A Worrying Email Scam

A rather strange email was received at the offices of the British Guild of Travel Writers today purportedly from a member.

Luckily its phraseology was odd enough to raise suspicion, but of course being a travel writer the member concerned could easily have really been in West Africa.

This scam is both very clever and plausible. Has anyone else received something like this recently?

This is exactly what was sent to the Guild using the member’s email address:

Hi,


How are you? I'm sorry for not informing you earlier about my trip to West Africa for a Seminar,unfortunately, I misplaced my wallet on my way back to the Airport. I had no option but to send you an e-mail because I have no money to call and my phone does not work here.
I need a favor from you because I'm completely stranded and I need you to assist me with a soft loan of £1,500 to sort myself out of this mess and get myself back home.I'll appreciate whatever you can afford to help me with, I'll pay you back as soon as I return. Kindly let me know if you can be of help? so I can send you my personal details to send me the funds.



Your response will be greatly appreciated,.

Thanks




Jxxx Axxxx Travel Writer & Editor

The member was contacted by phone and luckily she answered. She immediately confirmed it was a scam and her email account had been hacked. Her password and been changed by the high jackers and now she was unable to access her account.

The British Guild of Travel Writers answered the email seeking confirmation of her identity and even suggested it sounded like a scam. This is what came back.

Hi xxxxx,


Thanks a lot for your response,I understand your skeptism and really apprecaite that,it so happens that I lost my little bag in the Taxi where most of my valuable stuff was,infact am so confused at the whole situation because I have been unable to retreive it,the visit scotland winter white party is on Monday 9th November, 1800 - 1930 right? and we are to Collect our tickets from the Scotland stand, UKI 1900,Please,I'll really appreciate your help and I promise to refund the money back to you as soon as I get back. Kindly help me send the money through the closest moneygram or western union outlet to you using my personal details below:
 


Name : Jxxx Axxx


Address:10 Bankole oki road


IkoyiLagos.


Country:Nigeria


Zip Code:23401


Test Question:Colour


Test Answer: Green
 


Please As soon as you send the Money,kindly get back to me with the details used in sending it.I promise to pay you back as soon as I get back,hope to read from you soon. Below Details as Follows...


Full Sender Name:


MTCN#:


Sender Country:


Amount Sent:

After I recieve the money I will email you on the arrangements to get back home.Thanks once again and I hope to hear from you soon.



Thanks

Jxxx Axxx Travel Writer & Editor

Fortunately the English used and the spelling style employed clearly alerted the Guild that this was not its own member replying and has not done anything else.

The reason I am posting this on the web is to warn others of how easily fraud can be accomplished.

Perhaps it is time for all of us who use G Mail and Hotmail to update our passwords and make them that bit more difficult to hack into.

Fort Lauderdale Apartment

Early this morning from our Apartment

Whenever we travel, reporting on super yachts around the world there is one thing that frequently blights our enjoyment and that is finding accommodation that we can afford to pay for and more importantly meets our high standards. We are sure that we are not alone in our desire to avoid noisy and sometimes dirty rooms in hotels chains. They are uncomfortable, have expensive and poorly served breakfasts and supplement their already substantial profit by charging huge sums to guests for the use the internet.

When we travel we like to live as local do, in comfort, with the necessities of life that make being and working away from home that little bit more bearable. A good, well equipped kitchen, washing machines, a place to work and other home comforts help ease the stress of being away on the road. What do you think?

For many years we have suffered poor accommodation in Fort Lauderdale at boat show time, made worse by the knowing the price has just gone up because the event is in town. So, it is wonderfully refreshing to be able to report on, and even recommend, a great self-catering apartment in downtown Fort Lauderdale that is fully equipped, and while not cheap is excellent.

Now, before you try to book it for next year’s show, let us make this abundantly clear that it is not available because we have booked it already! But for brokers, yacht managers, captains of super yachts and anyone else visiting Fort Lauderdale this place has our recommendation.

The penthouse suite on the 17th floor is a two bedroom apartment located over looking the New River, with spectacular views of down town and the water in the heart of Fort Lauderdale. The main bedroom has a huge bed, walk in wardrobe and bathroom with tub and separate shower. The second bedroom is laid out as a study with printer, wifi, sofa bed and its own bathroom. The large living room includes a fully equipped kitchen with dishwasher, washing machine and drier and a dinning room table that is perfect for working at.

Walk across the bridge to the Broward Center for Performing Arts and all that Las Olas Boulevard has to offer or catch the water taxi over to the beach or along the water ways so you get to see the houses belonging to millionaires who park their super yachts at the foot of their gardens! The apartment block has its own covered secure parking, a sauna, fitness centre, pool surrounded by BBQs for use by guests and even a 24 hour lobby attendant.

We have not told you how to find this gem and that is quite intentional but ask us and we might just tell you how to find it!

Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show - Day 5

The Super Yachts from the Water © Frances Howorth

The final day of the Fort Lauderdale Boat show was as hot as the first with many of the more sensible visitors moving around from exhibit to exhibit inside the luxury of the air conditioned tents.

