Restaurant ‘tells diner to f**k off’ after she posts bad review on Facebook

Jennifer Bennett was gobsmacked (Picture: SWNS)

A diner was left shocked after receiving a message from a restaurant’s facebook account telling her to ‘f**k off’ after she complained to them.

Jennifer Bennett, 31, was annoyed when she found the Lusitano, in Chorlton, Manchester, was closed even though she had already booked a table using a Groupon voucher.

When she got home she decided to write the following message on the eatery’s Facebook account: ‘Had a table booked for Friday at 7:30, turned up and you were closed?!

‘I’ve emailed you about it and still awaiting a response and there’s no answer when I call!

‘After spending £6.50 on a taxi to Chorlton we (her husband was with her) ended up having to eat elsewhere so it was not the cheap night out we had hoped for!’

She got this response after posting a message (Picture: SWNS)

But rather than being met with apologies she was apparently abused.

‘Just f*** off lady,’ Lusitano apparently wrote in response.

Jennifer has forwarded her complaints to Groupon, but has yet to hear anything back.

She added: ‘I just want to point out, I’m not angry about the restaurant being closed or the £12 I spent on Groupon, obviously if they’ve gone out of business that’s really unfortunate.’

Lusitano Restaurant has been contacted for a comment.

Update: The owner of Lusitano claims the offensive message was posted by an ex-employee who left the eatery on bad terms.

‘It’s really sad. It was not the restaurant or the owner,’ a spokesman told Manchester Evening News.

‘We are trying to find out who did it.

‘Several members of staff have left over the last month and they knew the Facebook password.

‘Someone did this behind our backs. We didn’t know about this.

‘We only realised this afternoon. He was so shocked. We will investigate this.

‘The owner wants to find the person who made the booking and compensate her for any damage.’

Metro UK

Sports: Italian football is introducing green cards to encourage fair play and good behaviour

Green cards have been introduced (Picture: Getty)

Footballers will soon be persuaded to avoid gamesmanship, diving and general poor behaviour by the introduction of a ‘green card’.

Fans will be only too aware of yellow and red cards, used to warn and dismiss players for rule-breaking and general violations.

But Italian football is now set to give referees the option to not only punish players, but to also praise them by awarding green cards.

According to Italian newspaper La Stampa, the card – which will be unveiled later this month in Serie B after successful trials in Italian youth leagues – will be used to recognise good sportsmanship and other ‘acts of virtue’.

Officials hope green cards will encourage fair play (Picture: Getty)

Green cards will therefore be earned for actions such as stopping the game when an opponent is injured and assisting the referee with a decision.

While there will be no immediate reward for earning a green card, a list of the ‘most correct’ players will be compiled at the end of the season.

Gamesmanship is rife in the Italian leagues and officials hope the introduction will encourage fair play and good behaviour on the pitch.

They also believe the concept could soon spread to other professional leagues such as the Premier League.

Metro UK 

Is El Chapo hiding in Costa Rica? Net closes on the world's most wanted drug lord after his son forgets to switch off location data in Twitter picture

Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar shared photo taken in a restaurant on Twitter

Image appeared to show him eating alongside his drug lord father, El Chapo 

But the cocksure 29-year-old forgot to switch off phone's location tagging 

His photograph suggested the image was taken in Costa Rica, prompting local police officers to investigate whether he is hiding in the country

The world's most wanted drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman may be hiding out in Costa Rica following his dramatic escape from Mexico's maximum security Altiplano prison in July.

Costa Rican authorities are now investigating whether the boss of the Sinaloa Cartel secretly fled to the Central American nation after his son appeared to accidentally reveal his hideout on Twitter.

While cocksure 29-year-old Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar regularly uses social media to boast about his father's prison bust and share new images of the fugitive, it appears he failed to disable a smart phone feature that automatically tags where an image was taken when it is posted online.

Hiding: The photograph is clearly designed to taunt Mexican authorities who have faced ridicule since El Chapo's escape. What Salazar (centre) probably hadn't realised is that the picture also published location data (circled) to each of his 149,000 Twitter followers

Most wanted man: El Chapo's escape in June humiliated Mexican authorities who had attempted to make every effort to avoid the embarrassment of the drug boss escaping yet another maximum security prison.

