Rich foreigner needed to pose as Nigerian's kin
Reader Richard Collins has received a fascinating proposal from Dr Igbudu Da, bills and exchange director of Union Bank Nigeria. Apart from offering 25 per cent of US$25 million, Mr Collins notes an unusual twist in this scam letter.
A foreign customer of the bank, Xavier Arigon, has died with his entire family in an aircraft crash and Mr Collins is asked to pose as a next of kin because he is a foreigner, of course. A Nigerian imposter simply would not do!
'I have to pose as a dead relative to get my money,' Mr Collins told us. 'Other than sending my bank account details, there is no indication how I am supposed to prove my relatedness to the not-so-recently departed.'
But Mr Collins sent us a copy of the letter and it is all perfectly clear to Lai See: 'Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you, the text of the application, as soon as you receive the text, I will further clarify you in other issues as to affect the business. Await to hear from you.' See?
Ida's lucky numbers: We hope the Hong Kong Jockey Club has repaired its super computer this week. In previous weeks, it has failed to select all of Lai See's winning Mark 6 numbers. Seeking some new numbers, we called our friend Ms Ida Royani, an Indonesian woman who, like many Indonesian people uses two names. Ida has taken a different approach to choosing the six winning numbers. 'All the winning numbers will be between 20 and 39,' she told us, immediately narrowing the field of potential winning numbers to just 19 individual numbers. 'I don't like 36, 37 or 38 and the numbers 20 and 30 are too ordinary to win this week,' she said, narrowing the focus even more to just 14 potential winners. 'My favourite number this week is 21 and I am 24 years old. I live on the 26th floor and my brother is 32.' Mmmm, we suspected she was trying to tell us something but the message was a little indistinct. 'Oh, there are 29 things I need to remember to do this week which ends on November 10,' Ida told us, cryptically with a mysterious, knowing sparkle in her 2 eyes.
Ad could use a hand: Regular readers will be aware that Lai See is fascinated by corporate branding. Brands can carry special meaning for customers, competitors and, well, we think they are great. SmarTone Telecommunications Holdings' latest branding graphics landed on our desk last week: three colourful designs depicting a hand, an eye and an ear representing the senses of . . . yes, touch, sight and hearing. The ear looks something like a human ear, the eye could be an eye, but we noticed something about the hand. Four fingers, no thumb.
A dog's best friend: A naughty doggie almost spoiled the show for Italian jeweller Fani Gioielli last week. The company and its Hong Kong cousin, Fani HK, put on a glamorous party in a Central restaurant featuring beautiful models wearing its diamond-mesh jewellery designs.
As the bejewelled goddesses drifted through the assembled crowd of business and fashion types, an unpaid model from the animal kingdom was called on to add some down to earth flavour to this city slicker affair. A tiny dachshund, specially flown in from his native Germany was kitted out in a Fani diamond collar borrowed from one of the human billboards, sorry, models.
But his little doggie modesty started to get the best of him and shyness took over. Perhaps it was the anxiety of being in bustling Hong Kong after staid and far quieter Germany. Maybe he had stage fright. We don't know but His Little Dogginess made a break for it, scampering under a curtain away from the bright lights and gaze of the jewellery and fashion fans.
The little brown canine criminal was soon apprehended, the HK$20,000 in jewels recovered safely and he was promptly deported back to Germany, the land of serious global commercial bankers and some of the finest railway networks in the world.
Future fashion shows please note: Employ animal models only under strict supervision. Keep them on a tight lead, and well away from tempting valuables.
Graphic: wheexgbz
