2021-22 HFCC Library Newsletter Issue 4

HFCC

Issue 4 August 2022

LIBRARY NEWSLETTER Address: 33 Inverness Road, Kowloon

THE ULTIMATE

Tel: 2337 9123

by Angie Shing 4B “The wire is coming through” – says Anna Delvey every five seconds.

The miniseries Inventing Anna has taken Netflix by storm lately, with its notorious heroine Anna Delvey becoming a global sensation. With the astonishing “fake it till you make it” story unfolding before my eyes, my interest for more bizarre fraudster stories has indisputably been evoked, and I already have a plethora of scammer-themed shows slated for the summer holiday.

If you are like me, you must not miss this issue of the Library Newsletter!

From dissections of the wiles used by Anna Delvey and Frank Abagnale Jr. to tips on identifying potential frauds, this issue encompasses enthralling content to unveil for you the vast world of frauds and cons. So let’s dive into the issue and gobble up some absorbing scammer stories!

1. Editor’s words 2.Preliminaries a. The concept of Con Artist b. What is a Ponzi Scheme?

3. Anna Delvey 4. Catch me if you can 5. Fyre Festival 6. The Season of Scammers (Sharing by Ms Candice Ng) 7. Recommendation of E-book 8. RAS Winning Entries 9. Editorial Board

1. Concept of Con Artist Definition: a person who cheats or tricks others by persuading them to believe in something that is not true.

Tricks that con artists use to win your trust 1. Con artists target the vulnerable Con artists tend to rely on victim’s trust, not their intelligence.

Science writer Maria Konnikova once said that “People who are going through times of extreme life change, for instance, are very vulnerable to con artists because you lose your equilibrium,”. This shows that con artists take advantage of victims’ emotions to target them with a scam.

2. Con artists start small Con artists tend to only demand a relatively small amount of money from victims at first. That is to build victims’ trust.

After that, they start to demand a larger sum of money. Before the victims realize it, they have already been trapped.

3. Con artists rely on victims’ embarrassment People often refuse to let other people know that they’ve been scammed, for fear that other people may judge them in a negative light. This creates a favorable situation for con artists to get away from their misbehaviour.

2. What is a Ponzi Scheme?

The Schemer promises investors a return on investment each month for their money invested in the firm

Since investors receive money from the first round, news starts to spread and recruitment follows

Investment has been successful in the first few months, thus convinces more investors to place their money in the system

𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔, 𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒚. 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒚, 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝑺𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏, 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝑮𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒙 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝑰𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂.

“𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂?” – 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒔𝒌. 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕!

#𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐫 #𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐲 #𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 #𝐜𝐨𝐧-𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 #𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 #𝟏 :

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔’ 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔. 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔’ 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 (𝒇𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒅) 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝑨𝒏𝒅𝒚 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 #𝟐 :

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲

𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍, 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒕 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒆𝒙𝒉𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 $𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒔. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉-𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒕.

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 #𝟑 :

𝐆𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇. 𝑰𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚, 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒈𝒂𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑮𝒂𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒓𝒄𝒖𝒎𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒔, 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 “𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 [𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒔] 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄?” 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕𝒔. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒔.

After a dissection of the psychological techniques she employed, it is clear that Anna is indeed very intelligent. Had she pursued her goal with integrity and honesty, she would have garnered the attention she desired. Anna’s actions are not to be imitated, but what we could all take away from her story is that we should all develop our potentials righteously.

Criminal Record Birthday:

April 27, 1948

Year caught: 1967 Wanted for: Fraud Known alias: Barry Allen, Dr. Frank Conners, Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo

Sentence Information

Technique 1:Cheque fraud In the movie, Frank Abagnale Jr. forged cheques in various ways. One of the means he used was called “cheque washing”, in which all inked information except for the signature is erased.

Identify counterfeit cheques 1： check the cheque number -Different cheques have different MICR lines (magnetic ink character reader) but should consist of 6 characters.

-Special ink used to print this line is particularly duller and slightly bulging on the paper.

Catch me if you can

Name: Frank Abagnale Jr.

Catch me if you can

Identify counterfeit cheques 2：check the cheque payment stamp -Cheques issued by large companies are stamped with their specific stamps.

-Banks will check if the stamps on the cheques match with the real stamp given by the companies.

Other hacks: 3) As it turns out, most checks that are written by a legitimate company have one edge that is rough or perforated.

If all four sides are smooth, it is most likely printed by a computer!

4)No arabic numerals should be used.

