Crime Watch: Steer clear of these latest email scams

Today I want to share with you some interesting scam emails shared by readers. We truly need to be super-careful and not open or respond to any of them.

I personally got the one from Kabul and had to laugh because this was a new one for me. I am not showing the email address, but trust me it looked very official especially when I do have friends that are stationed in Kabul. Here is the email I got:

Subj: Greetings from Kabul.. ... .

Hello,

I am CPT. Greg Hooper an officer of the U.S Army presently serving with the 395th CSSB peace keeping forces in Afghanistan. You may not know me but i really need your help as i have some very important packages to ship to you for safekeeping until i return back home to the USA.

I will explain in details only if you meet my conditions. Thanks for your prayers & support as we hope to return in one piece!!

CPT. Greg Hooper.

The second email I want to share came from a read who had some very good suggestions and its really worth sharing, since he had a personal experience with the email. Here is what he had to say:

Dear Carmen:

Thank you for your article in The Miami Herald on Jan. 6, 2013, titled "Two email scams you shouldn’t fall for." I haven’t seen the second one you mentioned yet, but I’ve received the first one several times over the last two or three years. It’s amazing how many of my friends and acquaintances have been robbed overseas in the last few years!

I’m writing because I thought there was one element to the scam that I thought important to be emphasized, and, if you ever decide to re-publicize the information, I’d suggest including it. Sometimes, when I’ve received those e-mails, they are not only from someone I know, but the email address in the "FROM" line is identical to the email address of the friend who is supposedly writing to me. This instantly leads a person to trust that the email is legitimate. And, since a quick "reply to" will allow the recipient to verify that it’s true, it’s easy to fall for it.

However, when you hit "reply to", the e-mail address to which the message will be sent is NOT the same as the one from which it appeared to have been sent. The address changes — very, very subtly.

For example, I could receive a message from a friend at "FRIEND101@gmail.com", but, when I hit "reply to", the message will be sent to "FRIEMD101@gmail.com" (the "N" was subtly changed to a "M") or "FRlEND101@gmail.com" (the capital "I" has been changed to a lower-case "L"). So if I sent an email to the person using "reply to", asking "is this true?!?", I would likely receive a message back from the scammer verifying it’s fictitious validity.

Thanks for listening and for aiming to protect the public!

Jeff Rothkopf

Folks, like I always say the Internet is a wonderful form of communication, but it brings its dangers, therefore we all must be vigilant and astute when using it.

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Kaley Cuoco Reveals Her Valentine's Day Plans

ET caught up with The Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco at the Tommy Hilfiger Los Angeles Flagship Opening after party, where she shared that she definitely has more than one Valentine's Day date this year.

In fact, she has 27.

Pics: Pucker Up -- A-List Couples Kissing!

"Floor seats to the freaking Lakers. That's where I'll be with my sister, that's my Valentine's Day night!," Kaley replied when asked if she had any romantic plans for today.

"I have like 27 dates, can't wait ... with my eyes," she joked about checking out all the Laker players.

An all-white clad Jessica Alba shared that she'll be spending the day with her two daughters, Honor, 4, and Haven, 1.

"We're gonna be making heart-shaped cookie sandwiches. We made something called whoopies already," she revealed about her family plans. "And Honor did the sprinkles on the whoopies. We're gonna have a Valentine's with the kids tomorrow and then Friday, Cash and I are gonna have our little date night."

Video: Sneak Peek -- Valentine's Day on 'Big Bang Theory'

Fellow mom Alicia Keys was also excited to spend some "us time" with her man Swizz Beatz and their two-year-old son Egypt.

"I was thinking of doing something really sweet and special, and something at home," she said about their cozy plans. "I thought we could like, all cook together and make a beautiful meal, and spend just some us time. So good, I can't wait."

Check out the video to hear Neil Patrick Harris' very secretive Valentine's Day plans, and also Tommy Hilfiger himself on which celebrity he would most like to dress!

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Sen. Lautenberg not seeking re-election in NJ

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg has announced he will not seek re-election.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, also a Democrat, previously announced his plans to seek Lautenberg’s seat instead of challenging Republican Gov. Chris Christie, as many Democrats hoped he would.

Broadcast newsman Geraldo Rivera has also said he’s contemplating a run for the US Senate in New Jersey in 2014.

“I figure, at my age, if I’m going to do it, I’ve got to do it. And there doesn’t seem to be any Republicans ready to work against or run against Cory Booker,” he said.

AP

Sen. Frank Lautenberg

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American Airlines, US Airways announce merger

After a nearly yearlong courtship, the union became official Thursday: American Airlines and US Airways have formally announced plans to merge.

