Inspired by a post I wrote for Sepia Mutiny.
:+:
Some sweeeet justice for those @$$h0!e$ who continue to annoy my spam filter:
A Nigerian court has sentenced a woman to two and half years in jail after she pleaded guilty to fraud charges in the country's biggest e-mail scam case...
Typically fraudsters send out junk e-mails around the world promising recipients a share in a fortune in return for an advance fee. Those who pay never receive the promised windfall.
Take THAT, Amaka Anajemba! You scammer! That's what you get for lying about your dead husband/uncle/ferret's secret fortune that you needed my help in claiming. Sadly, the example you set is too addictive to not emulate:
Scams have become so successful in Nigeria that antisleaze campaigners say swindling is one of the country's main foreign exchange earners after oil, natural gas and cocoa.
Oil, gas, cocoa and email fraud? Are you kidding me?
Anajemba's sentencing by a Lagos High Court on Friday is the first major conviction since the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was established in 2003 to crack down on Nigeria's thriving networks of e-mail fraudsters.
The agency said in a statement that the judgment was a "landmark achievement by EFCC in the fight against advance fee fraud, corruption and other related crimes."
When they say "thriving" they mean it; 200 junk e-mail/scam suspects have been arrested in the last two years, $200 million worth of loot has been confiscated and ten other people have been convicted. Here's my main point-- After wading through all of this justice via CNet, I read THIS about Nigeria. Apparently, it is
Ranked the world's second most corrupt country after Bangladesh by sleaze watchdog Transparency International
What?! What the hell is Bangladesh doing? I don't get email scams from any enterprising Bongs. Why does THIS have to be the one contest Bangladesh wins? Is it because of this?
"Systemic corruption poses a serious challenge to efforts to promote good governance in Bangladesh," said Professor Muzaffer Ahmad, Chief Researcher on a new report published today by Transparency International. Urgent steps are needed to address "the lack of laws on political party finance, poor service conditions and low salary structure for public officials, and the fact that key watchdog agencies lack adequate, well-trained and skilled staff," said Professor Ahmad.
this?
The TI report also points to an urgent need to address extremely high levels of corruption in the police through better training and a more professional career structure and service conditions. The authors call for a strengthening of the independence and professionalism of the lower judiciary. Measures are necessary to ensure "transparency of proceedings, closer supervision, monitoring and evaluation of judges' performance, frequent inspection of the lower courts by the higher courts, and clear guidelines on sanctions for misconduct of court officials".
Perhaps it's THIS:
"Corruption, lack of transparency and accountability in public life continue to be a burden on the economy," states the report. Over the past decade, negative points have included "deterioration of law and order, non-governance, lack of implementation of election pledges, political instability, abuse of governmental power and lack of access for public's redress for human rights violations".
Sigh.
:+:
Aside:
In the above post, I kept wanting to write the word "we" whenever referring to Bangladesh, i.e. "We suck worse than Nigeria!". No, I am not Bangladeshi or even Bong for that matter. The proclivity for "we"-ing was so pronounced, I started to wonder if it was the affinity for Bengali-anything my father fostered from toddler-hood onwards...as sweet as that process was, I don't think it's the explanation for my "we".
I think it's just because I'm an unrepentant South Asian. Not that I needed proof of it, but this little post-posting-epiphany provides just that.
Apparently, being born and raised in Amreeka gifts me with a distance which allows me to be "We". My first-gen peeps abhor such chosen unity, but I am not ashamed or insecure or confused about my interest in/support for Bangladesh. So yes. I cringed when I read that Bangladesh is more corrupt than a country full of spam-emailin' swindlers. It's about as far from Kerala as you can get when it comes to South Asia, but I'm not really affected by that. Spam? THAT I'm affected by.