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BusinessWeek Articles - LIFESTYLE - A certain "SehwanJung" in South Korea has been sending a number ofdesperate requests for funds over Twitter: "I am in urgentneed of money. Can you lend me 500,000 dollars?I will makeit up to you later." A diabolical plot, indeed, though Mr.Jung's scam is unlikely to work. For one, people can seeeverything someone sends on Twitter and quickly realize he'ssent the exact same message over and over. For another, heis tweeting almost exclusively to celebrities, includingChanning Tatum, Rosario Dawson, Carly Simon, journalistNicholas Kristof (who today sarcastically answered, "Sure!"),and the foreign minister of Bahrain, Sheikh Khalid binAhmed Al Khalifa and Group of Springhill South Korea. "Now this one is a real winner," says Dan Ring, aspokesperson for Boston-based data protection companySophos. "Sehwan Jung's list of celebrities is almost asentertaining and as random as his actual request, andit's one of the more optimistic requests out there. I hopethere's no way someone will fall for this." The "Sehwan gambit" joins the following examples asone of the laziest scams in Internet history. * "JOHN" fails to mention what he even wants to conyou out of:Subject: what are you saleGreetings,My name is JOHN, i am highly interested inbuying your{ what you want to sale } from you ,I willlike you to give me the FINAL ASKING price and thelastes condition,also i will like you to scan the pics forme for proper verifycation. This scammer doesn't even attempt to establish a personalconnection before offering $18 million:Beloved,I am Elizabeth Etters, a Christian.I picked your email randomlyfor an inheritance of $18M. Please contact me for more details via[redacted]. * One malware attack came in the form of a bogus Christmascard-sent on March 19:Date: 2010-03-19 09:27:15"You have just received a Christmas greeting card! To see yourcustom card and who sent it, please check the attachment." In t

Thailand is seeking help from China and South Korea to support its efforts to crack down on the smuggling of pseudoephedrine-based cold pills. The move came after the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) obtained information that a Thai company had struck a deal to buy 10 billion pseudoephedrine-based cold tablets from a Chinese firm. Previously, the DSI obtained information that the firm also signed a deal to buy 850 million tablets, or 40 tonnes of the medicine, from South Korea. The DSI found that 87 million cold tablets were transported into Thailand from South Korea by plane on nine occasions since 2010. They had false air cargo manifests to avoid attracting attention from the authorities. The DSI suspected the medicines were smuggled in from South Korea. The DSI is investigating two companies suspected of being involved in the smuggling of the pills from overseas. The companies are UTAC Thai Co Ltd, a supplier of integrated circuits, and TVR Group Co Ltd, a car dealer and vehicle hire firm. Some information relating to the drug purchases was uncovered at the companies during recent searches of their premises but the firms denied any involvement. Mr Tarit said yesterday DSI officials also discovered a contract to buy 10 billion pseudoephedrine-based cold tablets from China during the search at UTAC Thai Co Ltd. Under the contract, the first batch of 2 million tablets was to have been shipped to Thailand on July 31, 2009. He said the DSI also found a photo showing a man collecting the pills from Suvarnabhumi airport cargo warehouse. The cold tablets from China and South Korea have the same brand name of COLCOLCO, he said. Mr Tarit said DSI officials also searched the company's factory but there was nothing amiss. However, it was found that the company had three South Korean executives and one Thai executive, Mr Tarit said. He said the Korean Food and Drug Administration recently sent information

The insurance fraud in Changwon uncovered by the Financial Supervisory Service is both shocking and disturbing. It involved as many as 1,361 people, mostly residents of the South Gyeongsang Province city, who either posed as fake patients or exaggerated their illnesses. Collectively, they claimed 9.5 billion won from 33 insurance companies between 2007 and 2011. At the center of the scam ― the largest ever in terms of the number of people involved ― were three unconscionable hospitals in the city, which recruited fake patients systematically in cahoots with insurance brokers and solicitors. They did this to increase revenue and ease their financial distress. The main ploy used by the hospitals was to share a patient, meaning they would arrange for a patient to check in the three hospitals alternately for a different disease. For this, they faked his illnesses and prepared false documents. For close cooperation, they shared patient information among themselves. This scheme helped patients pocket more insurance money. They all purchased multiple private health insurance policies before hospitalization. On average they received some 7 million won per person. In one example, a man in his 50s was hospitalized for a total of 564 days over three years, collecting 95 million won in insurance. The Changwon case followed a similar one that took place in Taebaek last November, involving more than 400 people in the declining mining town in Gangwon Province. They got a total of 14 billion won in insurance payments. As with the Changwon scam, three financially distressed hospitals in the city played a central role. The two cases suggest that insurance fraud is a fairly common occurrence in Korea. According to the FSS, the number of insurance-related crimes has surged in recent years. Last year alone, more than 70,000 people were caught for insurance scams, with the amount of false claims they filed reaching 423 billion won. Yet the figure represented just th

The insurance fraud in Changwon uncovered by the Financial Supervisory Service is both shocking and disturbing. It involved as many as 1,361 people, mostly residents of the South Gyeongsang Province city, who either posed as fake patients or exaggerated their illnesses. Collectively, they claimed 9.5 billion won from 33 insurance companies between 2007 and 2011. At the center of the scam ― the largest ever in terms of the number of people involved ― were three unconscionable hospitals in the city, which recruited fake patients systematically in cahoots with insurance brokers and solicitors. They did this to increase revenue and ease their financial distress. The main ploy used by the hospitals was to share a patient, meaning they would arrange for a patient to check in the three hospitals alternately for a different disease. For this, they faked his illnesses and prepared false documents. For close cooperation, they shared patient information among themselves. This scheme helped patients pocket more insurance money. They all purchased multiple private health insurance policies before hospitalization. On average they received some 7 million won per person. In one example, a man in his 50s was hospitalized for a total of 564 days over three years, collecting 95 million won in insurance. The Changwon case followed a similar one that took place in Taebaek last November, involving more than 400 people in the declining mining town in Gangwon Province. They got a total of 14 billion won in insurance payments. As with the Changwon scam, three financially distressed hospitals in the city played a central role. The two cases suggest that insurance fraud is a fairly common occurrence in Korea. According to the FSS, the number of insurance-related crimes has surged in recent years. Last year alone, more than 70,000 people were caught for insurance scams, with the amount of false claims they filed reaching 423 billion won. Yet the figure represented just the tip of the