An early morning announcement by the airlines confirmed reports widely circulated after boards of both companies approved the merger late Wednesday.

The move brings stability to one of Miami-Dade County’s largest private employers more than a year after the airline and its parent company filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving the fate of thousands of employees — and the largest carrier at Miami International Airport — in question.

According to the Thursday announcement, the deal was approved unanimously by the boards of both companies, creating the world’s biggest airline with implied market value of nearly $11 billion, based on the Wednesday closing price of US Airways stock. The airline will have close to 100,000 employees, 1,500 aircraft, $38.7 billion in combined revenue.

The deal must be approved by American’s bankruptcy judge and antitrust regulators, but no major hurdles are expected. The process is expected to take about six months, according to a letter sent to employees Thursday by American CEO Tom Horton.

Travelers won’t notice immediate changes. The new airline will be called American Airlines. It likely will be months before the frequent-flier programs are merged, and possibly years before the two airlines are fully combined. The new airline will be a member of the oneWorld airlines frequent flier alliance.

And for Miami travelers, it’s unlikely that much will change at any point. American and regional carrier American Eagle handled 68 percent of traffic at the airport last year, while US Airways accounted for just 2 percent. American boasts 328 flights to 114 destinations from Miami.

“We don’t expect any substantial changes at MIA if the merger occurs because our traffic is largely driven by the strength of the Miami market and not the airlines serving it,” said airport spokesman Greg Chin.

American has said for more than a year that its long-term plan calls for increasing departures at key hubs, including Miami, by 20 percent. That pledge has already started to materialize; in recent months, the airline has added new service to Asuncion, Paraguay and Roatán, Honduras.

During its bankruptcy restructuring, about 400 American employees lost jobs, leaving American and its regional carrier, American Eagle, with 9,894 employees in Miami-Dade County and 43 in Fort Lauderdale. US Airways has few employees in the area.

“It really isn’t going to affect Miami in a very major way anytime soon,” said Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant in Evergreen, Colo. “Only because US Airways isn’t a big player in South Florida.”

At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, American and US Airways combined would still only be the fifth-largest airline after Southwest, Spirit, JetBlue and Delta, a spokesman said. The two airlines have little overlap in routes from Fort Lauderdale.

Despite the lack of major changes, Boyd said the merger would be a good development for Miami.

“It should be positive for the employees and it should be positive for the communities that the airlines serve,” he said.

Robert Herbst, an independent airline analyst and consultant, said US Airways will add a “significant amount” of destinations in the Northeast, including Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

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Mystery shrouds failure of Internet video link between Pakistani hotel, Miami terrorism trial

The mystery of who pulled the plug on the Internet connection linking witnesses testifying in Pakistan to a Miami terrorism trial remained unsolved Wednesday, stalling the high-profile proceeding until next Tuesday as the defense scrambles for an alternate solution.

A defense attorney for Miami imam Hafiz Khan, standing trial on charges of financially supporting the Pakistani Taliban, told a federal judge by phone that the Pakistan government’s foreign and interior ministries did not even know that the live video feed was cut off to Miami Tuesday morning.

A federal prosecutor said his office contacted an FBI legal attache in Islamabad, and the official checked in with several Pakistani government agencies and the staff at the hotel where the testimony was taken earlier this week. No one had a clue about the mysterious shutdown -- whether it was a technical glitch or the secret work of the Pakistan government.

Prosecutor John Shipley accused defense attorney Khurrum Wahid of trying to orchestrate the live testimony at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad “under the radar screen” of the Pakistan government -- an accusation strongly denied by Wahid.

U.S. District Judge Robert Scola, clearly exasperated by the high-tech failure 8,000 miles away, gave Wahid an ultimatum that must be met by Friday. Wahid could take the testimony of 10 remaining witnesses in a third country, such as a United Arab Emirate, as long as he could obtain travel visas for them and resume the depositions by next Tuesday. If not, the judge said, Wahid must abandon his alternate plan and return home over the holiday weekend to resume his defense in Miami.

“One way or the other, that’s the last accommodation I’m making,” Scola told Wahid by phone Wednesday morning.

A moment later, the judge told the 12 jurors: “We still don’t have any transmission from Pakistan. We are trying to make alternate arrangements.”

Perhaps the most befuddled in the bunch: Khan, 77, who is standing trial on charges of sending thousands of dollars to the Taliban terrorist organization, sworn enemies of the U.S. and Pakistan governments. Khan was the leader of the Flagler Mosque, 7350 NW Third St.

Despite safety concerns, the judge had allowed Khan’s defense attorney to travel to Pakistan to take live testimony from 11 witnesses so the defendant could receive a fair trial. Prosecutors opposed allowing the testimony, and refused to make the trip.

