tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-129314572024-03-08T21:56:56.038+05:00Cyber Crime IndiaAn Information Technology blog by the Convenor of India's Public Law Initiative. This weblog is about Computer Hacking, Credit Card Fraud, and Foreign Banks illegally functioning in India.
Sarbajit Roy has filed India's first IT ACT 2000 Cyber Crime Complaint on rampant Hacking widespread in India's Banking, Financial and BPO sectors, inter-alia seeking imprisonment of Senior Officials of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd (CIBIL) for criminal complicity.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger142125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-79247571871342197812007-07-16T15:24:00.000+05:002007-07-16T15:27:11.030+05:00This "popular" blog makes it to national print media<span style="font-weight:bold;">Small war against the big premium SMS rip-off</span><br /><br />Mayank Tewari, Hindustan Times<br />First Published: 03:10 IST(15/7/2007)<br /><br />Randhir Verma, president of the Chandigarh Telecom Subscribers Association, is all set to take on telecom operators over what he calls the ‘premium SMS fraud.’<br /><br />A premium SMS costs anywhere between Rs 3 to Rs 6 – unlike Re 1 for a local one, and Rs 2 for a national — and the cost is shared by the cellular operator and the media channel.<br /><br />“Kaun Banega Crorepati”, for instance, generated 58 million SMSes over three months. Assuming a charge of Rs 3 per SMS, a total of Rs 174 million was shared by the TV channel and the cellular operator. So who is losing out? The consumer.<br /><br />“This is open cheating,” says BS Sharma, president, All India Consumer Congress, another consumer forum. “If the subscriber is at the root of this money generation, then why don’t they get a share?”<br /><br />Two weeks ago, Sarbajit Roy noticed his 7-year-old son trying to send an SMS to win a free trip to Singapore.<br /><br />“I was shocked to see the “Pyjama Pakdo” contest on Hungama TV. Every time a child sees a pyjama on screen he is expected to send an SMS. The first child to send 100 SMSes could win a trip to Singapore,” says Roy, a telecom consultant who writes the popular blog Cyber Crime India.<br /><br />“My son was very upset when he learnt that a boy from Hyderabad had won a trip.” The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which registers consumer forums like the Chandigarh Telecom Subscribers Association, does not control the pricing of value-added services.<br /><br />“We don’t interfere with the price mechanism of premium SMS-based services — this does not fall under the purview of the TRAI,” says TRAI chairman Nipendra Misra.<br /><br />There is one more reason why telecom operators are getting greedy. The Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), as on March 31, 2007, is going down. Market leader Bharti’s ARPU, for instance, has come down to Rs 406 (quarter ending March this year), compared to Rs 427 in the previous quarter. Idea Cellular too has witnessed a drop: to Rs 317 from Rs 322.<br /><br />Result? “Everyone is focused on value- added services (VAS),” says Kartikeya, president, content, Cellebrum, a firm that provides telecom operators with VAS packages. VAS, estimated to be worth Rs 4,950 crore in March 2007, is set to grow by over 65% and generate business worth Rs 8,200 crore by the end of this financial year, according to estimates made by the Assocham.<br /><br />If consumers have a problem, they should take it up with a consumer court, says Misra since TRAI is not a content regulator.<br /><br />TrackBack:<br />http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=8411e96e-7ee4-40bf-b709-debbb4a5ddb2&&Headline=War+against+the+big+premium+SMS+rip-offUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1158399671424246952006-09-16T14:39:00.000+05:002006-09-16T14:41:11.440+05:00Sarbajit puts Delhi Govt in "legal fix"Govt in legal fix<br />NIDHI SHARMA<br />[ 14 Sep, 2006 0013hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]<br /><br />NEW DELHI: Traders may be invading Town Hall with requests for giving more roads the commercial tag, but there's some bad news.<br /><br />Attempts to save the capital from the sealing drive have hit a legal hurdle as Delhi government is unable to figure out under which Act it should formally notify 1,979 streets as commercial, mixed land use and pedestrian shopping streets.<br /><br />MCD's standing committee had approved change of land use of these streets on Monday and forwarded the resolution to Delhi government for notification. The land use has to be changed under the new mixed land use regulations in Master Plan 2001, notified last week by the Union urban development ministry.<br /><br />The government, however, is struggling. The file is still with the urban development department and officials are finding it difficult to find a legally sound way out.<br /><br />Their predicament is that Delhi government cannot change the land use under Delhi Municipal Corporation Act.<br /><br />According to sources, Delhi urban development minister A K Walia held meetings with principal secretary (law) B S Mathur on Tuesday and Wednesday but was told that Delhi government had no legal backing to change the land use of the streets as this pertains to land, a subject under the purview of the Centre.<br /><br />The government has to frame a notification and send it for lieutenant-governor B L Joshi's approval. The notification has to be done under an Act. According to law department sources, the only sound legal option is to notify change of land use under Delhi Development Act 1957.<br /><br />Constitutional expert Sarbajit Roy, who has also challenged the ministry's notification in the high court, said: "The land use regulations can be changed only by DDA and there is a set procedure for this. The Act clearly specifies that the regulations need to be put before the two Houses of Parliament." <br /><br />trackback:<br />http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1988741.cmsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1142603714575079942006-03-17T18:53:00.000+05:002006-03-17T18:55:14.600+05:00Sarbajit versus Goliath.<span style="font-weight:bold;">"Distcoms now in RTI net"</span><br />ALOKE Tikku and MOUSHUMI Das Gupta<br />New Delhi {Hindustan Times - Delhi edition)<br /><br />INFORMATION IS power and Delhi's power distribution companies will<br />finally have to share it.<br /><br />The Central Information Commission on Thursday delivered a ruling that<br />brings the private power distribution companies (distcoms) under the<br />purview of the right to information law. The decision settles a<br />controversy over the status of the distcoms that had claimed exemption<br />from the RTI law on the ground that the majority shareholding was held<br />by private parties.<br /><br />Welcoming the move, Rakesh Mehta, principal commissioner (power) said,<br />"The government was always of the view that distcoms should be bought<br />under the purview of Information Act. It would help empower consumers."<br /><br />The distcoms are yet to be communicated the order. Talking to the<br />Hindustan Times, J.P. Chalasani, director, BSES said, "We have not<br />received any communication as yet. But if a decision has been taken to<br />bring us under RTI we will abide by it."<br /><br />The Delhi government holds a 49 per cent share in the equity of the<br />distribution companies. In its order announced at the conclusion of a<br />hearing in an appeal filed by Delhi citizen, Sarbajit Roy, a<br />two-member bench of the commission held that this was quite sufficient<br />for the private bodies to be treated as a "public authority" under the<br />right RTI law.<br /><br />Rather than seek a majority shareholding of the government, the only<br />requirement for a company to qualify as a public authority under the<br />RTI is that it should be "owned, controlled or substantially financed"<br />by the government.<br /><br />The issue about the status of the discoms came up when a RTI request<br />was filed with the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) to<br />seek information on the implementation of a Supreme Court order. Roy<br />had sought the information under a clause that empowered a public<br />authority to seek information from a private body. He never got the<br />information but the DERC did promptly move the Delhi government for a<br />clarification.<br /><br />... Power to the people, finally<br /><br />THE MOVE to include distcoms in the right to information Act is good<br />news for consumers. It means that from now distcoms will have to open<br />up to requests for information from consumers on all aspects of their<br />functioning, including issues like disposal of complaints, reason for<br />delay, what action has been taken against staff for delay, how much<br />power they get from Transco etc.<br /><br />The issue had been hanging fire for quite some time. In fact, the<br />Delhi government had written to the Centre last month seeking their<br />clarification. The issue had also rocked the ongoing session of Delhi<br />Assembly.<br /><br /><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rti_india/">sarbajit roy</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1137043748523984432006-01-12T10:26:00.000+05:002006-01-12T10:29:08.526+05:00DERC faces contempt petition [Sarbajit Roy]Sarbajit files a contempt petition in Supreme Court of India<br /><br />DERC faces contempt petition<br />NIDHI SHARMA<br />[ Saturday, December 10, 2005 01:14:16 am TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]<br /><br />NEW DELHI: A contempt petition has been filed against Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) for not directing private power companies to disconnect electricity connections of illegal industrial units running in non-conforming residential areas in the Capital.<br /><br />The petition was filed after the fire mishap in a Vishwas Nagar factory on Wednesday which was triggered by a short-circuit.<br /><br />On May 7, 2004, Supreme Court had given Delhi government a time-frame to close down illegal industrial units that had come up after August 1, 1990.<br /><br />The order was clear: water and electricity connections of the industrial units found operating after the due date of closure (the last deadline was November 8, 2004) had to be disconnected.<br /><br />The deadline for disconnection was December 8, 2004. According to statistics of Delhi Pollution Control Committee, the number of illegal industrial units that had come up after the 1990 cut-off date was about 51,000 in 1990 but had increased to 1.01 lakh by 1995.<br /><br />Official figures provided by the industries department show that only 2,673 water and electricity connections have been disconnected.<br /><br />The petition points out that despite the court orders, the private power companies were not directed to disconnect connections of illegal units.<br /><br />The drive against illegal industrial units was also carried out by SDMs and not the companies. The petitioner, Sarbajit Roy, has said: "The power companies have earned profits worth Rs 2,000 crore because of not initiating a drive against illegal industries.<br /><br />The contempts, which have commenced from December 9, 2004 and which are still going on, have seriously affected the administration...and deprived the residents of Delhi from their lawful entitlements to electricity." <br /><br />Trackback:<br />http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1326185.cmsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1137043249766163702006-01-12T10:16:00.000+05:002006-01-12T10:20:49.766+05:00Sarbajit and his multicoloured RTI raincoatSarbajit Roy gets results on opening day :-)<br /><br />First proceeding under RTI Act<br />Manoj Mitta<br />[ Saturday, December 24, 2005 01:55:08 am TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]<br /><br />NEW DELHI: The first ever quasi judicial proceedings under the Right to Information Act 2005 kicked off on a propitious note as a public authority readily agreed to mend its ways and give information to citizens without asking questions.<br /><br />The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), represented by its vice-chairman Dinesh Rai, told the Central Information Commission (CIC) that it would shortly revise the format of its existing application form to bring it in line with the RTI Act, so that no citizen has to give any explanation for why he is seeking information.<br /><br />In another far-reaching reform, the DDA said that each of its 40 public information officers would, in keeping with the RTI Act, be directed to accept any application for information regardless of whether the subject pertained to him or not.<br /><br />The CIC also forced the DDA to admit that its website does not comply with the RTI mandate of making a pro-active disclosure in form of 17 manuals on different aspects of the organisation.<br /><br />The concessions wrested from the DDA at its very first hearing may help the two-month-old CIC establish its credentials as the independent appellate body envisaged by the RTI Act.<br /><br />It is still too early to say whether the CIC packed with ex-babus really has the will to thwart the covert and not so covert attempts by the bureaucracy to hide information from citizens.<br /><br />In keeping with its stated policy of transparency, the CIC took the unusual step of allowing TV cameras to capture the proceedings in the face of objections from DDA officials.<br /><br />At the end of a two-hour public hearing, the CIC gave a fortnight to the DDA to explain why it had withheld from an applicant, Sarbajit Roy, the public feedback on the proposed Master Plan for Delhi-2021.<br /><br />The first hearing, however, had its share of teething problems. For one, the room available with the CIC to hold its public hearings turned out to be too small.<br /><br />In fact, the CIC, currently housed in the old campus of JNU, has already put out an advertisement to lease a larger and more centrally located premises.<br /><br />The CIC also admitted that it should not have in the very instance summoned the head of the DDA. It is likely that for future hearings, the CIC will summon only the public information officer of the department concerned to respond to the grievances of the applican<br /><br />Trackback:<br />http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1344538,curpg-1.cmsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1137042922508358362006-01-12T10:14:00.000+05:002006-01-12T10:16:17.736+05:00RTI: Depts have put up manuals onlineMore on Sarbajit Roy and his Right to Information Complaint against DDA<br /><br />RTI: Depts have put up manuals online<br />Manoj Mitta<br />[ Friday, December 23, 2005 02:20:21 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]<br /><br />NEW DELHI: The first-ever hearing by Central Information Commission on a particular matter is going to decide how much water does the RTI law hold.<br /><br />The RTI law specially provides that where the information sought for "concerns the life or liberty of a person, the same shall be provided within 48 hours of the receipt of the request".<br /><br />This implies that public information officers will have to attend to such urgent requests even on weekends and holidays. Most departments have made no arrangement yet for complying with this statutory requirement.<br /><br />The most commonly flouted provision of the RTI Act is the one that prescribes that each department should maintain 17 manuals in the public domain to usher in greater transparency in the functioning of the government.<br /><br />The departments that have put such manuals on their websites can be counted on fingertips. Each of these omissions and commissions on the part of bureaucracy have been highlighted by the complaint filed before Central Information Commission by a Delhi-based engineer, Sarbajit Roy.<br /><br />Trackback:<br />http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1343137.cmsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1137042828134955892006-01-12T10:11:00.000+05:002006-01-12T10:13:48.150+05:00Central Information Commission to hear first case FridaySarbajit Roy's RTI Test Case will have its first hearing on Friday 23-December-2005<br /><br />Central Information Commission to hear first case Friday<br />New Delhi | December 22, 2005 2:15:06 PM IST<br /> <br />It will be a baptism of sorts for the newly formed Central Information Commission when it hears its first case under the Right to Information Act Friday.<br /><br />"It's about procedural matters of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). The appellant has said that the mechanism of providing information by the DDA is inadequate," India's first Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah told IANS.<br /><br />This will be the first appeal case after the RTI Act was enacted Oct 12 and the Central Information Commission was set up.<br /><br />"It will help us clarify a lot of issues. I don't know whether there was any offence against the RTI Act which the appellant (he didn't mention the name) has accused the DDA of," Habibullah, a retired officer of the Indian Administrative Service, said.<br /><br />The full five-member commission that also includes O.P.Kejriwal, Padma Balasubramanian, M.M. Ansari and A.N. Tiwari will hear the case.<br /><br />"This will set a precedent for hearing such cases by the commission," Habibullah pointed out.<br /><br />The veteran bureaucrat also disclosed the modus operandi on appeal cases to be heard by the commission. The procedure was finalised over a week ago.<br /><br />"We have assigned various ministries to different commissioners. The appeal, depending on which ministry it pertains to, will first come to one commissioner," he said.<br /><br />"If the commissioner rejects the appeal, he will ask for the assistance of another commissioner. If the two differ, then they will place the matter before the multi-member commission," Habibullah explained.<br /><br />"The first court is the public information officer of the ministry. And the first court of appeal lies with the ministry. The commission is the final court of appeal," he clarified.<br /><br />The commission is, however, still in the process of evolving practices and procedures to deal with cases where information has been denied or adequate information has not given to a person.<br /><br />Fiercely defending the independence and integrity of the commission, Habibullah, an advocate of transparent governance, said: "The commission is being set up outside the government. The commission can ask any papers from the government. I am not answerable to the government.<br /><br />"The commission will decide whether the government's instructions on are in conformity with the act or not," he added.<br /><br />The right of information seeks to bring greater accountability and transparency in governance of the country by providing citizens access to all government records except in cases that affect national security.<br /><br />The commission, which is presently located in the guesthouse of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy for Training in Jawaharlal University's old campus, is also in search of new premises.<br /><br />"We are venturing out in search of new premises from the private sector. It should happen in not more a month's time," said Habibullah.<br /><br />Responding to Kejriwal's contention in the open letter he wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sometime back, he said: "He (Kejriwal) felt the process of setting up the commission was very slow. It could be because he is not from the government."<br /><br />"The commission is still in the process of being set up. We have skeletal staff. I don't have space to put staff here," he admitted. <br /><br />Trackback:<br />http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=198500&cat=IndiaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1128424959835973412005-10-04T16:15:00.000+05:002005-10-04T16:22:39.843+05:002005, Right to Information Act gets 1st applicantRight to Information Act gets 1st applicant<br />- By Urvashi Kaul<br /><br />New Delhi, Oct. 3: While the citizens of India are waiting for October 12 to spam the system to request for information using the Right to Information Act 2005, which officially comes in to force from that day, there already seems to be a request for information filed with the Department of Information Technology, due to a "tricky loophole" that the applicant citizen has pointed out.<br /><br />Official sources said that this is the first request for information under the Right to Information Act 2005.<br /><br />The application requests for information pertaining to amendments to the Information Technology Act under this Act.<br /><br />The request, under the said Act, a copy of which lies with this newspaper, points out that as per Section 1(3) certain provisions, particularly Sections 5(1) and 5 (2) of the Act, have long been in force. The letter further says that "these sections provide for mandatory designation of information officers within the department to receive the requests for information from applicants within 100 days of the Act coming into force."<br /><br />Mr Sarbajit Roy, who requested for information under this Act, wanted to know "whether a cyber regulation advisory committee has formally considered and submitted any advice and/or recommendations concerning amendments to the Information Technology Act 2000 and the other specifics related to it."<br /><br />The Act was passed in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority.<br /><br />The Right to Information Act, 2005, received the assent of the President on June 15, 2005, and was accordingly published on June 21, 2005.<br /><br />The Act provides for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities. Under the Act the department must expeditiously provide information.