommunication had occurred. A statement from the OPCW on Friday said the organisation “would not be able to estimate or determine the amount of the nerve agent that was used”.
It added: “The quantity should nonetheless probably be characterised in milligrams.”
It is not clear how Üzümcü made his error.
Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, had reacted with incredulity to the the initial OPCW claim, saying: “Üzümcü has made a sensational statement that 50-100g of some substance was allegedly used to poison the Skripals.
“According to expert estimations, 50-100g of a toxic agent such as the one Great Britain has been referring to would be enough to poison not just two people but everyone in the surrounding neighbourhood. However, the two people in question managed to survive and recover, the British authorities say.”
In the interview Üzümcü also described new measures to monitor production of the nerve agent. He said countries that are signatories to the chemical weapons convention, such as Russia, the US and the UK, would be required to declare production or stockpiling of the agent.
However, he said countries producing the chemical for research purposes would produce about a tenth the amount used in the attack.
OPCW corrects own director who had said 50-100g of nerve agent was used in spy poisoning
The international chemical weapons watchdog has amended a claim made by its director general that as much as 50-100 grams of liquid nerve agent was used in the attack on the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.
On Thursday the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Ahmet Üzümcü, said the amount of novichok – a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union – used in the attack on 4 March was significantly more than needed for research purposes and indicated it was likely to have been created for use as a weapon.
He told the New York Times: “That quantity – a range from slightly less than a quarter-cup to a half-cup of liquid – is significantly larger than the amount that would be created in a laboratory for research purposes, meaning that it was almost certainly created for use as a weapon.”
Within hours of the report, however, startled chemical weapons experts were challenging the figure, insisting a miscommunication had occurred. A statement from the OPCW on Friday said the organisation “would not be able to estimate or determine the amount of the nerve agent that was used”.
It added: “The quantity should nonetheless probably be characterised in milligrams.”
It is not clear how Üzümcü made his error.
Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, had reacted with incredulity to the the initial OPCW claim, saying: “Üzümcü has made a sensational statement that 50-100g of some substance was allegedly used to poison the Skripals.
“According to expert estimations, 50-100g of a toxic agent such as the one Great Britain has been referring to would be enough to poison not just two people but everyone in the surrounding neighbourhood. However, the two people in question managed to survive and recover, the British authorities say.”
In the interview Üzümcü also described new measures to monitor production of the nerve agent. He said countries that are signatories to the chemical weapons convention, such as Russia, the US and the UK, would be required to declare production or stockpiling of the agent.
However, he said countries producing the chemical for research purposes would produce about a tenth the amount used in the attack.
Better Business Bureau Warns of Online Dating Scams
09/02/18
With Valentine's Day approaching, the Better Business Bureau is warning people of online dating and social media scams.
“Con artists create compelling backstories, and full-fledged identities, then trick you into falling for someone who doesn’t even exist. This form of deception is known as “catfishing.” Sometimes a catfisher is simply a lonely person hiding behind a fake persona,” said the Better Business Bureau.
The Scam
According to the BBB, Scammers usually claim to be in the military or working overseas to explain why they can’t meet you in person. Over a short period of time, the scammer builds a fake relationship with you, exchanging photos and romantic messages, even talking on the phone or through a webcam.
When the relationship seems to be getting serious, the scammer claims to have a health issue or family emergency, or wants to plan a visit. No matter the story, the request is the same: they need money. But after you send money, there’s another request, and then another. Or the scammer stops communicating altogether.
The Better Business Bureau offers the following tips to avoid being scammed:
Too hot to be true. Scammers offer up good-looking photos and tales of financial success. Be honest with yourself about who would be genuinely interested. If they seem “too perfect,” your alarm bells should ring.
In a hurry to get off the site. Catfishers will try very quickly to get you to move to communicating through email, messenger, or phone.
Moving fast. A catfisher will begin speaking of a future together and tell you they love you quickly. They often say they’ve never felt this way before.
Talk about trust. Catfishers will start manipulating you with talk about trust and how important it is. This will often be a first step to asking you for money.
Don’t want to meet. Be wary of someone who always has an excuse to postpone meeting because they say they are traveling or live overseas or are in the military.