The image in question shows Salazar sitting at a dinner table with two other men whose faces have been obscured by large comedy emoticons .

Despite this, the mustache and build of the man on the left of the image has a strong resemblance to El Chapo himself and Salazar captioned the image: 'August here, you already know with whom'.

While the photograph is clearly designed to taunt Mexican authorities who have faced ridicule since the drug lord's escape, what Salazar probably hadn't realised is that the picture also published location data to each of his 149,000 Twitter followers.

Beneath the image the words 'Costa Rica' can be clearly seen. This location tagging typically occurs when the user has failed to switch off the auto-tagging function on Twitter's smart phone app.

The tweet has been enough to lead Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigative Police to announce they are now looking into the possibility that El Chapo is hiding in the country but added that the post is the first evidence they have received to suggest that this could be the case.

What the picture does show, however, is that wherever they are, Salazar and Guzman himself appear to be hiding in plain sight, brazenly visiting busy restaurants and taking group photographs.

If the notorious drug dealers are indeed in Costa Rica, it is clearly a place they feel relaxed about the possibility of being arrested - despite the huge rewards available to any possible informant. 

  

On the lam: Sinaloa Cartel leader El Chapo has been on the run since July, when he escaped from a maximum-security prison in Altiplano

Guzman has been taunting the world on Twitter since his daring escape, vowing to escape again if caught 

Inside El Chapo's cell including 50cm-wide escape tunnel

When not posting taunting messages and photos on social media, Salazar and two of his brothers run the Sinaloa drug cartel - one of the world's most feared organised crime syndicates.

It is their father who remains at the head of the group, now more than ever following his escape from prison in June - the second time he has vanished from a Mexican maximum security facility.

El Chapo was first jailed after being extradited from Guatemala in 1993 and escaped from a maximum security prison in 2001. 13 years later, an international manhunt led to his arrest in the seaside resort town of Mazatlan in February last year.

Mexican authorities have announced a $3.8million reward for El Chapo, who is believed to have a net worth of about $1billion - the vast majority raised from drug sales.

Last week the U.S. added a further $5 million to that reward and set up a special 'tip line' for anybody wanting to give information about the drug boss.

At the time acting head of America's Drug Enforcement Administration, Chuck Rosenberg, said he believed Guzman is still in Mexico, probably hiding in his home state of Sinaloa. He did, however, acknowledge that the elusive Guzman could be hiding anywhere.

Video retraces El Chapo's escape route through underground tunnel

Entryway: Guzman took out a 20-by-20 inch grill in the shower floor of his cell and climbed down a 32ft shaft into the complex tunnel system

A motorcycle adapted to a rail used by Guzman to move through a tunnel through beneath the prison

Seeking leads: The US has set up a tip line for Americans and Mexicans to give information on El Chapo

EL CHAPO'S COLLECTION OF LUXURY CARS AND MILITARY-GRADE WEAPONS ARE SEIZED

More than 30 luxury cars and motorcycles were confiscated from alleged members of El Chapo's cartel in his hometown of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, as the drug lord still remains on the run, according to the Mexican Navy.

The 33 vehicles - including a Dodge Viper, a fully-loaded Jeep Sahara and a Ducati - were confiscated in a series of raids by the Mexican government over the span of a week.

Thirteen military-grade weapons were also confiscated during the raids in the Mexican state's capital, which serves as the home base of the all-powerful Sinaloa Cartel.

In one of the raids, the Mexican Navy took part in a high-speed chase after the driver of a vehicle tried to run down security with his car, the Mexican Navy said in a news release.

El Chapo's escape in June humiliated Mexican authorities who had attempted to make every effort to avoid the embarrassment of the drug boss escaping yet another maximum security prison.

Mexican lawmakers have admitted that at least 18 minutes passed before anyone at the maximum-security Altipiano jail raised the alarm.

This raises the possibility that El Chapo could have bribed prison employees to turn a blind eye to his escape in the same way he'd done in his 2001 escape.