<br /><br />The maximum time limit is 30 days from the receipt of the request. <br /><br />Trackback : From Asian Age, New Delhi, 3, October 2005<br /><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cyberlaw-india/message/2147">first request for information under Right to Information Act 2005</a><br /><br />----<br /><br />The info I seek from DoIT is as follows:-<br /><br />1) Please inform me if the Cyber Regulation Advisory Committee has<br />formally considered and submitted any advice and/or recommendations<br />concerning amendments to the Information Technology Act 2000. If so,<br />please list out, and well specify, the dates / reference numbers of<br />such advice(s) / recommendations.<br /><br />2) I wish to inspect (and take notes from) all records and/or recorded<br />deliberations of proceedings, materials, representations to,<br />submissions to/of, documents, information etc. considered from time to<br />time by the Cyber Regulation Advisory Committee concerning amendments<br />to the Information Technology Act 2000.<br /><br />3) Likewise (to para 2 above), I wish to inspect all similar records,<br />information(s), opinions, materials, file notings etc. concerning the<br />Expert Committee(s), in any, formed to examine amendments to the<br />Information Technology Act 2000.<br />----------<br /><br />Title: First Applicant under Right to Information Act 2005, India, Request for information under RTI India.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1123739017313940402005-08-11T10:40:00.000+05:002005-08-11T10:45:37.756+05:00Pawan Duggal comments Ebay India PaisaPay encryption<i><span class="L1postedby">Is Encryption legal in India?<br /><br />By Urvashi Kaul</span></i> (Asian Age)<br /><p class="L1story" align="justify"><story><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></story></p> <p><span style="font-size:105%;"><strong>New Delhi, Aug. 10: </strong>Is encryption legal in India? Well that’s the impression one gets when you log on to any of the online auction sites. Any Indian citizen, unaware of the IT Act 2000 or the Wireless and Telegraph Act would be led to believe that it is, indeed, legal in India, without realising that he/she would be liable to imprisonment for up to five years. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:105%;">For instance, ebay.in, an online auction site has been, apparently, inducing (in to participating) its buyers and sellers in to breaking the law. Incidentally, Ebay India had acquired bazzi.com in July 2004. It may be recalled that bazzi.com’s CEO Avnish Bajaj is still facing charges in connection with circulation of the lewd MMS depicting two Delhi Public students in a sexual act.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:105%;">While the Indian IT Act, 2000 allows absolutely no encryption, ebay.in, seemingly, tells its site visitors that 128 bit encryption is legal in India. Furthermore, ebay.in has been inviting its customers to fax their Credit Card details in order to pay sellers through PaisaPay (a gateway used for payment provided through leading banks like ICICI, HDFC, Citibank), that the website claims comes to a "secure server" and only "authorised ebay employees have access to". </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:105%;">IT Act experts point out that by asking customers to fax their credit card statement which contains other details like name, credit card number and billing address, these websites are actually "aiding and abetting" credit card frauds.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:105%;">"Going by the present status," said informed sources, "The Central Government, so far, has not notified any security procedures under Section 16 of the IT Act for on-line electronic commerce, banking and financial transactions in India." Informed sources also point that the department of telecom, which consents to 40 bits encryption also seems to be overlooking law. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:105%;">Cyber law expert Pawan Duggal said that, "Although the government has not made any effort to define encryption in the Indian IT Act, but technically it clearly says that it is not allowed."<br /></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:105%;"><br /></span></p> <br /><br />Trackback: <a href="http://asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1=7&cat2=48&newsid=174170&RF=DefaultMain">Pawan Duggal illegal ebay 128-bit encryption</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1122456190092170462005-07-27T14:21:00.000+05:002005-07-27T14:23:10.103+05:00Ex RBI GM K.Vijayraghavan comments<div id="printReady"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="510"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <b><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.deccanherald.com/" class="a2">Deccan Herald</a> » <a href="http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jul252005/eb.asp" class="a2">Economy & Business</a> » Detailed Story</span></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="5"> <br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#000099" height="1"> <br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="5"> <br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="20" valign="top" width="510"> <b><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;color:#400080;"> RBI’s proposed norms may ease life for cardholders </span></b> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="5"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><b><i> The RBI has come out with a draft guideline for credit card issuers, but how far this is implementable is the moot point, says K Vijayraghavan. </i></b></span><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> </span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> </span><br /></td> </tr> </tbody></table>The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently come out with a draft guideline for the issuers of credit cards. The guidelines have been issued in the wake of complaints of harassment and ill-treatment meted to card holders particularly at the time of recovery.<br /><br />The first issue that juts out is that issuers, viz., banks and NBFCs have been made liable for the actions of their direct sales agents (DSA). The issuers have been told in very unmistakable terms that the agents will have to comply with the norms of KYC (know your customers). What this essentially means is that the background of the customer should be thoroughly screened by the agents before issuing cards. The intention is laudable, but implementation is not easy.<br /><br />It is not clear as to what options are available to issuers in case agents fail to fulfill the mandate. Well, the agency can be terminated, but it is only curative and less preventive. In other words, there appears to be a need to spell out more clearly the issues that could crop up in this area which would need to be settled between issuers and agents or how complicated problems can be sorted out and solutions enforced on the agents if necessary.<br /><table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://creative.mediaturf.net/creatives/RCA/sixfeature_lp/sixfeatures.jsp?referrer=Deccanherald&creative=occassion_180x150&section=ROS&media_code=DEHOC180" target="_new"><img src="http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/adsimages/occation_180x150_new.gif" style="border: thin solid black;" border="0" height="150" width="180" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Banking Ombudsman will look into complaints from holders or issuers. But it is not indicated whether disputes between issuers and agents fall within the ambit of Banking Ombudsman. Appointing DSA is part of outsourcing activities which banks do. But the extent of risk involved in this exercise needs to be carefully measured. The issuers of cards will do well to keep this in mind and ensure that their agents are kept under strict surveillance. A larger issue is: whether outsourcing is desirable everywhere and anywhere may also worth debating.<br /><br />Fixing credit limit<br /><br />The guidelines say that the drawing limit for cards should be fixed by issuers after taking into account the fact that there is no prohibition on a person getting several cards, which will increase his drawing/borrowing power. The intention, again, is commendable, but one point needs clarification. What is the mechanism available to issuers to obtain information on the number of cards (and their drawing power), a person has? Will a declaration from the applicant be sufficient? What is the option available to issuers if an applicant suppresses such information? We are in a super computer world, and the death of distance has already been brought about. Can there be not a centralised agency where full details of cards issued by all agencies can be pooled? It should also be possible to plug loopholes in such a system where a person tries to obtain card under different names or by differently spelling his name.<br /><br />Making calls<br /><br />A number of protective clauses are seen in the guidelines from the point of card holders, particularly in regard to levying of interest, wrongful billing etc. This is no doubt welcome. It is also desirable to ensure that unsolicited calls are not made to customers and unsolicited cards are not issued as said in the guidelines. Maintenance of a “do not call registry” has been prescribed to be maintained by issuers. The agents are to be told by issuers that only those calls which are cleared by the latter should be made to customers. But, what will be the position in the case of calls made to a card holder who prefers to treat even a recovery call as an unsolicited call which is non-permissible and accordingly takes objection. How can the issuer or agents prove that it was not an unsolicited call? It will not be out of context to mention in this connection that making unsolicited calls have become a part of marketing strategies, and some foreign banks make such calls to offer loans.<br /><br />Information protection<br /><br />Considerable protection also seems to have been extended to card holders with regard to confidentiality of information. The issuers have been told that they should be very discreet and selective while passing on information about card holders to agents. It is said that “personal information provided by the card holder but not required for recovery purpose should not be released” by the issuers to agents. If the issuers make the agents fully responsible for recovery, stipulating such conditions may ultimately create problems for the issuers. The question will also arise as to who will be responsible to decide what all information about cardholders can be released or should not be released to agents by the issuers.<br /><br />Recovery<br /><br />It is not inconceivable that somebody asks for a list of dos and donts in this regard, which may not be very easy to prepare. The guidelines also say that neither the issuer nor the agents shall cause harassment of any kind to any holder while effecting recovery. It is known that certain cardholders get rough treatment at the time of recovery. There is no doubt that authorities effecting recovery should not take law into their hands while carrying out their duties. At this juncture, it is necessary to ponder as to how banks have been effecting recovery of normal advances. The situation is no different in the case of credit cards....Perhaps it may be advisable to bring in the concept of “willful defaulters”, who fall in a different category. This is a tricky and partially risky area and is double-edged. Putting such instructions in black and white as also not doing so are both trouble-inviting strategies. Needless to say all cases of credit card defaults cannot be taken to court either. Whatever may be the suggestions or disagreements one may have about the guidelines, instructions from RBI will have to be given due importance by all concerned. The point, however, is that instructions coming from RBI have statutory backing and are more or less mandatory. This being the case, RBI would also like to consider whether some portions of the guidelines could have been issued by Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).<br /><br />No doubt, the guidelines have thrown lot of light on many grey areas. Nevertheless, issuers and agents will always be interested and rightfully so, in getting their money back. Their interests also need to be protected because, ultimately, here also depositors money is involved.<br /><br />One may not be able to visualise hundred per cent recovery position for credit cards, but many of the problems which cropped up in this area have been to a significant extent, caused by the haphazard and untrammelled way in which credit cards were issued.<br /><br />Proper appraisal<br /><br />It would be interesting to conduct as study to ascertain whether default level and also the various other problems are more in the case of customers or non-customers. There is reason to assume that they will be more in the case of non-customers. If so, it would prove beyond doubt that lack of proper appraisal and examining the need to possess a credit card have given rise to the present state of affairs.<br /><br />In the name of retailing, banks have perhaps compromised on certain cardinal issues thereby glossing over the inherent risks associated with retailing. Let me again quote the RBI deputy governor who said “While retail banking offers phenomenal opportunities for growth, the challenges are equally daunting.<br /><br />How far retail banking is able to lead to growth of banking industry in the future, would depend on the capacity-building of banks to meet the challenges and make use of opportunities profitably.” This being so, RBI may like to consider whether banks need to be advised in unambiguous terms that they should put more emphasis on proper appraisal before issuing credit cards.<br /><br />The writer is a retired Chief General Manager, RBI. E-mail: <a href="mailto:k.vijayraghavan@gmail.com">k.vijayraghavan@gmail.com</a> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1122453465112290602005-07-27T13:37:00.000+05:002005-07-27T13:37:45.113+05:00CIBIL and the Law<span style="font-weight:bold;">"Do not intimidate credit card holders"</span><br /><br />Special Correspondent<br /><br />Reserve Bank issues draft guidelines to banks, NBFCs<br /><br />MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India has stated that banks and finance companies issuing credit cards should not resort to intimidation or harassment to recover dues.<br /><br />"The banks or non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and their agents should not resort to intimidation or harassment of any kind either verbal or physical against any person in their debt collection efforts, including acts intended to humiliate publicly or intrude the privacy of the credit card holders' family members, referees and friends, making threatening and anonymous calls or making false and misleading representations," the RBI said in its draft guidelines on Credit Card Operations issued here on Tuesday.<br /><br />When banks outsource credit card operations, they had to be extremely careful that the appointment of such service providers did not compromise with the quality of the customer service and the bank's ability to manage credit liquidity and operational risk.<br /><br />In the choice of the service provider banks had to be guided by the need to ensure confidentiality of the customer's records, respect customer privacy and adhere to fair practices in debt collection.<br /><br />`Follow procedures'<br /><br />Before reporting default status of a credit card holder to the Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd (CIBIL) or any other credit information company authorised by the RBI, the banks might ensure that they adhered to a procedure, duly approved by their board, including issuing of sufficient notice to such card holder about the intention to report him/her as defaulter to the Credit Information Company.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1122453394407393332005-07-27T13:35:00.000+05:002005-07-27T13:36:34.410+05:00Banks need to Educate Card Users.<span style="font-weight:bold;">In search of friendly recovery measures</span><br />PREETI R IYER<br />Friday, July 15, 2005 at 0000 hours IST<br /> <br />As American business tycoon John Paul Getty rightly pointed out, “If a customer borrows $100 from a bank, it’s the customer’s problem. But if he borrows $100 million from a bank, then it is the banker’s problem!”<br /><br />Increasingly, the rate at which credit card dues are piling up, it now seems more like a bankers’ problem than the borrower’s. Competition within the industry has forced card issuers to go for massive countrywide expansion, compromising on the due diligence of issuees.<br /><br />Lack of awareness about various conditions, including charge of high interest rates (between 20 and 40% per annum) and roll-over of outstandings lead the cardholder to commit frequent defaults and fall into the debt trap. Since credit card exposure is an unsecured lending, recovery remains a challenge for the credit card issuer.<br /><br />Several measures could help salvage the situation. The establishment of the credit bureau (CIBIL) provides a unique opportunity to improve the screening of new applications and banks plan to fully avail of this service to spot the defaulters. Banks are sprucing up various methods to try and identify the potential risks a customer carries and accordingly, issue cards to applicants.<br /><br />Says HSBC’s head-personal financial services India, Nicholas Winsor, “This helps safeguard the quality of the bank’s portfolio. We also refer to various sources that might indicate a history of delinquency, an attempt aided by the credit bureau. Based on portfolio data, we do identify segments which are not performing well and restrict these cases.” Another route banks adopt is to provide credit card users the facility of converting outstandings into a personal loan, payable via EMIs at lower interest rates.<br /><br />Standard Chartered Bank attempts to ensure high portfolio quality by deploying scoring models and advanced portfolio management techniques. Explains the bank’s head-consumer banking-India and Nepal, Murali M Natrajan, “We process new applications through scoring, verification, negative database, telephone and residence verification. We also have experienced underwriters who are able to spot fraud attempts.”<br /><br />Of late, the methods of recovery of credit card dues from defaulting customers deployed by banks have become a matter of immense concern for the banking regulator, Reserve Bank of India and various consumer forums. In this regard, banks typically follow a recovery procedure beginning with written communication, reminding a customer about outstandings, along with a phone call. Banks also claim that after an adequate period of time along with series of reminders, bank representatives help the customer plan his repayment schedule, including financial counselling to ensure that the customer avoids the debt trap.<br /><br />However, HDFC Bank’s vice-president and head-product and portfolio, credit cards, Parag Rao opines, “The number of customers in India maintaining outstandings against credit cards is still well below international levels, and most of them pay their dues within the stipulated time.”<br /><br />However, there is more to it than meets the eye. Banks also need to acknowledge the fact that they do need to play an educative role by helping customers manage credit in a wiser manner. In this pursuit, banks have started using various methods to reach out to the masses, be it via booklets, manuals, internet or on-ground initiatives. These convey to the customer how he can avoid falling into the debt trap by managing his credit prudently. In a bid to reward customers with prompt payment track records, banks try and give these customers added benefits and a favourable interest rate structure. At times it becomes imperative that punitive measures and corrective steps be taken, well ahead of time before it becomes too late.<br /><br />Credit card issuers also need to adopt measures which will help them reach out to the customer in a better manner. The aim should be to lend a personal touch to the banker-customer relationship, wherein the customer is made aware of his needs, responsibilities and privileges.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1122453303812631722005-07-27T13:33:00.000+05:002005-07-27T13:35:03.820+05:00Credit Cards: RBI's Houdini Act. (Smoke & Mirrors)Finally, relief for credit card users<br /><br />Niranjan Krishnan | July 02, 2005 14:59 IST<br /><br />In a welcome move that will wipe the frown off the face of many credit card holders, the Reserve Bank of India has proposed a set of guidelines to regulate credit card operations in the country.<br /><br />The draft of the guidelines is presently placed in public view for feedback from various stakeholders. They will be finalised in the next few months and come into force for implementation by the end of August.<br /><br />The scope of the proposed guidelines spans a whole gamut of credit card operations, touching upon card issuance, interest assessments, billing, customer rights, information-privacy and confidentiality, debt collection practices, outsourcing activities and redressal of customer grievances.<br /><br />Some of the creditable and consumer-friendly features of the proposal are:<br /><br /> * The terms and conditions of the credit agreement should be disclosed in clear and simple language in all important communications to the customers. A listing of key items to include in those communications is also provided in the guidelines.<br /> * The interest calculations must be explained with illustrations in each billing statement dispatched to customers.<br /> * The credit card companies should send their billing statements without delay and customers must be given at least 10 days for settling their bills before interest assessments can kick in.