Theme: Freebie enslaves.
Know this:
(1) What is Peanuts to monkeys, freebies are to humans.
(2)Freebie is a trap that enslaves us.
(3)Those who seek freebies are people who lack in basic knowledge / awareness that a human should possess. If they do not, they are no better than animals.
(4)Multinationals gave away Cigarettes and Tea for free. After people got addicted to their use, there was a price for it. With time, generations are getting addicted to these products. Now the manufacturers make a killing.
(5)Internet is becoming an indispensable part of our life. More and more people get sucked into it. It is because, the services are offered for free. There will soon be a day when a hefty monthly bill will trouble us.
(6) Many fall victim to the marketing gimmicks like, for each product you buy, one more is given free of cost. If you buy product X, product Y is given free of cost .
We never think how some thing can be given free of cost! Remember they are traps.
Theme: Freebie enslaves us.
Short story 15
Receive Millions for free.
The story is based on a real life incident. It took place a decade ago.I knew someone in Delhi who was an engineer by profession, an engineering entrepreneur. He wanted to share some information and asked me if I could spare some time for him.
We met in a coffee shop.
The acquaintance looked here and there to ensure no one was watching him. Slowly he opened his briefcase and pulled out a letter which he had kept like a treasure.
He took a promise that I would not disclose his fortune to anyone else and handed a printout of a mail he received.
The mail is purported to have been sent by a millionaire from Africa. He wanted some one in India to convert his black money to white. He would part with one fourth of that money. The money offered as commission ran to several Crores.
The introduction said that he had retired from his country’s Army. (Don’t remember which country, it was). The mail sought his bank particulars.
I enquired if this person who sent him the email was known through any prior business contact. He replied in the negative. He said that he found that email in his mail box.
I told him that I felt this mail fishy and that there was nothing to verify the genuineness of the offer. I asked him what he would answer to IT department about the source of such huge transactions. He thought for a while and said that those guys could always be managed.I briefly gave my advice. Never give in to greed. Seeking wealth without effort will only bring misery. Perhaps, he expected me to give him a go ahead. He looked disappointed.
A week passed. A news paper report appeared that explained the plight of another person who received this mail.The report said the victim, a businessman who received the email established contact with the sender. Soon after, some one, apparently an African called in. They exchanged greetings and talked about their life and family for a while. They decided to meet in a star hotel in Mumbai.
The victim was ushered into a typical two bedroom accommodation. For the first time, the victim had a doubt, for he expected him to stay in a more expensive suite.The things lying here and there did not show the gentleman staying there as a rich person as he described. His age and physical condition led the victim to estimate he could not have been a top ranking Army officer.
While thoughts ran through his mind, his guests were on their job. They demanded his Credit cards at gun point. They relieved him of every thing which was worth a price.
Finally, they threatened him with a dire consequence if he approached the police. “Since we have every detail of you and your family, our men will kidnap your children, kill your family members”, the list was quite long.
When the saddened victim was about to leave, one other African joined in to give him punches that left him bruised and swollen.
The two men took the victim carefully through the rear passage and left him on to the street.I sent my acquaintance the newspaper clipping. He thanked me profusely.
Three emails received by many, which would eventually arrive at the SPAM folder, are reproduced here. The reader may examine and figure out, why these emails are fraudulent ones.
Be careful and remain warned about such communications...
---------------------------------------------–
Typical emails received from fraudsters, is given towards the end
----------------------------------------