Romance scams are nothing new; some argue that they have existed since the start of humankind, which may be accurate; nevertheless, in ancient times, offenders needed to be close to or near the victim.

Today’s romantic scam is similar to a fast-food restaurant in that it is quick, available 24/7, convenient, and delivers instantly, at least in the victim’s inbox.

It is heartbreaking to observe how elderly people are frequently victims of romantic scams, particularly online, simply because the government fails them rather than themselves.

Simply expressed, education or computer literacy, as well as the range of accessible tools for preventing online scams or romance scams, is expanding.

Let us now delve into romantic scams, which not only deprive one person (victim) of money and savings, but also leave them embarrassed, heartbroken, and emotionally afraid.

Romance and Love in your Inbox

How lonely do we feel nowadays, when the entire world is available to us as if in the palm of our hand and is so “small,” especially with the use of social media, when everything and everyone is “close” to us?

We all require love and long for that one someone who will understand, appreciate, and adore us.

Is it possible to meet someone special over the internet?

What about social media platforms?

How cautious should we be, or must we be?

Have you heard of Mona 4Reall or Hajia 4Reall?

Mona Faiz Montrage, better known as Mona 4Reall or Hajia4Reall, is a well-known figure in Ghana’s entertainment industry. She was born on June 26, 1992, and has made a name for herself as a socialite, model, musician, businesswoman, and even the subject of legal wranglings.

Who is Mona Faiz Montrage?

According to federal authorities, a lady with 4.2 million Instagram followers worldwide was extradited to the United States to face charges of defrauding lonely Americans out of more than $2 million in a convoluted international romance scheme.

Romance scams, particularly those that prey on senior citizens, are of great concern.”

Mona Faiz Montrage had more than $2 million in fraudulent funds as a result of her involvement in numerous love scams, many of which targeted elderly victims.

Mona’s “Hajia4Reall” social media profile in Ghana is one of the top ten most followed in the country.

She was arrested in the United Kingdom and extradited to the United States on American accusations. Federal authorities discovered her Instagram account is linked to photographs of a young woman dressed properly posing in front of expensive cars.

In the United States, she is charged with one crime of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and one offence of money laundering, each of which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

Montrage, a native of Accra, Ghana’s capital, is also charged with scheming to receive stolen property, which carries a five-year prison sentence, and accepting stolen property, which brings a ten-year prison sentence.

Mona was a member of a criminal organisation (the “Enterprise”) located in West Africa that committed a series of frauds against Americans, including romance scams, from 2013 to 2019.

The unlucky people

The Enterprise’s romance scam victims were often frail, elderly, and lonely persons. The Enterprise typically perpetrated romance scams by sending victims emails, SMS, and social media messages that gave the impression that they were in romantic relationships.

After convincing their victims that they were in a love connection, the Enterprise members used that trust to trick them into sending money to bank accounts controlled by the Enterprise members.

Aside from romance plots, the plan employed various ruses, such as payments to move gold from abroad to the United States, payments to halt a bogus FBI unemployment investigation, and payments to assist a fictitious United States army officer in receiving money from Afghanistan.

Mona Faiz Montrage was a member of a criminal ring that preyed on elderly people through love scams. These scams can be emotionally and financially damaging to their vulnerable victims.

The marriage certificate of one of the victims

Mona went out of her way to convince one of the victims that the two were married.

She claimed to have married the victim in Ghana and provided the victim with a traditional marriage certificate.

The victim allegedly sent Mona 82 wire transfers totalling around $89,000 to assist with expenses related to Mona’s father’s farm in Ghana.

Certain topics will be brought up by social media influencers on occasion.

Mona had 4.2 million followers on Instagram.

She frequently posts images of her luxurious lifestyle on Instagram and TikTok, where she regularly engages in social media trends.

In one video, Mona can be seen getting dressed during a Dior trunk show while escorted by staff members. Montrage is seen collaborating with other influencers and endorsing products in other posts.

Maysan Alobaid, a former research assistant at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, believes that money laundering “has become a greater threat in the age of influencer culture.” He says that because influencers are less tightly supervised, transactions are sped up and law enforcement investigations become more complicated.

In May 2023, Mona Faiz Montrage was arrested and charged with wire fraud, money laundering, receiving stolen property, and conspiracy. He faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted of the most serious allegation.

When Montrage appeared in court, she pleaded not guilty.

Mona Faiz Montrage is who she says she is.

Mona is from Tamale, which is located in northern Ghana.

She finished primary school in Tamale, where her educational career started. She later attended Labone Senior High School for secondary education.

Mona 4Reall entered the cosmetics sector with the launch of 4Real Beauty, a women’s cosmetics brand, in July 2017. She expanded her economic opportunities by founding a New York-based event and entertainment firm.

This organisation specialised in event planning, talent management, and multimedia creation. In 2016, her company organised the Global Wave party in Accra, which garnered her a lot of attention.

Mona’s career, however, did not end there; she also pursued a musical career.

Mona’s musical career began with the release of her debut track, “Badder Than,” created by M.O.G. Beatz, a prominent Ghanaian producer. Notably, she released her long-awaited debut Extended Play (EP), Here To Stay, in October 2021.

The EP showcased her flexibility and ability to cooperate with top industry talent by featuring Stonebwoy, Efya, and Medikal.

Along with the EP, she released a series of music videos that expanded on her visual vision.

Mona’s generosity goes beyond her profession.

She demonstrated her humanitarian side by delivering school supplies to children in the Bentum neighbourhood in September 2021.

This act of compassion was inspired by a well-known film in which pupils from Bentum D.A. Basic School requested aid.

