What can Globe do with crimes committed through their cell phone system?

Fraud through SMS is widespread. And pity those who have been targeted by fraudsters who seem to know them (victims) personally. Especially if the victims are old ladies who do not have anyone to protect them at that instant when the crime occurs. How evil can people get because of greed?

Take for instance this situation. A text message was sent to an old lady, and the sender acted as if he/she was the child of this woman. And the language used was their own dialect, using the nickname of the child known only to family and friends. Demanding for load for both Globe and Smart, using a Globe number. The fraudster said he/she has started a cell phone load business and needed the load for that number. And promised that he/she would send the old lady the money to pay her back. And this poor old lady, really thinking it was from one of her kids, obediently went to buy cell phone cards, scratched the cards, and sent the pin numbers by text. She had to go buy the cards on credit even. And the fraudster kept demanding her to be quick about it. Until the following day when the fraudster let his/her guard down by sending text using another language. Maybe they got too excited with their haul. That was when the old lady suspected that maybe she was being duped. And she started verifying and asking and to make the long story short, realized that she had been cheated by this fraudster using a Globe number.

So back to the title of this write-up: What can Globe do with crimes committed through their cell phone system?

Their 24 hour call center 211 could not be reached.

NTC offices are just open during office hours; there is no 24 hour service.

Their Globe Chat Assistant had no access to trace the location of the number. But at least they were able to temporarily disconnect the number. They suggested to file a report with the nearest NTC.

Nowhere in the Globe website does it say anything about fraud and what to do when this and similar other things happen to their users. If it is there it is not easily seen.

But what was really needed was information on how to recover the pin numbers sent to that Globe cell phone number in order to recover the money spent on it.

How can senior citizens be protected from all these wrong-doings by people who might even be people known to them, could be their neighbors or relatives or people whom they trust? What can our government do for them?

So what can Globe do with crimes committed through their cell phone system?

The Smile Award :)

Hello and SMILE!!!
Got this from Renz over at the Live the Life of A Dreamer! Thanks, friend!

The qualifications to receive this award are:
A. Display a cheerful attitude.
B. Love one another.
C. Make mistakes.
D. Learn from others.
E. Be a positive contributor to the blog world.
F. Love life.
G. Love kids.

The Rules:
1. Please link back!
2. Post the rules
3. Choose 5 people to give it to
4. Recipients must fill the characteristics above
5. Create a post to share this
6. Thank the winners

So now I am giving this to my other SMILING friends:

Maria

Rechie

Kcat

David

Misty

Thanks for your friendship!

cool breeze, falling leaves

yes, for many days now it’s been like this. nice eh? i keep going out of my office just to feel it … and to take a deep breath and inhale the “holiday” season … alas we do not have a holiday here just for that so … we will still be in office. we can take leave though. i am still thinking about it. gonna bake those oatmeal cookies for giving away. i still have to get the recipe from my friend who baked some a couple of weeks ago and they tasted nice. i hope they will taste the same when i bake them. soon there will be plenty of parties – christmas, year-end/new year, farewells, retirement, etc.

below are photos taken during our farewell party for phaung who left to work in singapore. good for her. these were taken months before, though!

lei, phaung, me

with laksiri & pop

cida-ait/sea-uema project team

On Saturday at the mall

What do most people do on a Saturday? Unless there isn’t one in your town, I bet most people go to the mall. Last Saturday we went to a new one in Bangkok. It’s new for us as we have never been there before. It’s also new to the city as it opened only last July 08. Guess what mall is that? It’s called Chamchuri Square.

I have written something about it at my Sweet Carnation blog.

Read more …

Karay-a Arts Festival

To all Kinaray-a speakers, lovers and supporters of the culture & language out there:

The Karay-a Arts Festival will again be held this October (24-26) at the EBJ Freedom Park in San Jose, Antique, Philippines. So if you have time to spare come and join. Wish I can, too, but I will not be in Antique during that time. Hope the organizeres can provide updates through the Binirayan Foundation website. This is a celebration of the creative spirit which keeps the Karay-a culture alive through the years. The festival will feature folk arts and crafts, murals and paintings, performances and poetry readings, launchings, bazaars and al fresco dining and cafes at the Art Circle of EBJ Freedom Park.

Of course, this is not the only effort being done to promote Kinaray-a culture and language. There is also the Dungug Kinaray-a Sugidanon Contest, which is now in its second year. This is organized by the Dungug Kinaray-a soon-to-be-foundation. This initiative promotes story telling, literary writing and declamation in Kinaray-a. This year’s theme is “Japanese Occupation in the Philippines“.

Another effort which has a global reach is the kinaray-a.com website which aims to reunite Antiquenos all over the world. This is being administered by the Kinaray-a.com, Inc.

It’s October already!!!

stirling, scotland

October is the month I love the most! Because this is my birth month. And, ehems … I have a secret as well related to October. But I think that secret is not bloggable so I won’t write about it here. Not yet. Anyway, October was already my favorite even before that secret So ok, it will be my birthday soon. I will be counting and adding another year to my age. Just a number. Well, what do you think? When I was in high  school I had a classmate who was born on the same day. Her name is Pansang, nickname for Esperanza. Such a nice name. She is a sweet girl with a nice singing voice. Always smiling, with a delightful laugh. I remember her clearly ‘coz we have the same birthday.