Everything seemed to be going well until about 11:20 a.m., or 9:20 p.m. Tuesday in Islamabad. The flat-screen televisions and video monitors in front of the judge, lawyers and jurors in Miami suddenly lost the signal and flashed “disconnected.”

Wahid explained to the judge by phone Tuesday that there was “absolutely no problem” until a prosecutor in Miami mentioned the name of the Serena Hotel, where the testimony was being taken, during cross-examination. He noted the hotel staff said “there were some intelligence operatives in the business center here, and they were taking pictures of us and our witnesses.”

Added Wahid: “I’ve been told by the hotel staff that it’s from outside the building and that ... the IP [Internet] address has been blacklisted by the Interior Ministry, I’m sorry, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.”

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Owen Wilson & Vince Vaughn 'The Internship' Trailer

Wedding Crashers pals Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn are reuniting on the big screen for an all-new comedy, and we have a first look at the trailer for The Internship!

Pics: Stars without Makeup

In theaters June 7, the pair play two salesman who are out of the job thanks to emerging technology. Desperate to keep up with the Joneses and reinvent themselves, they apply for and compete for some seriously coveted internships at none other than Google. Surrounded by tech-heads and woefully out of touch on the Google campus, Owen and Vince struggle to get a clue and keep their heads above water in this fish-out-of-water comedy.

Video: Vince's Vaughn's First ET Interview

Directed by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Date Night), The Internship also stars John Goodman, Rose Byrne, Jessica Szohr, Max Minghella and Asif Mandvi.

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Texas teacher suspended after lassoing student in class

He’d get an A for stupidity.

A Texas history teacher has been suspended after lassoing a student during class, leaving the teen with bruises and rope marks around his neck.

The 7th grade teacher at Schrade Middle School in Rowlett, Texas, was trying to teach lasso techniques cowboys used in cattle drives, according to ABC affiliate Houston News8.

Then he called for volunteers.

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The 13-year-old who put his hand up started running and the teacher promptly roped him.

The student's parents complained when they saw the bruises and the teacher was immediately suspended. The Garland Independent School District launched an investigation and Rowlett police are looking at possible criminal charges.

"This is not something that we feel was malicious, it was not intentional," Garland Independent School District spokesman Chris Moore told News8.

"Extremely unfortunate, and extremely poor judgment."

The teacher has promised never to use a lasso in class again.

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Carnival Triumph out of commission through mid-April due to fire

As tugs continue to pull the fire-disabled Carnival Triumph to land, Carnival Cruise Lines said it has canceled another 12 sailings aboard the stricken vessel.

Tuesday night, the company’s president and CEO, Gerry Cahill, said only the Feb. 11 and Feb. 16 Caribbean voyages had been axed. But Wednesday afternoon, the Miami-based cruise operator said the Feb. 21 through April 13 sailings were also being canceled.

Parent company Carnival Corp. estimated that the financial hit from the canceled trips and repair costs would be eight to 10 cents per share, or $64-$80 million, for the first half of 2013.

Carnival said guests whose trips have been canceled will get a full refund of their cruise fare, non-refundable transportation costs, pre-paid shore excursions, tips, government fees and taxes. They will also be entitled to a 25 percent discount on three- to five-day cruises or 15 percent discount for six- to seven-day sailings.

The 2,758-passenger ship, which launched in 1999, is based in Galveston, where it sails four- and five-day trips to the Caribbean.

Triumph departed Thursday with 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew. It was scheduled to return to port early Monday after a weekend stop in Cozumel, but fire broke out Sunday morning in the engine room. The cause of the blaze, which was put out by automatic systems, is still not known.

The ship lost propulsion and had to rely on emergency generator power, leaving passengers with a limited number of working bathrooms and no air conditioning. Guests have reported long lines for food and said they were forced to use bags as toilets.

“No one here from Carnival is happy about the conditions on board the ship and we obviously are very, very sorry about what’s taken place,” Cahill said Tuesday night at a press conference at the company’s headquarters in Doral. “There’s no question that conditions on board the ship are very challenging. I can assure you that everyone on board in the Carnival team and everyone shoreside is doing everything they can to make our guests as comfortable as possible.”

Two tugs are towing the ship to Mobile, Ala. Carnival has lined up more than 1,500 hotel rooms in Mobile and New Orleans and chartered more than 20 flights to get passengers back to Houston. Bus service directly to Houston and Galveston will also be provided.

In a similar case, the Carnival Splendor was set adrift in the Pacific in November 2010 after an explosion in a diesel generator. It was out of service for about three months; the company estimated the loss at $56 million.

