Recently there has been a lot of talk and confusion over Google apparently tracking everything that you do online.  News agencies have been telling us that our "personal information is not safe" and that we need to stop using Google and move to another search engine or service.  But before you do so you need to understand what is really happening, and what the news agencies are not telling you.

To give you a little backstory, everything that we use that is free on the internet costs someone money.  Most likely it's the website that you are using that foots the bill for all of the free services.  You may not even realize it, but there's a lot more out that that you may not even realize you're using that is costing someone money.  If you use a web-based email (i.e. Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo mail, etc.) that is a free service that you use.  But every time you check your email (or even by justing have an email address on that server) you are using a computer somewhere that someone has to pay for.  You're not paying for it, but you're benefitting from that computer being connected to the interent and turned on.  If you watch videos on YouTube you are connecting to a web server that has mass amounts of hard drive storage space.  Someone bought those drives and put them into the server, just like you buying a hard drive at Staples, Best Buy, Office Depot, etc.  The only difference is you normally only buy one drive, but web hosting companies buy hundreds of drives at a time.

The second thing that you don't realize that you are using, but you use everytime you get online, is the bandwidth used to transfer the data from the web server that the site is hosted on.  The cost of bandwidth is an enormous expense to any popular website or search company.  YouTube serves over 1 billion page views per day and an estimated cost of (some estimates vary) $174,000 per year.  That's how much it costs Google just to let you watch free videos on the internet.  Facebook users enjoy the free online social media giant at a similar cost of $183,000/yr.

So how do these companies afford to pay for the huge costs associated with all of the free stuff they let us use?  By putting various advertisements on every page we see.  And to help them generate even more revnue from these ads, all of these companies are expanding the service to offer ads relevent to what you are looking at, interested in, or buying from verious web sites.  So, if you look at shoes online you're going to notice that you see a lot of ads for shoes and footcare products.  If you search for deals on Disney vacations you're going to see ads for Disney brabded kids books, toys, clothing, etc.  Recently I did a search for trailer hitches for my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee.  Now I'm seeing ads for trailer equipment everywhere I go.  This is called target marketing, allowing these website to show you ads based on what you are most likely to be interested in.  So if you're of the older generation, instead of seeing ads for video games you'll maybe see ads for various healthcare products for your age range.  If you're a woman you might see ads promoting feminine hygene products, where if you're a man you'll see ads promoting power tools.

Now for the question...how do these sites know what I'm interested in, or if I'm a man or a woman?  Is somebody looking at what I type into my web browser or spying on me?  The answer is no.  All of this information is collected by every website that you go to, and is stored in a database.  That information is then ran through a program that picks out key words and matches it to keywords built into the various ads that you see.  No single person (or even a group of people for that matter) could ever sift through the tremendous amount of data that is collected in a single day, or even a single hour.  There are litterally billions of searches done by people all over the world.  Sites know where you go online, and what products or items you look at, because they have ads on almost every webpage you go to.  Google ads are all over the place.  Facebook ads, the "like" buttons you see on sites, and "share this" buttons are everywhere you turn.  Truthfully, the only way to not be "tracked" is by not using the internet at all.

Leo Laporte, one of the most prominent names in technology, summed it up well in his explanation that recently aired on his weekly radio show.  For those of you who don't know of him, Leo has been reporting on the tech industry since the early 80's, and has assembled a massive online network of podcasts and technology shows.  He is the former host of the ScreenSavers show that used to air on former TechTV broadcast station.  He is very well-known in the tech industry, and respected just the same.  Click the play button below to hear the audio clip where he talks about this subject in episode 854 of The Tech Guy radio show.

Leo Laporte on Google

So are we being tracked?  In one sense of the word yes, but not how you think, and certainly not how the news agencies are portraying it.  The media has an agenda, and that agenda is to keep their ratings up.  What better way to do this then to get everyone up in arms about their privacy and/or their personal information.

The real problem is not what a website does with your information, or how they collect it.  The bigger problem is that people think that their information is private.  If you use the internet, especially any of the social networking sites (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, etc.) your information can be made public without you knowing.  Facebook has taken a lot of heat over the way they constantly make changes to the privacy settings on your account.  And they aren't the only ones who do this.  The best rule of thumb that you can live by is this...if you put it online make sure it's something that you wouldn't be ashamed of if everyone in the world knew.  At some point in time everything that you put out there will be made public, even if you have it set to be private.