<br /> * Personal information of customers should be held confidential and cannot be shared with third parties.<br /> * An Internet-enabled "Do not call registry" must be maintained by credit card companies to give consumers the choice of opting out of unsolicited phone calls and SMS messages.<br /> * Debt collectors should not resort to verbal or physical intimidation or harassment of cardholders, their friends and family.<br /> * The credit card companies are liable for the actions of third parties hired by them for sales or collections.<br /> *<br /> Customer complaints should be resolved within 60 days.<br /><br />The RBI guidelines, though covering a lot of ground, however, are not free from their baggage of controversies, limitations and omissions.<br /><br />The credit card companies are now authorised to issue the plastic to only those consumers with independent financial means. The card issuers are explicitly forbidden from signing up students into their portfolio.<br /><br />Expectedly, this rule has been greeted with consternation by the industry. It will elicit a similar disapproval from the student population and is also bound to take some fun out of their ephemeral and insouciant school life.<br /><br />There is a provision that implies placing credit limit restrictions on customers holding multiple credit cards. It appears a tad gratuitous, if not officious, on the part of the regulator to make such a rule or recommendation.<br /><br />While it is reasonable to prohibit the issuance of credit cards to minors, criminals and anti-nationals, the right of approving otherwise bona fide customers should remain with the risk taker and not the regulator.<br /><br />By the same token, the number of credit cards and total spending limit to approve or avail of, are decisions best left to card issuers and their customers.<br /><br />Both these stipulations appear ill-advised and smack of over-regulation that hinders than helps the interest of card issuers and consumers. Only a fence is needed between the two parties so that they can stay within their limits and do business with each other. Not a fortification that could stifle them both.<br /><br />These two controversial provisions will hopefully be modified before the guidelines are released for implementation.<br /><br />Issues concerning unsolicited offers, identity theft and fraud do not appear addressed adequately by the present batch of guidelines:<br /><br /> * There is a ruling that states that unsolicited credit cards should not be generally issued but it stops short of prohibiting such a practice. Sending unsolicited credit cards to customers' doorsteps is an unwarranted allurement that could set them up for a debt trap. It would be expedient to tighten the rule further and strictly bar such an entrapment tactic.<br /> * There is no mention of the liability of credit card issuers to customers in case there is leakage or loss of customer information, or theft of customer identities due to weakness in their customer information storage and processing. Fixing the liability of card issuers for customer damages stemming from internal operational failures would further reinforce the rules on information privacy and confidentiality.<br /> *<br /> In case a credit card is lost or stolen, the customer is usually held liable for any unauthorised charges made from the time of loss to the deactivation of card by the company following customer's report. As it happens in developed countries, an upper limit needs to be placed on the extent of the customer's liability since the card issuer, too, has the responsibility of managing fraud risk by diligently scanning out-of-pattern behaviour while approving transactions at the point-of-sale.<br /><br />One overarching theme that did not get sufficient attention in the guidelines is the specification of penalties for their violation. Given that grievance redressal is a tardy and, at times, tormenting process in India, especially for consumers who often lack the awareness and resources, setting a stringent minimum threshold for penalties upfront can go a long way towards motivating the card issuers in following the guidelines in their day-to-day operations.<br /><br />On the other hand, the critical issue of card issuers making uninitiated and unwanted contacts with customers could possibly be resolved more efficiently than the arrangement envisioned presently.<br /><br />The rules propose an internet-enabled "Do not call registry" to be maintained by each and every card issuer to give customers the choice to be excluded from solicitations.<br /><br />This entails customers individually contacting every card issuer in the country, a cumbersome task given the proliferation of card issuers in the country. Also, there will be replication of efforts by card issuers whose resources could be more gainfully deployed in other value-adding activities.<br /><br />A more efficient mechanism for enabling customers to opt out of solicitations would be to maintain the registry in a central location accessible to both card issuers and consumers.<br /><br />Credit bureaus such as Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd. (Cibil), which maintain a record of all credit consumers, could provide a perfect platform for this purpose.<br /><br />Entrusting the credit bureaus with maintaining the "Do not call registry" can also address another such "excuse me, please" issue not taken up by this initiative. Not only can customers opt out of unsolicited phone calls, they can also be given the right to make their credit file inaccessible to lenders making unsolicited offers through other channels like mass-mailing, which is another matter that would need to be addressed at some point in time.<br /><br />This proposal does not also cover the issuance of credit cards to consumers because their employers require it done. This matter opens up a few grey areas where the regulatory lakshman rekhas between different parties need to be drawn, and could perhaps be a subject of the next round of regulations.<br /><br />Overall, the most glaring limitation of the present set of guidelines is that they are expressly confined to credit card operations. A majority of the regulatory gaps the guidelines help in filling are also common to other credit schemes available in the market such as vehicle loans, home loans, and personal loans.<br /><br />The RBI can consider broadening the scope of the guidelines to apply for all other credit products and facilities depending on the pertinence and possibility of application.<br /><br />In summary, although the proposed set of RBI guidelines on credit card operations has some wrinkles to be pressed out, it will undoubtedly serve as a first solid pass of the steamroller in levelling the playing field and promoting an equitable balance between credit card issuers and their customers.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1121058584384979752005-07-11T10:08:00.000+05:002005-07-11T10:17:23.306+05:00Why US Cyber Laws are betterTrackback From : <a href="http://eplaw.us/news/2005/05/22#info_security_negligence_bj2">eplaw.us</a><br /><hr><br /><div style="float: left; width: 120px; margin-left: 25px;"> <span class="ftitle"> <b href="http://eplaw.us/news/index.eplaw?advanced_search=1"><a name="info_security_negligence_bj2">Information Security Negligence: <i>PSECU v. BJ's Wholesale</i></a><br /></b></span> <span class="f3"><b href="http://eplaw.us/news/index.eplaw?advanced_search=1"><br /><a href="http://eplaw.us/news/2005/05/22#info_security_negligence_bj2">05/22/2005</a></b></span> </div> <b href="http://eplaw.us/news/index.eplaw?advanced_search=1"><br /></b> <span class="f2"> <b href="http://eplaw.us/news/index.eplaw?advanced_search=1">I wrote that the development of information security depends on litigation, and <a href="http://eplaw.us/news/2005/05/20#info_security_negligence_stollenwerk1">litigation between private parties, specifically</a>. The <a href="http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2005/02/14/story4.html?t=printable">BJ's Wholesale litigation</a> is especially interesting because it involves credit card security, the plaintiffs are large companies (specifically, banks), and it raises some novel legal issues.<br /><br /><span class="fheading">Credit Cards</span><br />Litigation over credit card security is interesting because credit cards are ubiquitous in legitimate commerce and a frequent target of computer crime. Credits cards are a <a href="http://www.e-commercealert.com/article483.html">commodity</a> for computer criminals, who have even <a href="http://www.honeynet.org/papers/profiles/cc-fraud.pdf">automated</a> the trade of credit card numbers. As computer intrusions continue to target credit cards, credit card security standards will play a larger role in information security litigation.<br /><br />Payments over the Visa and MasterCard networks involve at least five parties. When a cardholder presents a credit card to a merchant for payment, the merchant swipes the card and transmits the information encoded on the <a href="http://ornamentaliron.blogspot.com/2005/06/black-iron-and-steel-metallurgy.html">magnetic</a> strip on the back of the card to an acquiring bank (or, sometimes, a third party processor). <a href="http://euro.ecom.cmu.edu/resources/elibrary/everycc.htm">This information can include card number, expiration date, cardholder name, and the card verification value</a>. The acquiring bank transmits the information through Visa's network to the issuing bank (which gave the credit card to the consumer). The issuing bank confirms the account, verifies the transaction is within credit limits, reviews the transaction for signs of fraud, and approves (or disapproves) the transactions. Actual payment is made when the acquiring bank and the issuing bank settle their accounts by wire transfer. (Discover and American Express simplify this arrangement: they operate the network, and act as issuing bank and acquiring bank.)<br /><br />All this is supported by a contractual framework. Visa (which an association of member banks) operates the authorization network. Member banks (be they acquiring or issuing banks) have a contractual relationship with Visa through its operating regulations (which govern many aspects of credit card transactions). Member banks do not, however, have a direct relationship with each other. The acquiring bank has a contractual relationship with the merchant through a merchant agreement. The operating regulations require that acquiring banks include certain requirements in their merchant agreements, and monitor their merchants' compliance. This way, Visa has some control over merchant behavior, even though most merchants do not have a direct relationship with Visa. Finally, issuing banks use <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/interviews/kahr.html">low-interest teasers, cash rebates, low minimum payments, and universal default clauses</a> in their cardholder agreements to attract and profit from cardholders. (Debit card transactions tap directly into cardholders' accounts.)<br /><br />Visa and MasterCard have generated a number of procedures in their operating agreements to limit fraud. One of the center innovations is the card verification value (CVV) which is printed on the back of a credit card, not embossed onto the card. [Update: Scott Loftesness over at <a href="http://www.paymentsnews.com/">Payment News</a> informs me that CVV refers to a separate three digit amount encoded on the magnetic strip, while the number printed on the signature panel on the back of a credit card is CVV2.] (This might seem like a nominal measure, although it frustrates bulk manufacturing of fake cards.) Visa and MasterCard <a href="http://www.bbbonline.org/eExport/doc/MerchantGuide_cvv2.pdf">direct</a> merchants to collect CVV2s in transactions where <a href="http://usa.visa.com/business/accepting_visa/ops_risk_management/technical_information.html">the card is not present</a> (e.g., Internet and phone sales). Visa and MasterCard have also pushed <a href="http://www.eplaw.us/data/MRCFinal.html">minimum standards for merchant information security</a>, to protect against computer criminals collecting credit card numbers <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/04/27/egghead_credit_card_hack_serious/print.html">from insecure merchants</a>. Visa and MasterCard <a href="http://www.securityfocus.com/printable/news/111">apparently started this initiative</a> after a well-publicized incident in which <a href="http://www.privacytimes.com/NewWebstories/carder_priv_1_27.htm">a computer criminal obtained 350,000 credit card numbers CD Universe and attempted to extort $100,000 from the firm</a>. These rules have evolved over time; the most recent standard is the <a href="https://sdp.mastercardintl.com/pdf/PCD_Manual.pdf">Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard</a>.<br /><br /><span class="fheading">The Security Breach at BJ's</span><br />Litigation has exposed <a href="http://eplaw.us/bjs/orderibm3dpartymotdismiss%28PSECU%29.pdf">some facts </a> about BJ's credit card equipment. BJ's contracted with IBM to replace the credit card processing system at its cash registers in 1999. (BJ's now alleges that contract required IBM to ensure that its replacement system was compliant with Visa operating regulations, and BJ's alleges it specifically told IBM to prevent its system from storing magnetic strip data. IBM disputes these claims.) It was later determined that IBM's system did in fact store certain magnetic strip data in its system logs from July 1, 2003 to February 29, 2004. Fifth Third Bank was BJ's acquiring bank and managed BJ's interface with the Visa system. BJ's learned of "an alleged compromise" in February 2004, and had a computer consultant review its systems. The consultant found "no breach of BJ's centralized computer system or via the Internet and no direct evidence of a compromise at the club level," but did discover the credit card information in IBM's system's logs. Visa's <a href="http://usa.visa.com/business/accepting_visa/ops_risk_management/cisp.html">Cardholder Information Security Program</a> and <a href="http://eplaw.us/bjs/relevantvisaregs.pdf">Visa's operating regulations</a> prohibited merchants from retaining information from magnetic strips on the back of the cards.<br /><br />I have not seen any indication that BJ's has yet learned how the breach occurred. <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,91412,00.html">It seems that BJ's first learned the breach happened from credit card companies</a>. (There is no indication of how <i>Visa</i> learned that BJ's was the source of the compromise. I would assume it identified compromised credit card through fraud detection algorithms and identified BJ's by working backwards from the historical purchases on those credit cards.) MasterCard and Visa's initial <a href="http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4516301/">warning to effected issuing banks did not disclose BJ's identity</a>, but BJ's publicized the breach in March 2004. We know that authorities have detected and located <a href="http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0408/10/f03-237562.htm">some of the individuals using and trading the cards</a>, and some law enforcement have concluded that the attack was accomplished <a href="http://www.eweek.com/print_article2/0,2533,a=127819,00.asp">over the Internet</a> (which contradicts the findings of BJ's consultant).<br /><br />In any event, BJ's breach caused substantial damages to issuing banks: under 15 U.S.C. ss <a href="http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode15/usc_sec_15_00001643----000-.html">1643</a> and <a href="http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode15/usc_sec_15_00001693---g000-.html">1693g</a>, the issuing bank is <a href="http://www.chicagofed.org/publications/publicpolicystudies/emergingpayments/pdf/eps-2001-3.pdf">liable for fraudulent charges, rather than the cardholders</a>. In BJ's case, many of the banks <a href="http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0408/10/f03-237562.htm">cancelled the compromised cards and reissued new cards</a> to limit their liability for fraudulent charges. Issuing banks must also absorb the costs of notifying cardholders, reissuing cards, and the interruption of business in the interim. In <a href="http://edgar.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1037461/000119312505071347/d10k.htm#tx76906_5">Note F to the Financial Statements of its last 10-K filing</a>, B.J.'s estimates that there are approximately $10 millions in outstanding claims against it. <a href="http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2005/02/14/story4.html?t=printable">The Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union (PSECU) claims losses approaching $100,000, while Sovereign bank claims $500,000 in losses, and Banknorth NA filed suit claiming losses of $583,000</a>. <a href="http://www.cunamutual.com/cmg/articleDetail/0,1452,11542,00.html">Meanwhile, CUNA Mutual Group (mutual insurance company for credit unions) alleges it suffered millions of dollars of losses</a>.<br /><br /><span class="fheading">PSECU's Lawsuit</span><br />PSECU filed suit in Pennsylvania state against BJ's and Fifth Third on June 18, 2004, and the case was <a href="http://eplaw.us/bjs/bjsremovalnotice%28PSECU%29.pdf">removed</a> to the U.S. District Court for Middle District of Pennsylvania on July 16, 2004. <a href="http://eplaw.us/bjs/PSECUcomplaint.pdf">PSECU's complaint</a> was filed on August 5, 2004. In essence, it states that BJ's collected magnetic strip data from its customer's credit cards from July 1, 2003 to February 29, 2004 and failed to delete it, and that Fifth Third did nothing about it. Consequently, PSECU had to reissue 20,029 cards at a total cost of $98,128.13(!). PSECU's complaint states two claims against Fifth Third and BJ's each. PSECU's breach of contract claim alleges that Visa operating regulations in effect at the time required that merchants to secure magnetic strip data while using it, to delete it as soon as it was no longer needed, and also required acquiring banks' merchant agreements to require merchants to abide by the operating regulations. PSECU's negligence claim alleges that BJ's breached its common law duty to secure the magnetic strip data and to delete the data after its use, and that Fifth Third breached its duty to ensure that BJ's did so. <a href="http://eplaw.us/bjs/bjsremovalnotice%28PSECU%29.pdf">BJ's</a> and <a href="http://eplaw.us/bjs/5th3rdanswer%28PSECU%29.pdf">Fifth Third</a> answered PSECU's complaint on September 14, 2004.<br /><br /><span class="fheading">BJ's Third Party Claim Against IBM's</span><br />BJ's filed a third party complaint against IBM, essentially seeking to shift any liability to IBM for the flaws in the credit card processing system that caused magnetic strip data to be retained. IBM <a href="http://eplaw.us/bjs/IBMmotdismiss.pdf">moved</a> to dismiss the complaint. BJ's response is <a href="http://eplaw.us/bjs/BJsresponseIBMmotdismiss.pdf">here</a>. The court's May 3, 2005 <a href="http://eplaw.us/bjs/orderibm3dpartymotdismiss%28PSECU%29.pdf">ruling</a> dismissed some of BJ's claim but saved others. The court dismissed BJ's Massachussets-based unfair practices claim, its New York-based deceptive practices claim, and its declaratory judgment action, as well as certain parts of BJ's indemnity claim. The court rejected, on the other hand, IBM's argument that the complaint was deficient without an allegation that IBM's retention of magnetic strip data was connected to a security breach, noting that <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/Rule8.htm">Federal Rule 8(e)</a> permits BJ's to make conditional allegations: <i>if</i> BJ's is held liable for a security breach, <i>then</i> IBM is liable to BJ's for retaining magnetic strip data.<br /><br /><span class="fheading">Economic Loss Doctrine and Information Security</span><br />The court also rejected IBM's arguments against BJ's negligence claims and the part of its indemnity claim related to replacement of compromised cards. Those rulings are the most significant part of the court's decision. IBM claimed the indemnity claimed was barred by disclaimers in the contract. The disclaimers had an exception for third-party claims for damages to "tangible, personal property." Citing <a href="http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/022018.P.pdf"><i>America Online, Inc. v. St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co.</i>, 347 F.3d 89 (4th Cir. 2003)</a> for the proposition that computer data is not tangible property property, the court dismissed those indemnity claims arising from damage to the personal data on the cards. The court also found that money held in debit cardholder's accounts was not tangible property either, and so dismissed those parts of BJ's indemnity claim related to theft from debit cardholders' accounts. The court did not dismiss the parts of BJ's indemnity claim related to the costs involved in replacing credit cards. The court's response to IBM's argument that the card were not physically damaged is interesting; the court holds that there is no reason that the damage to tangible property need be <i>physical</i>. Here, the cards were not destroyed, but were made useless (or worse) after they were compromised. "IBM's liability was preserved as to the injury to these cards as physical objects, the loss of the use of these cards [for credit card transactions,] but measured by the value of the cards as blanks."<br /><br />The court applied the same logic to summarily reject IBM's economic loss doctrine argument against BJ's negligence claim. The economic loss doctrine has hazy outlines. <i>Generally</i> speaking, the economic loss doctrine limits the recovery of economic losses (typically, disappointed commercial expectations) to parties to a contract. (Thus, breach of contract plaintiffs can seek to be put in the same position they would have been if the contract had been performed.) The economic loss doctrine applies to negligence and strict liability claims; it does not apply to personal injuries, property damage, or intentional torts. The economic loss doctrine is widespread (the Supreme Court recognized it in <a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=476&invol=858"><i>East River S.S. Corp. v. Transamerica Delaval Inc.