BEWARE OF IDENTITY THIEVES!

The following story appeared in the ABA Journal and every traveler should be on guard. As you can see, ID thieves are not only shady characters in dark rooms, but can also be sophisticated and educated people who use their knowledge for nefarious purposes:

Internet Law

ID Fraud Case a Cautionary Tale for Business Travelers

Posted Jan 10, 2008, 11:34 am CST By Martha Neil

A Colombian engineer pleaded guilty in federal court in Miami yesterday to a 16-count indictment concerning an identity fraud scheme that netted him up to $750,000 from unsuspecting business travelers worldwide and could easily be copied by other thieves.
To perpetrate the crimes, Mario Alberto Simbaqueba Bonilla, 40, simply checked into high-class hotels and installed keystroke "spy" software on computers in their business centers, reports the Miami Herald. Then, as business travelers and other hotel guests used the same computers to log into their personal accounts and conduct financial transactions, the spyware saved this information for Simbaqueba to retrieve remotely from another location.
Authorities say he installed spyware on computers in at least 25 hotels between 2004 and 2007, stealing the identities of at least 600 victims and using their funds and credit fraudulently obtained in their names to pay for a lavish globe-trotting lifestyle, the newspaper recounts. A former wife who is still at large allegedly cooperated in the scheme, helping Simbaqueba to conceal his whereabouts by allowing him to use her computer in Illinois as a base for his operations. The scheme reportedly was discovered only after 17 soldiers were fleeced of their payroll deposits and the Pentagon investigated, tracking an electronic evidence trail to him.
Simbaqueba faces a prison term of up to 10 years when he is sentenced in March on the conspiracy, fraud, and identity theft charges to which he pled guilty yesterday.
''I wish this was a complex scheme, but it was breathtakingly simple,'' says U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta. Hence, other travelers who use hotel business centers are also vulnerable to such high-tech predators, he warns.
Most of the losses in Simbaqueba's case reportedly were paid by banks, brokerages, airlines and other corporations.

THIs IS A MOCKERY OF THE REFUGEE SYSTEM

The Laibar Singh case in Vancouver is beginning to make CBSA look like a bunch of impotent bunglers, and the Canadian refugee system as a big joke. A second attempt to deport this failed refugee claimant who has already had many days in court, has failed because the mob has managed again to thwart the rule of law. I really do not care about the merits of the case or lack thereof, but I do care about the message being sent to the world: "come to Canada by fraudulent means, use our refugee system, and if you do not like the result, you do not have to go as long as you have a personal mob to protect you with the complicity of a religious institution, and if you get sick, we will pay your bills too, even if it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, because we re nice Canadian bleeding hearts and we are worried that your friends may get upset if we enforce the law". I am sure this will inspire great confidence in Canada and its legal institutions. See article in today's Globe and Mail:

Singh case tests border agency's strength

Government risks appearing impotent if it keeps delaying deportation, adviser warns

IAN BAILEY
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
January 10, 2008 at 4:52 AM EST