Instead, written form of numbers is required.

Technique 2: Cialdini’s principle – the Principle of Authority In the movie, Frank made himself believable by disguising as a person with prestigious jobs, such as pilots and doctors.

According to the Principle of Authority, individuals who seem to be knowledgeable experts are more influential and persuasive.

Thus, by doing so, his credibility is greatly enhanced and, thereby, made the bank clerks unaware of his suspicious behaviour. That’s why he can cash his fake cheques so easily.

‘Dr. Conners’ – Physician

‘Barry Allen’ – From Secret Service

Pilot

-Thus, we should not trust strangers easily. We probably should be alert before giving anything important to potential liars.

Never forget to use your logic to consider others’ credibility while your brain is telling you to believe in someone .

All the schemes ended when Frank Abagnale Jr. surrendered to the FBI agent Carl Hanratty and is sentenced to 12 years in a maximum-security prison.

Wait, we are definitely not encouraging you to follow suit.

Frank then uses his expertise – cheque fraud to work for the FBI to identify fake cheques.

Many people are extremely intelligent. Yet, some of them end up being criminals since they use it in the wrong manner. If they can apply their knowledge in a constructive way, like Frank at last, they can irrefutably contribute a lot to the society.

End of report Fingerprints

Signature of warden

Date

Catch me if you can

How to avoid being deceived by imposters: -Indeed, why do we tend to believe someone or something?

When something frustrating happens to you, t he reassurance can give a frightened psyche time and space to work on possible solutions, which is harder to do when you are in a state of panic, anxiety or dread.

Sometimes, it gives a sense of comfort when you believe in someone.

Thanks to the media effects and FOMO (fear of missing out), the Fyre Festival sold about 8000 tickets for both weekends.

Below are attached screenshots of conversations between one of the victims and her friend.

Common features of fraudulent scheme

Use of celebrity effect

Charging at a suspiciously cheap price

luxury

Fyre Festival

How to spot a potential fraud ?

Fyre Festival A luxury music festival that was scheduled to take place on April 28–30 and May 5–7, 2017 on the Bahamian Island of Great Exuma.

Fyre Festival

Actual image of the food served at the Fyre Festival

The protagonist of an international bestseller–Billion Dollar Whale, the media referred to him as the “Asian Great Gatsby”, and lastly, his high-profile social life grants him association with Paris Hilton, Miranda Kerr, Leonardo DiCaprio and many more.

Who is he really?

Name: Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) Birthday: November 4, 1981 Sex: Male Education: Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania Known for 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal (1MDB scandal)

No, seriously. Who is he really?

Low is considered the mastermind of the aforementioned fraud (1MDB). Billion Dollar Whale suggests that the primary capital injection into Low’s swindle is acquired through his mastery of deception and the power of his connections. Low’s network of wealthy heirs expands into Hollywood. Subsequently, Low’s extravagant lifestyle received more exposure than his swindles.

Perhaps, Low’s true colors will remain undisclosed as the media and public solely perceive the mere façade of him.

Jho Low

Public image

The season of Scammers Sharing by Ms Candice Ng

It could happen to you. Someone you trust might be a con artist.

How can this possibly happen? Check this video out to know more about the notorious scammers.

好書推介 FBI 爲什麼懂得讀心術：來源於犯罪心理學 的側寫術 作者：夏德忠 出版年：2014 出版社：悅讀名品出版 警 察破案，隨了是靠他們的智慧以外，一羣心理分析師

的功勞也很大。 他們根據經驗和出色的觀察力，能透過犯人的行兇手法 ，兇案現場和兇案地點推敲出犯人的作案動機，性別和 特別之處，將兇手繩之於法。他們還會透過觀察一個人 的言行舉止分析出他的喜好，職業等，從而說服有防備 心的證人提供關鍵資料。所以事實上，這世界上並沒有 所謂的「讀心術」。 以上所介紹的好像離我們很遠，但事實上只要我們願意 多觀察，多留意身邊的人和事物，你也可以「讀到別人的 心」。比如作者提到如果一個人的手指甲裏有白色粉末， 他可能是一個老師。迅速讀懂一個人，這是就是作為FBI 行為分析科的側寫師們最基本的工作。 如果你對他們的工作，在不同奇案裏他們的角色有興趣 ，或者想煉成「讀心術」的話，不妨看一看這本書吧！ 4A Amber Chung Notes from editors Dear schoolmates, You could access this book on hyread through your public library account! Happy reading :)

RAS Winning Entry 1 Hedya Chow 3A (8) Title: The Greek and Roman Myths: A Guide to the Classical Stories Author: Philip Matyszak Publisher: Thames & Hudson Number of Pages: 224

The Greek and Roman Myths: A guide to the classical stories is an informative guide concerning ancient Greek myths. The book covered everything, from creatures such as Hydras to Goddesses. It is easy to read, enjoyable and will interest you more about mythology. It explains the sequence of events and introduces the major plots and characters, including the Trojan War and the Voyages of Odysseus and Aeneas.

