Another Scam to be on the watchout for

As part of my series on how to avoid being scammed, I am highlighting a new scam doing the rounds that is probably racking up millions for the perpetrators. 

As you will be aware, many phone services make their money by utilising a premium service ie a 19 number.  Any calls to these numbers are charged at a high rate ( typically ~$10 per call or text) and the telecommunications company simply passes the profit onto the 3^rd party after taking their cut. 

In the case below, the scammers have utilised the premium service as a way of making a profit even if they do have to make an investment up front when sending their SMS texts. 

The Scam works this way

1.      You receive an SMS from a person or service stating that you have subscribed to their premium service and that they will charge you ~$10 per month to use their service.  The one that I have seen comes from an organisation called “KKO Store” supposedly for music and ring tones.

2.      You think, “how did I subscribe to this service?”  Fortunately (sneakily) in the SMS there is a line that says “ to cancel this service, text “STOP” to 19xxxxx”

3.      To stop the service you do the right thing and SMS “STOP” to the number, not realising that texts to these 19 numbers are charged at $10 per text.    

4.      So effectively the text should say that you will be charged $10 to stop the service, even when you never subscribed in the first place. 

5.      Next month you get another text from the same scammers. 

To avoid these scams you need to be aware that your number is probably published in many locations and you need to be aware that the device in your hand is a desirable piece of technology for the crooks and scammers out there.  If you don’t know where the text has come from, the safest procedure is to delete it.  As a matter of policy, you should make sure your mobile is  blocked from sending texts to premium 19 numbers. 

Stay safe.  

How the wheel turns

A few years ago it was Tony Abbott looking smug whilst the Labor Party tore itself apart swapping Prime Ministers mid term.  However it appears his chickens have come home to roost and it is Tony Abbott in the firing line.

So why is it that we have this problem with being unable to keep a Prime Minister in office for the term for which he/she may have been elected? Before Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, we had 10 years of John Howard? It all stems from the fact that the Prime Minister is not chosen by the people of Australia (directly elected), they are chosen by the parliamentary party that has a majority in the House of Representatives.   This means that, as with all political parties, the leader must not only make sure they keep the public happy, but they also have to keep their elected Members happy.  Because of the ability for social media and news services to disseminate news efficiently, perceptions almost need to be managed 24/7.  If any sense of insecurity or uncertainty creeps in regarding the Leader's ability to manage expectations, then others in the party will see their chance.  As was once said, " every officer carries a field  marshall's baton and every politician wants to see their name on the Prime Minister's office. "

Now that the precedent has been set (Kevin Rudd/ Julia Gillard) it is easier for members of a party to contemplate a switch of leader whilst in power, when in the past causing a spill was unthinkable. Spills whilst in opposition are expected (who can forget that Malcolm Turnbull was dumped because he actually believed in the Carbon Tax) .

 The ability of pollsters to get a guide based on Twitter hashtags ( and let's face it we all have an opinion) to the public mood means that every comment and announcement by government can be followed shortly thereafter by a poll giving the public opinion.  In effect, the Internet and it's ability to give everyone a platform for their opinions has resulted in the ability to run polls on anything in the public sphere. Previously where opinion polls were done personally (who can remember answering the front door to a Morgan pollster, to be asked about any and all matters political?)  it was not possible to have an opinion poll published after every utterance of the Prime Minister or one of his ministers.

What does this mean for politicians?  It means that they need to be on their game 24/7 and I would not be surprised if we start seeing more of them subscribing to online monitoring services to give themselves a heads up when there is something starting to peak.  The Internet savvy politicians will be the ones leading the charge in the future and this is where we will start seeing millenials shoving their elders out of the way.  This may be the real reason why Tony and Co shot the National Broadband Network down, to give themselves more time to deal with the consequences of an educated and opinionated public.

I can see that the coming election is going to be fought more fiercely online than ever before.  I fully expect it to get dirty as well, with any smut or mud being dragged out and paraded on various social media services as "found" material.
 "May you live in interesting times" is often thought to be a Chinese curse ( although according to Wikipedia and Phrases.co.uk it is not Chinese) and I think this is coming true.

Post Script:
It appears that the media eventually pushed the Libs into toppling "One Term Tony" and installing Malcolm Turnbull.  Tony is content to believe that the positive polls prior to the Canning by-election were to blame, claiming that the Libs believed that a win here would be a win for the Party and they could change leader with impunity.  Reality is that they ran a very strong candidate that appealed to the demographics of the Canning electorate, resulting in a reasonable win.

Malcolm may have the PM job but there is still no guarantee that he will keep it past the next election. Unless he can keep the more lunatic Right elements of the NLP in line then their ravings will lose the next election, as Labour still have not redeemed themselves in the eyes of many electors (although there have not been any moves to tumble Bill Shorten that I have seen).   By winding back some of the more radical changes that were mooted in the budget last year, Malcolm can appear to be responsive to some of the legitimate complaints about last year's budget and appeal to some of the electorate that are on the fence.