VANCOUVER — The Canada Border Services Agency risks the appearance of impotence if it allows public protests to keep driving its agents away from deporting a paralyzed refugee claimant from India, a member of the agency's advisory committee says.
Don DeVoretz, also an economics professor at Simon Fraser University, made the comments yesterday after border agents, facing about 300 supporters of Laibar Singh at the Guru Nanak Temple in Surrey, called off a bid to take the 48-year-old man into custody. It was the second time in a month that protest has derailed their plans for Mr. Singh.
"They can't continue to go on doing this indefinitely," Prof. DeVoretz, co-director of SFU's centre of excellence in immigration studies, said in an interview. "Just repeating this process with the same outcome is not tenable."
Asked about the harm to the system, he said: "You can't try and enforce an order and have it rejected indefinitely. It makes them impotent."
But Prof. DeVoretz suggested it would be un-Canadian for officials to swoop in and secretly remove Mr. Singh by force. "This is not our tradition," he said. "That's not the kind of business we're in."
Instead, he proposed that Canada make a deal to take care of Mr. Singh's health issues when he is returned to India. Mr. Singh has said he won't be able to get proper medical treatment in India.
"That's the way out of it. It's the honourable way, the correct way, the Canadian way."
For several years, Prof. DeVoretz has been a member of the Canada Border Services advisory committee, which provides independent advice and acts as a sounding board on trends and developments that might affect the management of the border and priorities and operations of the agency. He noted that the 22-member committee does not deal with individual cases, but said he would be glad to offer his advice on the Singh case if asked.
He said he expects the issue could be a problem for the Conservatives if a federal election is called in the spring. "If we had an election this spring and this was an issue, it would be a cause célèbre."
Mr. Singh, who was granted sanctuary at the temple yesterday, entered Canada on a false passport in 2003. An aneurysm in 2006 left him a quadriplegic. With help from supporters, he took shelter in an Abbotsford temple in June after being ordered deported. Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day has twice extended Mr. Singh's stay, but a deportation order was issued in December.
Last month, a crowd of about 2,000 people at Vancouver airport forced the CBSA to call off an attempt to send Mr. Singh back to India.
And at about 4:30 a.m. yesterday, supporters forced yet another cancellation of a deportation effort. Mr. Singh's lawyer, Zool Suleman, had been informed the CBSA was coming to collect his client. Mr. Suleman rejected suggestions that the smaller crowd reflected a decline in support for his client.
"I think it suggests that people don't like waking up at 3 a.m. in the morning and coming out on a cold, wet day. This entire removal was structured in such a manner that there was the shortest possible amount of notice to Mr. Singh," he said.
"In light of that, it's amazing that two- to-three hundred people were there."
He said his client is pleased. "He's tired, but, over all, relieved not to be leaving."
Mr. Suleman said talks are under way with the CBSA to figure out what to do. He said agents told him they backed off because they wanted to respect the sanctity of the temple, saw the public support and were wary of creating tension by removing him, and wanted guidance from their superiors.
"There's a dialogue going on," he said. "We're hoping to communicate with them to see what the next step is."
Mr. Singh wants permanent residence status in Canada. "He has voluntary medical attention. He has a caregiver. He has a tremendous amount of support. He's obviously paralyzed and the medical opinion is that's not going to change so [the question] is how do we make him productive and integrated."
Paula Shore, a spokeswoman for the border agency, refused to comment on the specifics of the Singh case yesterday, but noted that her organization does not condone people hiding from deportation in places of worship.
"The fact that someone is hiding in a place of worship to avoid removal does not influence the government's decision concerning the case," she said. "Our goal is always to affect removal as expeditiously as possible once an order may be issued."
Mr. Day also would not comment on the Singh case, but told reporters yesterday he expects people to act on orders issued to resolve such immigration disputes. "We expect people to live by their word and by their commitment," he said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080110.wbcsingh10/BNStory/National/home

VERY INTERESTING ANALYSIS BY BROCK UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS

Brock Professors look into the future of Canada

By: Katherine Gottli
Posted: 1/8/08

While the New Year has only just begun, 2008 promises to be an interesting news year in Canada, but also all over the world. With the United States federal election to be held in November, the headlines over the next year will certainly be covered with information about the unique group of candidates all vying to take over the position from President Bush.Though the election will potentially overshadow Canadian news, it is not to say that there are not important Canadian issues to be dealt with in the New Year. According to John Sivell in the Department of Intercultural Studies at Brock University, "cultural contact and communication" are predicted to be very important provincial and national issues."Immigration policy issues with respect to the growing perception that Canada more and more needs to attract qualified newcomers, and yet is functioning far less effectively than some other nations (especially the United States) in terms of making it possible for newcomers actually to practise their trades or professions here [will be important in 2008]" said Sivell.This notion is echoed by Statistics Canada, which indicated that in 2005, even after two to four years in the Canadian job market, approximately 36 per cent of immigrants still had no connections to the job market, and just a little under 30 per cent were not able to find a job in their field. Along with immigration, the well-being of our already culturally diverse nation will be in the news this year, according to Sivell. Language issues, as well as the provision of medical and social services, will be hot topics for Canadians.To accompany the federal election in the United States, issues regarding the Canadian military and oil prices, both examined extensively over the past year, will still remain in the news in Canada in 2008. "The continuing national debate about Canada's role in Afghanistan, particularly in cultural terms [for example], the balance between military and development activity/spending, the appropriate stance in relation to religious/cultural practices, communication between Canada and the governments not only of Afghanistan but also of other NATO nations concerning the sharing of responsibilities ... if there is a federal election in 2008, this will be a key theme, for sure," Sivell said.Martin Head, professor of earth sciences at Brock, predicted in 2007 that over the next year the oil prices would continue to rise, and on Jan. 2, his prediction proved accurate as oil prices reached their all-time high of $100 per barrel.Head believes that the prices can be attributed to the "escalating industrialization of China and India, and of course by North America's gratuitous addiction to energy".While some may see this as a negative, Head believes that it will be beneficial for Canada's economy."This is very good news for Canada's natural resource industries - especially oil and gold - and the booming economies of Alberta and now Saskatchewan should run for a good while," Head said.While both Head and Sivell spoke mostly about issues relating to Canada, Sivell also mentions that international news dealing with (though not exclusive to) Kenya, Sudan, Iraq, Iran and Thailand will make headlines this year.