People are also interested in Mona 4Reall’s personal life. She previously had a prominent relationship with Kennedy Agyapong, better known as Kenpong, a Ghanaian businessman.

The couple filed for divorce in August of this year. Mona’s sole child is her daughter Naila.

For her 27th birthday in 2020, Mona received a brand-new Range Rover and a home in Accra’s affluent Trassacco estate.

Mona Montrage was also accused in May 2023 with committing a romantic scam that targeted only CBC members.

Montrage allegedly faked on social media to be a wealthy widow named “Mona Dearing” and approached CBC members with offers of financial assistance and romantic partnerships. She would beg for money and utilise it to fund her opulent lifestyle after she had gained their trust.

In both love and life, caution is always essential.

Consider how many people check their social media accounts daily to admire some seemingly random online influencer.

What does it take to become an influencer?

Becoming an online influencer is a journey that involves commitment, sincerity, and a thorough understanding of your target audience. It is all about connecting with your fans and offering quality information in your chosen sector.

OK, now let us delve deeper into the realm of influencers; there are genuine ones and not so genuine ones; are the latter more likely to draw a larger audience?

You may be wondering why, and the answer is simple: they want you to sigh on their postings while they strategize how to swindle you or someone else.

Still looking at how you might contribute to someone’s rich lifestyle of crime, fraud, and deception.

Your intellect is the sole safe device that will keep you from groaning and becoming one of those who are conned to the person who will maintain their account intact.

When I was in the service, especially during combat, I had my weapon “locked” and “unlocked,” but only my brain dictated whether to shoot or not.

Who is the Gucci Billionaire?!

Ray Hushpuppi, a Nigerian social media influencer who flaunted a lavish lifestyle fueled by his efforts to launder millions of dollars in stolen funds, was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison in Los Angeles on Monday.

Ramon Abbas, 40, was also sentenced by a federal judge to pay $1.7 million in restitution to two fraud victims, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.

How a well-known Instagram influencer became the world’s greatest fraudster, stealing millions of dollars.

The FBI considers influencer Ramon Abbas, better known as Hushpuppy to his 2.5 million Instagram followers, to be one of the world’s top scammers.

Abbas is the mastermind behind the largest cyber robberies, which resulted in millions of dollars being stolen. He started off as a humble “Yahoo Boy” in Nigeria and climbed to become the infamous “Gucci Billionaire,” living in unimaginable luxury in Dubai until his arrest in 2020.

His career began in Oworonchoki, Nigeria, a poor beach hamlet north-east of Lagos. His father was a taxi driver, while his mother worked at a neighbouring market.

Abbasa was one of the “Yahoo Boys,” a group of “romance scammers” named after Nigeria’s first free service provider. They designed a scheme to steal people’s identities. They would choose lonely persons yearning for love and defraud them by assuming new identities.

Once they had built a relationship under a false name, they would begin asking their online “lovers” for money. Abbas, like many Yahoo Boys scammers, set out to “broaden his horizons” in the sector. Abaz was one of several persons who travelled to Malaysia. He arrived in Kuala Lumpur in 2014, and then in Dubai in 2017.

Hackers from North Korea

That is when his Instagram photos, as well as the crimes he committed, became considerably more serious.

Abigail Mamo, CEO of the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, spoke about the fraud that has wreaked devastation on the island.

Because the payment method did not work, full trolleys were detected at cash registers in places.

Members of the Chamber of Commerce revealed how they wired money to international suppliers via the bank platform in Valletta, but the money never arrived.

According to Mamo, tens of thousands of euros were at stake.

The bank was successful in recovering ten million euros.

Around that time, Abbas sent a message to a fellow con artist that simply said, “Damn it.”

The response that followed showed that another hoax was being planned.

The next one will take place in a few weeks. We will tell you when everything is finished. It’s a shame they broke in because, as stated in the FBI’s answer to Abbas’ message, there would be a substantial payout here.

The largest con, but Abbas was told to open a bank account in Mexico in May 2019. A Premier League soccer team and a British firm each promised him 100 million pounds. The names of the club and the business are not mentioned in the court filings.

To commit the fraud, the “Business Email Compromise” (BEC) was to be employed. BEC intercepts funds by sending phoney emails that appear to be from the source. Only one letter or digit would be different.

In those communications, the scammers would pose as suppliers who were expecting payment. Typically, they would say that they had changed business banks and advised the monies to be transferred to another account.

The victims frequently did not suspect anything and transferred the money with a single mouse click, believing that it had gone to the account of long-time pals.

However, the football club fraud was revealed when a British bank refused to transfer payments to a Mexican bank account.

I am unable to send money from the United Kingdom to Mexico, brother. The associate texted Abbas, “Somehow, I always get hacked.”

According to the BBC, no Premier League club has admitted to being a victim of fraud. Isn’t it interesting?

Professionals who have not repented

According to John Sheeland, the head of fraud for the United Kingdom’s Organised Crime Agency, the criminal network was difficult to track down because of the jurisdiction. Barney Almazar, a Dubai lawyer, confirmed the same.

Eight of his 25 clients in the UAE are Britons, and they all believe they are victims of Hashpapi’s BEC scheme.

We can’t be certain Hashpapi is in charge of everything. However, examining the bank accounts reveals that they are all linked to the evidence uncovered by Dubai police while searching Khashpapi’s residence, according to Almazar.

One British victim claims he was duped out of £500,000, was forced to flee the UAE, and is now being prosecuted in Dubai for debt incurred as a result.

His clients are aware that he was a victim of fraud. They do, however, demand their money back. My client has spent nearly his entire life in the Emirates, but he has no idea how to get back there. His family is still in the Emirates. According to attorney Almazar, he is concerned that he may be evicted immediately.

