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Absolutely superb 

Even got Ronald McDonald in there!

Had to submit a few phishing reports today on Google. By the 3rd one I was pulling my hair out trying to guess the correct capture.

For those that don't know, captures are just security checks to make sure you are a real person and not some kind of automated script or internet bot. Normally you see them as "enter the following words" or "2 + 1 =". In other words it triggers a manual action before you can submit your request, form etc. 

Normally you will have options, so if it is difficult to read, then you can ask for a new one, or select an audio one.

Not so for Google though. I did a screen shot of this one after getting it wrong for the 3rd time out of frustration...

So enter 2 words, the first is pretty obvious, but the second?

Is that yedooel, yedcoel, yedroel? 

Or is it a case of making it harder to report things or make a complaint? 

The thing that is frustrating is Google actually offer a free Captcha which is really good, just a shame they aren't using it 

Oh well, maybe the page is supported by an apprentice developer? 

But in the spirit of fairness, here's our own Captcha, which people may equally find frustrating, or hopefully easy to use.

We've had problems in the past with people hi-jacking our business details, apparently with exported tractors to Europe and imported from North America, and got a visit from the HMRC Special Investigations team which I did a forum post about.

Now it seems a certain George Lampard is trying it on, hi-jacking our good name with a variety of food related websites. It seems we've gone from exporting tractors to Halal Meat! 

Unfortunately it is just an old fashioned scam operation and we have been contacted by people being duped into leaving thousands of Euros as a deposit for products that will never receive

Obviously they were hoping we could put them in touch with the notorious George Lampard, but obviously it absolutely nothing to do with us, and we're not considering moving into the meat market just yet!

URLs this scammer has been operating under are www.lowiltd.com  glampard30.21food.com www.lakesmeat.com.

Take down notices have been sent to ISP's, reports filed with Action Fraud, HMRC and all sites have been reported to Google.

So be warned, keep an eye on your own business details, and it pays to set up google alerts or similar looking for business details that crop up on dubious looking websites...

I thought this was a spoof email, but turns out it's genuine. There really is a Ukrainian Business Expo, so anyone who fancies getting into the Ukrainian export market, here you go:

www.kratos.net.ua/exhib/14/doc/agreement_to_participate_en.pdf

The accompanying email did make me smile though:

"We invite you to be accredited at the international Forum "Export to EU" which will be held on the 18th-20th of September in 2014 in Uzhgorod, Transcarpatia, Ukraine.

We chose the most western city near the EU, because we want You to feel comfortable and safe at forum. We are sure You will not worry about safety at all in the Forum.

More than 100 Ukrainian companies will be present in the Forum. They will represent a variety of industries which are ready for exporting products to EU and are open for cooperation. For sure, there is no export without any return traffic of goods, so importers of products to Ukraine can also take part.

You should not pay attention to the war, because Russia tries to hide Ukrainian potential to EU. You should know that the war occupies only 1% of Ukrainian territory and the war will be completed."

So could be a good opportunity for any forum arms dealers?

My choices tend to be more blokey 

Love any of the big classic war films 1960's/1970's. Full of stars, from Richard Burton, Donald Sunderland, Telly Savalis, Clint Eastwood, Michael Caine, Edward Fox, Sean Connery etc. No CGI, so sets were huge, using lots of real props, and some dodgy models in places 

Then more modern, can't beat a good scifi, Starwars, Startrek franchise etc. Then it has to be the UK gangster/comedy genre, lock stock style.

This is the best tweet I've seen in a while, well made me chuckle 

We have been running a public poll across My Local Services for the last 2 months to get a feel for what website visitors across the UK generally think of the Yes / No vote for Scottish Independence.

Obviously the referendum is only open to Scottish voters, but it is interesting to see what the UK as a whole thinks of the vote, and how they would vote if they could.

2,439 people took part and a breakdown of the numbers and results is below.

My Local Services Poll Across the Whole of the UK

The Poll was then broken down by the UK, starting with England where the results were probably to be expected, with a higher No percentage and quite a high degree of disinterest.

Poll Across England

The Poll across Wales was surprising, showing a surprising amount of support for Scotland leaving the UK.

Poll Across Wales

The Scottish Poll was probably the least surprising looking at other recent polls, but does show a dramatic lead for the Yes campaign, although still some undecided, but few people who are left un-bothered.

Poll Across Scotland

A total of 2,439 people took part, broken down as 1,634 in England, 217 in Wales and 588 in Scotland. Although not a huge a data sample for Wales and Scotland, it does show some interesting views.

I suspect there is the feeling of a lot more loyalty to the UK from English based contributors, as well as an obvious increase in disinterest to issues perceived to be far away and remote. Welsh support may underline an undercurrent of National pride and mutual support for devolution, whilst Scottish support is a lot higher than I personally would have expected.

I think this and recent polls has made a few of us wake up in recent weeks and shows that referendum on the 18th is going to be a very close run affair. When this was all first discussed, I'll confess to thinking it was a lot of hot air and would blow over, but polls like this seem to suggest there is a bedrock of support for devolution across the UK, and not just Scotland.

It's sad but inevitable that unscrupulous people will target the vulnerable and lonely, or mess around with peoples emotions. But sending money to complete strangers?

I genuinely don't understand how so many people can be so gullible.

I think they have enough problems

image courtesy of freakingnews.com