VERY WORRISOME BUT UNSURPRISING TREND

Canada is a haven to gangsters on the run

GARY MASON
Globe and Mail Update

January 7, 2008 at 7:09 AM EST

GUATEMALA CITY — Canada is becoming an attractive destination for Central American gang members running from the law or trying to escape police scrutiny, says an assistant prosecutor in charge of gangs.
Robert Morales, a prosecutor with the Ministerio Publico, Guatemala's criminal justice branch, says he knows of gang members from this Central American capital who are seeking refugee status in Canada.
"We know that there are members of Mara 18 and MS-13 who are in Canada and are seeking to stay there," Mr. Morales said. "I came across a gang member who was working in a call centre here. He'd just returned from a long stint in Ontario. We're hearing about Canada more and more often in connection with gang members here."
It was recently reported that Ernesto Roberto Contreras Mendoza, an El Salvadoran member of the notorious MS-13 gang, was walking the streets of British Columbia. He has had his application for refugee status denied but can't be deported until criminal charges he is facing for assault and uttering threats are dealt with. Meantime, he is out on bail.
"There is no question that Canadian authorities are concerned about the worst gang elements from Central America migrating north and escaping some of the heat down here," Mr. Morales said.
Superintendent John Robin, head of the RCMP's integrated gang task force, said in an interview Central American gang members are looking to escape a crackdown on their activities in countries south of the Mexican border.
"I think they [gang members] have a feeling that police here won't treat them in the harsh manner they get down there," Supt. Robin said.
He hastened to add, however, that we are not seeing Central American gang members in Canada in anywhere near the numbers that exist in the United States. He said part of the reason the RCMP is working with justice officials in Guatemala is to build ties and intelligence connections that will help keep an eye on the movement of gangsters down there.
"We want to avoid ending up like the U.S., which is dealing with the problem of Central American gangsters on a much bigger scale," Supt. Robin said.
Gangs are one of the central issues facing political leaders and judicial authorities in Central America. El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, brutalized by decades of civil war and grinding poverty, are home to the greatest concentration. Some put the overall number of gang members in Central America at more than 100,000.
In Guatemala, as elsewhere, the gangs make money mostly by setting up extortion rackets. They levy impuestos, or self-styled taxes, against bus drivers, store owners and home owners who operate or live in their neighbourhood. Gangs have even been known to levy "rape taxes" on the parents of young girls. The monthly payoffs are made to ensure the safety of their child.
Mara 18 and MS-13 have become far more vicious than any other gangs. Both have their roots in Los Angeles during the 1970s and 1980s, when more than one million people fled Central America, mostly El Salvador, amid political violence and civil war. Mara 18 is an offshoot of 18th Street gang (Mara is Salvadoran slang for gang). MS-13 is short for Mara Salvatrucha, whose members are initiated with a 13-second beating.
The children of those who arrived in Los Angeles formed gangs to protect themselves against the gangs that already existed there. Many of these kids and their parents were deported in the 1990s, returning to Central America, where gangs have been thriving since.
Mara 18 and MS-13, who have long marked themselves with massive and intricate tattoos, have become notorious for their trademark beheadings, mutilations and the torture-killings of rival gangsters and informants. In recent years, governments, police and citizens have begun taking a more hard-nosed approached to gang members, many of whom have been rounded up and shot for simply being marked with gang tattoos.
Gang members have taken to putting their tattoo markings in less obvious places and even adopting a preppy dress style to avoid the attention of those on the lookout for them.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080107.wxmasonside07/BNStory/International/