The attorney believes that there are many more victims of Instagram influencers, but many of them are embarrassed and hesitant to disclose the occurrence to authorities.

This is a very clever deception. Professionals are among the victims. According to Almazar, many people are hesitant to admit they were tricked.

School fraud in Qatar

Abbas’s final large fraud came immediately before his arrest in Dubai in June 2020. It was typical identity theft, identical to what he had done earlier in Nigeria.

He duped the victim, a Qatari businessman looking for $15 million to build a new school in Qatar, by posing as a New York banker.

Between December 2019 and February 2020, Abbas and his network of con artists from Kenya, Nigeria, and the United States scammed the victim of more than $1 million. Some of the money was laundered by purchasing a costly watch for an incredible $230,000.

The gang system began to fracture quickly. One of them voiced displeasure with the amount of money given to him and threatened to divulge everything. Abbas was determined to put him to sleep. He addressed a message to Abi Kyari, a buddy who works as a police officer in Nigeria, expressing his intention to “stamp the little one so well that he remembers it for the rest of his life.”

“I want to invest money so that the little one ends up behind bars for a long time,” the note said.

Following that, it is thought that Kyari detained the “traitor of the group” on the basis of fabricated evidence and imprisoned him in a Nigerian prison for a month in deplorable conditions. As a result, he is wanted by the US, but he has denied any involvement in Abbas’ activities. He is still at large and has refused to speak with BBC reporters.

Hushpuppi continues to be popular

BEC fraud is widespread around the world. This approach alone was used to steal more than $1.8 billion in 2020, according to FBI data.

According to the indictment, Abbas is accused of stealing over 24 million dollars, but many believe he stole even more.

On Instagram, Abbas “changed his profession” from “Gucci millionaire” to “real estate dealer” eight months before the crime.

Abbas was jailed in the UAE following a police search on his Dubai house in June 2021.

Abbas also admitted to laundering money “through bank accounts all over the world,” as well as “a number of other cyber and business email compromise schemes that resulted in losses totalling more than $24 million.”

During the operation, Dubai Police discovered around $41 million in cash, 13 expensive cars worth approximately $6.8 million, phone and computer evidence, more than 100,000 fraud files, and the names of approximately 2 million potential victims.

He was apprehended alongside another Nigerian, Olalekan Jacob Ponle alias “Woodberry,” in a joint operation with US agents known as “Foxhunt 2,” according to Dubai police.

Abbas was handed over to FBI agents before being flown to Los Angeles to face charges of money laundering through cybercrime.

Despite admitting guilt to money laundering in April 2021, Hashpapi’s social media accounts are still active and acquiring new followers.

Nobody knows why his social media profiles are still live. According to Instagram, Hashpapi’s account was reviewed, and the decision was made not to deactivate the profile. When a reporter contacted Snapchat, the account was swiftly deactivated.

According to Dr. Oyenuga, Hashpapi is still well-known and regarded as a role model by many.

Many young people in our country struggle to get by each day. When parents see a young person achieve in life, they experience a sense of strength. I’ve seen parents contemplating how to train their children to be Yahoo Boys, adds Oyenuga.

According to Seje, everyone who knows Hashpapi is aware of the crime he committed, but they “understand” him.

Nobody chooses to remain poor, so when they see someone else becoming affluent, they pray to God that it will also happen to them, according to Saje.

Abbas was sentenced to pay $922,857 in restitution to the legal company and $809,983 in compensation to the victim in Qatar. He was also sentenced to 135 months in federal prison.

I recall watching military parades on TV as a youngster and knowing that I wasn’t the only kid who wanted to be a soldier, and a decade later I wasn’t just a soldier, but a combatant in one of the bloodiest conflicts of the twentieth century.

As a result, be careful what you want for since dreams do come true, and now let’s look at why Western society dislikes large military parades but some do, and what makes them so unique.

Because I participated in multiple military parades, allow me to approach this topic more professionally and objectively.

Countries such as Russia (USSR), China, and, at one point, Warsaw Pact countries such as North Korea held military parades not just to demonstrate the force of their weaponry, but also to provide civilians with peace of mind.

Citizens could readily see where their money was going by exhibiting and parading firearms, or so we were informed.

Second, exhibiting armament and weapons openly communicated to foreign and domestic adversaries what armaments were available.

Third, after a military parade, I was approached by a “journalist” who asked me a lot of questions about the RT 20 domestic made weapon, or better known as the hand cannon 20 mm. My boss advised me to give all facts since he was from a three-letter agency and was claiming to be a journalist, which he clearly wasn’t, but he was capturing a lot of details so the military parade could be used as an open source of intelligence.

Last but not least, when a military parade takes place, two things are important: first, it is something called “citizen pride,” and second, the military parade symbolises the country’s standing (economic, social, etc.).

A military parade pits East and West against each other

When we talk military parades nowadays, most people think of Russia, China, and North Korea… Individuals who appreciate military parades as well as those who do not share their excitement for them share this association.

But first, let’s journey back in time, throughout history where Kings have projected their power by deeds of strength and awe since the dawn of human civilisation.

Mesopotamia

Friezes depicting heroic conquests were used by ancient Mesopotamian emperors to decorate their palaces and citadels. These pictures typically depicted a massive potentate striding in front of his army and crushing on his opponents’ skulls.
As a result, a monarch’s stature and political power were elevated.

Rome’s Antiquity

The honourable triumphs of antiquity were one of the most important rites of the Roman Empire. Generals and emperors who had won battles would march from the Field of Mars into Rome’s massive Temple of Jupiter, through temples and thousands of adoring peasants.