</i>, 476 U.S. 858 (1986)</a>) but there is <a href="http://www.wisbar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=42856">substantial variation</a> between <a href="http://www.dcba.org/brief/novissue/2002/art31102.htm">different states'</a> application of the doctrine. Because defendants can argue the economic loss doctrine eliminates liability for the disclosure of confidential or secret information, it will become a central feature in information security negligence cases. </b></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1120906533131985412005-07-09T15:29:00.000+05:002005-07-09T15:55:33.136+05:00Poor Laws cause Intel India Exit<span style="font-weight:bold;">Intel freezes $400m India investment</span><br />- By Urvashi Kaul <br /><br />New Delhi, July 8: Global chip manufacturer Intel has frozen plans to invest $400 million in India for the setting up of a manufacturing plant. The move is seen as a major dampener to the UPA government’s plan to attract foreign investment, <br /><br />After returning from his trip to the US last month to woo IT and telecom majors to set up manufacturing bases in India, information technology minister Dayanidhi Maran had told reporters in New Delhi that Intel had chosen India for its manufacturing unit and that investment up to $400 million was expected. <br /><br />Sources said a formal announcement on the deal was meant to be made during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the US later this month. But they added that Intel has now told the government that it has a problem with India’s intellectual property laws on semi-conductors. Intel argues that they are not effective enough.<br /><br />Official sources said Intel, which was considering Chennai, Bangalore and Noida as possible locations for its unit, has conveyed to the government its decision to pull out from India. Earlier, Mr Maran had claimed that Intel would make an announcement on the location in a month. Mr Maran had also claimed that his "fruitful discussions" with Intel CEO Craig Barret, who was previously considering China and Vietnam, had led to finalising India as the location for its plant. The minister had asserted that the deal was clinched in India’s favour as he was successfully able to present India as a booming market with investor-friendly policies. <br /><br />The government policy on promoting IT special economic zones with 15-year tax breaks and market access had clinched the deal in India’s favour, he was quoted as saying. But sources said that India appears to have lost the deal to China.<br /><br />When contacted, an Intel spokesman seemed to contradict Mr Maran’s suggestion that Intel was all set to have the plant in India. "Intel has not announced any plans to build a plant in India," he said. "Intel is always looking around the world exploring potential new sites, and I’m sure we’ve looked in India, China and many other places around the world," the spokesman said. He hinted that there had been only initial "explorative activities".<br /><br />"However, these explorative activities don’t mean we will or won’t build a site in a given country," he said. Since no plans to set up a plant have been announced, the question on the investment plans is "speculative" in nature, he added.<br /><br />Trackback : <a href="http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1=1&cat2=76&newsid=168220">Intel exits India</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1120900538372809812005-07-09T14:14:00.000+05:002005-07-09T14:15:38.376+05:00RBI fails to stop Credit Card woesChains on credit card thugs<br />- RBI prohibits strongarm tactics to recover dues<br />OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT<br />Buy in peace<br /><br />Mumbai, June 28: Credit card companies are being reined in.<br /><br />The Reserve Bank has ordered them to stop sending out an intimidating army of goons to recover dues from defaulters.<br /><br />The banking regulator has come out with draft guidelines that lay down rules of conduct for credit card issuers to bring about a modicum of civility in the way they deal with errant customers.<br /><br />Credit card issuers resort to the practice of sending out thugs to stem payment defaults that some estimates put at 9 per cent of the industry’s overall outstanding credit.<br /><br />The RBI today unveiled draft guidelines that seek to stop banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) issuing credit cards from “resorting to intimidation or harassment of any kind either verbal or physical against any person in their debt collection efforts”.<br /><br />Banks, NBFCs or their agents will also be barred from putting through threatening and anonymous calls or making false and misleading representations.<br /><br />They also have been told not to indulge in acts intended to humiliate publicly or intrude on the privacy of the credit card holders’ family members and friends.<br /><br />Though the RBI did not state the penalty that will be imposed on banks or NBFCs in the event of this guideline being violated, it is still considered a major relief to credit card holders who have often complained of the strongarm methods used by banks to recover dues.<br /><br />There are now 12 million credit card holders with an annual average of spending per card of below Rs 50,000.<br /><br />The guidelines also seek to stamp out the practice of credit card companies sending out unsolicited cards to customers and then billing them for it after activation without the consent of the recipient.<br /><br />The guidelines said the credit card company will “not only reverse the charges forthwith, but also pay a penalty without demur to the recipient amounting to twice the value of the charges reversed”.<br /><br />Further, the card issuing bank or NBFC has also been told not to unilaterally upgrade credit cards and enhance credit limits. “Prior consent of the borrower should invariably be taken whenever there are any changes in terms and conditions,” the RBI said.<br /><br />It also directed the card issuers to be more transparent in their dealings. They have been directed to quote the annual interest rate — called in trade jargon annualised percentage rate (APR) — card products separately for retail purchase and for cash advances, if different. Moreover, the method of calculation of APR should be given with a couple of examples for better comprehension.<br /><br />The RBI also said late payment charges, including the method of calculation of such charges and number of days, should be prominently indicated.<br /><br />Banks have been told not to reveal any information relating to customers obtained at the time of issuing the credit card to any other person or organisation without obtaining the customer’s consent. Reacting to the guidelines, an official of a credit card issuing foreign bank said a customer is categorised as a defaulter only if he has failed to pay his dues (minimum plus late and other finance charges) for six months. It is only after this that the task of recovery is entrusted to an agent. “The default rate in the credit card industry is very low. Given this, the instances of strongarm tactics or rude behaviour are very few,” he said. According to him, the trend of banks appointing recovery agents started from the absence of data about customers’ credit records. This problem has been largely solved with the launch of Credit Information Bureau India Ltd (Cibil) which is collating the credit history of 45 million customers of banks and credit card institutions.<br /><br />Card issuers do not use such heavy-handed measures to recover dues in the West because of an integrated financial system that maintains the repayment histories of all customers. The system forces customers to repay else they are in danger of being denied credit in a plastic-dominated economy.<br /><br />In India, such a system doesn’t exist. The problem is compounded by the fact that debt recovery proceedings in courts are extremely tardy.Cibil has been launched for banks, financial institutions and other financiers to share retail and commercial customer information.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1120900466666156482005-07-09T14:13:00.000+05:002005-07-09T14:14:26.693+05:00CIBIL Credit Cards at what cost ?<span style="font-weight:bold;">The regulator recognises credit card woes</span><br /> <br />Credit card issuers across the country probably raised a toast to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week. After a long and sustained lobbying by harried customers, the central bank has finally planned regulatory intervention to check harassment, empower the consumers, increase transparency and force some discipline on companies out to grab market share without matching service standards.<br /><br />Interestingly, credit card issuers have always offered a simple explanation for the vast mismatch between consumer expectations and their treatment. A top executive of one of the biggest credit card issuers told me that although there are a few genuine mistakes (because the numbers they deal with are very large) where customers are wrongly inconvenienced, in a majority of cases, it is the customer who is usually trying to avoid interest or delaying payment by false claims about not having received their bills in time. But the inordinately large number of genuine complaints, acknowledged and rectified by card issuers (after outside intervention), tell a different story.<br /><br />In fact, the issue of credit cards in India has always been a one-sided affair, where the only real power that the customer had was to dump the card and switch to another. The creation of the Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd (CIBIL), which is a database of the personal credit record of individuals, had threatened that right as well. Banks now had the power to report consumers with unresolved disputes to CIBIL and cause them grave damage by cutting off their access to credit and loans.<br /><br />RBI has partially addressed this by recommending that banks must inform customers about their intention to report them to CIBIL. This is not an ideal solution, but it gives consumers some time to approach the courts and protect their rights. RBI’s draft guidelines have been put up for public discussion before being issued as a regulation.<br /><br />Among the broad areas of harassment covered by the bank are the obvious ones such as unsolicited sales calls, unsolicited issue of cards, harassment and intimidation by recovery agents, violation of information privacy and lack of transparency in billing. The new rules will make the credit card companies explicitly liable for the actions of third parties whose services are used for sales and collection.<br /><br />Similarly, the regulations will ensure that customers are given a clear 10 days to make payments, but this will work only if plastic issuers are also asked to maintain proof that their bills have been sent on time. Also, it says complaints must be resolved in 60 days. But it would be even better if the regulator had prescribed stiff penalties to be paid for some basic offences. Most of the recommendations, if converted into regulation are a good beginning. They put banks on notice that the regulator would have to intervene in order to ensure good customer service.<br /><br />But some rules may need further tightening. For instance, RBI frowns on the issue of unsolicited credit cards, but does not ban them. Similarly, it provides for an Internet-enabled do-not-call registry allowing people to legitimately avoid harassment through marketing calls, but it could have prescribed a stiff penalty if the list was not honoured. It also does not fix a liability on the card issuer that contacts customers by buying stolen databases of customer information.<br /><br />An important recommendation is that banks must quote annualised rates on credit card products. Also, interest calculations must be explained to customers with illustrations in each billing statement. This is even better than what we put up with in bills provided by mobile phone providers. Will these rules cover a gamut of tricks devised by banks to lure customers?<br /><br />For instance, an angry consumer points out that she acquired a State Bank of India credit card because it was promised to be free. However, she found that the very first bill was loaded with uncommitted charges such as insurance premium, yearly charges and service charges. This made a mockery of the free card concept and the consumer, who naturally refused to pay the charges is now being harassed by a collection agent.<br /><br />Recently, customers of a particular credit card issuer were shocked by interest charges of a few hundred rupees each for failing to pay up a few paise differential that ought to have been rounded off. When they complained, the card issuer confessed that when it had upgraded its credit card software and migrated to another system, it had failed to incorporate the rounding off facility, leading to customers being slapped with a fat charge.<br /><br />In this case, the Bank says it has identified all such cases and plans to reverse the charges, whether or not it receives a complaint. However, in a similar situation that was brought to the notice of RBI by this newspaper, Citibank had charged a small late fee on the customer despite an unusual four-day bank closure. The bank reversed the charges when exposed, but we are not clear if it bothered to reverse them for all customers.<br /><br />Many banks such as Citibank and ICICI Bank have slapped charges for insuring customers against potential card misuse. Clearly, this is a service that ought to come free. In many cases the charges have been reversed for customers who complained; but these levies and charges should, at some point of time, attract regulatory scrutiny.<br /><br />In some respects, the RBI guidelines may have swung the other way by getting too restrictive. For instance, the recommendation that credit cards can only be issued to consumers with independent means will restrict or even eliminate the access of many women and students to the convenience of carrying plastic. This is a little ironical at a time when some professional colleges encourage payment of fees through credit and debit cards.<br /><br />Similarly, the move to impose restrictions on credit limits to individuals or restricting multiple card issuance is bound to upset card issuers and smacks of moral policing, the presumption being that multiple cards and high credit limits encourage people to go dissolute. But one cannot help thinking that the credit card industry has brought these upon itself.<br /><br />suchetadalal@yahoo.comUnknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1120900363740084812005-07-09T14:11:00.000+05:002005-07-09T14:12:43.746+05:00CIBIL: Strong arm agency<span style="font-weight:bold;">Why recovery agents are here to stay</span><br />RBI guidelines are good, but agents are only practical solution: Banks<br />Sayli Udas<br /><br />Mumbai, July 5: ‘‘We will abide by the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) fair-trade practice code, but we will not do away with any of our recovery agents.’’<br /><br />—Neil Chatterjee, Head, Corporate Communications of Standard Chartered Bank.<br /><br />Despite the RBI’s intentions of cracking down on credit-card operations (see box), banks in Mumbai have admitted that recovery agents have become a part of their debt-recovery system and it would be difficult to eliminate them entirely.<br /><br />‘‘The intimidation and harassment is exaggerated by defaulters,’’ said Chatterjee, adding that banks do monitor the method of recovery to ensure it happens in a ‘civil’ manner.<br /><br />‘‘Do we have any other means of recovery?’’ he asked.<br /><br />‘‘The judicial process in our country is very slow and we are in a business where we need to have a practical approach to recovering debts.’’<br /><br />Most banks would agree. Only a small percentage of customers default on payments and have to deal with recovery agents, they say.<br /><br />And agents, they add, only come into the picture after repeated attempts by bank executives have failed.<br /><br />‘‘The procedure starts when an executive makes a telephone call and informs a defaulter about his dues. Then, we send a few letters and statements,’’ said Rohan Jogi (name changed), spokesperson for a leading Indian private bank. ‘‘It’s only when there’s no response that agents are intimated.’’<br /><br />While, on record, banks refuse to admit that they’re aware that many recovery agents cross the line, off the record, spokespersons say using abusive language or threatening customers is the only option at times.<br /><br />‘‘A white-collared guy cannot recover dues,’’ said Jogi. ‘‘You do need a stern voice and a tough-looking guy to get out money.’’<br /><br />ICICI Bank claims to go through a thorough verification procedure before appointing its agents.<br /><br />‘‘Any complaints coming to us are immediately investigated and action is taken,’’ said a spokesperson.<br /><br />Citibank also claimed to have an internal policy on collections and guidelines for their agents, detailing how and when customers should be spoken to.<br /><br />But despite redressal systems like 24-hour helplines and e-mail facilities, the bank claims that they have to involve a third party to bring defaulting customers back on track.<br /><br />The solution, say industry experts, could be CIBIL or Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited.<br /><br />An RBI and government effort to create a comprehensive database on the ‘creditworthiness’ of customers, CIBIL is expected to help banks share data on their credit-card users.<br /><br />Formed in 2000, CIBIL has started collating data, but it will take at least another year for all the information to be in place.<br /><br />Until then, recovery agents are here to stay.<br /><br />New guidelines<br />* No physical or verbal intimidation or harassment of credit-card users<br />* Any act intended to publicly humiliate or intrude privacy banned<br />* Bank responsible for all acts of omission or commission by agents<br />* Penalty on unsolicited cards issued without consent<br />* Banks to maintain ‘Do Not Call Registry’<br /><br />sayliudas@expressindia.comUnknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1120793245524972982005-07-08T08:25:00.000+05:002005-07-08T08:27:25.533+05:00CICRA CIBIL Simplistic optimistic article abso shitFrom Outlook.com<br />17 Jun 2005<br />Every loan you take Every payment you make, they'll be tracking you. Will the credit information act just enable banks to play Big Brother? Or will there be real benefits for consumers too?<br /><br />Rajesh Gajra<br /><br />Imagine this: you walk into a bank for a car loan prepared for a tedious runaround. But the official across the counter taps a few keys on his PC, runs his eye over the screen, and instantly sanctions you the loan. And that at 0.5 per cent lower than the going rate. Futuristic? Not any more. With the passage of the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act 2004, credit information companies can be set up and registered with the RBI. These companies can then invite banks and other credit issuers to become members, who share the credit records of all borrowers, retail and corporate.<br /><br />For four years now, there has been a company doing just this–the Credit Information Bureau (India) orCibil. Says chairman S. Santhanakrishnan: "Our retail bureau started in July 2002 and our membership already represents 90 per cent of the financial sector." By February 2003, RBI had directed all banks to get the voluntary consent of their borrowers and to pool their credit data throughCibil. Today, almost all banks are members. Says Nicholas Winsor, head, personal financial services-India,HSBC, a 5 per cent equity holder in Cibil: "Experience in other markets has proven the value of credit bureaus in the development of consumer credit."<br /><br />Open book. What CICRA does is to allow the creation of several such credit information agencies. Banks will thus be able to readily access your full credit history: whether you have ever borrowed, ever defaulted, have a perfect repayment record, who your lenders are, etc. This holds good across loan products, credit cards and card withdrawals.<br /><br />Before you worry about invasion of privacy, consider this: depending on your credit history plus other factors gleaned from your application, the credit officer will offer you an interest rate different from the advertised rate. And if your record is good, this rate could be much lower than the prevailing rates. Of course, a bad record means a far higher rate.<br /><br />According to Santhanakrishnan, Cibil already has the credit records of 22 million retail borrowers, which is about 60 per cent of the country’s borrowers. That’s a stunning number and all of it seemingly obtained by voluntary consent. So, if you have given consent, your loans record might already be in Cibil’s computers. But with CICRA now legally mandating banks and others to provide borrowers’ data to a credit information company, your consent as a borrower is no longer required.<br /><br />Once CICRA comes into force, details of the remaining 40 per cent–about 14 million–will be submitted toCibil, as will details of new borrowers. The act also lets Cibil collect data for borrowings of a single person across banks. At the moment, of course, there’s no competition toCibil, and till other agencies come up, it will be the only one with this vast data pool.