Nothing burns me more than dealing with customer service reps that obviously can't handle the job they're doing, and companies who do nothing about it.  It appears to be the growing trend, and one that really needs to be dealt with the gross amount of money these companies make from consumers.  While their profit margins are skyrocketing, the people who allow them to be so successful are getting the short end of the stick from every angle.

My frustration comes from my latest experiences with Verizon, on both the cellular and FIOS customer service fronts.  We have a Verizon MiFi for accessing the internet on the go, and FIOS for our home phone, TV, and internet.  While I can't say anything about the speeds and quality of service that we get, I have a lot to say about the customer service when there's a problem, and the total lack of professionalism in handling an issue when it arises.

A few weeks ago I contacted Verizon Wireless customer support with a signal issue with my MiFi.  The MiFi is a small wireless router that allows 5 devices to conect to their 4G LTE network.  This can be laptops, iPads, or any device that has built-in wireless connectivity.  The problem was that in order to get a solid connection I had to reboot the MiFi (sometimes more than once), and hope that it would actually get me online.  This would happen in dowtown Pittsburgh where I was well within the range of a 4G signal, and was quite an annoying thing to have to deal with.  So I called and explained the issue, and was sent out a replacement unit within a couple days.  I got the unit, and it worked fine for about 2 weeks.  After that, I noticed that everywhere I went it would only connect to the 3G signal instead of the 4G LTE signal, which is considerably faster.  So, I called again and explained the issue.  The rep decided that the best plan of action was to send me a different unit made by a different company.  I had the Samsung SCH-LC11 and he wanted to send me the Novatel 4510L instead.  He would have to get his manager to approve the replacement, which he promptly did, and we were in business...or so I thought.

Before he could send me out the replacement unit, he told me that I would have to buy a battery since my battery wouldn't work in the device.  Verizon's replacement process only sends you the actual unit itself, with no battery or battery cover.  I already knew this since I had already had one unit replaced, but thought that having to buy a new battery shouldn't be part of my responsibility, but I agreed to pay the $30 to resolve the situation.  He put in both orders, and I was supposed to receive the items in a couple days.  I ended up receiving the battery on Friday, but the device itself didn't come until the following Tuesday, almost a week after my initial call.  When it came, they didn't send a battery cover.  I had the battery (which I bought), but nothing to hold it in place, because the cover off of my old unit wasn't the same style.  So, I called Verizon again.  This time I expressed my frustration, stating that this isn't even something that I should have to deal with considering the fact that the previous rep knew the situation and why he was sending me this unit.  The rep apologized and told me she would get one out in the mail overnight and that I should have it the next day.  She said that she would call me back the next day as well to verify that I received it.  I thought this was a good thing, and thanked her for her assistance.  The next morning I received an email stating that the shipment wasn't due to arrive until the following day.  What?!?!  How can this be, when she specifically told me that she ordered it and had it sent out overnight?  So, when she called I again expressed my frustration.  She apologized, but couldn't give me a reason as to why it went out late.  In the end I couldn't even use the service that I pay $50/mo. for, but had to continue to pay for it.

The FIOS ordeal is even more annoying.  Verizon (as with a lot of other companies) pushes you to use their online services to recevie your billing statements.  This saves them from having to print out paper bills and mail them.  I get that, and have no problem in doing my part for the environment.  However, when it severely inconveniences me to the point of having to spend over an hour on the phone trying to access my account, then I have a real problem with it.

For some reason our service was temporarily suspended because of a billing issue that wasn't even our fault.  So I called FIOS support only to be even more frustrated when I couldn't access my account.  In order to get anywhere with them you have to know your customer account number.  This number is on your bill.  But, in order to access your bill you have to be able to log into your account.  When your service is suspended, you're not allowed to log into your account.  What kind of idiot thought that this was a good process to implement?  And, the best part is that they tell you that you can still go online to pay your bill and reactivate your service.  The problem is that in order to do that you STILL have to have your account number, which AGAIN is on your paperlesss bill that you don't have any access to.  And no one at Verizon sees this as a problem, but instead tells you to do something that you can't do, and refuses to help you.  And we pay these people money?