The inclusion of illustrations, vase drawings and the related paintings also make the book more appealing. The book grabbed my attention since I have always loved mythology as a child. I have been reading some fictional novels in ancient Greek settings. I saw the book in a bookstore a while ago and immediately purchased it.

By reading the book, I am surprised to discover that some details regarding the gods are not consistent with the portrayals of them by the media. A prime example concerns Hades, the god who rules the underworld. While some portrayals of Hades such as Disney’s “Hercules” are extremely negative, he is actually a pretty good guy, as shown in the quote “Hades himself was coldly impartial, seldom unjust and certainly not evil”. The only bad thing he has done is kidnapping Persephone, who eventually falls in love with him as well, not to mention he actually stays loyal to Persephone, unlike some other Greek Gods. Another example is Athena. She is often known as wise and a know-it-all, but if you actually read the actual mythology, you will know she has a vindictive nature. The book introduces a story between Athena and Arachne. Athena turns Arachne into a spider for “defying the gods”, when, all Arachne does is win a competition between them.

I would recommend the book to readers who love the genre of fantasy. Greek and Roman mythology are really fascinating, and the book would be the perfect introduction to those who want to know more about it.

Ms Ng’s comment: This is an impressive book report that not only informs readers about the facts of Greek myths, but also approaches the topic from a critical perspective in that Hedya compares the representation of some Greek Gods to their portrayals in mass media. I am happy to see that she is interested in this topic and takes the initiative to discover more! Well done!

RAS Winning Entry 2 Eurys Chow 3D (5) Title: The Secret Author: Rhonda Byrne Publisher: Pocket Books Number of Pages: 198 The Secret is a self-help book that introduces the law of attraction, which states that positive energy attracts positive things into your life. The positive energy presides over your thinking and actions. The book suggests that you can use the power of positive thinking to achieve anything you can imagine, for instance, goals and wealth.

By writing this book, I think the writer aimed at informing us about the law of attraction to encourage and to boost our motivation. I think he is unequivocally successful since it reminds us that there is still a lot we can do to change our circumstances. Even though the problems we are facing are complicated, and seem hard to solve, if we visualize them and cultivate them positively, we will find effective solutions.

The favourite quote from this book is “The only reason why people do not have what they want is because they are thinking more about what they don’t want than they want.”

Sometimes we feel impatient as we think we have spent too much time to achieve it. This book reminds us that whether we succeed or fail depends on our belief. If we trust that we can achieve our goals, and we are not intimidated by the challenges, we can get what we want.

After reading this book, I got into a better frame of mind in terms of maintaining motivation to pursue our goals, based on the research on broaden-and-build theory mentioned in this book which demonstrates that we tend to build our resources more when we are feeling positive emotions.

To conclude, this book motivates and encourages me a lot. The important thing is – it is absolutely applicable in my daily life. However, it is not a book which you cannot just flick through but need to “chew and savour”.

Ms Ng’s comment: Who doesn’t face setbacks in life? I like Eurys’ description that this book is one that we need to “chew and savour”, in order to apply the theories introduced in it. I also appreciate her desire to improve herself in terms of having more motivation and persistence in achieving her goals.