<br /><br />How it works. Once CICRA is legally enforced, all your credit information will be automatically submitted toCibil, whether you like it or not. Details of loans you have taken–credit card from one bank, home loan from another and car loan from a third–will be electronically submitted toCibil, which will process the data and create a single ‘credit information report’ in your name, to be updated periodically.<br /><br />Banks and home loan companies can access this report either when you approach them for a loan or for their internal portfolio review. Says Cibil CE0 ArunThukral: "Our members can make one-off enquiries of a particular retail borrower through a secure Net-based access. For bulk enquiries, they can use file transfer protocol connectivity and we’re also working on direct 24x7 computer-to-computer connectivity with each bank. With this, they can fire enquiries any time they want."<br /><br />Banks find Cibil’s resources invaluable. As HSBC’s Winsor says: "We’ve already begun credit enquiries throughCibil. In due course, we expect to use the bureau data for active portfolio management." This saves banks time and money. Says V.Vaidyanathan, senior general manager (retail banking), ICICI Bank: "The costs of field investigation are high. Getting this report from the bureau means we can relax."<br />SANJAY PANDEY 34<br />Loan: Rs 15 lakh from ICICI Bank<br />Tenure: 15 years<br />EMI: Rs 13,500<br /><br />If Pandey defaults, banks will quickly penalise him under the new credit information act. However, by paying all EMIs on time, Pandey hopes to build a strong credit history. Will banks then show equal alacrity in reducing interest rates on this and future loans?<br /><br />What’s in it for you. Three years ago, Sanjay Pandey took a 15-year, Rs 15 lakh home loan from ICICI Bank. He’s been paying his Rs 13,500 EMI regularly. "A good track," saysPandey, "should fetch me an interest rate rebate after a few years. Ideally, on the existing loan but surely on any new loan." Pandey is right. As Santhanakrishnan says: "Today, one rate fits all and good borrowers subsidise bad ones. When bad borrowers are weeded out, average interest rates will fall."<br />LOANWATCH<br /><br />Banks will get access to:<br />DETAILS of every loan you’ve ever taken<br />OUTSTANDINGS on every credit card you’ve owned<br />OVERDRAFT usage history<br />COLLATERAL or guarantee you’ve given on your loan<br />RECORD of EMIs and credit card payments<br /><br />There’s more. Says Thukral: "If one bank delays processing, you can walk to the next bank nearby, which will have the same credit report and get faster processing." In theory, it looks good, but warnsPandey: "In practice I hope the benefits are not gobbled up by the banks." And that’s a valid concern because banks seem singularly unwilling to cut rates even for good customers. Says ICICI Bank’sVaidyanathan: "Customers are already getting low rates in a highly competitive market and I have doubts whether they will slide further."<br /><br />The point to remember: whenever your bank or finance company uses your credit information report for your loan application, you have the right under CICRA to ask for a copy for a nominal charge. SaysPandey: "I should know on what basis my loan application is assessed." He also stresses the need for a transparent and standardised mechanism to grade borrowers. "Everyone should know what value is allotted to a borrower who pays 59 out of 60 EMIs on time; with no subjectivity in the interpretation of credit reports."<br /><br />The good news is Cibil plans to introduce a ‘credit scoring’ system. The bad news is it will take time. SaysThukral: "Our immediate priority is to go live with a credit information system for corporate borrowers." It may be over a year before you can reap the benefits of the scoring system.<br /><br />Concerns. Leakages and unauthorised access to your credit report are the main concerns. CICRA provides for a Rs 1 lakh penalty for any unauthorised access. But that’s meagre compared to the value of the information and may not be an effective deterrent. Another problem is data accuracy. What if the bureau is rigid and harshly interprets even one or two delayed EMI payments? You may have valid temporary cash flow problems. SaysVaidyanathan: "There are standard norms on what constitutes ‘default’; we’ve to follow that." At the end of the day, to a credit information bureau, you are just another number.<br /><br />Rajeev Mathur, director, Consumer Unity and Trust Society, a research and advocacy group, is not convinced. Says he: "I’m concerned with the way they rate borrowers. On many occasions it’s the fine print they hold back and which results in poor rating. What if a credit card is thrust on me unsolicited. I don’t pay the annual fee and I end up with a poor rating."<br /><br />CICRA does permit you to apply to Cibil if you think the rating is incorrect, asking for anupdation. In case of a dispute, your only recourse is to approach the RBI, which will appoint an arbitrator. Says a displeasedMathur: "Why should a customer waste his time rectifying inaccuracies that are no fault of his? Look at the number of uneducated consumers; how can they take on the strong influence of the institutions?"<br /><br />CICRA gives the RBI supervisory and penalising powers. In fact, the RBI is to come out with detailed regulations on the objects of CICRA and enforce its provisions specifically, but for this, RBI regulations will have to be amended, which needs Parliament approval. All of this will take time. Till then, CICRA provisions will be enforceable by banks and credit institutions, and the RBI will be authorised to act against offenders. Other regulations that await RBI amendments include the fee you have to pay for your credit report. Cibil charges members Rs 10-50 per report; and banks are likely to charge you a similar amount.<br /><br />The provisions have to be seen through diligently and with as much attention to individual concerns as for institutional. All we can hope for is that the process is not bogged down by politics or red tape.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1120540538322061192005-07-05T10:09:00.000+05:002005-07-05T10:19:53.960+05:00Sarbajit Roy, NDTV's sting on Dr. Bajaj<font color="red">So the truth is out, "Sarbajit Roy is a former hacker for the Government", or so says <a href="http://www.ndtv.com">NDTV</a>. Its comforting to know that we have a free and vibrant media in India, bold enuff to take spycams into the office of India's top cyber investigator Dr. K.K.Bajaj and get to see him blathering away that he has no powers to investigate cyber crime in India, or data theft either. Mind boggling stuff! "Sarbajit"</font><br /><hr><span style="font-weight:bold;">BPO fraud: Was it a sting or a set up?</span><br />Priyam Bhasin<br /><br />Monday, July 4, 2005 (Gurgaon):<br /><br />Ten days after the British tabloid Sun claimed its reporter had bought confidential details of British customers from an Indian call centre employee, it's not yet clear who is investigating the BPO fraud.<br /><br />No formal complaint has been lodged yet though the Prime Minister has said cyber laws in the country need to be strengthened.<br /><br />But in another twist, a former hacker with the government says it's very easy to get credit details of UK bank customers in India.<br /><br />Reacting to charges that the Indian BPOs have poor securtiy standards, the industry has fought back saying business is booming only because they have the confidence of their clients.<br /><br />"There's more security here than in many places in the west," said Pramod Bhasin, global head, Gecis.<br /><br />"Clients who outsource ensure security standards. They are very good here," said Dr Balakrishnan, head, Supercomputing, IISc.<br /><br />Data source<br /><br />Then where did Karan Bahree get the data from?<br /><br />Sarbajit Roy, a former hacker with the government, says it's not difficult to get credit details of UK bank customers in India.<br /><br />Roy says these are given by banks themselves to small call centres to chase defaulting customers, which find their way to the markets in the form of CDs.<br /><br />Perhaps, Bahree could have just bought one of these CDs to sell to Harvey.<br /><br />So Roy, who has raised this issue with the RBI, has filed an application with the government asking Bahree to appear and reveal where the data came from.<br /><br />Police investigations into the matter have been far from revealing. More than a week after the story broke, the Haryana police say they are yet to make a breakthrough. A formal police complaint has still not been registered.<br /><br />In fact, it's not even clear who is investigating the case.<br /><br />The IT Act says that the certifying authority of the government's IT department is fully empowered to investigate IT thefts.<br /><br />But the controller of certifying authorities refused to comment saying it's not his job.<br /><br />The delay means that the trail of crucial electronic evidence will turn cold and the truth may never be out.<br /><br />Was it a security lapse?<br /><br />So what was the sting operation trying to expose. Security lapses or just hit at the thriving BPO business?<br /><br />Security experts and companies themselves see in this whole controversy an attempt to hit at the credibility of India's BPO industry and tarnish its image.<br /><br />"I agree it's a set up," Dr Balakrishnan said.<br /><br />"It's not about security, it's about outsourcing. You are at more risk if you use your credit card in a shop," said Bhasin.<br /><br />But the Bahree case has had some positive fallout. The industry is strengthening systems just so that this one-off incident does not have any long term impact.<br /><br />Agencies are being appointed to check the background of employees and the government is planning to tighten the IT Act to minimise data theft to make sure that their security standards are internationally recognised.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Business News</span><br />Trackback: <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/money/showbusinessstory.asp?slug=BPO+fraud%3A+Was+it+a+sting+or+a+set+up%3F&id=25957">Sarbajit Roy cyber hacker</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1120540173060737202005-07-05T10:05:00.000+05:002005-07-05T10:09:33.066+05:00Sarbajit Roy, The InsiderThe Insider<br />PRAGYA SINGH (Indian Express Newsline)<br /><br />Posted online: Sunday, July 03, 2005 at 0000 hours IST<br /><br />IN the last few days Karan Bahree has become the face, though a reluctant one, of the outsourcing industry. It’s a face that reflects the troubled industry that makes $13 billion a year.<br /><br />Last Thursday, British tabloid The Sun declared it had Bahree on camera, exchanging British banks’ private information for Rs 3.4 lakh. The Sun says he got the information from call centres in Delhi.<br /><br />Since then, Bahree has vanished, but the call centres haven’t rested. The papers flash his pictures, the tabloids feast on him and every self-respecting blog underwrites India’s IT industry.<br /><br />Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has stepped in: On Wednesday, he wanted to know how the culprits are being booked and the alleged security loopholes in call centres plugged. These call centres, flagships for India’s equally well-to-do software exports, are taking a lot of the flack.<br /><br />Bahree, still only 24, emerged briefly in a letter to his employers. In it he said he took the money, gave the CD to Sun’s reporters but says he doesn’t know what was on it. In fact, it wasn’t his CD at all, he claims; it belonged to an acquaintance, with whom he split the booty.<br /><br />A vortex of allegations has spawned, turning Bahree into a foolish boy, the law enforcement into spectators, The Sun into an evil avenger for ‘Benedict Arnold CEOs’. And call centres, which say Indian security is world class, into victims of racism or of vested interests. BPOs know trouble when they see it, and after dealing with the US, they sense a need to lie low.<br /><br />In the ruckus, Bahree, a public-school boy brought up in Delhi, turned his cellphone off. Neighbours at his parent’s Dilshad Garden home say they haven’t spotted him for a while. Even his father won’t say where he is.<br /><br />The evasion may seem ridiculously easy, considering the storm Bahree has raised. But this hide-and-seek could, in fact, be Karan’s life’s work: At Infinity e-Search, a small Gurgaon-based web design firm (not call centre) he was on probation for<br /><br />Rs 10,000 a month. It fired him without notice on Tuesday, not convinced by his desperate letter. On weekends, Bahree’s closest ally was a gentleman who runs a PCO next door to his home.<br /><br />In all this, where does a CD wielding 1,000 bank customer’s names, passwords and PIN numbers fit in? The closest anyone has got to an answer is: Palika Bazaar, Nehru Place and Janak Puri.<br /><br />In one of these buzzing marketplaces, frothing with everything from the contraband to the unusual, someone picked up the troublesome CD and Bahree handed it to the sleuths from The Sun. This much is indicated by a public interest litigation (PIL) filed before the Delhi government on June 28.<br /><br />The PIL follows up on an eight-month-old legal battle against illegal call centres that allegedly compromise the outsourcing industry. It is the only formal complaint in the Bahree case.<br /><br />It could be—though that does not excuse Bahree’s role—that he thought he was pulling a fast one on his UK ‘clients,’ by peddling a relatively easy to find CD for big money. If that was the case, then The Sun missed the bigger story.<br /><hr><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Re: The Insider</span><br /><br />1) As the sole complainant in this matter, my "PIL" (actually its my interim application in the sole "hacking" complaint under IT ACT filed in Delhi till date) simply requests Oliver Harvey and Bahree to help the ongoing investigations into "theft" of banking data which is ongoing for 14 months now. Forensic analysis of the CD in Harvey's possession will lead India's cyber cops to a mother-lode of hacked data (estimated to be over 1.2 million accounts Indian credit card accounts of British Banks) which RBI and the Indian Govt have known about for almost 14 months now and had tried to sweep under the carpet.<br /><br />2) Its therefore hilarious to see Dr. K.K.Bajaj (Deputy Controller of Certifying Authorities and Director CERT-IN and India's Top Cyber Investigator under section 28 of the IT ACT) caught on hidden spycams by NDTV blathering away that "data theft" does not fall within his investigative powers.<br /><br />3) As a small newspaper(?) in Delhi says "Let there be Light" shed on this matter and especially why the Cyber Regulatory Tribunal has not been constituted till date thereby bottlenecking all cyber prosecutions in the country. Once again Dr. Bajaj - has a lot to answer for.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Posted by: sarbajit roy, India, 04-07-2005 at 0930 hours IST</span><br /><br />Trackback: <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=73730">Sarbajit Roy Insider</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1120204704267456522005-07-01T12:57:00.000+05:002005-07-01T13:06:36.850+05:00Brilliant Article by Urvashi Kaul. Govt. soft on cyber crime<font color="red">This blogger is very stingy with praise generally. BUT, this is a brilliant article that nails Dr. K.K.Bajaj (Dy Controller of Certifying Authorities and Director CERT-IN), the head cyber crime honcho for India. All ManMohan Singh's empty rhetoric can't disguise that our cyber enforcement sucks BIG TIME !! Sarbajit Roy</font><br /><hr><span style="font-weight:bold;">Cyber crime: PM wants strict laws</span><br />- By Urvashi Kaul <br /><br />New Delhi, June 30: Whether or not Mr Karan Bahree, who was involved in UK tabloid sting, has committed a criminal offence is a hard question to answer. <br /><br />It becomes even harder to initiate prosecution by the specialised cyber enforcement and investigating authorities (like controller and adjudicating officer), when no Cyber Regulations Appellate Tribunal has been constituted to try cyber crime cases, as required under the Indian Information Technology Act 2000. <br /><br />Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday had directed the Union information technology ministry to make changes in cyber laws to make illegal transfer of data a punishable offence. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s directive comes in the wake of a recent media sting operation by a British newspaper involving the employee of a private data processing company where allegation of breach of data secrecy have been levelled.<br /><br />The IT Act, which came in to existence in October 2000, required the Central government to establish an appellate tribunal headed by a nominated presiding officer. <br /><br />While details about presiding officer’s term in office, salary, removal procedures and other conditions have been duly notified in the Act, the government, so far, has not appointed the presiding officer. <br /><br />Confirming that no tribunal has been formed, a senior officer in the IT ministry said, "If at all a presiding officer is nominated, he would sit in the Electronics Niketan."<br /><br />While the adjudicating officer of a particular state, takes decisions on whether a particular case relates to cyber crime, he forwards the case to the tribunal only after determining the maintainability of the case under the IT Act. The case is then transferred to the magistrate through the tribunal’s presiding officer. In the absence of the presiding officer and the tribunal, cyber crime cases cannot ordinarily be transferred to the magistrate. Prosecution becomes impossible when the adjudicating officer, too, derives his power from the tribunal.<br /><br />Highly-placed sources in the BPO industry are aggrieved about government’s soft approach to cyber crimes. <br /><br />"Government is not serious about cracking cyber crimes," said a source in the BPO industry.<br /><br />Under the IT Act, the only criminal offence under which Mr Bahree can be booked by the police is the one mentioned under Section 66 relating to hacking with computer system. <br /><br />Section 66 of the Act requires the investigating officers to prove that "the wrongful act was done with an intent to cause loss or damage to the public or any person, damage or destroy or alter any information residing in a computer resource or diminish its value or utility or affect it injuriously by any means, commits hacking." Official sources in the industry point out that in the particular case of Mr Bahree, the police cannot issue an arrest warrant in Mr Bahree’s name unless they obtain the CD, which the Sun reporter claims to possess.<br /><hr><br />trackback : <a href="http://www.asianage.com/main.asp?layout=2&cat1=5&cat2=89&newsid=166688">Government soft on cyber crime india</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1120204597678978402005-07-01T12:51:00.000+05:002005-07-01T12:56:37.686+05:00BPOs, BS7799 IT Act 2000 HackingCyber crimes: Can the West trust Indian BPOs<br />KAUSHIK DEKA<br /><br />INDIATIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, JULY 01, 2005 03:32:30 AM]<br /><br />The latest sting operation by UK's Sun on a BPO executive in India leaves an impression that getting classified information out of a call centre is just a matter of few bucks and greedy youngsters are always eager to part with it. However, the moot question here is: is that so simple? Can a call centre executive access your confidential information such as credit card numbers or bank account number?<br /><br />Industry insiders seem to be divided over the issue. Many feel that data security breaches are quite prevalent in call centres , while others think it's next to impossible.<br /><br />There is no doubt that unless fully convinced of the vendors' capability in data confidentiality, clients do not outsource. Some common information security management standards like ISO 17999 and BS 7799 are strictly adhered to by most BPOs.<br /><br />"We apply adequate security measures in our call centres and our executives cannot carry any data outside the office premises. They are not allowed to carry cell phones, paper, pen, digital diary or even a wallet to their work-stations. If they are handling sensitive issues like financial matters, insurance, etc they cannot even access the internet. There is no hard drive or floppy disk on their computers. Having said that, you must know a hacker can hack into even Nasa. So, if someone is bent on committing a crime, how can you stop that person?" says Amit Agarwal, senior vice president, vCustomer, a Delhi-based BPO. <br /><br /> On the other hand some young BPO executives feel otherwise. According to them, there are enough opportunities to take a peek at the personal data and information of customers. Many believe that although there are lots of firewalls and technical barriers, it's quite easy to manipulate the system if one has good software skills.<br /><br />"One must realise that despite the complex and detailed fraud tracking units, if a bunch of employees collude and indulge in wrongful activities, it becomes extremely hard to stop it. Though it's do-able, it's also easily traceable," says Anupam Sharma, a BPO executive.<br /><br />"The customer's identification number is confidential, but can be accessed if given a try," says Anjali Dubey, a call centre executive from Gurgaon.<br /><br />On being probed on these issues, Vipul Agarwal, manager operations, Convergys says, "It's very unfair to blame BPOs only for the frauds happening around. The clients also have to take proper security measures. There are chances of security breaches when it comes to web-enabled data. Maximum one can know is the credit card number or the date of birth, which are required for verification. Besides, a fraud will always be caught, sooner or later; no one can get away with it."