I wouldn't say that the scam was that elaborate really. But then scams don't have to be, when they find a victim wholly lacking in brain cells like Mr Cazzaniga.Fifteen years & they never met..
Conned volleyball star spends £600,000 thinking he was dating Brazil model for 15 years
Former Italian national volleyball player Roberto Cazzaniga was convinced he was in love and engaged to long-distance fiancé ‘Maya’ but he was the victim of an elaborate scam using a photograph of the Brazilian Victoria’s Secret supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio
"The 45-year-old Masesa was arrested in 2019 and pleaded not guilty, and posted a $25,000 bond using a Florida address, . . . "This alleged scammer didn't appear in court as ordered. His lawyer had received a suspiciously informal death certificate indicating his client had died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Scammer gone, or scam taken to the next level? You decide!
Hopefully there is a new company running the car park.A contributor to a local web site reported that she paid cash at a private pay and display car park. There is the opportunity to pay online but she chose cash. Two weeks later she got a £100 fine from the people who manage the car park for non payment. Luckily she still had the ticket in the car, appealed the fine and won.
Her post opened the floodgates from locals who have also been scammed. It appears that it is only those paying cash who get the fine and seems widespread. If you don’t keep your ticket you have no proof of payment. Tough shit, pop goes £100, or £50 if you pay within a week or so.
Still the same management company. They manage a couple of car parks near the Meadows centre in Chelmsford and the same problem is materialising at both. Folk are being advised to photograph their tickets as proof as the company are putting it down to a ”computer error”Hopefully there is a new company running the car park.
A"computer error"? Really? And this computer error only hits cash paying customers? Suuuure. And I was born yesterdayStill the same management company. They manage a couple of car parks near the Meadows centre in Chelmsford and the same problem is materialising at both. Folk are being advised to photograph their tickets as proof as the company are putting it down to a ”computer error”
It's not a computer error - they have an employee or several who are skimming. Very stupid thing to do if the system requires that the customer receive a receipt and you actually give it to them.Still the same management company. They manage a couple of car parks near the Meadows centre in Chelmsford and the same problem is materialising at both. Folk are being advised to photograph their tickets as proof as the company are putting it down to a ”computer error”
Apparently cameras record your number plates as you enter the car park, you then enter your registration on the pay machine and use cash or your debit card. The company are claiming that the computer error is somehow not registering all the cash payments.It's not a computer error - they have an employee or several who are skimming. Very stupid thing to do if the system requires that the customer receive a receipt and you actually give it to them.
Shifting my ground, if it's automated then likely they programmed it to forget one out of 20 cash payments. Still very stupid, as people will complain and the receipt is still there. The methods of this kind of fraud are unlimited,Apparently cameras record your number plates as you enter the car park, you then enter your registration on the pay machine and use cash or your debit card. The company are claiming that the computer error is somehow not registering all the cash payments.
One lady on the forum got fined as she inadvertently put in an O in place of a zero. When she appealed they quashed the fine but still charged an admin fee of £20.
A 26-year-old believes his drink was spiked on a night out and his finger print used to unlock his smart phone allowing thieves to steal £18,000 from his bank accounts.
A leading anti-fraud campaigner warns that criminals appear to be adopting the "sinister" tactic of spiking drinks to get money.
And that's why my iphone is still accessed by passcodeHere's a new one: having your drink spiked and your phone apps used to fleece you.
Today's edition of the BBC's Money Box programme -
'I had £18,000 stolen after my drink was spiked'
If I had 18 grand in the bank I don't think I would have that account accessible on my phone.And that's why my iphone is still accessed by passcode
Yes. I have never used my phone for banking. Just my home computer. I also don't use many apps. I don't trust what the app is really doing. Don't know if you become more paranoid about things as you get older, or if you are more aware of how much you don't know about things.I never use my phone for banking. That's just asking for trouble! I only use a private browser window on a computer I own.
Here's a new one: having your drink spiked and your phone apps used to fleece you.
Today's edition of the BBC's Money Box programme -
'I had £18,000 stolen after my drink was spiked'
You think people are lying by saying they were spiked and taking the money themselves?.That just sounds to me like a convenient get-out.
l am deeply sceptical of the spiking/injecting meme.
maximus otter
You think people are lying by saying they were spiked and taking the money themselves?.
According to the Sun (so it must be right) an elderly git has just been convicted of spiking drinks, so I guess it does happen - possibly. I'm guessing that the excuse will be used by scammers conning banks and by other idiots as a means of avoiding responsibility for stupidity.That just sounds to me like a convenient get-out.
l am deeply sceptical of the spiking/injecting meme.
maximus otter
According to the Sun (so it must be right) an elderly git has just been convicted of spiking drinks…
The comments made by the Police sound implausible to me. Banks are more and more involved in preventing fraud. Husband of recently deceased relative went into his bank to close their joint account. Just after getting home he had a call from the local Police fraud squad, they having been contacted by the bank to confirm what was going on.A friend of mine is getting a letter of recognition from the local police for stopping a senior being scammed. She works in a bank and a senior came in to make a large withdrawal because "her grandson was in jail". My friend, upon questioning the person's reason for withdrawal, immediately called the police to report it and to prevent the scam from going forward.
The police told my friend that she is one of very few people who step in like this. So most banking employees don't question when they see this happening? I thought that bank employees get training on how to spot someone who is possibly a victim of a financial scam. Very disappointed in this apparent lack of sense of duty.
What - you're doubting the Sun? . I don't know if there's a search function to provide a link. I suspect it does happen but it's rarer than gold plated hens teeth, and nowhere near as prevalent as the scare mongering press would have us all believe.l’d be interested to see a link to the case.
Remember: just because an evilly-intentioned man might put something into someone’s drink, it doesn’t mean that the substance will have the desired effect. As l posted a few weeks ago:
“Pervs and crims are just as much of a mixed-ability group as the general population, and just as susceptible to bullshit ULs.
See also - for just one example - “smoking banana peels gets you high, man!”
I’d bet that if we started a UL about blue Smarties containing a “date-rape drug”, within days girls would be staring in bemusement at the azure croutons bobbing about in their Porn Star Martinis.”
maximus otter
If the computer isn't recognising the payments,but the system is number plate recognition - how come the barriers are raising to let them out of the car park? Our local number recognition car parks won't lift the barrier until your payment is made and linked to your registration plate.Apparently cameras record your number plates as you enter the car park, you then enter your registration on the pay machine and use cash or your debit card. The company are claiming that the computer error is somehow not registering all the cash payments.
One lady on the forum got fined as she inadvertently put in an O in place of a zero. When she appealed they quashed the fine but still charged an admin fee of £20.