Licensing of Movie and TV content

As an observer of the "Copyright Wars" and the "download generation", I find it amazing that the studios have not bent to the inevitable and looked at ways to profit from the many methods that people like to consume their content.  Many consumers pirate the content because it is easier and faster than trying to get it through legal means.

Too many of the studios are invested in maintaining the complex web of agreements that tie content in specific geographic zones to specific distributors.  This may have been valid in the days when content was distributed on physical media (Movies on film, DVDs, VCR, etc) but the Internet has now made this method of distribution irrelevant.

This applies to the whole range of content from books, movies, games, TV and music.  iTunes (and its competitors) showed that it is possible for music and media to be distributed easily and at a profit from a web site. Distributors should be looking at ways of acting as a web interface for content makers.  For many bands, getting their content out there is more important in getting themselves recognised than making a profit in their early days, so having a distributor handle the marketing and distribution side of things makes it easier for them to concentrate on the hard part of making their content desirable.

Unfortunately too many of our media companies are run by old men who think an ipod is one of those funny illegal music machines and that video streaming is what happens when you play a movie at the cinema. Once these dinosaurs get out of the way we may see some changes. 

Update****
Since this article was published, Netflix, Stan and various other streaming services have taken off. 
These are great for those of us who prefer to binge watch episodes rather than allocating a specific time each week for the next episode.  It also makes it easier for those of us that prefer our home theatre when viewing movies. 

Tony the clown is taking the attention from his other failings.

Tony has finally managed to exceed the laughter limit.

Mr Abbott, with his recent unilateral decision to knight Prince Phillip, has managed to make it impossible for anyone to take him or his government seriously.  Unfortunately we still have ~ 18 months of this lunacy before we can finally get rid of the doddery old fools in the Liberal Party.

However for all his faults as a leader, you cannot deny that Tony Abbott is very skilled at the political game and knows how to tweak the public image to look as though he is actually doing something.  Pity that all his posturing is leading to many defeats for his policy changes. It is also a shame that Libs persist in thinking that financial prosperity comes from the top down.  The reality is that it gets tied up at the top end of town and the average person sees little of it.  Better to give a small amount to a wider range of people, resulting in more people being able to spread the wealth.  A good place to start is by looking at charging tax rates on family trusts that match with personal income rates. Also to look at some of the superannuation benefits.  The problem is that the Libs have this image of the "Dole Bludger", a guy who does not work, has a house full of kids and spends more time dealing drugs and committing burglaries than looking for work.  Reality is that there is no such thing as a generic person on the unemployment benefit and the majority would prefer to be working if they could.

 Mind you the reason Labor haven't been in the news is because they are keeping their heads low and madly currying favour with the independents. The moment that Tony announces the election, I foresee much jockeying within the Labor ranks to ensure that the appropriate people are sitting on the appropriate seats in the new government. Until the Labor party can convince everyone that they are not just a front for the Trade Unions, then they will continue their slide into irrelevance.

I'm thinking that the next election will be fought on the principles of local issues first and there will be a number of independents that make up the next government.  Whilst this may sound like wishful thinking, with today's technology it is much easier to run a successful campaign without having to have the large budget.


Addendum:  This post was written before Malcolm Turnbull's successful spill, and many of the issues have been overrun by recent events.  I suspect that the Section 44 Dual citizenship issue may have a bearing, but more than that, will be the low wage growth and increasing pressure on those that form the engine room of the economy, the middle income wage-earner.

The recent siege at lindt cafe

Let me first say that this was a terrible incident and that I am in full sympathy with the victims and their families.  I hope that they receive the support and care that they require to get over this horrible incident, and can get back to their lives.  I particularly feel for the young family of Katrina Dawson who was simply buying a coffee when she was caught up in this. The young manager of the store did what any young male brought up in our society would feel was his duty and tried to disarm the offender, dying in the process.

However, and here is the point where I probably will get slammed, the media in this case has been deplorable, particularly some of the tabloids, by implying that the actions of 1 crazed nutter is representative of all members of his religion.  To draw an analogy, this is the same as implying all male Catholics are paedophiles simply because some Catholic priests could not control their urges.

Whilst I understand that in today's 24 hour news cycle that any news is fodder for the media, I feel that the unnecessary focus on religion causes conflict where there doesn't need to be.  Most members of all the world's religions believe in getting on with their neighbours in the interests of a harmonious society.  The extremists though, make for better news and therefore get much more coverage.

Because we, as a society, tend to be more interested if there is conflict, the news organisations are going to pursue that angle every time.  Maybe we all need to start saying to the media,"We don't need to you to find a particular "slant" to this story as we will make our own conclusions.  Treat us as adults and give us facts, not your opinions"