Suspect language. If the person you are communicating with claims to be from your hometown but has poor spelling or grammar, uses overly flowery language, or uses phrases that don’t make sense, that’s a red flag.
Hard luck stories. Before moving on to asking you for money, the scammer may hint at financial troubles like heat being cut off or a stolen car or a sick relative, or they may share a sad story from their past (death of parents or spouse, etc.).
Protect Yourself From this Scam:
With Valentine's Day approaching, the Better Business Bureau is warning people of online dating and social media scams.
“Con artists create compelling backstories, and full-fledged identities, then trick you into falling for someone who doesn’t even exist. This form of deception is known as “catfishing.” Sometimes a catfisher is simply a lonely person hiding behind a fake persona,” said the Better Business Bureau.
The Scam
According to the BBB, Scammers usually claim to be in the military or working overseas to explain why they can’t meet you in person. Over a short period of time, the scammer builds a fake relationship with you, exchanging photos and romantic messages, even talking on the phone or through a webcam.
When the relationship seems to be getting serious, the scammer claims to have a health issue or family emergency, or wants to plan a visit. No matter the story, the request is the same: they need money. But after you send money, there’s another request, and then another. Or the scammer stops communicating altogether.
The Better Business Bureau offers the following tips to avoid being scammed:
Too hot to be true. Scammers offer up good-looking photos and tales of financial success. Be honest with yourself about who would be genuinely interested. If they seem “too perfect,” your alarm bells should ring.
In a hurry to get off the site. Catfishers will try very quickly to get you to move to communicating through email, messenger, or phone.
Moving fast. A catfisher will begin speaking of a future together and tell you they love you quickly. They often say they’ve never felt this way before.
Talk about trust. Catfishers will start manipulating you with talk about trust and how important it is. This will often be a first step to asking you for money.
Don’t want to meet. Be wary of someone who always has an excuse to postpone meeting because they say they are traveling or live overseas or are in the military.
Suspect language. If the person you are communicating with claims to be from your hometown but has poor spelling or grammar, uses overly flowery language, or uses phrases that don’t make sense, that’s a red flag.
Hard luck stories. Before moving on to asking you for money, the scammer may hint at financial troubles like heat being cut off or a stolen car or a sick relative, or they may share a sad story from their past (death of parents or spouse, etc.).
Protect Yourself From this Scam:
- Never send money or personal information that can be used for identity theft to someone you’ve never met in person. Never give someone your credit card information to book a ticket to visit you. Cut off contact if someone starts asking you for information like credit card, bank, or government ID numbers.
- Ask specific questions about details given in a profile. A scammer may stumble over remembering details or making a story fit.
- Do your research. Many scammers steal photos from the web to use in their profiles. You can do a reverse image lookup using a website like tineye.com or images.google.com to see if the photos on a profile are stolen from somewhere else. You can also search online for a profile name, email, or phone number to see what adds up and what doesn’t.
SYRIA
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21/11/16
Syrian regime forces pounded eastern Aleppo with airstrikes for a sixth straight day Sunday, bringing the death toll to almost 300 in the most intense bombing since the war began five years ago, rescuers say. Among the latest reported violence: a suspected chemical attack that killed four children and their parents. Two activist groups -- the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights and Aleppo Media Center -- said a barrage of barrel bombs struck their neighborhood, al-Sakhour. The Syrian regime resumed heavy bombardment over eastern Aleppo on Tuesday after a three-week lull, killing at least 289 people by Saturday, according to the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as White Helmets. A wounded child is rescued by a White Helmets volunteer after airstrikes on eastern Aleppo Friday. "This is the heaviest bombardment I have seen in the past five years," said Ismail Abdallah from the White Helmets. At a time when hospitals are desperately needed, few have withstood the relentless bombardment -- not a single one is operating at full capacity, the Syrian American Medical Society told CNN. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the assault and |
"indiscriminate shelling" for killing and maiming scores of civilians, including children, and for leaving eastern Aleppo without a functioning hospital."The secretary-general reminds all parties to the conflict that targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime," the statement said. "Those responsible for these and other atrocities in Syria, whoever and wherever they are, must one day be brought to account."