In the end, something needs to happen so that these companies understand that without us, there is no business.  Instead of finding new ways to squeeze more money out of us, how about providing better service and rates so that people actually want to use your service, as opposed to locking us into contracts that cost more to break than to deal with the incompetant idiots that they pay minimum wage to answer the phones.  It all goes back to the corporate greed that I talked about before, and it needs to end before it gets worse.

Over the years I have always enjoyed changing things up a little from the burger and fries and going with the good 'ol Arby's roast beef sandwiches.  Then when they introduced the Turkey Bacon Club sub, I was in heaven.  But all that changed recently because of the complete lack of professionalism of one store, and the manner in which my complaint was handled by their "Feedback Team".

Overall there were 3 incidents that changed the way we think about Arby's.  The first involved me stopping in to grab supper, only to wait for almost 15 minutes for our food as 3 other people who came in aftr me were served and left.  My order consisted of two Beef 'n Cheddar combo meals, a kids roast beef meal, and mozzarella sticks.  From eating there in the past I knew that the cheese sticks would take an extra couple minutes, but I had no idea how long I was going to wait this time.  From what I could tell there were 2 managers on duty.  One of the managers named Chris Attwood was supposedly manning the fry station, but obviously wasn't interested in doing his job.  I realized later that my fries and cheese sticks had actually been hanging in the basket above the grease for a least 5 minutes before they were put in their containers and ultimately into my bag.  The other manager (who's name I didn't get) saw this, realized how long I had been waiting, approached Chirs and had words with him, and then apologized to me for the long wait.  He gave me 2 coupons for free combo meals, and again apologized as I walked away.

A few weeks later my wife and I decided to dine in, and used our free coupons that we were given the previous visit.  Again Chris was the acting manager, and Pat was our cashier.  We placed our order and handed Pat our coupons, who immediately told Chris that she needed him to process the coupons.  She finished ringing up our order, but couldn't cash it out until Chris came over to assist.  Ultimately it took Pat 4 times to get Chris to come over because he was discussing with another worker what he was going to be doing later.  He then proceeded to discuss a scheduling issue with the employee, totally ignoring the fact that we were standing there waiting to complete our order.  When my wife voiced her concern to Pat a second cashier named Robin (who was standing behind the counter with her hands in her pockets) stated to us "Well he's doing about 5 different things right now", attempting to take his side.  Surprisingly Chris never said a single word to us, nor apologized for his inconsiderate behavior.  He simply walked away.  To top it all of, his shirt was half untucked, making it appear that he had just crawled out of bed before his shift, and paid absolutely no attention to, nor was concerned about, his appearance.  We were appalled at the complete lack of regard and professionalism that these people (Chris and Robin) has exhibited in front of us.

As we were eating in the dining room we discussed what had happened, and how upset we were at the service that we had just experienced.  We would have actually walk out of the restaraunt if it hadn't been for the fact that the kids had not yet eaten supper, nor did we.  About half way through our meal Pat came over to our table and personally apologized for what had happened.  We were surprised that she would do this since she was not at all to blame for any of the situation.  I told her that the reason we had the free coupons was for the previous experience, and that Chris was the cause of that issue as well.  After we expressed our disgust at Robin's actions, we then found out that Robin was supposedly a manager in training.  We both said that we felt that it was a mistake based on her actions, and that we would be dining elsewhere if that indeed happened.  Pat apologized again, and we left.

The third incident involved me passing through the drive-thru on my way home from work.  Again I ordered two Beef 'n Cheddar combos, and a roast beef sandwich.  Again I waited approximately 8 minutes for our food, but didn't voice my opinion at that time.  I folded the top of the bag to keep the heat in and the food as fresh as possible for the drive home.  Our house is 1 1/2 miles from the store.  In the 5 minutes that it took me to drive home and hand the food to my wife, when we began to eat you would have thought that I drove around the block with the food hanging out the window.  Everything was cold, and the buns on each sandwich felt like they had been sitting on the shelf for months.