CCTV footage from inside the cell revealed that Guzman took out a 20-by-20 inch grill in the shower floor of his cell and climbed down a 32ft shaft into a complex tunnel system that built below.

The tunnel - which was air conditioned and even had a motorbike on tracks to hasten his escape - would have taken at least a year to build with four miners working 10-hour shifts - with digging and drilling going on under the guards' noses.

The prison is also fitted with censors which are meant to detect drilling but officials insist the had no idea something was amiss.

In messages posted on a Twitter account attributed to the El Chapo himself, the world's most wanted cocaine trafficker vowed that if he is ever recaptured, he will simply organise another escape.

The lavish lifestyle of drug lord El Chapo's children

The Mail UK

19 awkward sex things nobody prepared us for

Well, this is uncomfortable. (Picture: Paramount/No Strings Attached)

Sex is one of those things that, despite being experienced, almost properly grown up people, we’ll never feel like a total expert in.

Whether it’s extremely condom-focused sex ed lessons or the filtered, candlelit world of rom-coms, our main sources of sexual expertise seriously let us down when it comes to a few important things.

Like dealing with awkwardness. Because that’s what sex is made up of, a lot of the time: weird, uncomfortable, borderline embarrassing moments, that we don’t know how to process. Because NO ONE EVER MENTIONED THEM.

Maybe in addition to the hour we spent watching our PE teachers trying to slip a condom on a banana, we could have dedicated a few minutes to covering these things.

1. Where does the cum go?

This is the biggest, most glaring omissions of all sex-related discussions, be it sex ed, glossy mags, or TV and film. I can’t be the only person who’s thought that a guy’s cum/sperm/holy water is magically absorbed by the vagina, never to be seen again.

No-one discusses the post sex waddle to grab a tissue. Or the slow, uncomfortable drip.

No. Instead, we get people on TV going straight from condom-free sex into romantic snuggling. As though there isn’t going to be a cold, depressing wet patch.

2. Positions

First off, sex ed never even mentions positions. And, not to blow everyone’s minds here, but there are some people who aren’t flicking through Cosmo, getting detailed sex chats from their parents or watching porn.

Movies are dedicated to standard missionary, always. Sex education skims over the whole topic. HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT TO DO?

This is how we end up doing weird, uncomfortable positions and wondering if the angles are remotely flattering. Spoiler: they’re not.

3. And, on that note, position changes

Oh hey, Hollywood industry, why do people only ever do a few minutes of missionary before joyfully climaxing?

No one told us we’d spend a significant portion of our sexy time getting bored of one thing, uncomfortably shifting from that to another, before going back to your personal old faithful before you finally get off.

4. And position failure

The flying Scotsman (made that up, please don’t attempt to look it up in case it’s real and horrifying) looked so sexy, and easy to do. It wasn’t. Now you’re uncomfortable and feel a bit rubbish about your sexual prowess.

Are you supposed to keep trying? Change the angle slightly? Give up and try the same old?

We wouldn’t know, because no one warned us about this huge issue.

5. Queefs/vagina farts/undercarriage grumbles. Whatever you like to call them

The embarrassment of having your woman parts make a funny noise is massively intensified the first time, when you have literally no idea what the sound is or where it came from.

Let’s talk about it, people.



The first rom-com to add a queef sound effect to a romantic sex scene, and show the couple having a mini laugh and moving on, wins ALL THE OSCARS.*

*Sexual health and happiness Oscars, which are made up. By me.

6. When someone is sh*t in bed.

Come to think of it, did your sex education lessons even mention the concepts of sexual pleasure and the actual quality of sex? Mine didn’t.

How are you even supposed to respond when someone is just absolute rubbish at sexing? This could be an entire sex ed module. It should be. Because it’s awkward and uncomfortable (physically and emotionally), and we just don’t know what to do.

7. Having orgasms

We make weird faces and noises. It’s a wonderful, beautiful thing, obvs, but no one prepared us for it not being all glowy, quiet, and adorable.

8. And not having orgasms

Please, please, someone add ‘how to delicately say “actually, I’m probably not going to cum today, so you can stop now” without sounding like a dick’ to the curriculum.

