October 27, 2014

Beware! Cyber Crimes - By Hook or Crook or Hack


All that glitters is not gold! Quiet an old proverb but a very true saying.  A very interesting phone call aroused my thoughts to this blog. How much have we heard of cyber crimes and how protected are we?


Last week I received a call from a recruitment agency telling me that I have the most appropriate CV that aptly fits the requirement of their MNC client. The call progressed taking my background study, my experience and so on and so forth and slowly a trap was coming to light. The deal was that, I should register for their service, making an online payment of USD 250 in consideration for the exclusive professional service rendered by them.  The recruitment consultant claimed that, the recruitment agency caters only to a niche market of high profile multi-national companies and management positions. In all fairness it sounded to be a legitimate claim. However, I personally do not believe in paying to get paid.  The terms of trade in human capital so far is that, the employers spend to identify the right candidate. After all the recruitment agency would make at-least half month to two months of basic salary as commission for placement of a candidate.  Although I did not intend to take their services, something about the call intrigued me to investigate more about them.  But the website just read something like, 'Wisdomjobs.com or Timesjob.com or CareerExcel.com etc., The obvious questions that came to my mind were,   
  1. Is it a registered entity?
  2. What corporate body is it, a company or firm etc.,? 
  3. Where is it primarily located? Does it have a physical office space?
  4. Does it have an organisation with dedicated people physically working?
However, if it was a physically existing entity then my approach to investigate would have been different.  But it happened to be an E-Commerce business.  The website I was looking at was fully packed with contents and ranking meter.  It had reasonable amount of partnering job sites and the job search engine boasted as many as 1500 jobs across the globe.  It all looked so real and so appealing but I wanted to investigate more.

As one may know, in Google, its all about key word search.  In the case of the agency that approached me, I used the words, 'reviews', 'scam' along with the 'website name' and 'phone number' I received the call from, in various possible combinations.  As always, Google showed up as many pages as my screen can handle.  I believe, its always the top 3 or 5 search results that tend to best fit the search requirement. And I saw that, most of the messages read that the candidate lost the money transferred to this website.  Drawing reference from the messages it seemed that, in some instances, the recruitment consultants had given written email and even signed documents confirming refund in the event of unsatisfactory service or inability to place the candidate on job as committed. However, there was no case of refunds reported.  Refund requests were deferred and with the passage of time calls were not answered. However, I even saw a countable few comments of positive service response.  But a word of caution here, it could be the fraudsters themselves posting such comments to continue on their fraudulent business. 

Interestingly, there were also experiences shared were, the account details provided for refund purposes or instructions to open the bank account online to enable immediate transfer of refund were alternatively used to siphon out funds from the candidates bank account.

Do you know it only takes as low as $2 to set up a domain name and for $10 one can have email accounts with the website domain name.  The setup is within the world-wide-web which gives very limited potential for regulating its governance and operations. Cyber crimes are meshed and tangled in webs within our virtual home, the  'WORLD WIDE WEB'. In this virtual web we are exposed to spider cannibalism where knowingly or unknowingly we are risking our identity and financials.  It  is important to be in a self protective mode in the web environment.  Beware of hooks, crooks and hacks.  Do your background checks thoroughly before sharing personal details or financial information.

In this web world, I appeal to all users to be aware and protective about your virtual interactions. Do not get carried away by promotional calls and guaranteed offers.  Avoid paying upfront charges where ever possible. Do not share your name and date of birth, bank account and similar information unless it is to known individuals, in an authenticated site and adequate background checks has been carried out.  It is recommended not to share bank account information particularly for reasons like recruitment services. 

In the event of a need to register bank account information for further access to site or other similar requirement, complete the background check.  Even were it seem authentic and reliable, it is recommended for one to be risk averse.  One can look at having a dedicated account with limited balance/transaction value. For example, one can have a debit/credit card with a very low balance/transaction limit for utilization towards access to sites or services received. However, make sure to have different passwords and that the card is not linked to any of the regular bank accounts and that the card statements are closely monitored.

Though we have come a long way in advancement in technology, cyber crime is a global threat that is posing immense challenges.  If one is caught in the wrong foot, filing a complaint with proper authorities is probably the only window left and getting justice on such matters is left to the power of hope. Be aware and do not let your desperate need or emotion overtake your judgement and action, KEEP SAFE!  



Disclaimer: The above blog is the personal view of the writer and the names of websites are fictitious and given as examples only.  It is up-to the readers and users to make their own personal impression and/or investigation. The writer does not intend and is not influencing the reader for or against any impression or action related to content in this blog. 

June 27, 2014

Do (not) Always, Do What You Love to Do!

oday is a very special day. Being un-well, I sit-up all through the night in pain and I start to wonder about blogging to occupy my mind. I thank the new acquaintance I met at the Clinic, I visited today, for giving me this thought that occupied my mind and killed my pain. A budding young beautiful twelfth grader sharing her thoughts about career. She said, 'I love many things, then how can I choose and more so, what I choose may not pay what I want.', very well said. The matter that intrigued me to this blog.