I immediately got online and tried to find a customer service number for Arby's.  However, on their website the only thing you can do is fill out a form and send them a message.  I typed up a limited description, checked off a bunch of boxes, and submitted the form.  They only allow you 2000 characters to describe the issue, and that proved to be not enough to relay the anger and disappointment that I was feeling.  Looking that the total number of characters that I have typed in this post so far I'm already up to 5251 characters, and I'm still not done.

The next day I received a standard form email from their Feedback Team.  It basically said that they received my complaint, were sorry, and would send me out come free coupons for combo meals.  Obviously no one had actually read the complaint to any form of detail, and they were just using their standard response.  A few days later we received a form letter in the mail, and 2 coupons for free meals.  No phone call from anyone...no appearance of a real apology...no personal contact from anyone regarding the situation at all.  Obviously the way that Arby's chooses to handle any complaints about their stores.

As it stands we will no longer be eating at any Arby's in the future.  If this is the way that they choose to run their company, and the people that they choose to put in charge of their stores, obviously they don't care about anything but their bottom line.  If they can't take the time to pick up the phone and talk to someone who has given them the feedback that they want, or offer some type of personal attention, then they don't need my business.  I'm not saying that they have to personally deal with every single complaint that comes in, but they should at least make it appear like they care about their customers more than what they obviously do.

Last night I had the apportunity to go to the Guns N' Roses concert at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, OH.  I never had the chance to see them when Slash, Duff, Izzy, and Steve were in the band, so I had to jump on this one before I would never get to see them at all.  Being that I grew up with their music, as well as Metallica, Motley Crue, Poison, Def Leppard, Ratt, and other 80's hair bands I was excited to have the chance to see one of the true legends of rock.  I've already been to Metallica in 2009, Poison in 2005, Motley Crue in 2006 on the Carnival of Sin tour, and even went to Ozfest in 2007.

Leading up to the event a few people tried to tell us that it would be a waste.  According to them Axl gained a bunch of weight and couldn't sing anymore, and since the rest of the original band wouldn't be there, it was just going to be a huge disappointment.  I thought about this, and realized that I had heard this all before when I told people about going to see Motley Crue.  They laughed at the thought of Vince Neil and Tommy Lee coming out on the stage in wheelchairs and oxygen tanks.  After the concert I thought to myself that I had just been to one of the best shows that I've ever seen.  Last night was no disappointment either.

Rob, a friend of mine from work, was going with me, as well as my son Vince who had never been to a concert before.  Rob and I had gone to the Metallica concert together, so I guess you can say we're unofficial concert buddies now.  We left Pittsburgh shortly after work at 5pm.  I told Vince that we'd be at his house shortly after 6pm which would give us some time to grab a bite to eat and still deal with the potential traffic once we got close.  We hit McDonalds on the way, and pulled into the parking lot at 7:15pm.  The show was supposed to start at 8pm so we had about 45 minutes to get in and get situated.  Turns out that things were changed at the last minute, and the doors wouldn't open until 8pm.  This pushed everything back, considering the show now wouldn't start until 9pm, with the headliner band Black Label Society playing for about an hour, and then GNR on stage after that.

As we're standing outside the Covelli Centre waiting for the doors to open the temperature was starting to drop a little.  What I wouldn't have given for a cup of hot chocolate or coffee right about then, but we braved through it.  I almost felt bad for a girl in a short skirt and leather boots, but then I though "Well, she's dumb enough to wear that in December." and the thought immediately went away.  Rob and I joked about putting up a hot chocolate stand a few feet away and making a killing on the sales since there were probably around a thousand other people standing outside waiting for the doors to open.  Finally at 7:55pm the inner lobby doors opened, and we were on our way in.

All three of us had to hit the restroom, so we made our way to the closest one.  Now, I've been in a few restrooms at different venues, but I have to say that this one was the smallest.  There were 4 urinals on the right, 2 stalls on the left, and about 20 guys that came in after us waiting for their turn.  So well lined up behind our respective spots, and waited our turn.  Vince was up first, as Rob and I continued to wait.  Turns out that the guy in front of Rob drank a 55 gallon drum of beer before he came, and the guy in front of me wasn't far behind.  I ended up taking Vince's spot we he finished, and Rob jumped in my spot, tired of waiting for the "river to run dry".