Topics included: why not cumming doesn’t mean your partner isn’t doing a good job, how orgasms are complex delicate things that are sometimes like trying to catch feathers with a tiny butterfly net and the concept that you can still have fun, enjoyable sex without arriving at completion every time.

9. Responding to someone’s bizarre sexual preferences

Again, sexual preferences: something that’s mysteriously NEVER MENTIONED in sex education classes. Also, notice how everyone in the world of TV and film tends to be into very standard, kissing and missionary-type things. Other than 50 Shades of Grey, of course.

Miiiight have been helpful for someone to warn us that one day, the person we’re having sex with might bring up something that sounds entirely unappealing.

Or that we might have preferences that other people think are weird. But are totally normal and okay.

10. The inherent awkwardness/unsexiness of regular naked bodies

Adults of the world: you know when you were telling us about how the sperm fertilises the egg etc, etc?

Maybe at some point during that you could have said ‘one day, when you are having sex with someone you love, the position of your bodies might result in certain parts loudly knocking into each other. Or maybe they’ll make a weird, wet, sweaty noises.’

11. Crying

Did you know that sometimes orgasms get all intense, and make you get weepy? That’s embarrassing, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it have been nice for someone to tell us that before we started having sex, so we/our partners didn’t think we’re insane?

12. Making noises. Or silence

The whole ‘sex is for making babies or it’s a terrifying cesspit of STDs’ attitude in sex education means we rarely talk about the nitty-gritty having sex stuff.

Including the concept that while some people might make super sexy breathing noises or perfectly timed ‘oh, yeah’s’, others are silent. Or grunty.



But surely movies and TV could mention this, once? Because it would be SUPER helpful to know in advance that sex can, occasionally, be silent.

Other than the rubbing together of bodies and the creaking of a bed. We would like to know how to stop this from happening, too, because it is so, so uncomfortable.

13. Mismatched rhythms

Pre-sex, didn’t even know that this was an awkward, uncomfortable possibility. The idea of rhythm didn’t even cross our minds.

Thanks a lot for that pleasant surprise, world.

14. Terrible sexual chemistry

Ever watched a movie where the couple really, really liked each other, but then the sex was unbearably awkward? Oh. Me neither.

(If you have, send recommendations, because that is a movie I’d like to see).

15. The death of the ‘let’s rip each other’s clothes off’ energy

You’re going, it’s hot, and then suddenly it’s slowing to a halt, your mind is wandering, and you’re just not really that bothered about the moment.

Never has this been mentioned in popular culture. Which is why we continue, try to pretend that ‘yes, I am totally still enthusiastic and not at ALL thinking about watching Made in Chelsea’ and continue onwards.

16. The whole getting wet/getting it up thang

The way sex ed is taught means we’re told, in very to-the-point, biological terms, that blood will rush to a guy’s penis, and give him an erection, when he’s aroused.

No mention of how long that might take, how long it could last, or anything to do with women getting sex-ready.

Same with movies. Couple kiss and they’re ready to go.

Meanwhile, we’re over here desperately figuring out how to remedy dry vag + unenthusiastic penis situations. Hopefully not at the same time.

17. Talking dirty

Someone give us lessons, please.

19. Pain, UTIs, random sexual system-related issues

Oh dear LORD, we’re not prepared for random sex-related health mishaps without assuming that we’re dying.

Let’s all make a mental note to tell people that peeing post sex is a good idea, sometimes things are uncomfortable and if there’s major pain or something wrong, go to the doctor without feeling massively embarrassed. Important.

19. Penises and vaginas, in all their glory

Ask your female friends how many of them think their vaginas are pretty, or normal.

Think about how many times you’ve been surprised by how your sex partner’s junk looks.

Genitalia are weird, and different, and full of surprises and we would have just liked to have been a little bit more prepared for that, thanks.

Metro UK

Politics: Governorship Election Did Not Hold In Our Polling Units – Witnesses

Peterside and Gov. Wike

Eight witnesses on Thursday told the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja that the 2015 governorship election did not hold in their various polling units.