Exhibitors inside such tents were reporting brisk business as usual but the docks were, at the peak of the day, noticeably quieter than before. Inside we heard from Yachting Pages that the brand new Super Yacht Owners Guide was being well received and that many people, hearing how good it is from others, were seeking out their own copies.

The IPC media stand had a steady flow of customers seeking to sign up for a free subscription to SuperYacht Business magazine and get their hands on the latest copy of SuperYacht World. Both titles seem to have won new friends and admirers for the consistent good reading and we are both very happy to write for the IPC stable.

Just before lunch we were taken on a tour of Fort Lauderdale downtown by the press and communications office for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Visitors and Convention Bureau. It is amazing how year after year we can visit this city and learn so little about it save that it has the worlds largest boat show, so today’s tour was a great eye opener into what is on offer to the tourist and super yacht owner.

We lunched on the famous Las Olas Boulevard and while we would have liked to have taken in some of the splendid shops that line both sides of this up market street work was calling and we had to say an early goodbye to our gracious host.

One thing we did learn is that the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, is usually on at the same time as the Boat Show, running from mid-October to early to mid-November. Cinema Paradiso is where the Film Festival is based and there are also independent films attractions.

Those of us eagerly awaiting the outcome of the public auction on Monday of the super yacht Java were disappointed. The yacht while not sold during the show was withdrawn from auction by Sacks because two offers were said to have been received from buyers during the show.

Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show - Day 4

Some of the many guests aboard Allure Shadow for the Halloween Party

Sunday it might be, but as actors say between themselves, the show must go on and so it is with us and the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show and as specialist travel journalists who report specifically about super yachts we were working hard this Sunday as well.

With record breaking high temperatures for this time of the year in Fort Lauderdale it is important for showgoers to wear a hat and drink plenty of water and that is exactly what we did.

Our first act was to return to the scene of the crime, so to speak, in that we revisited Allure Shadow the toy carrying super yacht that was the scene of yesterday’s super yacht Buccaneers Bash, a Halloween party super yacht style. This time we were here not to party but to interview our hosts of last evening for a business to business feature which will be published in SuperYacht Business magazine.

Tom Gonzales who with his son founded the company that was to become Commerce One, the first to focus on selling office automation software to banks. He became the owner of a big white super yacht when he sold his company and then bought a Shadow Boat to carry the toys. He fell so in love with his shadow boat that he sold his white boat and created Shadow Marine to build Shadow Boats and Allure Shadow is the most recent incarnation of that process.

We then visited with the owner of Blind Date to get more information and personal input about this great Trinity yacht that we toured yesterday.

The docks are full of strollers and small children very few of who seem to be protected from the ravages of the Florida sunshine. There were so many that we have re named Sunday at the show and for ever more, we will call it Nappy Day.

We also spent time with Pendennis Shipyards, Camper & Nicholson Marinas and set up several interviews and site visits for the days that follow the show.

Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show - Day Three

Late in the afternoon we climbed to the top of the Bahia Mar Hotel to get the bird’s eye photograph above that encompasses just some of the yachts and super yachts at the show.

The day started surprisingly quietly as the traffic on the road as we drove towards the show was particularly light for Saturday a traditional family day at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. But maybe it was because we were an hour before the Show opened as we had a nine o’clock meeting aboard Allure Shadow the latest in the line of Shadow Boats from Shadow Marine.

Available for both sale and charter through the International Yacht Collection this yacht is somewhat different in style and concept to the traditional super yacht. Nicknamed the SUV of the sea where the meaning has been changed to signify Sports Utility Vessel we might perhaps call her the Range Rover of the Seas. She is defiantly going to be included in a feature we are crafting.

Once we got to the Show we saw our earlier impression was wrong, the crowds were out despite the heat and humidity. It was a yacht hoping day for us and amongst the beauties we visited were Odessa now available for charter through The Sacks Group and Blind Date the brand new Trinity now available for charter through Peter Insull. We were particularly fortunate to have Patrick Knowles the designer responsible for her interior show us around and no doubt you will read all about Blind Date when we write her up for SuperYacht World magazine.

We made a quick visit to the Trinity yacht Mine Games whose on board submarine is going to feature in another article we are writing for SuperYacht World in which we look at special things to be enjoyed while sailing on a super yacht. Watch out for this exciting feature in our next issue.

The show closes each night at 7pm but if you think that hard working journalists get to go home and rest the weary feet you would be so wrong. Parties are an important part of show life and last night’s sampling included the Lurssen Party, The International Superyachts Society Awards Gala and over at Pier 66 the theme of a party hosted by MedAire was Somewhere beyond the Sea an evening of cocktails, music light dining and friends.

Tonight however all over the USA is Halloween another great excuse to party in costume and we have been included in a the very especially exclusive list of attendees at a Buccaneer’s Bash to be held on board Allure Shadow that has been decoratively transformed into a Caribbean Pirates lair.

If they do not make us walk the plank we should be back to give you the low down on the events.