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Mr Muallem rejected the truce plan during Sunday's meeting in Damascus with UN envoy Staffan De Mistura.Mr De Mistura suggested the government grant autonomy and recognise the local administration in rebel-held areas of Aleppo if jihadist fighters left the city.
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'Aleppo is a Holocaust'
Syria's grinding five-year conflict has devastated Aleppo, divided between government-controlled areas in the west and rebel positions in the east. A UN proposal to end heavy fighting in the city of Aleppo has been rejected by the Syrian government. Under the plan, rebel-held eastern Aleppo would remain under opposition control if rebel fighters withdrew. Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, who met the UN envoy to Syria on Sunday, called the idea a violation of "national sovereignty". Earlier, eight children died in government-held western Aleppo after rebels hit a school, state media say. In a rebel-held area, a barrel bomb killed a family of six, activists say. Local medics say the victims in the al-Sakhour district suffocated to death because the bomb was laced with chlorine gas. The UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, which monitors all the latest developments in Syria, reported the bombing but could not confirm the gas was used. In Sunday's rebel shelling of the school in the government-controlled Furqan area, a teacher was also killed and at least 32 people were injured, Syria's state-run Sana news agency reports. |
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But Mr Muallem said the state's institutions must be restored across the whole city because it was a matter of "national sovereignty".
"It is not acceptable at all to leave some 275,000 of our people as hostages to 6,000 or 7,000 gunmen. There is no government in the world that would accept that," the Syrian minister said. Mr De Mistura warned earlier this week that the government was chasing a "pyrrhic victory" in Aleppo if it does not arrive at a political settlement with the opposition. Mr De Mistura arrived in the country amid growing concern for the residents of east Aleppo. The World Health Organization says they are almost entirely without hospital facilities following the government's latest assault. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, at least 103 people have died in rebel-controlled areas since the bombardment began on Tuesday, following a three-week moratorium. Syria Civil Defence, a volunteer rescue service also known as the White Helmets, said there were 180 air strikes on east Aleppo on Saturday alone. |
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Trump on immigrant registry
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President-elect Donald Trump's immigration adviser, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, proposed reinstating a national registry for immigrants from Muslim majority countries.
Kobach was referring to the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, a programinstituted in 2002 that allowed the US government to target certain non-citizens inside the country for enhanced scrutiny. Its most wide-reaching effect was to require men and boys 16 years of age and older with temporary visas from 25 specific countries to register at local immigration offices for fingerprinting, photographs, invasive interviews and follow-up at designated times. The program singled out non-citizens from Muslim-majority countries and most acutely impacted Muslims, Arabs and South Asians residing temporarily in the United States for education, employment or tourism purposes. |
Those who failed to comply with its measures could be arrested, deported or face criminal penalties.
By July 2003, less than a year after the program went into effect, 83,000 men had already registered, and 13,000 of them were slated for deportation.
Some cite this system as a responsible, necessary form of what Donald Trump might call "extreme vetting." But it's really racial and religious profiling.
The program required tens of thousands to register immediately with the government on the basis of who they were, not what they did. Entire nations and minority communities were stigmatized. Our government abandoned time-tested principles like the presumption of innocence, individualized suspicion and evidence of wrongdoing -- embracing instead guilt by association, collective suspicion, and race and faith as proxies for crime.
Like much of the post-9/11 war on terrorism, the program wasn't effective. Not a single terrorism conviction was secured as a result of the registration program. It was mere security theater, a performance that cast racial and religious minorities as undeserving of fairness and dignity.
Muslims, in particular, routinely experience this mistreatment. Other counter-terrorism programs and policies -- like suspicious activity reporting, watch lists, initiatives to counter violent extremism, and the Justice Department profiling guidelines -- routinely single them out as inherently suspect.
In many cases, minor immigration violations led to deportations that cost people jobs and dreams.
By July 2003, less than a year after the program went into effect, 83,000 men had already registered, and 13,000 of them were slated for deportation.
Some cite this system as a responsible, necessary form of what Donald Trump might call "extreme vetting." But it's really racial and religious profiling.