Everyone wore laurel wreaths and sacrificed bulls. Conquered nations’ looted possessions were conveyed in chariots, and abducted barbarians were dragged along in chains. Some slaves were encouraged to murmur “Memento mori” (Remember you are mortal) to their captors as part of a drama meant to connect the Roman public to its leaders.

For many years, these Roman rituals left an indelible mark on Europe.

Europe

Every Easter, battalions of soldiers, dignitaries, and clergy would march past the city’s renowned Basilica of San Marco and towards the ports to watch the Doge (Duke) of Venice board a ship, sail into the harbour, and cast a gold ring into the waves. Venice was the centre of a powerful Mediterranean empire at the time. This highly public act symbolised Venice’s divine union with the Adriatic Sea, which served as the foundation for the Doge’s wealth and power.

As empires disintegrated into nation-states and adopted a more open tone of hostility, these exhibitions of might lost their mystique.

The Prussian army’s elite unit, noted for its rigid lockstep discipline, modernised the military parade. Armies from throughout the world copied the salutes and drills employed by the German kingdom.

Some of the strict constraints enforced on troops marching into Beijing may be traced back to Prussian tactical directions, such as the precise distance between an infantryman’s nose and that of his colleagues on either side.

Another legacy handed to the world by the Prussians was the infamous goose step, which was first performed by pompous officers in the 17th century. The sheer scale of the iconography—massive Nazi rallies were staged across entire zeppelin fields, ostensibly representing the physical manifestation of the party’s ideology—made it even more potent.

Similar patterns arose for other authoritarian countries, such as the Soviet Union (Russia), which paraded phalanxes of tanks and advanced missiles past the Kremlin every May.

The intricately planned competitions known as Mass Games, which involve many dancers and volunteers, are a distinctive communist heritage. These events continue to take place on a regular basis in North Korea, where tens of thousands of people undergo months of training and mechanically perform strange tableaux praising the opaque leadership of the isolated rogue regime.

Nowadays, victory marches are performed by the majority of nations, including many democracies, to demonstrate their military superiority and to honour prior sacrifices.

Let us now return to the present, to the current military parades.

In actuality, military parades have become identified with Russia due to their loyalty to the military and the weapons that represent their nation’s pride.

Every year on May 9, the country commemorates Victory over Fascism Day, and the main events on Moscow’s Red Square are capped off with a traditional military parade.

Russia proudly shows its military’s highest levels, as well as a variety of armaments ranging from artillery to aeroplanes. Such manifestations have been widespread during the Cold War, and it is thought that the Russian state leadership is doing so to draw attention to its trump cards among its rivals.

The United States of America, which is by many metrics the world’s most powerful nation and whose weaponry are equivalent to or even greater to those of Russia and are held in Moscow practically annually, does not appear to prioritise self-promotion.

To commemorate Independence Day in 2019, former US President Donald Trump ordered armed forces from the Pentagon to the streets of Washington. The “rest of the world” expected to see an incredible display of American military capability accompanied by a variety of military acrobatics.

Despite the fact that it is widely known how Americans feel about military parades, optimists predicted that they would be happy as well. Particularly if they are conducted by one of the most disliked American presidents in recent history, who wanted to organise a parade of military forces and the entirety of the war potential in 2018, prompting considerable public outrage.

The 2019 Independence Day parade “succeeded” and was the first large military celebration held in Washington since 1991, when the Gulf War’s victory was celebrated.

From honouring historic wars to Lincoln’s death to presidential inaugurations, there is something for everyone.

Prior to 1991, there were only six other important military parades in American history. The year 1865 marked the first formally documented military parade in the United States. In an effort to boost morale in the grieving country, President Andrew Johnson’s successor organised a procession identical to this one month after President Abraham Lincoln was slain.

Johnson declared the Civil War to be over and requested a Grand Military Review to honour the American forces that saw the conflict through to a successful conclusion.

The second great parade was held a year after the end of the First World War, in 1919. In New York, a parade of over 25,000 soldiers carrying various weapons and military equipment took place. A week later, the same thing happened on Washington’s streets.

In 1942, New York hosted an unprecedented military parade. On that occasion, civilians and government representatives marched for 11 hours in support of American soldiers who had volunteered to fight in World War II.

When fascism was finally defeated four years later, a parade of 13,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Brigade marched through New York in front of roughly four million spectators to commemorate the end of fascism.

Before the aforementioned 1991, two other military parades were staged in the United States, both of which marked the president’s inauguration. Soldiers marched through the streets of Washington during both John F. Kennedy’s and Dwight Eisenhower’s inaugurations in 1961.

Can I ask you a question?

Why is it that the United States of America, whose military power is “side by side” with Russia’s, does not organise regular military parades, while the “babies” prefer to boast about their military resources?

The Russian procession conveys a Kremlin message.

Military parades are a public image associated with Moscow and the Russian military force, and the practise of organising them is as old as organised military units. The parade on Red Square, with its display of sophisticated heavy weaponry, is symbolic of the Cold War era, when it was an opportunity to introduce new things from the Soviet military industry.

It was typical for new equipment to be closely guarded until the parade, which was an opportunity to show off some of the Soviet Army’s new assets to the world. It was estimated in the political milieu of so-called Kremlinologists who was where on the stage for the guests of honour in connection to the current leader, and who was out of favour. The Kremlin sends a strong statement with military parades in Moscow.

The Cold War value system and images were restored in numerous parades in recent years, which is why the march on Red Square is regarded as a key occasion to observe the top of the state’s words, according to tradition.

Modern Russia holds parades in the old way, with heavy equipment echelons, but also “revived history” tanks and self-propelled guns from WWII, as well as people dressed in Eastern Front uniforms.

