Thursday, January 09, 2003

Cybercrime I just received this press release from the Utah Attorney General's Office: CYBERCRIME TASK FORCE LOOKING FOR ALLEGED INTERNET TICKET CON MAN The Utah Cybercrime Task Force is asking for the public's help to find a Utah man accused of bilking people who tried to buy tickets over the Internet for the Fiesta Bowl. The Utah Attorney General's Office charged 48-year-old Mark S. Beaver with three second-degree-felony counts of communications fraud. According to court papers, Beaver sold tickets to the 2003 Fiesta Bowl on Ebay. The victims paid half of the total purchase price in advance and were promised to receive the tickets from Beaver at a restaurant in Tempe, Arizona or a hotel in Scotsdale, Arizona on January 2nd or 3rd. No tickets were ever delivered. Friends and associates said Beaver told them he had "gotten in over his head" and admitted to collecting $80,000 for the tickets. Investigators discovered approximately 93 different victims involving approximately $202,306. A warrant has been issued for Beaver's arrest and more charges may be forthcoming. "The Internet offers great opportunities for the public to shop. Unfortunately it also provides a forum for criminals to take advantage of those shoppers. What happened here should be a warning that we have to be extra careful doing business with Internet companies we don't know," said Jade Pusey, Director of Law Enforcement at the Utah Attorney General's Office. All defendants are presumed to be innocent unless convicted in a court of law. Anyone with information should contact the FBI at (801)579-1400. The charges were filed by Assistant Attorney General Richard Hamp. FBI Special Agent Darrin E. Jones of the Utah Cybercrimes Task Force conducted the investigation. The multi-agency task force was started last year to handle crimes committed through computers like Internet fraud, identity theft, computer extortion and stalking. The public can report a crime to the Utah Cybercrimes Task Force by e-mail at cybercrime@utah.gov. 2:18:09 PM

Driving in the Fog State employee Camille Ahlstrom (with the Leg. Auditor General's office) was severely injured in a massive pileup that occured west of Salt Lake City yesterday.  Three state vehicles were involved in the collisions as well several employees as conditions severely restricted visibility.  UDOT worked all day to reopen the freeway following the incident.  You can check Utah's commuterlink cameras to review current visibility around the valley. Tips for Driving in the Fog Statewide road condition report 10:21:13 AM

Success Story Back in the seventies, my neighbor Gene Hughes, began encapsulating herbs to make them easier to take for his family's personal use.  He used the concept to start a new company (Nature's Sunshine) which was just named Manufacturer of the Year.  The company now sells millions of dollars worth of product all over the world.  A great success story.... 9:07:25 AM

Enterprise Financial Systems According to CIO Insight, 59% of finance departments in corporate America are supported by legacy systems.  It's no wonder.  Finance and payroll systems become a huge challenge to replace because of the myriad of rules and anomalies that are built into these systems.  In government, there are hundreds of unique rules that are built into a payroll system over the years as legislatures pass laws and budgets that attempt to address various pay issues associated with groups like public safety officers, corrections people, attorneys, etc.  We were just about ready to go live with our new SAP payroll system (SAP just cut their US sales force yesterday) and this morning I learned that we are now looking at another month delay (you can't roll out a payroll system with problems).  Our old payroll system was rolled out in the seventies.  We completed the replacement of our financial system in 1994 and must make some big decisions soon since AMS will stop supporting the current version we are on in 2005 and state budgets take forever to get in place.  8:28:02 AM

Color Country Jim Stewart tells of his experiences on the Utah Navajo reservation while developing the Utah Education Network in southeastern Utah.  If you've never been there, take a look at this panoramic view of Monument Valley and you'll get a feel for what it's like. A Utah Smart Site is located in Blanding on the College of Eastern Utah campus.  Governor Leavitt lit up a new smart site in St. George yesterday, (the 18th smart site - the initiative is focused on bringing high tech jobs to rural Utah). Incidentally, the Navajo Nation just announced their intent to use J.D. Edwards ERP system to automate their business processes. 8:00:37 AM

© Copyright 2003 David Fletcher.