<br /><br />Mumbai-based security expert Vijay Mukhi, however, does not subscribe to this view. He feels that though BPO centres in India are mushrooming and they are hiring people at random, they ignore a very serious issue -- the requirement of security experts in BPOs. <br /><br /> "I still have to come across an advertisement by a BPO seeking security experts to monitor the process inside the BPO. Unless they pay heed to security, these frauds will keep happening," says Mukhi.<br /><br />However, the Indian BPO industry is putting their best efforts to counter emerging security challenges. In most of the BPOs the contract with the appointment letter itself prohibits the employee from leaking out information to anybody. To be on the safe side many BPOs even install hidden cameras to keep vigil on the activities of their employees. Earlier sensitive information like credit card numbers of the clients were available to employees, now technology has been upgraded. Everything is now encrypted.<br /><br />Why do frauds happen?<br /><br />Is it because of sheer greed? Or do young BPO executives get carried away by the fact that they can sneak into their customers' private domain?<br /><br />"Greed is one of the primary driving instincts behind most crimes, so it would be unfair to single out the BPO sector here. But the feeling of power over another person's innermost secrets and the power to possibly make big bucks without the 'risk' of getting caught are two unique determinants here," says Sanjay Chugh, founder chairman, International Institute of Mental Health, Delhi. <br /><br />s there any way to check these frauds?<br /><br />"I think prevention is the best measure. Before hiring an executive we do a thorough verification including his residence proof, educational qualification and previous work experience. After that we give proper training and from time to time we sensitise them on the ethics of data security," says Vipul Agarwal.<br /><br />Experts believe that as BPO executives deal with many sensitive data and they join work at a very early age, it's imperative on the recruiters to do a psychological evaluation before hiring. This kind of evaluation can work as a very effective deterrent to fraudulent activities.<br /><br />"There are some wonderful psychometric tools that we routinely use to assess a person's temperament and character traits and to assess the likelihood of a particular behaviour coming up in particular circumstances. Psychological intervention/training ought to be made compulsory in all corporate set ups except for the fact that the decision makers in such set ups are completely naive, ignorant or blind to this need," says Chugh.<br /><br />"Though these tests are very effective, however, they are not entirely foolproof. The BPOs have to apply supporting security measures as well," adds eminent psychologist, Dr. Samir Parikh.<br /><br />Where does the law stand?<br /><br />Some experts believe that the Indian IT Act 2000 does not have enough teeth to tackle cyber crimes related to BPOs. "The Indian IT law is primarily an e-commerce enabling legislation and does not specifically deal with the issue of online fraud. It also does not have adequate data protection measures. We need a distinct overhaul of the IT Act since its cyber crime provisions do not deal with emerging BPO-related crimes and frauds," says Pavan Duggal, Delhi-based cyber law expert.<br /><br />Not everyone would agree with Duggal. Says Na. Vijayashankar, an e-business consultant based in Chennai, "Many persons in the industry and eminent lawyers have not observed that ITA-2000 can be used for data protection through section 66 and section 43. These two clauses make me feel that the law is adequate as it is."<br /><br /> "India has a sound cyber law regime and both paper-based and electronic data can be effectively and legally protected in India. The TRIPS Agreement (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and the Copyright Act, 1957 provides sufficient safeguards for preventing violations of databases. The data provided by the clients will get the protection of "Data Property" if the same involves intellectual creations within the meaning of Article 10(2) of the TRIPS Agreement. If they fail to satisfy the requirement of Article 10(2), still they will be protected as copyright," says Praveen Dalal, advocate, Delhi High Court.<br /><br />What puts the industry at grave risk is also the practice of the BPO outfits further subletting contracts to small-time players. Many Indian companies transfer a part of the job to smaller outfits to complete the job faster. The subletting of contracts, often without taking the original client into confidence, further exposes the BPO industry to the risk of frauds.<br /><br />"All Indian BPO companies are network service providers under section 79 of the IT Act. They are made liable for all third party data or information made available by them. As the law requires due diligence to be done in order to escape such liabilities, it is imperative for all the BPOs and also their clients to insist that there is appropriate documented cyber-legal due diligence," says Duggal.<br /><br />Cyber crime incidents are not India-specific. In 2004, the UK lost about £3 bn to unauthorised access, penetration into computer systems, data theft, virus attacks and financial frauds. FBI chief Chris Swecker reported to the US Senate Judiciary Committee that he '"opened 1,081 investigations of identity thefts" and was carrying out over 1,600 "active investigations".<br /><br />In India these kinds of cyber crimes are still in a nascent stage. With proper implementation of the law, these crimes can be easily curbed.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1120133730413763612005-06-30T16:53:00.001+05:002005-06-30T17:15:30.436+05:00Who is Oliver Harvey Really ?A few stories on who this Oliver Harvey really is :- Anatoly Tal, Dominic Mohan(? ho ho), a caring father in a spiderman suit, or just a guy who weighs big breasts!<br /><br /><hr>The Communicator<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">SUN BUNGLES JUICY ASYLUM SCOOP</span><br />Guest Editor Gordon Doh Fondo believes The Sun's ASYLUM EXPOSED was a magnificent if muddled story, skewed to satisfy the paper's xenophobic tastes.<br /><br />I read this 'Major Sun Investigation' on Mon 19 May with admiration, and great disappointment. An otherwise fine piece of journalism was reduced to a mere platitude - that asylum-seekers get FREE accommodation and FREE food. It also insinuated that new arrivals should be starved to death.<br /><br />No one can fail to admire the courage and bravado of journalist Oliver Harvey, alias Moldovan asylum-seeker 'Anatoly Tal'). Those who flee the Saddams and Mugabes come in the wings of planes, at the back of uncushioned containers, and on foot. Harvey hid 'in the back of a white van' wrapped 'inside a duvet… rather than risk suffocation'. That takes nerves of steel.<br /><br />However, this self-styled undercover agent failed to take on board the physical and psychological torture experienced by asylum-seekers who have escaped death by a hair's breadth.<br /><br />Harvey's investigation did prove one thing; however well you fake it no one can ever replicate the weight that asylum seekers carry with them.<br /><br />He had contingency plans and probably credit cards tucked safely away; most asylum-seekers fee with more will than wallet, taking risks far too excruciating for a white-collar journalist to copy.<br /><br />It took Harvey thirty-five minutes to get to his 'promised land'; it may take many weeks for some of those genuinely seeking asylum-seekers.<br /><br />DEFINING TERMS<br /><br />A definition of 'refugee' or 'asylum-seeker' (the difference is rarely explained in the UK press) might help The Sun.<br /><br />Article 1 (2) of the UN Convention of 1951 defines a refugee as a person who, 'owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it'. (my emphasis)<br /><br />The emboldened passage is often left out but needs to be emphasised. It means, in essence, that all 'British' Zimbabweans fleeing from Mugabe's iron fist ARE asylum-seekers in the UK.<br /><br />It follows that British nationals habitually resident in Iraq or Saudi Arabia who flee war or terrorism, ARE asylum-seekers in the UK. Yet the press never bothers to write about their situation or the free housing they receive on arrival. Are they more entitled to it by virtue of their colour and accent?<br /><br />The Sun also needs to find out more about the rights and entitlements of asylum-seekers under international law.<br /><br />ASYLUM BENEFITS<br /><br />Harvey uses the word 'FREE' eleven times to refer to accommodation, food, transport and NHS care, given asylum-seekers.<br /><br />Article 13 of the 1951 Convention could not be more explicit: "the Contracting States shall accord to a refugee treatment as favourable as possible and, in any event, not less favourable than that accorded to aliens generally in the same circumstances, as regards the acquisition of movable and immovable property and other rights pertaining thereto.."<br /><br />My emphasis on the key phrase.. Which means that if white people are fleeing from Mugabe to seek asylum in the UK, then the same accommodation and other related benefits ought to apply to them as it applies to Africans, Arabs or, as in the case in point, Moldavians.<br /><br />The Sun declared (Wed 22 May, 2002, p.8) that '90% of asylum-seekers are conmen' seeking benefits.<br />The paper frowns at 'free hand-outs' to asylum-seekers. In other words a destitute asylum-seeker should pay rent and buy food and bus tickets with no money!<br /><br />Section 95 (1) of the 1999 Immigration and Nationality Act entitles asylum-seekers to support on the grounds of destitution [95 (2) and 95(3) (a) and (b)].<br />The Sun may argue that Article 55 of the 2002 Act has superseded this provision, especially in relation to in-country applicants who fail to claim 'as soon as is reasonably practical' (whatever that may mean).<br /><br />Recent court decisions suggest otherwise. Mr Justice Collins described this provision as "ultra vires" and "draconian". Ruling against it Lord Ellenborough said "the law of humanity, which is anterior to all positive laws, obliges us to afford [asylum-seekers] relief, to save them from starving."<br /><br />Where would The Sun's man Oliver Harvey have slept if he were not immediately granted accommodation? Would he have shared a phone booth with a homeless asylum-seeker or headed for the comfort of home or a 5-star hotel on expenses?<br /><br />DUE PROCESS<br /><br />I am no apologist for the Home Office but in fairness to them, it can be argued that the asylum process is like other judicial procedures where rules relating to discovery and evidence apply.<br /><br />Paramount, though, is the presumption of innocence. An asylum-seeker must be considered genuine until such time as the asylum procedure proves otherwise. The onus of proof rests with the Home Office.<br /><br />Obtaining an ID card marked 'Employment Prohibited' and a tiny room with 'dirty sheets' does not sound to me like a good motive for seeking asylum.<br /><br />Our man in the duvet had a healthy bank account, a passport (held by his friend Paul in case he was discovered) and a clear mind - not having abandoned his wife and family to a vengeful dictator. He ended his journey just when he would have started learning the harsh realities of asylum seeking.<br /><br />He missed out on completing the exacting 21-page Statement of Evidence Form, and avoided the 13-day minimum (sometimes longer than 6-month) wait to be called for a Substantive Interview. He did not share the fate of Baindu Dassama from war-torn Sierra Leone, whose file was 'mislaid'.<br /><br />RUMBLED<br /><br />Before the interview, a caseworker would have read up on the history, geography and politics of Moldova, and quickly rumbled Harvey's 'five minutes study on the internet'.<br /><br />'Anatoly Tal' would also have found that the biometrics data held in his file had been checked against asylum databases all over Europe and the UK.<br /><br />Could he not provide clear, concrete evidence that he was a journalist, his claim would have been refused. He would wait another two to six months to be called for appeal, after which he might have a deportation order hanging over his head.<br /><br />Meanwhile he would live on a 'free breakfast of mango juice, toast and jam' in his "free accommodation," with no wife to return to, no child to lisp at his return, no company to share jokes with, and an uncertain future.<br /><br />The authorities may not earn high marks for failing to detect a human bundle hidden under crates in a van driven by a UK national. But they acted on the assumption that Oliver/Anatoly was an asylum-seeker.<br />The port is not the place to decide whether or not he was genuine. The law has to run its cours e. Nor can The Sun draw conclusions from an isolated case. Let's see it get the same result 6 out of 10 times.<br /><br />POISON PEN<br /><br />The Sun found ink to fill a poisonous pen. An otherwise brilliant story, which could have been used for political leverage to spark off reforms, was presented to readers as another reason to hate asylum-seekers.<br /><br />The Sun's feeble outburst of mea culpa does not mitigate the xenophobic tone of the article. But it does show that even an enemy of asylum-seekers can see their plight. Of 'Anatoly''s free room Oliver says: 'the sheets were dirty but the mattress was comfortable enough'. Of those he met, he says, 'Many seemed to have suffered in their homelands'. And of the atmosphere, '[it] was a bit like a community centre on a housing estate".<br /><br />Not even a Sun journalist looking for a reason to witch-hunt asylum-seekers could ignore their shoddy living conditions.<br /><br />The enemies of the UK are not asylum-seekers. They are the thousands of able-bodied men and women who sign on at the dole for decades and rip off the test of us by claiming benefits from the state; they are the journalists whose racist pens stir up a people to maim and kill innocent men and women who have fled for their lives.<br /><br />Well done The Sun. A great story which has not advanced the asylum debate one iota. It just muddied the waters, and added to your reputation as the most xenophobic paper under the sun.<br /><br />Gordon Doh Fondo worked as a sports reporter and presenter for the Cameroon National Television Corporation. Since January, he has been co-presenter of In Site on Channel 7 Television UK.<br /><hr><br />The Sun also revealed that Bahree, “an ex-public school boy”, is “a member of India’s top Brahmin caste” and that he is “a virgin who lives with his parents”. How either nugget is relevant to Bahree’s alleged financial crime is not made clear.<br /><hr><br />Sun reporter fails language test<br /><br />Chris Tryhorn and Claire Cozens<br />Wednesday April 13, 2005<br />The Guardian<br /><br />A Sun journalist's attempt to gain entry to Britain posing as an asylum seeker came a cropper when his language skills were found wanting.<br /><br />The reporter, Brian Flynn, until recently the paper's New York correspondent, was questioned by immigration officers at Dover yesterday after claiming to be a Kosovan refugee.<br /><br />When officers summoned an interpreter, Flynn's inability to speak either of the region's languages, Serbo-Croat or Albanian, were exposed.<br /><br />Article continues<br />"We can confirm that some journalist posing as a clandestine immigrant was stopped at Dover by immigration officers," a Home Office spokesman said. "He was questioned and subsequently released."<br /><br />A spokeswoman for the Sun declined to comment.<br /><br />In May 2003, another journalist at the paper, Oliver Harvey, successfully claimed benefits posing as an asylum seeker.<br /><br />Harvey pretended to be a Moldovan journalist fleeing state oppression, using the name Anatoly Tal and "hamming up" an east European accent when meeting officials.<br /><br />In the article, Harvey explained how he had avoided the trap into which Flynn fell two years later.<br /><br />"I said I was an ethnic Russian whose mother tongue was Russian. My interviewer asked: "Do you need an interpreter?' I replied: "No, no. My English is very good. I have a degree in English and media." In fact, I was born in Hertfordshire and I don't speak a word of Russian."<br /><br />Harvey added that his knowledge of Moldova was "based on five minutes' study on the internet". <br /><hr><br /><br />http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003510656,00.html<br /><br />Causing chaos ...<br /><br />'Spiderman' climbs along crane yesterday Spidey's protest<br />fiasco<br /><br />By IAN HEPBURN<br />and OLIVER HARVEY<br /><br />A DESPERATE dad demonstrating in a Spiderman outfit up a 200ft crane has been branded a bigger pain than David Blaine. David Chick¹s protest has paralysed the area around London¹s Tower Bridge ‹ just weeks after it was gridlocked by fans flocking to see the US magician in a box. The crossing and several surrounding streets have been closed by police since Chick, 36, scaled the crane on Friday ‹ causing misery for motorists and crippling trade for local businesses. The dad, of Burgess Hill, Sussex, is protesting lack of access to his four-year-old daughter and vowed to stay for 10 DAYS on the Taylor Woodrow building site, where 120 staff have had to suspend work. Drivers endured 44 days of congestion and delays as people came to see Blaine¹s starvation stunt by the bridge, which ended last month. Local Bill Kennedy, 35, said: ³This idiot is causing a total snarl-up of the roads. As if David Blaine wasn¹t bad enough!²<br /><br />Police were criticised for closing off the area. But a Scotland Yard spokesman said: ³The blame for this lies with the demonstrator, not the police. Unmasked ... David Chick<br /><br />³Police have a duty of care to the man himself and the public and our priority has to be health and safety.<br />³Not to close the bridge would be to expose motorists to the risk of the man falling from the crane.² Three officers climbed up the crane yesterday, but Chick clambered along the 100ft jib ‹ swaying as it was buffeted by the wind. Police said last night Chick would be arrested for aggrevated trespass and public nuisance offences.<br />* IF you are a dad fighting for access call The Sun on 020 7782 4019<br />between 10am and 6pm today, email features@the-sun.co.uk or write to Rights<br />For Dads, The Sun, 1 Virginia Street, E98 1XY.<br /><hr><br />By SHARON HENDRY<br />and OLIVER HARVEY<br /><br /><br />THE specialist who helped wrongly convict Angela Cannings of murdering two of her babies was blasted by another jailed mum yesterday.<br /><br />Donna Anthony, 30, is serving life after Prof Sir Roy Meadow, 70, dismissed her claim that HER two tots were cot death victims.<br /><br />But the child care expert’s evidence in several cases has been discredited and he is being investigated by the General Medical Council. Mrs Cannings, 40, walked free from a life sentence on Wednesday after being cleared by the Appeal Court.<br /><br />And Anthony’s lawyer George Hawks, 54, said: "Donna knows now that a lot of people are rooting for her."<br /><br />Shortly before the Cannings appeal, Anthony said at Durham prison: "People are leaning on me to admit murdering my babies so that I can get parole.<br /><br />"I know they don’t let you out unless you admit your guilt.<br /><br />"But I won’t - because I didn’t kill my babies. I loved them."<br /><br />Anthony, of Yeovil, Somerset, was jailed in 1998 - the year that Prof Meadow was knighted.<br /><br />She was found guilty of murdering daughter Jordan, 11 months, in 1996, and son Michael, four months, in 1997.<br /><br />Mr Hawks now wants her to be granted a second appeal hearing after the first failed.<br /><br />During his client’s trial Prof Meadow said of the babies: "I find the circumstances of both lives and both deaths are typical of a child who has been smothered."<br /><br />The Sun told yesterday how Angela - cleared of murdering sons Matthew, 18 weeks, and Jason, seven weeks - was the third mum accused of baby killing to be freed this year.<br /><br />Prof Meadow, now retired, was a prosecution witness in each case.<br /><br />He has argued that multiple cot deaths are suspicious events.<br /><br />But his theory is not supported by scientific evidence. In one instance he alleged the chances of losing two babies to cot death were 73 million to one, a figure he now accepts was inaccurate.<br /><br />The correct statistic is closer to 64 to one.<br /><br />Campaigner Anne Diamond, 49, yesterday called for a review of how multiple cot deaths are investigated.<br /><br />Ban him now <br /><hr><br />‘See You In May: Thousands of gipsies head for Britain’ was The Sun headline on January 18. Inside a two-page spread by Oliver Harvey used the simple fact that 1.5 million Roma who live in Poland and Slovakia will become EU citizens after May 1 and can come and work in Britain.<br /><br />Of course it is impossible to predict how many Roma may come to the UK but The Sun claimed ‘tens of thousands are poised to flock to Britain when the EU expands on May 1.’<br /><br />The Daily Express had no qualms about predictions. Its front page on January 20 had the emotive scare headline ‘1.6 million gipsies ready to flood in’ and a double spread accompanied by a map of Europe with the caption ‘The Great Invasion 2004: Where the gipsies are coming from’.<br /><br />Date added: Monday, February 02, 2004 07:33 PM<br />Last modified: Monday, February 02, 2004<br /><hr><br /> A superintendent pharmacist accused of misconduct after becoming involved in the internet supply of Viagra, exposed by an investigation carried out by The Sun newspaper, has been reprimanded by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.<br /><br />In the first case of its kind to come before the statutory committee, ABC Drug Stores Limited of Portobello Road, Notting Hill and its superintendent pharmacist Julian Wyatt from Raynes Park, southwest London, faced a series of allegations.