How often we hear, 'Follow your passion and there would be no stone unturned and no barriers to your success'. Until today, I did not give much thought to this statement. But, does passion always pay your lifestyle? How often have we heard about failed people who never made it to the top. The passion was to be a great musician and the musician landed up to be a day-waged freelancer at hotels and night clubs. Many such times what do we hear as value advice, 'To make it big, you must truly follow your passion'. That is right, I do not dispute the statement, after-all great men have said this. However, what if, you do not know what is your passion. For a young beginner, everything interests him or her starting from movies to gadgets to music to sports and sometimes studies, rather reading. Then how can one choose what to follow. Today, its a competitive, multicultural world were all new comers need to be warriors loaded with credentials, great degrees, good social and interpersonal skills, analytical and logical skills, impressive negotiation and communication skills and preferably multilingual as well....this list will be endless. So were do you fit it all and how much more will you fight to make it to the top. There is no one motivation statement that fits all.

 Its all about 'Designing your Life' as, you need to follow your passion while you satisfy your needs. My dear new comers (adolescents, fresh graduates, career starters), become one of the wonderful craftsman in, designing your life. List your interests and what you think are your passion, but do not forget, to make your career out of your passion you need to give it sometime to know your real passion. You can still become something else while passion takes the form of your hobby since, as you grow and gain experience your interests will vary.  Remember, passion is one that will not change over time. The key to success is, 'Its not always, do what you love to do, but its about, learn to love what you do' and you will eventually find your passion. Look for challenges and experience of learning new things rather than showing a spontaneous disinterest to new things. Do not get carried away by per-conceived negativity over courses you take, over roles or particular type of jobs you are assigned. This also includes,
  • dislike about the university you end up in,
  • the course you end up with,
  • the company you land up working for,
  • the title you are assigned, or
  • the job profile you are give etc.,
You may think why I have written it here the negative way reflecting your inner voice sounding loud,'what have you done to yourself?'. This is how many a times you feel but, my dear, this is not the end; its always the beginning of your life and you can design it very beautifully.
A college drop out landed himself up in the role of a waiter in the most sub-standard restaurant to feed himself and his needs. But hold it before you conclude it to be bad. Being small and substandard, maybe, it opened avenues to a broader learning for him. Could be that, he learned to cook and that too the most unique recipes that made him to the Master Chef of tomorrow. There are many great men who started their career low. We have heard about them but not at all times taken the right learning from their life. They are people who challenged life and with an open mind to fight, they learn from their experience.
Lot of times, we do not realize the importance of the experience we gain in life. Every experience needs to be taken wholeheartedly and given the fullest effort. Of course, while you do this, do not forget the great man saying,

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.” - Steve Jobs

It is you who can design your life well. All you need is an open-mind and a will to fight and the positivity to learn new things and gain experience, of-course without giving up your passion. Do what you like to do, but think twice if you want to assign it the role of your career or your hobby. Learn to adapt to the situation of life you are in and give it your fullest effort, just to gain from its experience. Do keep looking within yourself of what you want to be and design yourself better. Be a craftsman who improves over time and practice. Remember, there is no one who has got it right the first time around and that is why it is said, 'Failures Are Stepping Stone to Success'.



May 25, 2014

I stopped Blogging!

I stopped Blogging! It has been a long time since I visited my own page or wrote any blog.  Today I stopped to think on this.  I quite realised how soon we get consumed in the world around us and the changes it brings. Do we allocate time to do things we like? How often do we remember the hobbies of our childhood, be it to write or read, collect or stick or our hobbies as an adult, in my case, 'To Blog'.  It is this thought, coupled with my recent experience and my reading of one interesting article on, Social Networking's Good and Bad Impact on kids', that made me blog today.  This article on social networking, was based on a psychological study and it said that, social networking causes narcissistic & aggressive tendencies and other psychological disorders in children (including teenager).  It also brought out the positive impact of social networking. The study says, social networking can help introverts to socialize behind the safety of the gadget screen, be it smartphone or laptop or tablet. More than the good and bad impacts, what interested the most was the psychologist's guidance to parent and it is this reading that got me to think and I share my perspective here.

Children in today's world are god of gadgets.  Do they enjoy their childhood? May be!. Its the world of virtual reality, where even friends are not all real but are contacts on face book or Whats-App. Entertainments are more on You-tube and internet  games.  As parent how much do we understand our children and their childhood ways. It is here, I wonder if it may be all about our perspective. Many of us do not want to change our views and beliefs on how childhood should be and as result we differ from our children's views and tend to differ in our perspective about teens today!  


How often do you get suspicious about the internet activities of your child? So are you also one of those who try some espionage, setting codes and passwords on the system?. Alternatively, how often have you behaved as a friend to your child? How often have you tried to become a friend understanding their childhood the gadget way? Without doing that, how often have you advised your child of how childhood should be?. So,after all, who is not with an open mind to explore here, you or your child?.

In this fast changing virtual world, there is a need for a trusted friend who lives in real world.  If the well being of your child is priority and duty, then its time for a paradigm shift in parenthood.  Being a protective parent is no longer about carrot and stick approach but it goes beyond.  It is important to become a dependable friend to your child.  It is important to build the much needed trust within your child so that, your child develops the comfort to approach you and develops the open mind to listen to you. Open your mind to their world to open their mind to your experience and your views of good and bad, right and wrong.  Today's parenting is about upgrading to the virtual world, guided by values, beliefs and life experiences towards becoming a role model and guide to the younger generation who are growing in a more challenging world of their own.