The witnesses told the tribunal that the March 28 presidential poll and April 11 governorship elections were characterised by irregularities.

They gave their testimonies during cross-examination by Counsels to the 1st respondent, INEC, 2nd respondent, Gov. Nyesom Wike and the 3rd respondent the PDP.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that the APC and its candidate, Dr Dakuku Peterside had filed a petition before the tribunal seeking the nullification of the governorship election.

The party sought nullification of the poll on the ground that it was marked by irregularities and fraudulent practices.

Mr Jack Tamunosaki, APC collation officer in Akukatalu LGA, said there was no election in the 13 polling units in Ward 12 where he monitored.

He stated this during cross-examination by Mr Ikpeazu Onyechi, counsel to INEC, Mr Chris Uche PDP counsel and Mr Emmanuel Ukala Wike’s counsel.

Tamunosaki said: “I did not see any election materials at the centre where they are supposed to be displaced.

“My job for my party is to cover the 13 polling units; I arrived at the collation centre as early as 6:30 a.m.

The APC collation officer also alleged that there was shooting and explosion of dynamites in some of the polling units in Abolima.

“The shooting started at about 7 p.m. on the 10th of April up till April 11 in Abolima town.

“I was in my ward up till 11 p.m. on that day and till the next day, there was no electoral materials,’’ Tamunosaki said.

The witness also claimed there was also no accreditation of voters during the governorship poll.

Mr John Lekova-Kootte another collation officer who testified for the APC said result sheets were not declared openly for the officers at the centre to see.

He said that the election materials for the ward he supervised were removed to unknown destination by some PDP officials, adding that there was no collation at the centre.

Mr Mactarlane Dimabo, Ibifagha Adiesigha and Tamuno Bristol, collation officers for wards 5, 6 and 12 respectively said that materials like ballot papers, result sheets and ballot boxes were not made public.

They alleged that hired thugs intimidating voters, adding that most of the INEC ad-hoc staff were ard carrying members of the PDP.

Mr Jas Nyone and Charlie Krukrubo APC collation officers who testified, said election materials were distributed at their polling units after 2 p.m

They alleged that thugs over powered policemen in the centres.

They also alleged that ballot boxes were snatched and APC party members were beaten during the poll. 

(NAN)

US prepares for big war with China to topple its economy: Activist

U.S. President Barack Obama

The United States is preparing a big war with China in order to stop its economic rise, American anti-war activist Joe Iosbaker says.

The United States is trying to establish peace with Iran because it is preparing to start a bigger war with China to destroy its economy, an American anti-war activist in Chicago says.

Joe Iosbaker, a leader of the United National Antiwar Coalition, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Friday while commenting on a report which says more senators have announced to support the Iran nuclear agreement.

On Wednesday, Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski became the 34th senator to announce that she would support the historic nuclear accord reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in Vienna in July. On Thursday, Democratic Senators Cory Booker and Mark Warner said they will also back the agreement.

Democrats need at least 34 votes in the Senate, or 146 in the House of Representatives, to sustain the veto President Barack Obama has promised. The new development means Democrats will now have enough votes to protect the nuclear agreement in Congress.

“President Obama would succeed in passing the Iran nuclear deal. The US needs a peace deal with Iran for their pivot to Asia. They need peace with Iran because they can’t prepare to fight two major wars,” Iosbaker said, referring to the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia strategy, which envisages that 60 percent of the total US armed forces would be deployed under the Pacific Command, with China as its focal point.

“So in recent days, first 34 and now 36 senators say they would support the deal with Iran. This means that if the Republicans and pro-war Zionists succeed in passing a resolution disapproving the Iran nuclear resolution, Obama would veto their resolution, and he has the minimum level of sustain his veto,” he added.

“The confirmation of his victory over the Republicans and those hardened Zionists is a defeat for the stance of Israel and [Persian] Gulf states who want a war with Iran,” the activist continued.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Iosbaker said, “All the politicians in the US, [in] both parties, they represent the supper rich. These people, the super rich, overall favor this deal. Why? They want the US back on the top of the world economy.”

