A QQ-loving US soldier in Iraq is offering $120 to every reader of Naked Security

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Sgt Jack Lenz, a member of the US military stationed in Iraq, sent me the following email:

> I need a Loyal and trusting
> person

I'm your man! In return, I hope you can also be trusted, and aren't trying to steal my identity or con me out of paying "administration fees" before riches can be transferred into my bank account.

> Dear Friend,

Slightly presumptuous, but maybe he doesn't realise I'm English and not used to such early familiarity. He'll be giving me "high fives" next...

> I am one of US Military forces,
> and one of the few thousands
> still stationed in Iraq, I
> need to discuss some personal
> matter with you.

Uh-oh. This could be awkward...

> I know that it would be difficult
> to trust someone you hardly know
> because of the numerous scams
> transmitted via the Internet,

Tell me about it! I'm still waiting for Bill Gates to give me three million Euros, so I can clear my desk at Naked Security, tell HR where they can shove it, and drive off into the sunset...

But yes, thanks for the timely warning.

> but I am willing to send to you
> adequate proof of my identity as
> soon as we agree to work
> together,

You sound like an honest chap...

> and of course if I can be assured
> that you will not use that and
> any other information I would
> be sharing with you against me
> in anyway,

... and a sensible one. After all, you don't know me from Adam.

Who knows what ghastly mischief I might get up to if you were to carelessly share your personal information with me!? I've heard there are bad folks out there on the net, so you are right to be cautious.

> if my intentions are genuine, and
> for our mutual benefit.

> As you may be aware, the US
> government, the Treasury
> department, and the Federal
> reserve Board have concluded
> plans to change the face of the
> US $ bills because of
> counterfeiting as they claim,
> and the 100 $ bill made
> its debut since Wednesday,
> April 21st, 2010.kindly go
> through the below link to see
> what am trying to explain
> to you;

> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7444083.stm
> http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/10/11/iraq.deaths/

I didn't know that, so thanks for the links.

> I will be in some kind of mess
> if I cannot find a solution
> to take care of some very
> large amount of money in US$
> bills that I have concealed
> here for 9 months.

Hang on a minute. It sounds like you have been hiding stolen money. Was it really wise for you to email me out of the blue, using your real name and email address?

> I will require someone outside
> Iraq to take care of the pick
> up, and that is what I want us
> to discuss. I am willing to offer
> you $6M (six million Dollars as
> your share for the role you will
> play if we agree to work
> together.

Six million dollars? SIX MILLION DOLLARS? You may be a very fine soldier, but your business sense is diabolical. Why would you start the negotiation by offering me - a complete stranger - so much money?

I would have been happy with $600, and a "Breaking Bad" DVD box set.

How am I going to explain six million dollars to the tax man?

And now you've left breadcrumbs across the internet, linking my email address to yours - if we go ahead with this business arrangement, haven't we just left clues lying around for the authorities to pick up? You sir, are an amateur!!!

> Please contact me so we can
> discuss the details, and
> should you have any reasons
> to reject this offer,
> please delete this mail and
> I will never bother you
> again. I appreciate your
> understanding.

> Respectfully,
> Sgt. Jack Lenz
> Sgt.jacklenz@qq.com

Well, at least you've given a different email address there from the one you emailed me from. QQ.com - isn't that a Chinese instant messaging wotsit?

A crafty way to throw people off our scent, and make them believe that you're a Chinese advance fee fraud scammer rather than a real member of the US military in Iraq. You may be a genius after all!

Although the tax man might get suspicious if I suddenly land a six million dollar windfall, don't worry! I think I have a solution.

The good readers of Naked Security can help you.

We get between 40,000-50,000 different people visiting Naked Security each day. If each one of them contacts you, maybe you could give each of them their share of the $6,000,000.

That comes to - let me think - something like $120 each!

Readers? What do you think? Are you up for it? Let us know if Sgt Jack Lenz honours the deal.

But maybe be careful not to give him any money in advance, or share any personal information. Just in case..

Follow @gcluley

Soldier in desert uniform image from Shutterstock.

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Hidden government scanners could soon analyze your every molecule

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Possibly as early as 2013, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be able to beam a laser at us from 164 feet (50 meters) away, analyzing the molecules of our bodies, our clothes, our luggage, whatever meal we're digesting inside our guts, whatever gun powder residue might have clung to terrorists, whatever drugs are floating around in our urine or glommed onto the soles of our shoes, and how nervous we might be according to our adrenaline levels, all without patdowns or having to touch us at all, without us even knowing it's happening.

The news comes from a researcher who chooses to remain anonymous.

He's currently completing his PhD in renewable energy solutions and published the news of this impending death of privacy on Gizmodo.

Regardless of his anonymity, the researcher backs up the premise with publicly available information.

For one thing, in November 2011, the technology's inventors were subcontracted by In-Q-Tel, an organization that defines itself as a bridge between the CIA and new technology companies, to work with DHS.

In-Q-Tel describes the technology as a "synchronized programmable laser" for use in the biomedical, industrial and defense and security communities.

The anonymous researcher writes that DHS plans to install this molecular-level scanning in airports and border crossings across the US.

The "official, stated goal" is to quickly identify explosives, dangerous chemicals, or bioweapons at a distance, he writes, and will likely be used to scan absolutely anybody and everybody:

The machine is ten million times faster—and one million times more sensitive—than any currently available system. That means that it can be used systematically on everyone passing through airport security, not just suspect or randomly sampled people.

The technology isn't new: it's just "millions times faster and more convenient than ever before," the researcher writes.

In 2008, a team at George Washington University introduced a new detector that combined a laser with a mass spectrometer to provide on-the-spot analysis to be used in applications such as evaluating a tumor as it's removed or quickly detecting explosives in luggage.

That early version of what's known as laser ablation electrospray ionization (LAESI) relied on a laser that vaporizes and instantly analyzes tiny samples, even from living organisms.

The system has been used to:

Find drug samples in urine, Detect chemical changes that accompany color changes in living plant tissue, andFind explosives residue on dollar bills.

Will DHS constrain the technology to airports and border crossings, or will it be introduced in subways, traffic lights, sporting events, police cruisers and, well, everywhere, as the researcher suggests?

He quotes In-Q-Tel's corporate thoughts on the subject:

...the entire synchronized laser system is comprised in a single, robust and alignment-free unit that may be easily transported for use in many environments… This compact and robust laser has the ability to rapidly sweep wavelengths in any pattern and sequence. [PDF]

In other words, whoever controls this technology will be able to scan everyone, everywhere.

Privacy?

Ha ha ha ha ha!

What a quaint notion.

There has been no talk of what molecular analysis the technology will be constrained to, if in fact there are any constraints, nor how privacy rights would be affected, at least not that the researcher has detected.

I didn't come across anything when I searched, either, though I did come across a video describing how LAESI lasers basically burn teensy bits of us and our accoutrements, ionizing us and our luggage for convenient analysis.

What are we supposed to write about with regards to privacy after this technology gets rolled out? That the word will earn you 17 points in Scrabble?

Follow @LisaVaas

Airport queue cartoon and human body image, courtesy of Shutterstock.

Tags: airport security, border crossings, DHS, Genia Photonics, In-Q-Tel, LAESI, laser ablation electrospray ionization, lasers, molecular analysis, scanner, scanning

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