Advance fee fraud: trends and issues in the Caribbean
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the trends and issues involved in advance fee fraud in the Caribbean.Design/methodology/approach – The paper offers a definition of advance fee fraud, describing its practice in the context of the Caribbean. The paper outlines the current state of the law in the region, the need for action and the legislative and enforcement strategies required.Findings – International and regional efforts have been geared towards drug trafficking and money laundering and, in more recent times, terrorism. The time is now ripe for these international and regional efforts to add to their focus advance fee fraud in all its versions and variations. The need to take proactive and decisive measures against advance fee fraud is even more evident in the context of the growth in the use of technology in commerce due to the obvious economic advantage. Advance fee fraud is not just a trick or reward for greed, it is an economic crime and there must be a drastic response from the regi...
Advance Fee Fraud Letters as Machiavellian/Narcissistic Narratives
The purpose of this paper is to reveal how advanced fee fraud letters include narratives that unveil a Machiavellian/narcissistic perspective. The paper analyses a sample of one hundred advanced fee fraud letters (or « Nigerian scams »), classified in six (6) categories: lottery scams, humanitarian gifts, abandoned money, business opportunities, deceased estate/last will, gold bars and diamonds. It presents scams as narratives that give us various perceptions about the present era. The paper gives details about some usual technical defects of advanced fee fraud letters. It draws a set of moral principles and values that are explicitly declared by fraudsters. Advanced fee fraud letters are reflecting a Machiavellian/narcissistic approach of human behavior and morality. They are not only attempts to steal victim’s money, they are manifesting that fraudsters are using moral principles and values in order to increase their power over their victims.
Application of the Kano Model for a Better Understanding of Customer Requirements in Higher Education—A Pilot Study
Various pieces of information and knowledge turn into “know-how” simply by their application in the market. This applies to all spheres of activities. It is therefore important to know and understand the requirements of customers already in the stage of making a product, and to confront these with the possibilities of a producer. In this article we are exploring the possibilities of a better understanding of the requirements of customers and stakeholders in the process of the creation of products in educational services. In particular, we examined seven general requirements: practice orientation, ethical orientation, research orientation, quality resources, innovation orientation, skills orientation, and quality staff. We use the Kano model on a pilot sample of respondents at an institution of higher education. Our results showed that “practice orientation” and “quality resources” are the most stable requirements, while “quality staff” is the least stable. The most linear requirement (the same effect on satisfaction and dissatisfaction) is “innovation orientation”. “Research orientation” belongs to attractive requirements and we also found that in the case of “ethical orientation” there are weak relations between positive and negative responses in our survey. The “skills orientation” proved to be too general, and our research shows that it could be indifferent. It is therefore advisable to specify the investigated skills when investigating requirements on educational services. The main contribution based on the proposed research procedures is an effective linking of customers and producers already from the beginning of constructing a value chain. Investing in sophisticated management approaches when modelling products and processes can thus become a significant source of the competitive advantage of an educational institution. At the same time, it is a contribution to better placing of its graduates in the labor market.