<br /><br />Sun journalist Oliver Harvey managed to buy Viagra via the website Menscare UK. Later he obtained the slimming drug Reductil without first obtaining a prescription from a doctor. ...<br /><hr><br /> THE SUN NEWSPAPER<br /><br />Edition 1GMD TUE 30 SEP 2003, Page 20<br />Dark Forces<br />OLIVER HARVEY<br />CONSPIRACY THEORIES RUN WILD OVER BLACKOUTS<br />THE electricity blackouts that brought New York, London, Copenhagen<br />and Italy to a standstill have the conspiracy theorists working<br />overtime.<br />From cries of an alien invasion to the rise of a new world order,<br />the doom and gloom merchants cannot get enough.<br />When 57million Italians suffered power cuts at the weekend, it was<br />the FOURTH time in SIX weeks a Western nation had been plunged<br />into<br />darkness.<br />The cuts, which have affected more than 100million people, started<br />in August when New York and much of north-east America was blacked<br />out.<br />Within days London and southern England suffered a similar power<br />failure, then Denmark and its capital Copenhagen followed suit.<br />But is it just coincidence, the groaning of long outdated and<br />creaking power grids, or are there really dark forces at work?<br />Secret<br />The Internet is buzzing with wild theories and bizarre rumours.<br />One of the most popular is that the Western nations have secretly<br />organised the blackouts as dummy runs against terror attacks.<br />One US web user said on a chat site: "There's a good chance this was<br />orchestrated to test public response and as a reminder to be<br />prepared."<br />Others believe a top secret US military experiment is to blame,<br />suggesting it had affected the Earth's magnetic field which caused<br />the cuts.<br />One Net nerd has even written an essay titled Did A Secret Military<br />Experiment Cause The 2003 American Blackout?<br />Another web surfer called Keith put it down to the rise of a new<br />global power. He said: "Power cuts in the US, the UK and now Italy.<br />Is the new world order up to something?"<br />Others attributed the blackouts to aliens taking over the world. One<br />conspirator said: "The aliens transmit large amounts of electricity<br />into power relay stations and blow out their circuit breakers. It's<br />all part of their invasion plan and every industrial country will be<br />affected."<br />Perhaps the most bizarre explanation came from a conspirator simply<br />known as Acoloss, who said: "Maybe electricity is a form of life and<br />it's become aware."<br />But last night electricity suppliers insisted there was a rational<br />explanation to the cuts. National Grid Transco spokesman Chris Mostyn<br />said: "The British blackout had nothing to do with terrorism or<br />aliens. It was a technical fault."<br />But for conspiracy theorists, this explanation is just another<br />example of how we are being kept in the dark.<br /><hr><br />It's £500 for a passport<br />The Sun 12-5-04.<br />by KATHRYN LISTER NEIL SYSON<br />and OLIVER HARVEY<br /><br />CROOKED immigration officer Lucy Denyer demanded £500 for a dodgy passport — then bragged she could get THREE more.<br /><br />Brazen Denyer even claimed she was charging HALF the going rate.<br /><br />The Gatwick Airport worker — exposed in an undercover investigation by The Sun — refused to haggle over the price.<br /><br />She insisted: “Normally it would cost you £1,000, so it is cheap.<br /><br />“You have got to remember this is my job at risk and this is my life at risk for you, so it’s £500. It is a very good price, trust me.”<br /><br />Denyer, 21, who earns £21,500 a year in her job STOPPING illegal foreigners at one of Britain’s biggest gateways, made her demands to two Sun investigators in a pub.<br /><br />Asked if she could provide more passports, she replied: “Yeah, two or three.”<br /><br />Denyer was clutching one filched from an office at Gatwick’s North Terminal — part of a stack confiscated from suspect travellers.<br /><br />The greedy official believed it was for a Romanian called Piotr who had slipped into the UK in the back of a lorry at Dover.<br /><br />But Piotr was in fact reporter Oliver Harvey — and the entire meeting was captured on video.<br /><br />An appalled gay pal had tipped off The Sun that lesbian Denyer was touting around her friends for dodgy visa and passport business.<br /><br />Reporter Kathryn Lister first contacted her by text, posing as a woman called Andrea and asking for help for a friend.<br /><br />The women had met briefly months before — but Andrea was not the person who tipped us off.<br /><br />Over five days, Denyer exchanged text messages and even asked for a description of our Romanian so she could get the best passport match.<br /><br />The officer then sent the excited text: “I’ve got it now. Will arrange to meet in croydon monday afternoon, hows that? Will he have the £’s on him? X.”<br /><br />Denyer, an immigration officer for three years, arrived at the South London pub, sure of a sale with Oliver and Kathryn.<br /><br />Ironically, the venue is half a mile from the immigration service’s national HQ, where thousands of asylum seekers flock for processing.<br /><br />Cocky Denyer collected her £500 as she slipped the passport under the table. She told Oliver: “You take the photo out the top and slide yours in.<br /><br />“You need to be very, very careful with it. Do it very slowly. It is better to have your own photo in it rather than get someone like you.”<br /><br />The passport, number 034705825 and issued on June 28, 1999, was in the name of James Smallwood, supposedly born in Northampton on February 6, 1979.<br /><br />It was seized at Gatwick in September 2001 from drug smugglers and used as evidence at Croydon Crown Court.<br /><br />Denyer even had advice for Oliver if officers grew suspicious.<br /><br />She said: “If they stop you and say ‘I know that’s not you’, hold your hands up and claim asylum. It is either claim asylum or go to jail. If you claim asylum there’s no jail.”<br /><br />Pals allege Denyer has openly boasted about taking bribes from foreigners entering Britain and once pocketed £1,500.<br /><br />Denyer said of the passport: “This will be my second like this but I’ve done visas before. The visas are easier because it is something I can just put a stamp on.<br /><br />“We have got two drawers full of British passports — about 70.”<br /><br />Reporter Oliver last month uncovered a fake passport scam in Poland when he bought one for £800 in a Warsaw market.<br /><br />Denyer, of Lingfield, Surrey, told him part of her role involved assessing passengers through two-way mirrors.<br /><br />She bragged: “When I joined I was the youngest immigration officer in the UK. I think I’m still one of the youngest.”<br /><br />Last night The Sun gave its damning dossier to the Home Office and Denyer was suspended from duty pending a probe.<br /><br />Immigration Minister Des Brown said: “We’d like to thank The Sun for bringing this incident to our attention. We treat it with the utmost seriousness.”<br /><hr><br />Excellent False Passports Sold in Polish Marketplace<br />AN undercover Sun reporter has exposed just how easy it is to get a false east European passport and exploit the Government’s shambolic immigration system. Our man was able to buy a forged Polish passport with a false name in a bustling Warsaw street market for just £800. He was also able to buy a picture ID card in his own name for £330. The Home Office last night confirmed that from May 1 — when Poland and nine other nations join the EU — either document will allow entry to Britain. Similar fake credentials could be used by illegal immigrants from non-EU countries . . . as well as terrorists or big-time criminals.<br /><br />A tip-off from a contact in the Polish underworld led us to Rozyckiego Market, a vipers’ nest of criminality in the centre of Polish capital Warsaw. Within seconds of entering the collection of rickety wooden and corrugated iron stalls we were approached by an unshaven man in a leather jacket. Through a translator, the man, with black moustache and baseball cap, offered our reporter a Polish ID card. The man boasted: “You can have it in whatever name you like. You will be able to travel all over Europe with it. It will be a perfect fake. You can pick it up tomorrow.” Then, as other shoppers strolled by, we were ushered behind a flower stall out of sight of the busy street. Our man was then introduced to another gang member, an overweight, bald man in his fifties. He asked through the translator for our reporter’s height, hair and eye colour. He agreed to provide an ID card in the name Oliver Harvey. Our man handed over a passport picture and 300 US dollars (£165) up front. Returning two days later, he picked up the picture ID, a brilliant fake which also gave our reporter a false address in Warsaw. It also gave the city as his place of birth and a made-up name for his father. The green-fronted card, number DX1258874, came complete with official government stamps and watermarks. We paid a further £165 in US dollars for the ID and shook hands.<br /><br />The bald man then said through our translator: “We trust you now. Why don’t you buy a passport? We have Polish and Austrian, but Austrian is more expensive. You can have any name you like but why don’t you let us make up a Polish identity for you? Border guards will simply look at your passport and wave you through.” His pal said: “People travel to Britain and throughout Europe on our passports. We will create a new identity for you, no problem.” After quoting $2,000, around £1,100, our man bartered the price down to £800. As we struck the deal another man, of central Asian origin, arrived to collect HIS false passport. The racketeer proudly showed the fake to our reporter who, judging the papers a good copy, handed over a £500 down payment in US dollars. Our reporter now had the false name of Andrzej Miler, false date of birth March 28, 1968, and passport number BM3196643. When we compared our version with a legitimate Polish passport, there was no obvious difference. One local said: “This market is like a passport consulate. As well as passports and ID cards, you can get driving licences and degrees.”<br /><br />In four weeks Poland will be the EU’s eastern frontier. Mafia gangs have already established the nation as a people-smuggling staging post en-route to Britain and the West. Around 50,000 illegals from as far afield as China, Afghanistan and Somalia were stopped trying to cross Poland’s borders last year. Almost 10,000 forged passports and other ID documents were discovered at British ports in 2002, the latest year for which figures are available — an increase of 46 per cent on 2001. But an unknown number of illegals with false papers make it into Britain each year. Forged passports are commonly used by terrorists to slip in and out of countries undetected. Two al-Qaeda terrorists, jailed in Britain in 2003, were discovered with hundreds of false travel documents. ....<br /><br />The false documents we bought in Poland were examined by a counterfeit passport expert . . . who passed them with flying colours. The London-based specialist, unnamed because he helps investigations involving terrorists and organised crime, subjected the documents to vigorous forensic tests. He concluded in a written report: “Both documents would be accepted as genuine in a variety of scenarios. After Poland’s accession to the EU, the passport is likely to be accepted in all EU countries. “This is particularly the case where they are not physically examined but merely accepted ‘on the nod’ as the holder passes through the control holding the photo page open, as in the UK.” Once in Britain the passport could be used for a string of criminal and black market activities. The specialist added: “You could use the passport to open a bank account, get a credit card, get a job and cash cheques.” But he said the fakes are not perfect. And the passport could be rumbled if a Customs man decided to look closely at it. He added: “I would not expect an immigration officer to accept the passport if it is subjected to any kind of physical examination. “Having said that, if there were travel stamps and visas in the passport, it might be enough to put the officer off asking too many questions.”<br /><br />A gang netted more than £1million by sticking immigrants’ pictures into genuine British passports. In 14 months up to 500 illegals were waved through at British airports and ferry terminals. Three of the gang — Britons Robert Walkden, 31, Mohammed Jamil, 32, and Khalid Mahmood, 31 — were jailed for six years each in Bradford yesterday. They charged £2,000 to escort the Asian migrants from Europe into Britain, sticking their photos into genuine passports believed to have been bought from British citizens. Detective Constable Peter Thornton, who led the inquiry, said: “The fact is if you are in the queue for people with British passports, the chances are you won’t be stopped.”<br />Posted by Mike Sylwester 1:00:07 AM|| E-Mail|| Page ||<br /><br />#1 You will note that the Mob don't deal in Euros.<br />Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-02 8:32:21 AM Top Page<br /><br />#2 This explains why the US has not lifted visa restrictions on travel from Poland despite their help in Iraq and the WOT. The Polish government can bitch all they want, but those restrictions need to be kept in place until Poland cleans up this problem.<br />Posted by: Steve 2004-04-02 8:46:12 AM Top Page<br /><br />#3 Yeah right. This reporter should ask for a refund. First of all, the last name on the passport should be 'Miller' not 'Miler', even though they are pronounced the same way in Polish. An easy mistake for a dumbass forger to make (and even dumber reporter). With a sharp border guard this should immediately raise a flag.<br /><hr>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12931457.post-1120133719700048952005-06-30T16:53:00.000+05:002005-06-30T17:15:19.720+05:00Who is Oliver Harvey Really ?A few stories on who this Oliver Harvey really is :- Anatoly Tal, Dominic Mohan(? ho ho), a caring father in a spiderman suit, or just a guy who weighs big breasts!<br /><br /><hr>The Communicator<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">SUN BUNGLES JUICY ASYLUM SCOOP</span><br />Guest Editor Gordon Doh Fondo believes The Sun's ASYLUM EXPOSED was a magnificent if muddled story, skewed to satisfy the paper's xenophobic tastes.<br /><br />I read this 'Major Sun Investigation' on Mon 19 May with admiration, and great disappointment. An otherwise fine piece of journalism was reduced to a mere platitude - that asylum-seekers get FREE accommodation and FREE food. It also insinuated that new arrivals should be starved to death.<br /><br />No one can fail to admire the courage and bravado of journalist Oliver Harvey, alias Moldovan asylum-seeker 'Anatoly Tal'). Those who flee the Saddams and Mugabes come in the wings of planes, at the back of uncushioned containers, and on foot. Harvey hid 'in the back of a white van' wrapped 'inside a duvet… rather than risk suffocation'. That takes nerves of steel.<br /><br />However, this self-styled undercover agent failed to take on board the physical and psychological torture experienced by asylum-seekers who have escaped death by a hair's breadth.<br /><br />Harvey's investigation did prove one thing; however well you fake it no one can ever replicate the weight that asylum seekers carry with them.<br /><br />He had contingency plans and probably credit cards tucked safely away; most asylum-seekers fee with more will than wallet, taking risks far too excruciating for a white-collar journalist to copy.<br /><br />It took Harvey thirty-five minutes to get to his 'promised land'; it may take many weeks for some of those genuinely seeking asylum-seekers.<br /><br />DEFINING TERMS<br /><br />A definition of 'refugee' or 'asylum-seeker' (the difference is rarely explained in the UK press) might help The Sun.<br /><br />Article 1 (2) of the UN Convention of 1951 defines a refugee as a person who, 'owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it'. (my emphasis)<br /><br />The emboldened passage is often left out but needs to be emphasised. It means, in essence, that all 'British' Zimbabweans fleeing from Mugabe's iron fist ARE asylum-seekers in the UK.<br /><br />It follows that British nationals habitually resident in Iraq or Saudi Arabia who flee war or terrorism, ARE asylum-seekers in the UK. Yet the press never bothers to write about their situation or the free housing they receive on arrival. Are they more entitled to it by virtue of their colour and accent?<br /><br />The Sun also needs to find out more about the rights and entitlements of asylum-seekers under international law.<br /><br />ASYLUM BENEFITS<br /><br />Harvey uses the word 'FREE' eleven times to refer to accommodation, food, transport and NHS care, given asylum-seekers.<br /><br />Article 13 of the 1951 Convention could not be more explicit: "the Contracting States shall accord to a refugee treatment as favourable as possible and, in any event, not less favourable than that accorded to aliens generally in the same circumstances, as regards the acquisition of movable and immovable property and other rights pertaining thereto.."<br /><br />My emphasis on the key phrase.. Which means that if white people are fleeing from Mugabe to seek asylum in the UK, then the same accommodation and other related benefits ought to apply to them as it applies to Africans, Arabs or, as in the case in point, Moldavians.<br /><br />The Sun declared (Wed 22 May, 2002, p.8) that '90% of asylum-seekers are conmen' seeking benefits.<br />The paper frowns at 'free hand-outs' to asylum-seekers. In other words a destitute asylum-seeker should pay rent and buy food and bus tickets with no money!<br /><br />Section 95 (1) of the 1999 Immigration and Nationality Act entitles asylum-seekers to support on the grounds of destitution [95 (2) and 95(3) (a) and (b)].<br />The Sun may argue that Article 55 of the 2002 Act has superseded this provision, especially in relation to in-country applicants who fail to claim 'as soon as is reasonably practical' (whatever that may mean).<br /><br />Recent court decisions suggest otherwise. Mr Justice Collins described this provision as "ultra vires" and "draconian". Ruling against it Lord Ellenborough said "the law of humanity, which is anterior to all positive laws, obliges us to afford [asylum-seekers] relief, to save them from starving."<br /><br />Where would The Sun's man Oliver Harvey have slept if he were not immediately granted accommodation? Would he have shared a phone booth with a homeless asylum-seeker or headed for the comfort of home or a 5-star hotel on expenses?<br /><br />DUE PROCESS<br /><br />I am no apologist for the Home Office but in fairness to them, it can be argued that the asylum process is like other judicial procedures where rules relating to discovery and evidence apply.<br /><br />Paramount, though, is the presumption of innocence. An asylum-seeker must be considered genuine until such time as the asylum procedure proves otherwise. The onus of proof rests with the Home Office.<br /><br />Obtaining an ID card marked 'Employment Prohibited' and a tiny room with 'dirty sheets' does not sound to me like a good motive for seeking asylum.<br /><br />Our man in the duvet had a healthy bank account, a passport (held by his friend Paul in case he was discovered) and a clear mind - not having abandoned his wife and family to a vengeful dictator. He ended his journey just when he would have started learning the harsh realities of asylum seeking.<br /><br />He missed out on completing the exacting 21-page Statement of Evidence Form, and avoided the 13-day minimum (sometimes longer than 6-month) wait to be called for a Substantive Interview. He did not share the fate of Baindu Dassama from war-torn Sierra Leone, whose file was 'mislaid'.<br /><br />RUMBLED<br /><br />Before the interview, a caseworker would have read up on the history, geography and politics of Moldova, and quickly rumbled Harvey's 'five minutes study on the internet'.<br /><br />'Anatoly Tal' would also have found that the biometrics data held in his file had been checked against asylum databases all over Europe and the UK.<br /><br />Could he not provide clear, concrete evidence that he was a journalist, his claim would have been refused. He would wait another two to six months to be called for appeal, after which he might have a deportation order hanging over his head.<br /><br />Meanwhile he would live on a 'free breakfast of mango juice, toast and jam' in his "free accommodation," with no wife to return to, no child to lisp at his return, no company to share jokes with, and an uncertain future.<br /><br />The authorities may not earn high marks for failing to detect a human bundle hidden under crates in a van driven by a UK national. But they acted on the assumption that Oliver/Anatoly was an asylum-seeker.<br />The port is not the place to decide whether or not he was genuine. The law has to run its cours e. Nor can The Sun draw conclusions from an isolated case. Let's see it get the same result 6 out of 10 times.<br /><br />POISON PEN<br /><br />The Sun found ink to fill a poisonous pen. An otherwise brilliant story, which could have been used for political leverage to spark off reforms, was presented to readers as another reason to hate asylum-seekers.<br /><br />The Sun's feeble outburst of mea culpa does not mitigate the xenophobic tone of the article. But it does show that even an enemy of asylum-seekers can see their plight. Of 'Anatoly''s free room Oliver says: 'the sheets were dirty but the mattress was comfortable enough'. Of those he met, he says, 'Many seemed to have suffered in their homelands'. And of the atmosphere, '[it] was a bit like a community centre on a housing estate".<br /><br />Not even a Sun journalist looking for a reason to witch-hunt asylum-seekers could ignore their shoddy living conditions.