U.S Map/ Google Photo

“But it’s harder and harder to accomplish that. They are using their free trade agreements with their puppets, like the Philippines, but the imperialists are challenged by the trend of independent developing economies by third world countries that have defeated US wars, like in Iraq and in Afghanistan and then Syria, which is overall defeating” foreign-sponsored Takfiris, he added.

“So, Obama has a rational plan. He has indentified China as the only economic power that can really displace the US at the top of the world economic heap. Therefore, it is with China that the US is preparing for war,” the analyst stated.

Relations between the US and China have become increasingly strained after Beijing announced an air defense zone over the East China Sea in November 2013. China has repeatedly accused Washington of meddling in the regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions in the East and South China Seas.

“Of course, as Russia has been compelled to stand up to the US aggression, the Russians are facing a greater threat as well. But, anyway, the Iran deal is not the US seeking peace, it’s the US avoiding a war with Iran to prepare for a bigger war with China,” Iosbaker concluded.

Reuters

Driver of Ojuelegba killer container arrested, detained

The Lagos State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of the driver of the Ojuelegba killer trailer that fell off the bridge on Wednesday evening.

The 40-feet container carrying building materials, iron doors and cements, fell off the bridge and trapped two vehicles.

While the occupant of the white Nissan Sunny with number plate, DG 750 LND, escaped unhurt, the three passengers in the black Toyota Camry, with number plate, LSD 532 CN, were crushed to death.

The command also identified the victims of the accident as Abubakar Suleiman, Kamilu Umar and Umaru Suleiman.

It said that the driver of the truck is currently been detained at the Surulere Police Division.

It was gathered that the only survivor of the accident, Lasisi Akeem, had yet to show up at the police station to write statement.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Patricia Amadin, also said the relatives of the victims had already come by the station.

“The driver has been arrested and is in custody. But the survivor, whose statement is vital, is yet to show up at the station to write a report.”

She said, “The driver of the truck has been arrested, and he is currently at the Surulere Police Division.

His name was however withheld from the media.

The Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe, said the men were between the ages of 30 and 55 years.

The General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Michael Akindele, said, “Immediately we finished clearing the debris yesterday, we took the corpses to the mortuary.

“We are already in contact with the families of the victims and the governor has also sent representatives to condole with them,” he said.

PM News

Money: Can you find the forgery?

Have you lost a ton of money on the stock market this week? Maybe it's time to invest in counterfeit currency. (That's not actual investment advice.)

With all the talk of bitcoin kidnapping and hackers stealing our credit card information, it's hard to believe that good old-fashioned counterfeiting is still a problem. And it's a BIG problem—in fact, this Big Crunch reporter was recently the victim of currency trickery.

I went to a laundry to pick up a bag of clothes and handed the cashier a crisp $10 bill—maybe a little too crisp. She took one look at it and handed it back saying, "It's fake."

I was in no mood for this and argued for a little while until it was clear she wasn't going to take it. Later, comparing it to other bills, I was blown away that the woman could identify the fraud with just a glance. Take a look. Can you tell which is fake? (See below for the answer.)


Which of these $10s is fake?  The top one. The bottom one.

Neither. I'll leave a comment below.

They're both worthless. Bring back the gold standard.

This got me thinking. How common is it these days to get counterfeit currency? Does it pass in and out of our wallets unnoticed—I wouldn't have noticed if the woman at laundry hadn't pointed it out. And why a 10? I mean, if you're going to the bother of printing fake currency, at least make it worth your while with a $20 or $100.

It turns out there's upwards of $147 million in fake U.S. currency circulating globally these days, according the most recent data available from the U.S. Secret Service. About 60 percent of that is in the U.S. The $20 bill is the most common counterfeit denomination in the states, while the $100 bill is the most common overseas.

Around 1 in 10,000 bills is fake

It's tough to get estimates on how many fake bills there are in different denominations. The most recent figures are from a 2006 report, which found that only 6 percent of counterfeits seized by the Secret Service in the U.S. were 10s, while more than 40 percent were 20s. That was the year before the new 10 went into circulation, which has more security features than the previous edition. At the same time, that was two years after the new 20 came out and Jackson's share of counterfeits actually increased in that time, from 36 percent in 2003.