While Moscow hosts the largest parade, Russians often hold parades in smaller cities on Victory Day and other events.

Chinese parades seem similar to Russian parades. Our interlocutor explained us that the model was inspired by communism, which is why the Chinese like to display echelons of tanks and ballistic missiles.

Americans are vehemently opposed to power consolidation.

In the United States, parades are more focused on people, particularly civilians who frequently participate in activities alongside military formations. Military equipment is shown on a smaller scale, but it depicts a different cultural pattern of the military’s involvement in society.

Although the United States does not stage large parades, it is not far behind Russia in terms of organising other military celebrations and activities. Hundreds of such military displays take place in the United States each year, but they are local events, as opposed to Russia’s method of a centralised state and a centralised display of power in Moscow, followed by direct TV transmission in large towns.

Citizens in the United States, as well as numerous historical organisations that organise public reenactments of major wars, played an important part in nurturing military traditions and organising the march. The American Civil War and World War II are the most popular subjects. Tanks are a simplified illustration.

The Russians placed the T-34 in a battalion of professional military personnel who are paid by the state to show historical military equipment, but in the United States, the owners of the tanks and other combat equipment on display are private individuals.

Instead of a parade like Victory Day (May 9 according to the “Russian” calendar), D-Day is remembered with a series of commemoration events and parades. A replica of the June 1944 parachute landing with the original twin-engine C-47 is routinely organised on “round” anniversaries.

“Parades are expensive and unnecessary; money could be spent more wisely.”

Former President Donald Trump was so impressed with how the French organised and conducted their parade on the Champs-Élysées in 2017, that he advocated doing something similar in 2018. Few people agreed with him, and the general public was the most outspoken opponent of holding a military parade.

Citizens in the United States believed that such manifestations had no effect or benefit, that they served only to promote Trump, that they were too expensive, and that all of that money, which came mostly from taxpayers, might have been spent on far more productive activities. Despite strong opposition, the parade was held in 2019.

Propaganda and war films

In contrast to praising military parades, Americans express their superiority in other, and many would argue far more effective, ways, such as through propaganda reflected in films and glorifying US military feats, which creates the impression that US war operations around the world are justified. This type of propaganda has been perfected to near perfection.

The Americans have a powerful propaganda machine, and they have created a strong image of their global domination and importance through war films and other kinds of mass culture. Even among their adversaries, who frequently develop an image based on American films, American military iconography is dominant.

The global recognition of Anglo-Saxon military history, which affirmed through films even minor wars that were not very significant in world history, such as punitive measures against Indians or the defence of the Alamo Fort, is indirect evidence of propaganda’s strength. Even in science fiction films, American military symbolism is crucial.

I’ll let you determine whether parades are necessary, for whom, and why.

We’ll see what all of this means for regular people and people.

A story about a boy who was bullied and then discovered how to be successful, strong, loved, and treasured while earning millions of dollars.

How much do people believe what they see and read on social media nowadays?

Are we conscious of all that is provided to us on a daily basis?

Do we reject them or accept and believe them?

These are the issues I’ve been discussing with my pals over the last few days.

What happened to all of us, and where did critical thinking, enquiry, and deeper thought go?

Social networks have caught us in their web, which they weave more of every day, and we are becoming further entangled in it.

I’ve already talked about influencers, who they are, what they do, how much influence they have and how they use it, the positive and negative aspects, but there’s always the question of how thin the line between a charlatan and an influencer is.

The King of the Liver

Do you know who the King of the Liver is? I believe you’ve seen photos of a strong bearded man eating raw meat somewhere on social media.

Who is the Liver King?

Brian Johnson, often known as Liver King on social media, is a fitness social media figure and entrepreneur from the United States. He is well-known for promoting a “ancestral lifestyle,” which includes consuming raw, unprocessed organs and meat on a daily basis, as well as liver. As a result, he earned the title “Liver King.”

In the year 1978, Brian was born.

According to Liver King, his goal is to return to a more basic way of existence. How practical is this, and how prepared are we?

The plot is right in front of us.

Brian Johnson, Liver King, looked substantially different three decades ago. The influencer grew to prominence as a result of his unique lifestyle. He takes cold baths, weighs himself with his teeth, and eats half a kilogramme of raw beef liver every day.

Despite the fact that he was moulded 30 years ago, many people were ignorant of his terrible past, which he revealed on Instagram.

“Adolescence was the most difficult period of my life.” I was too small. I appeared ridiculous. I lacked both company and a sense of self-worth. I was kicked and punched on a daily basis. I had to find a way out of the anguish of my life without my father, and I did. I started working. “I became stronger,” he wrote.

Johnson states that the bullying drove him to change his life and gain confidence.

30 years later, I’m in the best shape of my life. If you ask me what has changed, I’ll tell you that I’ve begun to restore what the modern world has left behind.

And how did that occur? Johnson worked as a supporter of his wife’s dental office before embarking on his influencer job.

My Son’s Allergies

Brian was living the “American dream” before adopting this lifestyle, as he puts it. His life had been so simple until his sons became ill.

– My sons’ allergies became more acute and dangerous as they interacted with the contemporary society. After being outside for a bit, terrifying rashes formed. Even playing with our family dog caused runny noses, watery eyes, and shortness of breath. The genuine wake-up call was the cessation of my sons’ respiration. We were quite fortunate. Brian stated that we arrived at the hospital on time.

He claims that he and his wife made the decision to face the matter.

We tried everything, as any reasonable parent would. And that’s where our journey began, he continued, explaining that they then restricted their diet to raw meat and locally farmed fruit.

To begin, we avoided processed foods.