Christmas away from home...

So back to the month of October. I know I am a bit late about this but I want to write about it just now, since it is October. It is now the “…ber” months, and in the Philippines, it signals that Christmas is approaching. Actually starting in September, people start doing some Christmas stuff already, i.e.  playing carols, writing gift lists, practicing for Christmas shows, etc. Even though I am not in the Philippines now I can still celebrate Christmas. I have learned a long time ago that it is not in the decorations and the trimmings, but in the heart, in knowing the truth of Christmas, that we can feel the true essence of the season. So no matter where I am I can still feel the spirit and joy of Christmas. It’s of course fun and nice to be with family and friends and especially to be in the Philippines at Christmas time. No doubt about that.

Beautiful!

In temperate parts of the world October is the start of autumn/fall season, when the leaves change into a variety of colors. It is a nice sight and gives one a feeling of awe and amazement. When I first experienced that in Scotland it gave me a feeling of peace and silent joy! And it was good since in Scotland it was so cold and sometimes dark but the colors bring some brightness to each day. This is God’s way of saying that despite the dump there is something brighter; despite the despair there is hope, always.

GH Fever’s $1000 contest!

I was amazed that such amount of money can be won! Check it out at GH Fever’s! The blog owner, Danny, has set some guidelines how to join, as follows:

• Subscribe to the RSS Feed (required; 1 entry)
• Comment on this post (required; 1 entry)
• Digg, Technorati, Stumble or Reddit this entry (1 entry per site)
• Blog about this post (5 entries)

So what are you waiting for now! Go and visit GH Fever’s now!

A friend’s close call

I’ve read so many news articles, accounts and blogs on the “Made in China with Melamine” case.  I’ve even received a few emails detailing what other products out there are being checked for melamine contamination. I have to read labels of food products I regularly buy, just in case. But what about those using raw materials which could be contaminated? The labels do not inform us where the raw materials come from. What if? It gave me more shivers especially yesterday when a friend wrote in her Cogito ergo, scrap! blog about her experience when her kids had some stomach problems after eating some biscuits. It’s frightening that things could happen right there at our doorsteps. Just because some unscrupulous businesses are so greedy. They do not know the repercussions of their actions on the innocent. Let’s be vigilant and be aware of what we take in all the time.

The weekend that was …

How was yours? Mine was, as usual, full of activities, movement and color; but there was time, too, for relaxation and savoring the moment of freedom from Mon-Fri stresses. The weekend is usually for doing things which we could not do during the week, when we are at work or at school or other activities related to our professional lives. That is, for us who do not have to work during the weekend. There are others I know who could not enjoy the weekend as some of us due to work commitments, or they just could not say NO. For them, everyday is a working day which might not be good as we need time to rest. Even though we still keep doing activities in the weekend at least they are different from routine, and the break alone is good, especially the change of pace. That includes the change in scenery, such as different views and faces of people J.

So last weekend, despite the enjoyment there were some glitches. One was when we went to the Lifestyles Thailand office at Ocean Tower in Ratchadapisek to pick up our Intra orders. It took longer than usual as there were many people. My husband who was waiting in the car just in front of the office got bullied by the guards. That was terrible especially when one particular guard threatened to hit our car with a gate pole. What was annoying was there were other cars parked there, even much longer than us and why could they? And then there were more cars coming in who were also allowed to stand by. Such arrogance. People in the service industry who do not know how to do service have no right to be in that profession.

Inside the Lifestyles office I was talking to my friend (a kababayan) and she told me that she has actually stopped being in the loop of this MLM business. Like me, she is now just buying the products for her own personal use, and to serve others who order from her. Purely for health reasons, availing of the discount we already have as members. Aside from her lack of time to network with people and potential customers, she said that the “unfriendliness” of the office itself to foreign members discouraged her from actively participating. Oh well … I have experienced this myself several times when I dealt with this company. That is why I would just often order from my upline instead of directly from them. There is too much hassle as probably there are language and cultural barriers. Thai businesses are well-known not to care about customers anyway, as it is in their culture not to complain.

This was the major glitch last weekend. For a while it leaves you seething but what to do in a situation like this? It is safer to just let it be. I believe that when people are so nasty with us and we might not be able to pay them back an eye for an eye, vengeance will come to them somehow. In some future time, in some way, these nasty people will get what they deserve. Not through me, but through others or through life itself. There is a Higher Being who knows all things, sees all things, and judgment will be ultimately His.

So let’s just hang on and enjoy life. It’s too precious and short to be wasted on things that do not matter. And especially the weekend is so precious and short, gotta make use of it well. So that when the new week comes, we can enter it with rejuvenated bodies and renewed spirits, so we can keep going and fulfilling the purpose of living.

Her precious niche

There are so many nice blogs out here in the blogosphere … really interesting, colorful, insightful … and am sure each blogger/bloggie/blog owner considers her/his blog as precious. One such blog I came across today only is called “…my precious niche…”, and today is its first blogsary! So happy 1st blogsary to you, Eds. May you keep blogging … and keep adding some nice things to the readers’ lives day by day!

http://www.birthdayjoys.com/graphics