That $147 million is a fraction of a percent of the approximately $1.2 trillion of genuine U.S. currency floating around out there, but it's still enough to devote resources to crack down on the fakery: The Secret Service arrested 2,191 people in fiscal 2014 on counterfeit currency charges, according to the agency's annual report. They also shut down 188 counterfeit manufacturing plants worldwide.

"There's been a shift...to a larger number of unskilled opportunistic counterfeiters."-U.S. Secret Service

The digital revolution has changed how counterfeiters operate, too. The proliferation of cheap printing technology has largely replaced the traditional "off-set" printing techniques with a low-cost, populist alternative.

"Within the last two decades, there has been a shift from a smaller number of highly skilled domestic counterfeiters … to a larger number of unskilled opportunistic counterfeiters," a Secret Service document said.

Of the counterfeit currency produced in the U.S. in 2014, around 61 percent was made using digital printing, and 39 percent was made with the traditional offset method. That 61 percent is up from around 1 percent in the mid-1990s, according to some reports. Keep in mind though that that's just on the domestic side. Higher-quality offset printing still flourishes internationally, where there's less of a chance of being caught and forgers can even be supported by local governments.

The ease of digital counterfeiting has led some software manufacturers to include currency-detection features that prevent users from opening images of U.S. bills.

Adobe Photoshop doesn't allow you to edit images of U.S. currency, specifically to prevent counterfeiting. But Adobe's Illustrator software has no such restriction. A spokesperson for Adobe pointed to a online statement regarding Photoshop's counterfeit deterrence system but declined to elaborate on other products' features.

The bill on the bottom is the forgery.

CNBC

WTF? This woman says she earns over £16m a year from eBay

We need to get back on eBay (Picture: Linda Lightman)

Somewhere along the line we’ve messed up big time. Because we’re constantly in our overdraft, while this woman is making over £16m a year selling stuff on eBay.

Linda Lightman is a 53-year-old eBay seller from Philadelphia who has turned selling her old junk into a multi-million pound business over the last 15 years.

She now sells other people’s unwanted clothing, shoes, handbags, accessories and jewellery through the ‘Linda’s stuff‘ eBay boutique, and says she makes $25 million (£16.4m) every year.

These old things? (Picture: Linda Lightman)

She told MailOnline she started off by selling her son’s old video games on the auction site back in 2000 and now has a team of people working out of a a 5,000-square-foot office space.

‘We list approximately 5,000 items a day with approximately 140,000 unique items listed on a site,’ the ex-lawyer said.

And she reckons we could all be doing it. ‘Most people don’t know that the average household has over 52 items worth over $3,000 (£2,000) just lying around their house ready to sell,’ she says, adding: ‘But you don’t have to be limited by what is in your home. Branch out. You can make money selling other items on eBay.’

Here’s her top tips:

How to clean up on eBay

Do some research: ‘Learn how to price by researching what similar items are selling for’.

Pick a good user ID: ‘Clearly, I wish I had taken this advice,’ Linda admits.

Use good quality images and detailed descriptions: ‘Take lots of pictures’, you want ‘crisp, sharp’ images. And ‘describe, describe. Is the item new or pre-loved? Does it have tags? What is the fabric content? What are the measurements? The more you include, the better.’

Write a great title so your item stands out: ‘Make sure to include the designer name, size, color, style and other identifiers that buyers would search for.’

Provide excellent customer service: It’s important to be very clear about terms for payment, shipping and returns. And be prepared to provide more detailed if asked.

Be reliable and prompt: ‘Be prepared to pack and ship it quickly and in the manner agreed upon in your listing,’ she says, and pack nicely.

Enjoy it: ‘People say if you do what you love and love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life – I never believed it until I started Linda’s Stuff.’

This time next year, we’ll all be millionaires.

Metro UK

Oladeinde Fernandez’s Daughter Speaks: “My Father Loved Nigeria But FG Didn’t Allow Him to Serve the Country”

Daughter of the late billionaire, Chief Antonio Oladeinde Fernandez, Mrs. Teju Phillips, said on Thursday that previous Nigerian governments did not allow her father to serve the country in any capacity.