We began reintroducing things that our forefathers ate: seasonal fruits and vegetables, complete, nutrient-dense animals. So, the liver. In barely two weeks, our boys’ behaviour changed dramatically. Likewise in ours. Even after twenty years, Brian still consumes half a kilogramme of liver every day.

Brian’s nine ancestral principles are as follows:

Brian adheres to the nine life ideals listed below, which he also communicates on his social media channels:

1. Sleep

The primary ancient tenet is that sleep is more vital than anything else. This is a time to detox, recharge, rebuild, and restore both the body and the mind.

It’s all about getting the most out of your sleep, having your last meal of the day a couple hours before bed, and staying away from phone distractions.

2. Move

Physical activity in the present world and in our old environment are unrelated. This is almost as big of a mistake as dieting.

Brian sticks to this routine by going for thirty-minute walks every day, rain or shine. According to him, “well-being built from well-balanced movement eliminates the need for consumption-based pleasures.”

3. Protection Shield because we need to prevent dangers much like our ancestors did, but instead of running from lions, we run from seed oils, excessive WiFi, EMFS, and man-made poisons.

A product based on personal defence against all of the modern world’s supposed threats.”Dangers like these gradually accumulate and, with an additive effect, gradually disrupt our hormones, metabolism, and capacity for deep sleep,” he continued.

4. Eat Eat because we evolved to eat the whole animal.

Brian Johnson advises staying away from processed foods high in fat, sugar, liquid calories, and seed oils.

5. The sun

The sun is necessary for the natural generation of vitamin D. This helps to prevent tooth decay, boosts immunity, and improves general health.

Brian usually attempts to get as much vitamin D as he can during the day, claiming that it supplements the fat-melting vitamins A and K found in the liver and bone marrow.

6. The flu

Comfort is harmful to the body.
According to him, spending extended periods of time in cold baths, rivers, and lakes exposes one to the natural elements, which is vital. This, he claims, boosts circulation, which strengthens the body’s defence mechanisms.

7. Attempt

This element of his beliefs is less about disputes and more about the idea that we should always hold ourselves to high standards.

8. Connect 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; our forefathers were in continual contact with the planet.

Brian states that taking off his shoes and going on long walks reconnects him with the soil and Mother Nature. This has a really relaxing effect on him, keeping his blood pressure and sleep quality in perfect balance.

9. Social relationships

Put aside your phones and spend time with friends and family. Brian Johnson stated, “We will always be social beings in need of others.”

With the exception of the one regarding raw liver, I must say that I follow the majority of Brian’s nine rules, but can we obtain Brian’s body by following these recommendations and eating all of these foods?

How did Liver King make money?

Liver King and his wife, Barbara Johnson, founded and eventually sold a vertically integrated dentistry practise. The Johnsons left their successful dentistry practise to work full-time as influencers and nutritional supplement sellers.

At the time, the Liver King’s wife supported his rural lifestyle, allowing him to begin the Liver King adventure as a ripped, shirtless influencer.

These enterprises are founded on a philosophy known as “Ancestral Living,” which refers to a style of life influenced by our forebears’ activities. This includes a paleo diet of raw meat, bone marrow, and animal liver, which pushes the limits of the human body.

The majority of Brian Johnson’s income comes from social media endorsements. Johnson rose to prominence as a social media influencer in the United States in 2022, with millions of followers on his many platforms.

Johnson is gaining popularity by revealing her diet and exercise regimen. The Liver King’s fortune is mostly derived from his ancestors’ lifestyle supplement business.

As a bodybuilder, he also makes money from sponsorship partnerships and brand promotions, which he advertises on social media. Johnson’s fortune has grown dramatically in recent years.

How does Liver King put his money to work?

The Liver King may be an infamous caveman who eats liver and walks about shirtless, but he knows how to invest his money.

If Brain Johnson owns his real estate outright, his nett worth is estimated to be around $12 million, according to public records.

Startups

Each of Liver King’s supplement brands generates over $1 million in annual revenue. He also claims to have between ten and twelve unreleased projects.

Before Liver King and his wife invested completely in companies and influenced supplements, they both worked at Dentik Dentistry in Texas. They started the company with a $500,000 investment split 50-50, then sold it for an undisclosed sum. They went on to other projects after selling Dentik in 2010.

Supplements for Ancestors

Under the Ancestral Lifestyle brand, Johnson’s major line of business is the marketing of supplements produced from animal organs, especially protein powders. Some argue that the modern diet prevents us from living the full lives we were meant to. According to public estimates, the annual revenue from ancestral supplements ranges between $1 million and $10 million.

With 175,000 monthly unique visitors, an average order size of $80 (the cost of two supplements), and a 2% conversion rate, the website earns approximately $3 to $4 million in annual revenue. Amazon orders might produce an additional $24 million in revenue per year.

Liver King, who claims to be the company’s founder, appears to be the company’s major shareholder. If the average profit margin for supplements is 38%, the corporation is likely to make between $380,000 and $3 million in profit.
Other Liver King businesses

Liver King also has stakes in the dietary supplement companies Heart and Soil, The Fittest, and Medicine Man. Heart and Soil, a weight loss supplement company, makes around $5 million in revenue, whereas The Fittest, a strength supplement company, makes less than $5 million.

Medicine Man is a mushroom-based supplement that generated approximately $1 million in revenue in its first year of business with joint venture partner Mark Vorderbruggen. Because Liver King is likely to be a minority shareholder in these companies, its capital is expected to be significantly less valuable than Ancestral’s.

Property investment

Brian Johnson and his family live in an 8,300-square-foot Spanish-style mansion in Austin, Texas. Each of these mansions is supposedly valued $7 million. It is uncertain whether he owns the house or how much money he paid for it out of his own pocket. The house has a sauna, a steam room, and a pool.