We make our way into the arena to find our seats.  Since we managed to score 2nd row seats on the left side, we were surprised to see that the first 3 seat sections were missing.  After checking in with the staff checking tickets towards the front, we made our way to the left side of the stage where our seats should have been.  We were basically walking through what appeared to be a huge mosh pit.  After talking with two of the security staff, it turned out that earlier in the afternoon Axl demanded the seating be taken out to create a bigger dance floor.

The security guys also informed us that we were in for a long night.  Apparently the opening act Black Label Society wasn't coming out until 9pm, and would be playing until around 10:30pm.  There would be about a 20 minute intermission while the sets were changed out, and then Axl and crew would finish things up with a 2-3 hour set.  If that was the case we wouldn't get out of there until close to 1:30am.  That may prove to be an issue since Vince had school in the morning, and we had an hour drive back to Pittsburgh.  I wouldn't get home until around 4am since I had to take Rob home.  That was fine for Rob, who took the next day off, but for me it would prove to be a long day.

Black Label Society came on stage a few minutes after 9pm.  It was the first time I had really listened to their music, and I have to say that it wasn't bad at all.  The music was loud, and quite a few people around us seemed to really be getting into the performance.  Zakk Wylde proved that he is still a great guitarist, playing one of the longest solos that I've ever witnessed at a concert.  I remember listening Zakk for the first time on Ozzy's "No More Tears" album and loved his style.  Now I was actually able to see him in person, standing 10 feet away from me. They played about a total of 6 or 7 songs, with Zakk's solo thrown in there too, and ran up until about 10:20pm as expected.

As the stagehands rushed around tearing the set down in preparation for the main show the three of us made conversation with the people around us. It's pretty easy to strike up a conversation when you're really all there for the same reason, and obviously share a common interest.  We talked about other concerts we had been to, songs that we like, and experiences that we had.  We didn't get into any deep, philosophical or political debates, but just tried to pass the time waiting for what we had all come for.

And then it happened.  The house lights went out, the background music dropped, and the secondary music that (from what I know) all concerts play as the band prepares to come on stage blared through the overhead speakers.  Suddenly the huge screen at the back of the stage lit up with a red glow with the letters G-N-R displayed.  The red, flickering glow protruded from the side of the stage too as what looked like a huge light tapestry hung down from the rafters.  LED strobe lights flashed above our heads, and everyone stared at the stage hoping to catch a glimpse of the band coming out.  Richard Fortus was the first to come out, followed by DJ Ashba and Tommy Stinson.  Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal took his place on our side of the stage, while Frank Ferrer, Dizzy Reed, and Chris Pitman could all be seen in their respective spots in the background.  Finally Axl Rose took center stage dressed in jeans, a black overcoat, sunglasses, and a black fedora.  As he belted out the lyrics to the song "Chinese Democracy" off of their latest album, the crowd went wild with enthusiasm.  It was even more pronounced when DJ began playing the beginning rift of "Welcome to the Jungle".

I know the lyrics to a lot of their more popular songs, and even some of the not-so-popular tracks from the earlier years.  One of the better parts about going to a concert is going with friends that you can have fun with, and letting loose for a while singing along with the band as they play.  Some people take it to the extreme, jumping around, falling into you, and just making a complete fool of themselves.  Surprisingly even though we were all huddled up in a huge mass towards the center of the stage, the crowd was pretty calm, and not too many people were getting carried away.  One fight broke out in the middle, but security quickly broke it up and escorted the people out.  In talking with security earlier, it was also make known to us that "crowd surfing" wouldn't be tolerated either, with immediate removal from the area.  Considering some of the stories that have been told about the earlier GNR years, this time was a lot calmer, and people just seemd to be having a good time.

As the night went on they started playing some of the early GNR songs from Appetite for Destruction, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II.  We all went wild when Axl started singing "Estranged", mainly because they just recently put the song back into the live set list at the 2011 Rock in Rio concert, but also because it truly is a great song.  The entire band showed so much enthusiasm that is just made the show that much better.