According to Phillips, who is a former Lagos State Commissioner, the deceased represented many African countries due to his love for service but he was not given such an opportunity in his country till his death.

She said;

He knew how to manage people and endeared himself to them. For this, he was well appreciated. His involvement with the United Nations made him to appreciate people especially Africans. He represented so many countries in the world, he believed in Africa and in a united Africa.

Unfortunately, previous Nigerian governments never gave him the opportunity to serve the country. His sermon always was that Africa should remain one.

On the rumour that her late father was a recluse, Phillips disagreed, saying he was a man of the people, who loved justice, equity and had an undying love for humanity.

She said, “He was not a recluse but he cherished his privacy. He would always say you should remain who you are and he was unapologetically proud about being black.”he deceased’s daughter in Lagos, wrote,

A diplomat and Permanent Representative of Central African Republic to the United Nations, the late Fernandez served as an advisor to the Angolan Government on Economic matters, a position he held for two years until his appointment as Deputy Permanent Representative of Mozambique to the United Nations in 1984.

How Nigerian conmen lived large in London

Two London-based Nigerian con-men, Godwin Nwaofor and Frank Onyechonam involved in defrauding mainly American pensioners, informing them they had won the Australian Lottery, through bogus letters, have met their waterloo.


Nwaofor

Daily Mail reports that Nwaofor who had cheated pensioners out of £5m life savings had a ‘suckers list’ of target victims to send his bogus letters to. The letters were sent by a ‘lottery agent’ targeting mainly American pensioners, informing them they had won a life-changing prize and demanding ‘activation fees’ to release their cash.

He received around £1million from the scam and blew the money on luxury cars, gold jewellery and expensive champagne at top nightclubs in London.

However, Nwaofor helped Onyechonam, who was nicknamed ‘Fizzy’ for his love of vintage champagne and jailed for eight years last year, after he was exposed as the chief player in the scam

Judge Richard Hone QC however, today, had little sympathy for Nwaofor, who broke down in tears at Central Criminal Court as he was jailed for seven years.

The Judge said the evidence in the case, at Central Criminal Court, against Nwaofor was ‘overwhelming’ and showed him to be a proven liar.

”You have a tendency to be dishonest in your dealings with landlords, agencies, the police, HMRC, and car hire firms. You also moved addresses regularly to ensure your whereabouts remained a mystery,” he said.


Nwaofor in a Ferrari

Nwaofor moved to the UK in January 2006 from Nigeria and soon married a German citizen. He has two children with her, aged six and six-months-old. Nwaofor lived in Camberell Green, South London.

One victim, a 76-year-old woman, who believed she had won $1.85m, tried to track down Nwaofor after the FBI told her she had fallen victim to a scam

She flew to the UK and went to the address she had for Nwaofor, but found that he had already moved on to another address.

Nwaofor, found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, converting criminal property, and acquisition of criminal property, will serve half his sentence in prison and the remaining part on licence. He will also now face confiscation proceeds.

Onyeachonam’s opulence

Onyeachonam

However, Police identified 406 victims from two notebooks found at Onyeachonam’s Canary Wharf penthouse, in London when he was arrested.

They seized Louis Vuitton shoes, Gucci handbags, a collection of expensive watches and dozens of designer shoes, as well as 5,000 pictures of Onyeachonam flaunting his wealth at exclusive upmarket venues including the Guvnor Bar in Docklands, east London.

Onyeachonam, of Canning Town, east London, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud between January 2005 and December 2012.

There was also evidence of extensive communication with Lagos resident, Ese Orogun, nicknamed the ‘chairman’, who is thought to be the global mastermind of the fraud.

Orogun reportedly lives in a private gated community, and is a ‘celebrity’ in the Nigerian capital and drives multiple supercars, including a Maserati and a Porsche.

Detectives fear the scale of the fraud could even mushroom to £30million if all the details discovered in notebooks and emails can be traced to victims.


Onyeachonam’s property in Nigeria



Onyeachonam’s Porsche car

Vanguard