The Liver Ranch in and around Austin, Texas, contains a pool, pond, and an area where cows and poultry can be found. On this site, Liver King maintains a ranch with at least three cows, two homes, and a garage.

The Liver King Ranch will most likely be six to ten acres in size, as we estimate that everyone requires about an acre. Properties that fit this criteria are often priced between $500,000 and $1 million.

How did Liver King’s investing portfolio perform? The majority of the Liver King’s assets are held by private corporations, along with a few individual houses, although their exact value is difficult to quantify.

Although Liver King is not your normal investor, he does understand how to make more money doing what he enjoys.

Quotes About Liver King Investing

Liver King is a firm believer in all things organic. If you can’t go all in, don’t go at all, he says. According to Liver King, “live naturally, vibrantly, and own every link in the supply chain.”

The most prudent financial decisions are those that have been thoroughly and thoughtfully studied. You can’t invest half-heartedly, so send everything in at once and try again if you don’t succeed the first time.
Quotes

„I am a business builder. I am a hunter of evolution. “I am that guy who left the fucking safety of the cave to take a real fucking risk.”

„Whatever the gain, it must be proportionate to the risk. So have some balls and take some God damn fucking chances.”

“So this is how I make my money…I own the companies downstream and upstream of (each other).”

Should I, like Liver King, invest, or should you?

Not everyone is cut out to enter the highly competitive world of business right away.

Any individual, however, can invest in a startup. One certain interpretation from the Liver King’s story is that he invested in businesses in which he believed. This makes it easy for him to endorse these companies’ products just by being himself.

But what if we really want to acquire a house? There’s nothing wrong with that. Investing in real estate is a possibility. It is, without a question, a wise investment.

In any case,The Liver King drew a lot of attention because of his life, attitudes, and, most importantly, his appearance. He drew the attention of guys, who make up the majority of his social media followers, as well as celebrities.

But, as my colleague podcaster Joe Rogan put it, “not everyone agrees that the Liver King’s physique is solely the result of raw food and consistent exercise.” Rogan dismissed The Liver King’s claims about the superiority of liver as a “gimmick,” adding, “He has an ass filled with steroids, is what that guy’s got.”

Is Liver King on STEROIDS? Is it all big fat LIE?

Johnson described his serious self-esteem issues, which motivated him to use steroids and other medications to enhance his body, in a video titled “Confessions of the Liver King…I Lied” that he posted to his YouTube profile.

According to fitness and self-improvement websites, this comes after hacked emails revealed Johnson was taking Omnitrope growth hormone, which costs around $11,000 per month.

Liver King previously denied using steroids because he was concerned that it would harm his business, which has nearly five million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Johnson’s reputation for sustaining a traditional way of life is jeopardised by his use of steroids. It’s unknown how the revelation has affected the Liver King’s fortune.

So, how about you?

Do you believe the King Liver legend?

What are your thoughts on everything?

The world’s “most dangerous” lady is back on the loose!

The wife of Mexican drug lord El Chapo has been released from prison after serving two years.

Emma Coronel Aispuro, who is she?

Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, was released from a US prison in Los Angeles after serving two years for supporting her husband in the trafficking of billions of dollars in drugs and money laundering.

Guzmán supervised Mexico’s drug trade and smuggling for 25 years as the boss of the notorious Sinaloa cartel. He also put together a squad of people who were prepared to assassinate, abduct, and torture him.

The lovely 34-year-old wife and mother of two children is now ready to start a new life without him, and many people are wondering who she is and how she became the world’s most notorious drug lord’s closest friend and ally.

The newly freed inmate was born in 1989 into a ranching family near San Francisco and grew up in the rural Mexican village of Durango La Angostura. She won the beauty pageant as part of the 2007 Guava Coffee Festival in Mexico when she was 17 years old.

This attractive woman with dual citizenship is not the first in her family to be associated with drug gangs. Before El Chapo’s arrest in 2013, her father, Inés Coronel Barreras, was one of his closest confidantes.

How did she find ‘El Chapo’?

Emma met the drug lord when she was 17 years old at a party in Mexico, and he invited her to dance.

“He offered me a seductive smile. “After a while, someone approached her and said, ‘That man is asking if you want to dance with him,’ and I said Okay,” she claimed in one of her few interviews with the Los Angeles Times.

In 2006, Emma met Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán at a party, and their love affair began. A year later, the two wedded in a magnificent display of love and power. Their relationship was nothing short of spectacular, given El Chapo’s status as Mexico’s most wanted drug lord. When Emma gave birth to their twin children in 2011, their love became even deeper.

What role did she play in the well-known drug empire?

The FBI detained her in February 2021 at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., on drug trafficking charges.

Prosecutors allege that between 2014 and 2017, Emma assisted in the operation of her husband’s drug empire and collaborated closely with the Sinaloa cartel’s command and control apparatus. She was suspected of smuggling large quantities of illegal substances into the United States.

Emma became his third wife after a simple dance escalated into a stormy affair. They married when she was 18 years old. El Chapo is 32 years her senior, and their two daughters are the rumoured youngest of his nineteen children.

Coronel Aispuro helped her husband escape from Mexico’s most secure prison in 2015 by acquiring the land used to dig the subterranean path that led to his release. Prosecutors alleged she also passed a GPS watch as food through prison security. According to the prosecutor’s office at the time, the drug boss, known as El Chapa, also used his wife as a ‘messenger,’ delivering messages between him and other cartel members while he was in prison.