Tim Conder, a Wells Fargo analyst, said in a note Monday that he estimated the impact from the Carnival Triumph fire could be between $40-$80 million, or five to 10 cents a share, for the quarter.

“While this incident represents a string of similar occurrences over the last several years, we believe this incident will most likely be more of a negative PR event, especially during the Wave season,” Conder wrote in the note to investors. “We believe that management will place additional efforts to better identify and install preventive measures to avoid future similar incidents and related negative PR.”

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Gov. Rick Scott needs Democrats to pass business tax cut

TALLAHASSEE For the first time in his brief and turbulent political career, Gov. Rick Scott needs a little help from Florida’s Democrats to turn one of his wishes into law.

Scott’s top legislative priority this year — a $141 million tax cut for manufacturers — comes with an asterisk: It has to garner ‘Yes’ votes from two-thirds of the Legislature to pass.

That means Democrats — whose gains in November breached the Republican supermajorities in Tallahassee — suddenly find themselves in an unfamiliar power position as they try to defeat Scott in 2014.

“I doubt that’ll be able to get a supermajority,” said Rep. Perry Thurston, a Plantation Democrat and minority leader in the Florida House. “It’s just another [business] incentive. We don’t know if it works.”

The bill seeks to eliminate sales taxes on all manufacturing equipment and machinery.

Scott has already put considerable political capital behind the tax cut, stating on numerous occasions that this was his top priority for 2013, along with a $1.2 billion boost in education funding.

“We need to build up manufacturing jobs in the great state of Florida,” he said in unveiling a $74.2 billion budget plan last month. Scott said the tax cut would create jobs and increase exports.

A failure on the measure would be politically embarrassing for Scott, who has staked his governorship on job creation and CEO-like efficacy.

It’s not clear if the entire Democratic caucus agrees with Thurston in opposing the tax break, which faces a higher vote threshold because it would hit local governments. Many Democrats have voted in favor of Scott’s tax cuts for businesses in the past. But as 2014 nears and Scott’s poll numbers sag, the party has begun to take a more aggressive stance against such cuts. Democrats recently slammed Scott for supporting “tax giveaways to special interest cronies.”

If Democrats decide to take a united stand against the manufacturing tax cut, it could be the first time the minority party leverages its strengthened numbers to torpedo a Scott-backed initiative. The party has been mostly marginalized for the last two years, as Scott and a Republican supermajority pushed through conservative legislation.

“Politics always come into play,” said Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel-Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, acknowledging her party’s newfound power to buck Scott’s tax cut. “There’s the political piece as well. And yes, that political piece will be in play. As it should be.”

Rehwinkel-Vasilinda, the top Democrat on the Finance and Tax committee, said she has not decided how she will vote on the measure. She said the bill’s supporters would have to convince her that it would create jobs and not overburden local governments, who stand to lose tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue. Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, called the proposal “ridiculous” and “trickle-down, voodoo economics.”

Scott’s team said the governor fully expects to get bipartisan support for the measure.

“Gov. Scott is confident that those who support job creation will support this,” said Jackie Schutz, a spokesperson for the governor. “This is about job creation. It’s about bringing more manufacturers to Florida.”

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Scarlett Johansson Talks Failed Les Miserables Audition Lost to Anne Hathaway

By CBS News

Imagine sitting down in a movie theater to see Les Miserables, and seeing Scarlett Johansson sing I Dreamed a Dream. It could have happened -- the actress says she auditioned to play Fantine in the Oscar-nominated musical.

RELATED: Hollywood's Latest Hirings

In an interview with Broadway.com, Johansson confirmed she had been up for the part: "Yes, I did [audition]. I sang my little heart out."

When asked if auditioning to play Fantine was terrifying, she replied: "No, are you kidding? The jazz hands kid inside me was just over the moon!"

But, she added, "I auditioned with laryngitis. I did everything I could to, like, not have laryngitis."

The role of Fantine eventually went to Anne Hathaway, who is now considered the frontrunner to win the best supporting actress Oscar at the Academy Awards.

Johansson, for her part, says she has no hard feelings about losing out on the part.

"I think looking at the film now, there's no possible way I ever could have topped that performance [by Hathaway]. It was perfect and I think fateful and meant to be," she said. "But, yes, the audition itself brought back so many memories of auditioning for Les Miz for the young Cosette, and it was fun for me to revisit that."

PIC: First Look at Scarlett In Cat On a Hot Tin Roof

Johansson is currently on Broadway playing Maggie in the revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. She also appears in the film Don Jon's Addiction, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last month, and will reprise her role as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in the upcoming Marvel film Captain America: The Winter Soldier, due out next year.

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