BusinessWeek Articles - LIFESTYLE - A certain "SehwanJung" in South Korea has been sending a number ofdesperate requests for funds over Twitter: "I am in urgentneed of money. Can you lend me 500,000 dollars?I will makeit up to you later." A diabolical plot, indeed, though Mr.Jung's scam is unlikely to work. For one, people can seeeverything someone sends on Twitter and quickly realize he'ssent the exact same message over and over. For another, heis tweeting almost exclusively to celebrities, includingChanning Tatum, Rosario Dawson, Carly Simon, journalistNicholas Kristof (who today sarcastically answered, "Sure!"),and the foreign minister of Bahrain, Sheikh Khalid binAhmed Al Khalifa and Group of Springhill South Korea. "Now this one is a real winner," says Dan Ring, aspokesperson for Boston-based data protection companySophos. "Sehwan Jung's list of celebrities is almost asentertaining and as random as his actual request, andit's one of the more optimistic requests out there. I hopethere's no way someone will fall for this." The "Sehwan gambit" joins the following examples asone of the laziest scams in Internet history. * "JOHN" fails to mention what he even wants to conyou out of:Subject: what are you saleGreetings,My name is JOHN, i am highly interested inbuying your{ what you want to sale } from you ,I willlike you to give me the FINAL ASKING price and thelastes condition,also i will like you to scan the pics forme for proper verifycation. This scammer doesn't even attempt to establish a personalconnection before offering $18 million:Beloved,I am Elizabeth Etters, a Christian.I picked your email randomlyfor an inheritance of $18M. Please contact me for more details via[redacted]. * One malware attack came in the form of a bogus Christmascard-sent on March 19:Date: 2010-03-19 09:27:15"You have just received a Christmas greeting card! To see yourcustom card and who sent it, please check the attachment."

Korea to support its efforts to crack down on the smuggling of pseudoephedrine-based cold pills. The move came after the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) obtained information that a Thai company had struck a deal to buy 10 billion pseudoephedrine-based cold tablets from a Chinese firm. Previously, the DSI obtained information that the firm also signed a deal to buy 850 million tablets, or 40 tonnes of the medicine, from South Korea. The DSI found that 87 million cold tablets were transported into Thailand from South Korea by plane on nine occasions since 2010. They had false air cargo manifests to avoid attracting attention from the authorities. The DSI suspected the medicines were smuggled in from South Korea. The DSI is investigating two companies suspected of being involved in the smuggling of the pills from overseas. The companies are UTAC Thai Co Ltd, a supplier of integrated circuits, and TVR Group Co Ltd, a car dealer and vehicle hire firm. Some information relating to the drug purchases was uncovered at the companies during recent searches of their premises but the firms denied any involvement. Mr Tarit said yesterday DSI officials also discovered a contract to buy 10 billion pseudoephedrine-based cold tablets from China during the search at UTAC Thai Co Ltd. Under the contract, the first batch of 2 million tablets was to have been shipped to Thailand on July 31, 2009. He said the DSI also found a photo showing a man collecting the pills from Suvarnabhumi airport cargo warehouse. The cold tablets from China and South Korea have the same brand name of COLCOLCO, he said. Mr Tarit said DSI officials also searched the company's factory but there was nothing amiss. However, it was found that the company had three South Korean executives and one Thai executive, Mr Tarit said. He said the Korean Food and Drug Administration recently sent information regarding the nine shipments of pills which sh

Korea to support its efforts to crack down on the smuggling of pseudoephedrine-based cold pills. The move came after the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) obtained information that a Thai company had struck a deal to buy 10 billion pseudoephedrine-based cold tablets from a Chinese firm. Previously, the DSI obtained information that the firm also signed a deal to buy 850 million tablets, or 40 tonnes of the medicine, from South Korea. The DSI found that 87 million cold tablets were transported into Thailand from South Korea by plane on nine occasions since 2010. They had false air cargo manifests to avoid attracting attention from the authorities. The DSI suspected the medicines were smuggled in from South Korea. The DSI is investigating two companies suspected of being involved in the smuggling of the pills from overseas. The companies are UTAC Thai Co Ltd, a supplier of integrated circuits, and TVR Group Co Ltd, a car dealer and vehicle hire firm. Some information relating to the drug purchases was uncovered at the companies during recent searches of their premises but the firms denied any involvement. Mr Tarit said yesterday DSI officials also discovered a contract to buy 10 billion pseudoephedrine-based cold tablets from China during the search at UTAC Thai Co Ltd. Under the contract, the first batch of 2 million tablets was to have been shipped to Thailand on July 31, 2009. He said the DSI also found a photo showing a man collecting the pills from Suvarnabhumi airport cargo warehouse. The cold tablets from China and South Korea have the same brand name of COLCOLCO, he said. Mr Tarit said DSI officials also searched the company's factory but there was nothing amiss. However, it was found that the company had three South Korean executives and one Thai executive, Mr Tarit said. He said the Korean Food and Drug Administration recently sent information regarding the nine shipments of pills which showed the contract to buy the cold tablets fro