Throughout the night Axl introduced each member of the band.  They all played their own solo for a few minutes, culminating in a group effort at the end of the each mix, right back into the songs we all know and love.  Dizzy Reed came down to the front of the stage on the classic Baldwin grand piano for his solo, and everyone loved it.

When things started finally winding down to a close we realized there we still a few songs that hadn't been performed.  One of them was "Patience" which is a personal favorite of mine, and the other being "Paradise City".  A few minutes later Richard and Ron came out with acoustic guitars as DJ took his position on the right side of the stage.  Axl came out whistling the famous beginning tune, as we all joined in with the lyrics.  A few lighters were held in the air, and a gentle wave came over the crowd as everyone swayed to the music.

Finally what would be the last song of the night began, and the well-known beginning guitar melody of Paradise City echoed throughout the arena.  At the first tempo change the pyrotechnics kicked off throwing balls of fire into the air above the stage.  A curtain of sparks fell from the rafters at the back of the set lighting up the entire front half of the arena.  As the ending of the song where the heaviest guitar rifts come in, a machine blew out thousands of pieces of read streamers all over the center of the room as the pyros continued in the background.  The final seconds of the song unleashed canons of silver streamers into the crowd, finalizing the show and setting everyone off into a frenzy of applause.  After that the band joined each center stage, took their bows, and walked off into the darkness of the backstage area.

As we walked to the car in the cool air I looked at my watch.  It was almost 2am, and I still had to drop Vince off and make the trip back to Pittsburgh.  We stopped at a gas station to fill up and grab some food, made the 20 minute drive to his house, and then headed for the border.  I dropped Rob of at about 3:45am, and finally pulled in the driveway at 4:18am.  My ears were still ringing, and I was exhausted from the events of the night, and when I crawled in bed at 4:30am I don't remember laying there too long until I was out. 

Three hours later Missy's alarm went off to get Aubrey off to school, and a few minutes later I managed to drag myself out of bed and get ready for my day.  Rob took the day off, but I had a 2 hour meeting to attend with the client of the project that I'm on at the office, so I really didn't have a choice.  But I managed to make it through the day, pumping as much caffeine into my body as I could.

Overall it was an awesome experience, and I would do it all over again if the opportunity presents itself.  Anyone who says that GNR isn't the same obviously hasn't seen them in concert recently, and shouldn't pass judgement on them without experiencing them.  I will agree that Slash, Duff, Izzy, and Steve make the original band, and all of the songs that they produced are truly classic songs.  No one will be able to duplicate the original process, or the sound and vibrance that those guys put into their work.  I wish I could have seen those guys in concert back in the day, but I am definitely happy that I got to see today's band.  An Axl Rose may be pushing his 50's, but the man can still sing in his signature tone, and he sure has the energy to bounce across the stage as always.  And considering the fact that on the same day of the concert Guns N' Roses was accepted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, they are truly one of the all-time great bands.

This post is going to be the longest post on this blog.  The reason is that I am using this to post copies of all of the emails that I receive from scammers wanting me to "help" them transport vast sums of money into the U.S. in exchange for a heafty reward for my services...a.k.a. the Nigerian 419 scam.

First off I have to say that these people are very creative, so I have to give them that.  But, if you read what each of these tyes of emails say, they essentially follow the same pattern.  Some big shot you've never heard of in some other country died and left a pile of money behind to some poor soul who's since then been imprisoned in their house and needs you to help them move the money offshore.  Or a financial agency in charge of a trust fund contacts you as the "next of kin" of one of their clients after all attempts have been made to find a living relative.  One of my favorites (as you can see below) is a U.S. Army soldier who just happened to be there when Saddam Hussein was captured, and found millions of dollars in his hideout that they have yet to completely turn over to the authorities, and he wants you to help him find a "safe place" to store it until he gets home.  They even go as far as including links to legitimate news articles that supposedly back their claims.

It's sad that people fall for these scams, but it is a very well-known reality that it happens.  I personally know of a lady in Indiana, PA who has fallen victim to these scams.  She has litterally lost hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last 8 years because she refuses to believe that these people are frauds, and thinks that she is actually going to get some of the money that she is supposedly a beneficiary of.