If you could chose your ultimate go anywhere do anything discovery yacht what yacht would you nominate as your number one? If you could choose the ultimate spot on earth to cruise to where would that be?

Day 2 at Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

From Aqualibrium ©Frances Howorth

Day Two at FLIBS was, weatherise, as hot as day one. Crowds of people were again walking the docks looking at the superb super yachts and everyone was clutching their water bottles.

The buzz around the show centres on charter and refits, buyers it seems are happy enough to consider both. There is even talk of buying older tonnage with a view to refitting but it is the builders who seem to be having the toughest time at this show.

Equipment manufacturers are reporting good sales and certainly showgoers seem to be buying T shirts and boat shoes with the same gusto they have demonstrated for years. Hats to alleviate sunstroke are popular too.

It was a day when crew seminars had been scheduled with a full programme of events open to all prepared to pay the nominal cost of registration. We did not attend many but those we looked in on seemed well attended.

Top Lawyer Michael Moore whose American practise specialises in marine law was the facilitator for a lively session on Piracy and the use of Guns as a means of crew protection. Views as you can imagine with the far right former Navy types wanting to kill anything approaching a super yacht in a small boat while others where happy to assume the on coming fishing boat might just be trying to sell the purser his catch of the day. It was a session that was only just warming up after an hour but sadly that was all the time allocated to the topic.

What are your views? Should super yacht crews carry arms? If so when should they use them?

Fort Lauderdale Boat Show is a Super Yacht Show

Positive Vibes See Day 1 of Superyacht Show Start Off Well

On the Dock © Frances Howorth

There is defiantly an air of positivity about day one here at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show that opened today.

It has been a very hot day on the docks and we have spent our time moving from yacht to yacht gathering news and views for future features.

Dealers, brokers and exhibitors are putting a positive spin on to the event, which kicked off with a press briefing at breakfast which started a full two hours before the show opened to the public.

There, among other interesting facts, we learned that for the first time, the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, the show's owners, are hosting a formal trade mission of 73 representatives from eight foreign countries including Brazil, Mexico, Panama, China and Sweden.

Online ticket sales are up 20 percent over last year," said Efrem "Skip" Zimbalist, president and CEO of Show Management, the event's organiser yet just one month ago the situation did not quite so look so promising with online sales were down 15 percent."Ticket sales have been coming in at the last minute with 50 percent more than at the same time last year.

This is good news for the American boating industry, were super yacht sales slumped a year ago, but in recent months sales have been showing a slight upturn with many brokers forecasting brighter days ahead.

The first day of any yacht show is a flurry of press conferences and today was no exception. First off was Vicem Yachts with new CEO Alberto Perronne Da Zara introducing Dirk Boehmer as the new President of Vicem Yachts USA a role he has held for just four days. Dirk joins Vicem from Bertram Yachts which is a division of Italy’ Ferretti group and the fact that two top executives from the Italian group have so recently joined the Turks must be seen as a clear indicator of who sees who as competition when it comes to this type of yacht.

Next up was Ferritti themselves with an announcement that the group has positioned itself in the Northeast of the USA by opening a seasonal office in Sag Harbor, New York, where passionate boaters flock during the summer months.

Fellow Italian boat builders chose to call 2009 the annus horribilis describing the economy in general, and particularly that of the yachting industry, the company claims that it represents something of a “white crow” (their words not ours) as they endeavour to limit contraction to 6%, a figure that amounts to an estimated sales volume of 170 m Euros, with an EBITDA passing from 24 to 18 million, equivalent to a reduction that manages to stay within the 25% mark.

Relying strongly on its perceived competitive edge and the solidity of its brand, San Lorenzo forecasts a 2010 turnover for the company of 200 million Euros, amounting to an increase of 18% over the figures for 2009.

They described 2009 crisis as devastating declaring that it has affected the entire world, but they believe that the post-crisis will generate a remarkable and epoch-making change in habits and lifestyles, giving way and consistency to new indicators, which will create a situation of no-return to the old habits of the pre-crisis years.

Non American owners are expected to dominate sales that do occur here at the show with foreign buyers said to be flocking to this year's show, to take advantage of the strong euro to dollar exchange rates.

Spread across six sites: Bahia Mar Yachting Center, Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale Grande Hotel & Yacht Club, Hyatt Pier 66 Hotel & Marina, Hall of Fame Marina and Las Olas Marina, all in South Florida this show is huge and trust us it takes some getting around.

It was a welcome conclusion to a busy day to take drinks aboard Mea Culpa a facinating sports fishing boat built by McMullen and Wing and now available for the first time for charter through Camper & Nicholsons. Now where did we put those rods?

More than 100,000 people are expected to attend the Fort Lauderdale show over its five-day run which ends next Monday, with many attendees patronising local hotels and restaurants who are all making hay while the sunshines. As is often the case at shows such as these prices have a habit of creeping up in the hope that he who can afford to at least look at a super yacht will not notice the extra 15% or so price hike in just about everything.