BUSTED! Too much information on public transportation

I’ve had 2 interesting experiences these past few days and it just occurred to me that most of us have been taking a lot for granted. I’ve always noted this but it really hit me over the weekend.

Case 1: I was in [front] a cab with 3 women [from a funeral] in the back talking about another lady. In summary, this lady was shagging her best friend’s husband for 10years until the house-maid reported to a neighbour, who helped to ‘catch’ her pants down with the husband of her friend. At one point drawing the driver and I into the conversation, ribbing us about how men can be ‘wicked’.

Case 2: I was in the back of a trotro and this man in the middle seat is talking about the money he was going to deliver to another person. Apparently he was running late. [Not unlike the MTN man calling his burger friend]

Let us look at Case 1:

Anyone who cared to learn the identity of the cheating friend and husband could have found them with the amount of information the ladies were throwing around in the cab.

I gathered the general area of residence of the chatting ladies. Where the subjects of the story lived, their business place and [the fact] that the cheating woman in question was in the business of sleeping around.

Why would anyone discuss such a sensitive issue (bothering on) defamation with total strangers using real names, locations etc.?

 

Case 2

Who ever does that? Who talks about the amount of money they’re carrying? Any person on the bus could have sent a text message to get him waylaid. Why did he have to mention that he was carrying money, the amount and where he was supposed to meet his friend? Couldn’t he have simply sent a text message?

People who use public transport often give out too much information wittingly or unwittingly

1. Talking on cellular phones

2. Chatting with a friend on the trotro or taxi

3. Chatting with a taxi driver about personal issues/ problems or unwittingly talking money-matters in a taxi. [Taxi drivers have been known to lead armed robbers to houses of people they picked up]

We have to be able to determine whether it is ‘safe’ to discuss something in a public setting or not. Because like in all things we have a choice to make and in this case it is a choice to protect personal information. A decision that might even save your life and property.

Craigslist gh – Gold bar and dust for sale GHS999999

An observation!!

I’ve been prowling on Craigslist lately in search of affordable accommodation as I made plans to relocate and was drawing my budget.

Just recently I checked to see if any interesting rooms were available but I was automatically redirected to Craigslist gh and I must say I was pleasantly surprised to find my sweet ACCRA has its own corner on craigslist.

This surprise was soon replaced by a knowing smile when I saw that about a quarter of the postings were either “gold for sale”, “gold bar and dust for sale” or some other combination of the words ‘sale’ and ‘gold’ and/ or ‘diamond’.

Shaking my head, I said to myself –

‘THESE GUYS’ HAVE GONE HIGH-TECH OH, EARLY ADOPTERS EVEN!!!

Now, if you’ve been following some of the international press corporations, you might be aware of some allegations Craigslist faced for its usage as an escort service (and the ban of its such usage in the USA). There’s been a recent case of a stalker/killer who used Craigslist to pick his victims.

To keep it’s numerous users aware of the lurking dangers of meeting people to conclude sales, exchanges and just meet up, there are a number of Alerts –

• avoid scams & fraud
• personal safety tips

on the homepage.

But after seeing all the gold and precious mineral sales offers, I believe for Craigslist Ghana there should be a special alert..something that reads:

• To purchase gold or any precious minerals in Ghana, please contact PMMC!!

Can we say it is only a matter of time before the stories of scams will start filtering in?