RAS Winning Entry 3 Angie Ho 3D (11) 書籍名稱：慢慢來 , 一切都會是期許的模樣 作者: 軒雨幽冉 出版社:方集出版社 頁數 : 約300頁 這本書主要講述一些溫暖勵志的平凡故事。 故事的主角們面對著生活的坎坷、愛情的疑惑、 婚 姻的波折等 ，但他們也有著相同的特質 —就是他們對生活保持一顆熱愛的心。他們隨著 歲月的 流逝，經歷各種挫敗和挫折，然後一步一步地慢慢成長，從懵懂的小孩子變成了成熟穩重的大 人， 向著夢寐以求的未來進發，逐漸地把自己的人生變成自己期許的模樣。 我最喜歡書中的哪一部分 ? 我最喜歡的就是每個章節的標題。因為我覺得一篇文章能 夠吸引到我最大的關鍵就是標 題需要夠吸引。 這本書的標題能讓人斟酌，例如 「你要去相信，最好的一切都在路上」， 我十分 贊同這句，因為有時現在發生的事並不是我們期許的樣子，我們便會覺得挫敗，認為被世界 拋 棄了，生活十分不如意。但是，為何我們不有著一種心態，覺得未來會順著我們的心意呢 ? 最好 的還在路上! 只是時機未到。還有一句「 以自己喜歡的方式過一生」 ， 這正反映出現在我們香港 人的心態，就是要隨波逐流，別人有什麼、追求什麼，我們亦都想追求同一樣的事物，變漸地失 去了真正的自己。我覺得我們只有一次人生，為什麼我們要浪費這一次的人生去做一些我們不 喜歡做的事情，而不做自己喜歡的事 ? 所以這個標題 啟發到我不要浪費現在每一分、每一秒的 時間，多做有意義的事，好好充實自己的人生。 感想/評論 : 這本書亦是一本勵志、鼓勵類型的書，看完這本書後總覺得自己為什麼跟書中的那些主角 們的人生相差得這麼大呢 ? 別人遇到挫折傷心過再克服； 自己遇到挫折便放棄，看見別人能 夠 把人生過得這麼充實，不禁有一絲絲羨慕

，對比起現在我所做的事，每天都百無聊賴、無所事

事，讓我不禁反思自己現在所做的事究竟有何意義，對未來亦有什麼用處。我希望我能 夠推介 這本書給現在正在經歷低潮的人 閱讀，因為這本書能 夠激勵他們，渡過這個低潮期 。總括而言 ，這本書能讓我反思自己現在所做的事，讓我獲益良多。給每一天找一點意義 !

Ms Ng’s comment: It’s very encouraging to see that this book gives you so much positive energy! Angie, I hope you can find more inspirations from books that can motivate you to work harder and do better!

RAS Winning Entry 4 Liz Leung 4D (14) 書名 : 無法預知的遠方 作者 : 陳志堅 頁數 : 200 出版社： 突破出版

這本書是關於一位中學副校長花了長時間去訪問其中幾位中七的畢業生。用第一人角度的 故事去描述他們的辛酸和未來的迷惘。這學校的這些畢業生到社會中的故事和經歷。 閱讀這本書後我認為那位校長真的很用心對待學生，他們亦感受到校長對他們的關懷。儘 管路上有不少的艱辛、失望、自我懷疑的感覺，但是他們有了校長的支持和鼓勵後，他們 也變得發憤圖強。他們在追尋理想的路上，儘管有不少的挫敗，但是他們都勇於嘗試和不 具艱辛地衝破障礙。到了最後他們也找到他們自己的價值。 在閱讀這本書後我感到十分的正面和正能量，因為我明白沒有人的追夢路上是順風順水的 ，只有自己的摸索和探索，才會在社會中找到自己的價值。好像在我們這個年紀，就是應 該勇於嘗試，因為時間一過去，我們便沒有這個機會去追尋我們的夢想。我們這個階段是 非常容易去接受新事物的，只要我們肯去努力，我們就能成為或達到我們想到的境界，更 加感受到老師的用心良苦。他們只是為了能夠幫助我們在未來的路上更容易地追尋自己的 夢想。但是古語有云：嚴師出高徒，他們便是讓我們感到社會殘酷，同時在背後默默地支 持我們和鼓勵我們。比起父母，我認為老師這個位置對所有人的人生路上是十分重要，他 們影響着我們未來的一舉一動，一言一行。因此，老師的品德和他們的照顧對學生們影響 十分的大。這位真誠務實的校長不但真心真意對待每一位她所教導的學生，他沒有架子還 像朋友一樣和他的學生們相處，令學生們真心地感到他的心意和關懷。 在這個時代，能遇上一位這樣真誠務實的校長真的是非常難得。作為學生的我，看到那些 畢業生受到這位校長的對待和啟發，我也感到很感動。

Ms Ng’s comment:

Ms Ng’s comment:

I am very touched by this book report as it is written with a genuinely appreciative heart. It is true that our lives can be touched and influenced by the actions and words of others, and who knows if our deeds can leave a positive mark on others, too?