ANOTHER COLOSSAL WASTE OF MONEY BY THE FEDS

The proposed Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg (popularly a.ka. "Winterpeg"), will cost taxpayers over $ 100 ( before cost overruns, of course!) and serve no purpose other than becoming a bone of contention amongst different ethnic groups. Rather than wasting such an enormous amount of money in a "white elephant", why does not the government use the money to fix its mistakes in education, health care, and even immigration policy? I can tell you that an injection of 4100 to hire more visa officers overseas would go a long way....This is just a waste of funds for political expediency, in a place where no one is rushing to go to. When was the last time you heard someone say "I am going on vacation to Winnipeg"...Pleeeeez...See this commentary:

http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/2008/01/03/4750194-sun.html

INDIA WILL IMPLEMENT ADVANCED PASSENGER INFORMATION SYSTEM

The following article was published today in the Times of India. It is obvious that India wishes to be considered "safe" for the purposes of travel, so its burgeoning economy can continue to grow with massive trade in services and allow its citizens to fly around the world with minimal security concerns. Now...if they could only manage to build a decent airport that is not a dump with a good road leading to it, and announce plane delays on a timely basis rather than two hours after their supposed departure, it would be an even nicer place to do business (oh, yes, and breaking up telephone monopolies and cleaning out air pollution and garbage would be great too!)

Advance flier info system from April

4 Jan 2008, 0015 hrs IST,Vishwa Mohan

NEW DELHI: India will have an advance passenger information service (APIS), on the lines of the system in use in US, which will provide information such as passport and travel details about incoming passengers allowing immigration authorities at six Indian airports to scan the manifests for likely terror threats. The advanced technical system will be operational at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Cochin airports from April 1. After running a pilot project for Air India, all international airlines will now have to provide information about passengers and crew within 15 minutes of taking off on flights bound for India. At present, besides the US, APIS is operational in nine countries: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Bahrain, South Korea, China, Mexico, South Africa and Japan. APIS was installed in the US after 9/11 and there have been occasions when aircrafts have been diverted after American authorities objected to the presence of certain persons on a flight. But the advance information has allowed immigration officers to run checks on databases and also look for indicators like countries visited and nationality. The system has been criticised as a form of profiling where mere nationality or ethnicity can be a reason for questioning, but security agencies feel that it gives them valuable lead time. It is also felt that immigration clearance could become easier for those who don't fall in suspect categories. Union home ministry has decided to go ahead with APIS and pilots of international flights will pass on travellers' names, date of birth, nationality, sex, passport number, country issuing the passport, country of permanent residence and visa number as well as date and place of issue to immigration authorities at destination airports. "The decision to operationalise APIS at six airports from April 1 was taken recently in a high-level meeting held by home secretary Madhukar Gupta. Civil aviation and tourism officials also took part where they discussed modalities to make it operational at remaining airports by the end of this year," said a senior home ministry official. Though the passenger information would first be passed on to the immigration authorities for faster immigration clearance at airports, the data will also be shared with security agencies to check presence of any "suspicious element" on board from their records. This system is currently being tested at Delhi's international airport.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Advance_flier_info_system_from_April_/articleshow/2673126.cms

INTERESTING ARTICLE ON MULTICULTURALISM

Canada has been viewed by governments and international bodies the world over as a leading example of the successful accommodation of ethno-cultural diversity. Yet in 2007, the multicultural model came under intense scrutiny — a trend likely to continue into 2008 — and many now argue the policy has outlived its usefulness. See this interesting article:

http://en.epochtimes.com/tools/printer.asp?id=63557