You may be sitting there thinking "What kind of idiot would fall for this?", but I assure you that it is very easy to fall for once you're in so far.  I have personally seen the cycle, and can vouch that it is a vicious cycle to get out of once you're in.  The first message comes in the form of one of the below letters.  The catch is that you have to pay for "documentation" or "certificates of clearance" that they don't mention in the initial letter.  The fees are relatively small, but sometimes can be $1000.00 or more.  When you tell them that you don't have that kind of money, the fees eventually become smaller after they generously offer to pay for at least half, sometimes more, and only ask you for a small protion.  Once you pay that fee, you are told that the money is on it's way.  However, at the last minute the money falls victim to customs officials.  You now need to pay for a document stating that the money is not part of a drug ring or landering outfit.  Again the fee can be high, but is offset by your new found friend, and you only have to send, let's say $200.  So you send that, and again the money is on it's way.  But before it gets here a new fee surfaces, which stops the delivery.  By this time you're in for a few hundred dollars and just want to get your money back.  But the only way to do so is to pay this "last fee" and all will be well.  By then you realize that you've fallen victim to a scam, but now it's too late.

Once you realize you've been taken, things drop off for a while.  Then one day you receive another letter stating that you've been taken, but an agency wants to help you retrieve the money that you lost, and bring justice to the situation.  You've already been to the police who told you that they can't do anything because it would be impossible for them to track the crooks down.  Once again you put your faith into someone you don't know in hopes that they can make you whole again.  Everything seems to be going good until once again the "agency" needs money to do something, and asks you to foot the bill in exchange for the promise that you will be reimbursed quickly.  And so starts the cycle all over again until you finally realize that you've lost your entire life savings, and have nothing to show for it.  You're embarrassed to tell anyone for fear of what they'll say, so you retreat to your own little place to deal with it as best you can.

This is how it starts, and that's how it ends...every single time.  And as you read these think of how many times you've heard the story, and how many emails you've read along the same lines.  You may have fallen victim yourself and not even realize it, or be willing to admit it.  But I assure you that you will lose a lot more than you will ever gain if you don't put an end to it now.

The following are actualy emails that I've received.  i will post more as they some in.

Received 12/6/11

Hello,

I am Col Jon Newman , US Army serving in the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq, I am desperately in need of assistance and I have summoned up courage to contact you. I have a proposal for you.

In 2003, I and my men found over $600 million in Saddam Hussein's hideout in Baghdad, we sent some back to the Iraq government after counting it in a classified location, but we also kept some behind for ourselves. Some of the money we shared among ourselves worth over $200million, and I have kept mine for a while here in a very secured place since then, just like many others, but now our new president Obama is making plans on pulling us out of Iraq.

You can view the link below to verify my statement.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm

My share is 10million, you will receive 20% of the money, all you need do is to find a safe place where you can keep the box till we leave Iraq. Get back to me immediately.

Col Jon Newman

Let's think about this one.  A soldier who was there when Saddam Hussein was found was able to hide $200 million in confiscated funds from both the Iraqi and U.S. governments, and he wants me to help him get his share of it out of the country before he's deployed home........RIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT.  So did he dig a hole in the middle of the dessert to bury the money in his "secure place", and if so why didn't anyone see him, and how is he planning on getting it to me.  Furthermore, how does he know that I wouldn't take the money and run, or turn him into the government?  He has no clue who I am, yet he's going to entrust me not to rat him out and do the same thing he did.  And I'm supposed to fall for this one?  C'mon guys, you can do better than this.

Received 12/6/11 

STANDARD CHARTERED BANK UNITED KINGDOM.
Head Office., 1 Aldermanbury Square
London, EC2V 7SB UK
TEL / FAX: +447045738159

Dearest Customer,

RE: INSTRUCTIONS TO CREDIT YOUR OVERDUE PAYMENT

The management of The Standard Chartered Bank United Kingdom writes to inform you of your long over due payment that has been lying waiting in the treasury department of the British Colonized Country ( NIGERIA ) is now been Programmed to the standard Chartered bank United Kingdom for immediate Transfer because of May fraudsters, Scammers & Duper's Nigerian's are be Involve their self's.