The program required tens of thousands to register immediately with the government on the basis of who they were, not what they did. Entire nations and minority communities were stigmatized. Our government abandoned time-tested principles like the presumption of innocence, individualized suspicion and evidence of wrongdoing -- embracing instead guilt by association, collective suspicion, and race and faith as proxies for crime.
Like much of the post-9/11 war on terrorism, the program wasn't effective. Not a single terrorism conviction was secured as a result of the registration program. It was mere security theater, a performance that cast racial and religious minorities as undeserving of fairness and dignity.
Muslims, in particular, routinely experience this mistreatment. Other counter-terrorism programs and policies -- like suspicious activity reporting, watch lists, initiatives to counter violent extremism, and the Justice Department profiling guidelines -- routinely single them out as inherently suspect.
In many cases, minor immigration violations led to deportations that cost people jobs and dreams.
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Take the story of a 19-year-old athlete from Algeria who came to the United States to play tennis at Western Michigan University. As told to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, he was required to register as a student with temporary status, but due to a car accident, registered one day after the deadline.
His medical documentation didn't matter. He was charged with failure to comply and placed in removal proceedings. resident-elect Donald Trump, Carl Higbie, suggested on Fox News Wednesday that the incoming president may seek to force immigrants from Muslim countries to register with the federal government. Using Japanese internment camps during World War II as a constitutional "precedent," Higbie, who heads the Trump-supporting PAC Great America, said that although he did not necessarily support internment for Muslim immigrants, non-citizens are not protected by the constitution, and "we need to protect America first." Criticizing his invocation of the infamous camps, in which up to 120,000 ethnically Japanese people, both citizens and non-citizens, were incarcerated until a year after the end of World War II, host Megyn Kelly told Higbie "That's the kind of stuff that gets people scared." |
President Ronald Raegan officially apologized to those who had been detained in 1988, and those who had been affected were compensated.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who like Higbie is in Trump's wider circle of influencers, also floated the idea of a Muslim registry last Friday, saying it could form part of Trump's "extreme vetting" process.
The fact that Kobach and Higbie only spoke about immigrants is itself a toning-down of Trump's previous rhetoric, which suggested all Muslim Americans, both immigrant applicants and natural born citizens, would be forced to register with the federal government for security measures.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who like Higbie is in Trump's wider circle of influencers, also floated the idea of a Muslim registry last Friday, saying it could form part of Trump's "extreme vetting" process.
The fact that Kobach and Higbie only spoke about immigrants is itself a toning-down of Trump's previous rhetoric, which suggested all Muslim Americans, both immigrant applicants and natural born citizens, would be forced to register with the federal government for security measures.
7.8 Magnitude earthquake hits New Zealand
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An earthquake has hit New Zealand's South Island, hours after at least two people were killed by an initial quake. The new tremor struck about 13:45pm local time (00:45 GMT) at a depth of 10km (6 miles), northeast of Christchurch. A 7.8-magnitude quake, with the same depth, had hit the same area just after midnight, triggering tsunami warnings. Authorities are rescuing and evacuating residents along the east coast. An initial tsunami warning was lifted but temblors continued Monday afternoon. A 6.2-magnitude quake struck around 1:30 p.m. 39 kilometers west-southwest of Kaikoura, further north of Christchurch. New Zealand is a South Pacific nation of islands, the two largest being the North and South islands, which are home to most of the population. Aftershocks from South Island reverberated all the way to Wellington, the country's capital on the North Island, where residents were told to stay indoors Monday. |
Trump appoints
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US President-elect Donald Trump has awarded key roles in his incoming team to a top Republican party official and a conservative media chief.
Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), will be his chief of staff. In this role, he will set the tone for the new White House and act as a conduit to Congress and the government. Stephen Bannon, from the conservative Breitbart News Network, will serve as Mr Trump's chief strategist. Mr Bannon stepped aside temporarily as Breitbart's executive chairman to act as Mr Trump's campaign chief. The Republican candidate defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's presidential vote, in a result which shocked many, who had expected Mrs Clinton to win following favourable opinion polls. Mr Trump is due to take over at the White House on 20 January, when Barack Obama steps down after two terms in office. |