<br /><br />The enemies of the UK are not asylum-seekers. They are the thousands of able-bodied men and women who sign on at the dole for decades and rip off the test of us by claiming benefits from the state; they are the journalists whose racist pens stir up a people to maim and kill innocent men and women who have fled for their lives.<br /><br />Well done The Sun. A great story which has not advanced the asylum debate one iota. It just muddied the waters, and added to your reputation as the most xenophobic paper under the sun.<br /><br />Gordon Doh Fondo worked as a sports reporter and presenter for the Cameroon National Television Corporation. Since January, he has been co-presenter of In Site on Channel 7 Television UK.<br /><hr><br />The Sun also revealed that Bahree, “an ex-public school boy”, is “a member of India’s top Brahmin caste” and that he is “a virgin who lives with his parents”. How either nugget is relevant to Bahree’s alleged financial crime is not made clear.<br /><hr><br />Sun reporter fails language test<br /><br />Chris Tryhorn and Claire Cozens<br />Wednesday April 13, 2005<br />The Guardian<br /><br />A Sun journalist's attempt to gain entry to Britain posing as an asylum seeker came a cropper when his language skills were found wanting.<br /><br />The reporter, Brian Flynn, until recently the paper's New York correspondent, was questioned by immigration officers at Dover yesterday after claiming to be a Kosovan refugee.<br /><br />When officers summoned an interpreter, Flynn's inability to speak either of the region's languages, Serbo-Croat or Albanian, were exposed.<br /><br />Article continues<br />"We can confirm that some journalist posing as a clandestine immigrant was stopped at Dover by immigration officers," a Home Office spokesman said. "He was questioned and subsequently released."<br /><br />A spokeswoman for the Sun declined to comment.<br /><br />In May 2003, another journalist at the paper, Oliver Harvey, successfully claimed benefits posing as an asylum seeker.<br /><br />Harvey pretended to be a Moldovan journalist fleeing state oppression, using the name Anatoly Tal and "hamming up" an east European accent when meeting officials.<br /><br />In the article, Harvey explained how he had avoided the trap into which Flynn fell two years later.<br /><br />"I said I was an ethnic Russian whose mother tongue was Russian. My interviewer asked: "Do you need an interpreter?' I replied: "No, no. My English is very good. I have a degree in English and media." In fact, I was born in Hertfordshire and I don't speak a word of Russian."<br /><br />Harvey added that his knowledge of Moldova was "based on five minutes' study on the internet". <br /><hr><br /><br />http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003510656,00.html<br /><br />Causing chaos ...<br /><br />'Spiderman' climbs along crane yesterday Spidey's protest<br />fiasco<br /><br />By IAN HEPBURN<br />and OLIVER HARVEY<br /><br />A DESPERATE dad demonstrating in a Spiderman outfit up a 200ft crane has been branded a bigger pain than David Blaine. David Chick¹s protest has paralysed the area around London¹s Tower Bridge ‹ just weeks after it was gridlocked by fans flocking to see the US magician in a box. The crossing and several surrounding streets have been closed by police since Chick, 36, scaled the crane on Friday ‹ causing misery for motorists and crippling trade for local businesses. The dad, of Burgess Hill, Sussex, is protesting lack of access to his four-year-old daughter and vowed to stay for 10 DAYS on the Taylor Woodrow building site, where 120 staff have had to suspend work. Drivers endured 44 days of congestion and delays as people came to see Blaine¹s starvation stunt by the bridge, which ended last month. Local Bill Kennedy, 35, said: ³This idiot is causing a total snarl-up of the roads. As if David Blaine wasn¹t bad enough!²<br /><br />Police were criticised for closing off the area. But a Scotland Yard spokesman said: ³The blame for this lies with the demonstrator, not the police. Unmasked ... David Chick<br /><br />³Police have a duty of care to the man himself and the public and our priority has to be health and safety.<br />³Not to close the bridge would be to expose motorists to the risk of the man falling from the crane.² Three officers climbed up the crane yesterday, but Chick clambered along the 100ft jib ‹ swaying as it was buffeted by the wind. Police said last night Chick would be arrested for aggrevated trespass and public nuisance offences.<br />* IF you are a dad fighting for access call The Sun on 020 7782 4019<br />between 10am and 6pm today, email features@the-sun.co.uk or write to Rights<br />For Dads, The Sun, 1 Virginia Street, E98 1XY.<br /><hr><br />By SHARON HENDRY<br />and OLIVER HARVEY<br /><br /><br />THE specialist who helped wrongly convict Angela Cannings of murdering two of her babies was blasted by another jailed mum yesterday.<br /><br />Donna Anthony, 30, is serving life after Prof Sir Roy Meadow, 70, dismissed her claim that HER two tots were cot death victims.<br /><br />But the child care expert’s evidence in several cases has been discredited and he is being investigated by the General Medical Council. Mrs Cannings, 40, walked free from a life sentence on Wednesday after being cleared by the Appeal Court.<br /><br />And Anthony’s lawyer George Hawks, 54, said: "Donna knows now that a lot of people are rooting for her."<br /><br />Shortly before the Cannings appeal, Anthony said at Durham prison: "People are leaning on me to admit murdering my babies so that I can get parole.<br /><br />"I know they don’t let you out unless you admit your guilt.<br /><br />"But I won’t - because I didn’t kill my babies. I loved them."<br /><br />Anthony, of Yeovil, Somerset, was jailed in 1998 - the year that Prof Meadow was knighted.<br /><br />She was found guilty of murdering daughter Jordan, 11 months, in 1996, and son Michael, four months, in 1997.<br /><br />Mr Hawks now wants her to be granted a second appeal hearing after the first failed.<br /><br />During his client’s trial Prof Meadow said of the babies: "I find the circumstances of both lives and both deaths are typical of a child who has been smothered."<br /><br />The Sun told yesterday how Angela - cleared of murdering sons Matthew, 18 weeks, and Jason, seven weeks - was the third mum accused of baby killing to be freed this year.<br /><br />Prof Meadow, now retired, was a prosecution witness in each case.<br /><br />He has argued that multiple cot deaths are suspicious events.<br /><br />But his theory is not supported by scientific evidence. In one instance he alleged the chances of losing two babies to cot death were 73 million to one, a figure he now accepts was inaccurate.<br /><br />The correct statistic is closer to 64 to one.<br /><br />Campaigner Anne Diamond, 49, yesterday called for a review of how multiple cot deaths are investigated.<br /><br />Ban him now <br /><hr><br />‘See You In May: Thousands of gipsies head for Britain’ was The Sun headline on January 18. Inside a two-page spread by Oliver Harvey used the simple fact that 1.5 million Roma who live in Poland and Slovakia will become EU citizens after May 1 and can come and work in Britain.<br /><br />Of course it is impossible to predict how many Roma may come to the UK but The Sun claimed ‘tens of thousands are poised to flock to Britain when the EU expands on May 1.’<br /><br />The Daily Express had no qualms about predictions. Its front page on January 20 had the emotive scare headline ‘1.6 million gipsies ready to flood in’ and a double spread accompanied by a map of Europe with the caption ‘The Great Invasion 2004: Where the gipsies are coming from’.<br /><br />Date added: Monday, February 02, 2004 07:33 PM<br />Last modified: Monday, February 02, 2004<br /><hr><br /> A superintendent pharmacist accused of misconduct after becoming involved in the internet supply of Viagra, exposed by an investigation carried out by The Sun newspaper, has been reprimanded by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.<br /><br />In the first case of its kind to come before the statutory committee, ABC Drug Stores Limited of Portobello Road, Notting Hill and its superintendent pharmacist Julian Wyatt from Raynes Park, southwest London, faced a series of allegations.<br /><br />Sun journalist Oliver Harvey managed to buy Viagra via the website Menscare UK. Later he obtained the slimming drug Reductil without first obtaining a prescription from a doctor. ...<br /><hr><br /> THE SUN NEWSPAPER<br /><br />Edition 1GMD TUE 30 SEP 2003, Page 20<br />Dark Forces<br />OLIVER HARVEY<br />CONSPIRACY THEORIES RUN WILD OVER BLACKOUTS<br />THE electricity blackouts that brought New York, London, Copenhagen<br />and Italy to a standstill have the conspiracy theorists working<br />overtime.<br />From cries of an alien invasion to the rise of a new world order,<br />the doom and gloom merchants cannot get enough.<br />When 57million Italians suffered power cuts at the weekend, it was<br />the FOURTH time in SIX weeks a Western nation had been plunged<br />into<br />darkness.<br />The cuts, which have affected more than 100million people, started<br />in August when New York and much of north-east America was blacked<br />out.<br />Within days London and southern England suffered a similar power<br />failure, then Denmark and its capital Copenhagen followed suit.<br />But is it just coincidence, the groaning of long outdated and<br />creaking power grids, or are there really dark forces at work?<br />Secret<br />The Internet is buzzing with wild theories and bizarre rumours.<br />One of the most popular is that the Western nations have secretly<br />organised the blackouts as dummy runs against terror attacks.<br />One US web user said on a chat site: "There's a good chance this was<br />orchestrated to test public response and as a reminder to be<br />prepared."<br />Others believe a top secret US military experiment is to blame,<br />suggesting it had affected the Earth's magnetic field which caused<br />the cuts.<br />One Net nerd has even written an essay titled Did A Secret Military<br />Experiment Cause The 2003 American Blackout?<br />Another web surfer called Keith put it down to the rise of a new<br />global power. He said: "Power cuts in the US, the UK and now Italy.<br />Is the new world order up to something?"<br />Others attributed the blackouts to aliens taking over the world. One<br />conspirator said: "The aliens transmit large amounts of electricity<br />into power relay stations and blow out their circuit breakers. It's<br />all part of their invasion plan and every industrial country will be<br />affected."<br />Perhaps the most bizarre explanation came from a conspirator simply<br />known as Acoloss, who said: "Maybe electricity is a form of life and<br />it's become aware."<br />But last night electricity suppliers insisted there was a rational<br />explanation to the cuts. National Grid Transco spokesman Chris Mostyn<br />said: "The British blackout had nothing to do with terrorism or<br />aliens. It was a technical fault."<br />But for conspiracy theorists, this explanation is just another<br />example of how we are being kept in the dark.<br /><hr><br />It's £500 for a passport<br />The Sun 12-5-04.<br />by KATHRYN LISTER NEIL SYSON<br />and OLIVER HARVEY<br /><br />CROOKED immigration officer Lucy Denyer demanded £500 for a dodgy passport — then bragged she could get THREE more.<br /><br />Brazen Denyer even claimed she was charging HALF the going rate.<br /><br />The Gatwick Airport worker — exposed in an undercover investigation by The Sun — refused to haggle over the price.<br /><br />She insisted: “Normally it would cost you £1,000, so it is cheap.<br /><br />“You have got to remember this is my job at risk and this is my life at risk for you, so it’s £500. It is a very good price, trust me.”<br /><br />Denyer, 21, who earns £21,500 a year in her job STOPPING illegal foreigners at one of Britain’s biggest gateways, made her demands to two Sun investigators in a pub.<br /><br />Asked if she could provide more passports, she replied: “Yeah, two or three.”<br /><br />Denyer was clutching one filched from an office at Gatwick’s North Terminal — part of a stack confiscated from suspect travellers.<br /><br />The greedy official believed it was for a Romanian called Piotr who had slipped into the UK in the back of a lorry at Dover.<br /><br />But Piotr was in fact reporter Oliver Harvey — and the entire meeting was captured on video.<br /><br />An appalled gay pal had tipped off The Sun that lesbian Denyer was touting around her friends for dodgy visa and passport business.<br /><br />Reporter Kathryn Lister first contacted her by text, posing as a woman called Andrea and asking for help for a friend.<br /><br />The women had met briefly months before — but Andrea was not the person who tipped us off.<br /><br />Over five days, Denyer exchanged text messages and even asked for a description of our Romanian so she could get the best passport match.<br /><br />The officer then sent the excited text: “I’ve got it now. Will arrange to meet in croydon monday afternoon, hows that? Will he have the £’s on him? X.”<br /><br />Denyer, an immigration officer for three years, arrived at the South London pub, sure of a sale with Oliver and Kathryn.<br /><br />Ironically, the venue is half a mile from the immigration service’s national HQ, where thousands of asylum seekers flock for processing.<br /><br />Cocky Denyer collected her £500 as she slipped the passport under the table. She told Oliver: “You take the photo out the top and slide yours in.<br /><br />“You need to be very, very careful with it. Do it very slowly. It is better to have your own photo in it rather than get someone like you.”<br /><br />The passport, number 034705825 and issued on June 28, 1999, was in the name of James Smallwood, supposedly born in Northampton on February 6, 1979.<br /><br />It was seized at Gatwick in September 2001 from drug smugglers and used as evidence at Croydon Crown Court.<br /><br />Denyer even had advice for Oliver if officers grew suspicious.<br /><br />She said: “If they stop you and say ‘I know that’s not you’, hold your hands up and claim asylum. It is either claim asylum or go to jail. If you claim asylum there’s no jail.”<br /><br />Pals allege Denyer has openly boasted about taking bribes from foreigners entering Britain and once pocketed £1,500.<br /><br />Denyer said of the passport: “This will be my second like this but I’ve done visas before. The visas are easier because it is something I can just put a stamp on.<br /><br />“We have got two drawers full of British passports — about 70.”<br /><br />Reporter Oliver last month uncovered a fake passport scam in Poland when he bought one for £800 in a Warsaw market.<br /><br />Denyer, of Lingfield, Surrey, told him part of her role involved assessing passengers through two-way mirrors.<br /><br />She bragged: “When I joined I was the youngest immigration officer in the UK. I think I’m still one of the youngest.”<br /><br />Last night The Sun gave its damning dossier to the Home Office and Denyer was suspended from duty pending a probe.<br /><br />Immigration Minister Des Brown said: “We’d like to thank The Sun for bringing this incident to our attention. We treat it with the utmost seriousness.”<br /><hr><br />Excellent False Passports Sold in Polish Marketplace<br />AN undercover Sun reporter has exposed just how easy it is to get a false east European passport and exploit the Government’s shambolic immigration system. Our man was able to buy a forged Polish passport with a false name in a bustling Warsaw street market for just £800. He was also able to buy a picture ID card in his own name for £330. The Home Office last night confirmed that from May 1 — when Poland and nine other nations join the EU — either document will allow entry to Britain. Similar fake credentials could be used by illegal immigrants from non-EU countries . . . as well as terrorists or big-time criminals.<br /><br />A tip-off from a contact in the Polish underworld led us to Rozyckiego Market, a vipers’ nest of criminality in the centre of Polish capital Warsaw. Within seconds of entering the collection of rickety wooden and corrugated iron stalls we were approached by an unshaven man in a leather jacket. Through a translator, the man, with black moustache and baseball cap, offered our reporter a Polish ID card. The man boasted: “You can have it in whatever name you like. You will be able to travel all over Europe with it. It will be a perfect fake. You can pick it up tomorrow.” Then, as other shoppers strolled by, we were ushered behind a flower stall out of sight of the busy street. Our man was then introduced to another gang member, an overweight, bald man in his fifties. He asked through the translator for our reporter’s height, hair and eye colour. He agreed to provide an ID card in the name Oliver Harvey. Our man handed over a passport picture and 300 US dollars (£165) up front. Returning two days later, he picked up the picture ID, a brilliant fake which also gave our reporter a false address in Warsaw. It also gave the city as his place of birth and a made-up name for his father. The green-fronted card, number DX1258874, came complete with official government stamps and watermarks. We paid a further £165 in US dollars for the ID and shook hands.<br /><br />The bald man then said through our translator: “We trust you now. Why don’t you buy a passport? We have Polish and Austrian, but Austrian is more expensive. You can have any name you like but why don’t you let us make up a Polish identity for you? Border guards will simply look at your passport and wave you through.” His pal said: “People travel to Britain and throughout Europe on our passports. We will create a new identity for you, no problem.” After quoting $2,000, around £1,100, our man bartered the price down to £800. As we struck the deal another man, of central Asian origin, arrived to collect HIS false passport. The racketeer proudly showed the fake to our reporter who, judging the papers a good copy, handed over a £500 down payment in US dollars. Our reporter now had the false name of Andrzej Miler, false date of birth March 28, 1968, and passport number BM3196643. When we compared our version with a legitimate Polish passport, there was no obvious difference. One local said: “This market is like a passport consulate. As well as passports and ID cards, you can get driving licences and degrees.”<br /><br />In four weeks Poland will be the EU’s eastern frontier. Mafia gangs have already established the nation as a people-smuggling staging post en-route to Britain and the West. Around 50,000 illegals from as far afield as China, Afghanistan and Somalia were stopped trying to cross Poland’s borders last year. Almost 10,000 forged passports and other ID documents were discovered at British ports in 2002, the latest year for which figures are available — an increase of 46 per cent on 2001. But an unknown number of illegals with false papers make it into Britain each year. Forged passports are commonly used by terrorists to slip in and out of countries undetected. Two al-Qaeda terrorists, jailed in Britain in 2003, were discovered with hundreds of false travel documents. ....<br /><br />The false documents we bought in Poland were examined by a counterfeit passport expert . . . who passed them with flying colours. The London-based specialist, unnamed because he helps investigations involving terrorists and organised crime, subjected the documents to vigorous forensic tests. He concluded in a written report: “Both documents would be accepted as genuine in a variety of scenarios. After Poland’s accession to the EU, the passport is likely to be accepted in all EU countries. “This is particularly the case where they are not physically examined but merely accepted ‘on the nod’ as the holder passes through the control holding the photo page open, as in the UK.” Once in Britain the passport could be used for a string of criminal and black market activities. The specialist added: “You could use the passport to open a bank account, get a credit card, get a job and cash cheques.” But he said the fakes are not perfect. And the passport could be rumbled if a Customs man decided to look closely at it. He added: “I would not expect an immigration officer to accept the passport if it is subjected to any kind of physical examination. “Having said that, if there were travel stamps and visas in the passport, it might be enough to put the officer off asking too many questions.”<br /><br />A gang netted more than £1million by sticking immigrants’ pictures into genuine British passports. In 14 months up to 500 illegals were waved through at British airports and ferry terminals. Three of the gang — Britons Robert Walkden, 31, Mohammed Jamil, 32, and Khalid Mahmood, 31 — were jailed for six years each in Bradford yesterday. They charged £2,000 to escort the Asian migrants from Europe into Britain, sticking their photos into genuine passports believed to have been bought from British citizens. Detective Constable Peter Thornton, who led the inquiry, said: “The fact is if you are in the queue for people with British passports, the chances are you won’t be stopped.”<br />Posted by Mike Sylwester 1:00:07 AM|| E-Mail|| Page ||<br /><br />#1 You will note that the Mob don't deal in Euros.<br />Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-02 8:32:21 AM Top Page<br /><br />#2 This explains why the US has not lifted visa restrictions on travel from Poland despite their help in Iraq and the WOT. The Polish government can bitch all they want, but those restrictions need to be kept in place until Poland cleans up this problem.<br />Posted by: Steve 2004-04-02 8:46:12 AM Top Page<br /><br />#3 Yeah right. This reporter should ask for a refund. First of all, the last name on the passport should be 'Miller' not 'Miler', even though they are pronounced the same way in Polish. An easy mistake for a dumbass forger to make (and even dumber reporter). With a sharp border guard this should immediately raise a flag.<br /><hr>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2