Dearest note that the British Government with the European Authorities have to guarded their self's together to make sure all the Nigerian's Foreign Contractor's has be passing through Pain's since year's back in the hands of this Nigerian's fraudsters, Scammers & Duper's to Programmed the Contract Payment to our Bank as the ( British's Colonized ) Nigerian's as we have power over them.

With regards to the approval of your Personal information’s received and confirmed by the Legal Department of the Standard Chartered Bank United Kingdom; you are hereby directed to contact Standard Chartered Bank United Kingdom for immediate release of your contract over due payment. The management has authorize Standard Chartered Bank United Kingdom, so you are also advice to further the below information for final verification.

Reconfirm your Bank details as follows;

1. CELL/PHONE NUMBERS:
2. AGE AND CURRENT OCCUPATION:
3. A COPY OF YOUR IDENTIFICATION:
4. CONTRACT/CLAIM AMOUNT:
5. YOUR BANK NAME:
6. YOUR BANK ADDRESS:
7. YOUR ACCOUNT NAME:
8. YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER:
9. YOUR SWIFT CODE:
10. YOUR HOME ADDRESS:
11. YOUR CONTRACT NO:

You are therefore authorized to reconfirm to the telex department of the Standard Chartered Bank your complete Personal Information’s to enable us carry out your transfer accordingly.

THIS IS THE FULL INFORMATION'S OF OUR BANK.

Headquarter: London, UK

Key People: J P Morgan Managing Director ( Board ) John W. Peace (Chairman), Peter A. Sands (CEO) Company Type: P. (LSE: STAN, SEHK: 28800, OTCBB: CBFF, NSE: STAN)

Head Office: 1 Aldermanbury Square, London, EC2V 7SB
Phone: +44 (70) 4573 8159
SWIFT (BIC): SCBLGB2L
Founded: 1858
E-mail: standardcharteredbank_unitedki@ymail.com

Contact the Bank as soon as possible now as to help your self since the British Government is involve on this your Over Due Contract Payment in Nigerian.

Thank you, for your understand and patience.

J P Morgan
Managing Director ( Board )
John W. Peace (Chairman), Peter A. Sands (CEO) {STCBL}

This is a classic.  So a European bank, which is supposed to be a professional entity, is handling overpayments "because of May fraudsters, Scammers & Duper's Nigerian's are be Involve their self's."  Does that sentence make one bit of sense?  Can you honestly say that you believe that any reputable organization would allow such blatent lack of proper grammer and spelling, especially when the English criticize us so heavily in some of our dialects?  This letter was obviously written by someone who's native language is NOT english, and not sent by a company (or anyone for that matter) who proof reads their work.  Furthermore, the banks email account is a ymail.com, a free email service....really?  And they want me to send all of my personal information to the?  And yes people actually fall for this.

Received 12/6/11

Hello,

I am Alecia Cathy i live in Paper Marchant Industry, a subsidiary of Paper Industry 3412 OLD Trafford Road Manchester City and i got your contact on my Personal search of the person i want to will my money to you. Please i willed The remaining money in my account to you, that is the only money left in my Account right now. Something in me told me that you are the right person That can execute this dream for me before i will pass away.

Please contact the bank manager whose name and address i will give you as Soon as you reply this mail. My bank will help you transfer this money that I have willed to you. Right now i am in the hospital emailing you with my Lap top computer and i will tell you my story as soon as i hear from you.

Thank you for your understanding,

Alecia Cathy Bill
God Bless

So what exactly is her dream that she wants me to execute, because I don't think I read that part.  And since she already willed her last remaining money to me, shouldn't I hire an attorney over there to see that everything is taken care of, or was the attorney willed to me to?  I feel bad that she's in the hospital, and apparently she has no friends or family because she's emailing me from her death bed, so I guess that makes me special.  But not special enough to hear her story until I respond back to her.  I'm just happy to know someone who has 2 first names as her full name, but I'm not just sure which to call her...Alecia, Cathy, or Bill...the mystery shall never be solved.  Just like the mystery of why she doesn't understand how to properly capitalize or punctuate words in a sentence as she's writing it, which makes it just that much more interesting in reading her letter.  But I guess I should cut her a break since she is a dying woman, and probably isn't in the right mindset.