In 2021, Emma Coronel Aispuro pled guilty to assisting in the importation of almost 450,000 kilogrammes of cocaine, 90,000 kilogrammes of heroin, 45,000 kilogrammes of methamphetamine, and around 90,000 kilogrammes of marijuana. She also participated in two conspiracies to release her husband, El Chapa. It’s about a successful escape in 2015 and an attempted escape a year later while awaiting extradition to the US.

Coronel Aispuro, who faced a maximum penalty of ten years, received a relatively light sentence since she had no criminal history and was not involved in the Guzman cartel’s more violent acts. As part of her plea agreement, she also turned over $1.5 million in cocaine revenue. After 27 months in prison, she was released.

Assistance throughout the trial

Coronel Aispuro’s wife, a devoted supporter, attended her husband’s trial every day. She wore designer clothes and large sunglasses, and despite the fact that Spanish is her native language, she wore headphones and listened to the translation throughout the trial.

During El Chapo’s trial, the former beauty queen used her now-defunct Instagram account to offer inspiring love and dedication quotes. She was notorious for avoiding interviews, but she made an exception in this case, giving a rare interview in which she depicted El Chapo as a loving father and husband.

El Chapo returned his sight to his wife and kissed her after the decision was read. While fighting back tears, she smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up.

El Chapo was sentenced to life in prison and will spend the rest of his days in a facility that has been described as a “high-tech version of hell.”

What about their children?

Coronel Aispuro gave birth to twins Emaly and Maria Joaquina at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, California.

Guzmán’s name was omitted from their children’s birth certificates since the US State Department had offered a $5 million reward for his apprehension at the time of their birth.

Emma, the drug queen, pleaded with the judge not to let her daughters “grow up without a mother’s presence” during her trial, so she is expected to take advantage of her newfound freedom and return to her daughters’ arms.

The adventure of Emma Coronel Aispuro has been nothing short of fascinating. Her life has been a complicated web of highs and lows, from beauty queen pageants to marrying a drug lord and then facing the government’s wrath. Only time will tell what her next chapter will bring.

Have you ever wondered why Western intelligence agencies never took advantage of the fact that Warsaw Pact countries collapsed like a house of cards and that the CIA, MI6, and others suddenly had access to thousands of intelligence agents who made their lives miserable throughout the cold war?

Perhaps the reason is because the STASI Eastern Germany Intelligence Agency was more successful than its equivalents such as the CIA?

In this essay, we will look at how STASI used secrecy and social engineering to collect intelligence and infiltrate the cabinet of Western Germany’s chancellor, using him to make decisions in favour of Warsaw Pact countries.

Without a doubt, Vladimir Putin was the counterintelligence operative who collaborated with Misha and the STASI international intelligence section.

How the Stasi leader drove all intelligence agencies insane: He was the mastermind behind the activities, although he was oblivious that the Berlin Wall was being built.

The Israeli tabloid “Jerusalem Post” referred to him as “the best espionage chief in the world.”

In the West, he was labelled “The Man Without a Face” for a long time.

Until 1979, Western intelligence services had no idea who their main foe looked like, who was bothering them and asking them questions.

During his tour to Sweden, which was filmed on tape by a local news organisation, he paid a visit to the grave of Kurt Tucholsky, a prominent German satirist who committed himself after believing Hitler had won the war.

The weekly “Spiegel” immediately published Wolff’s photograph.

Wolf-Misha, Markus

Markus was born on January 19, 1923 in Weimar, Germany. His childhood was spent in Stuttgart. Father Friedrich was a doctor as well as a writer. His mother, Elsa Wolff, was a teacher.

The Wolffs were compelled to leave Germany in 1933, ten years after Marcus was born, because being a Jew and a member of the German Communist Party was not an ideal combination.

They lived in France and Switzerland before relocating to the Soviet Union in 1934.

Markus attended elite Moscow schools and received Soviet papers at the age of 13 in 1936. He studied at the Moscow Aviation Institute in aeronautical studies in 1940 before joining the Comintern in 1942, when he was transported to the Bashkortostan region and trained for espionage activities behind enemy lines at a school.

After getting entirely Russified, his moniker became Misha. This nickname remained with him for the rest of his life. From 1943 to 1945, after the fall of the Comintern, he worked on the radio in Moscow, on the German people’s channel.

After returning to Germany, he began working for the secret service.

In 1945, he was one of the first Germans to return from the Second World War, to the Soviet sector of Germany. He did so under the alias Michael Storm and worked as a journalist for Radio Berlin in Berlin. He discusses a number of subjects, including the Nuremberg Trials. He despised Nazism and wished that such tragedies would never happen again.

He returned to Moscow in 1949 and served as the East German embassy’s first consul there until 1951.

Wolff was afterwards questioned about how he remained anonymous and “faceless” for so long. He remarked that it was “just proof of the stupidity of the Western agencies” because he never concealed and always sat on the platform during May Day parades dressed as a commander. He further stated that it is not his fault nor his credit that he was never discovered.

From no prior espionage experience to becoming the greatest secret spy ever

Markus Wolf began his career as a journalist after living in the Soviet Union and Switzerland for several years. He worked as a special reporter for the major war criminals’ trials at Nuremberg. Walter Ulbricht brought him to his office in 1952 and appointed him head of the intelligence service, which had only recently begun to be built. Wolff, 29, understood nothing about espionage other from his study at Kushnarenko’s. He announced his resignation in 1987.

He claims that he disagreed with East Germany’s political direction, that it was time for him to retire and focus on writing, and that he had conflicts with his supervisor, Minister Mielke. Milke, like many old communists, was puritanical and reprimanded Wolf for his very liberal love life. Wolff also observed at the time that finding someone who could survive such a scenario for so long would be difficult.

While saving the West German chancellor, he accidentally knocked him down.

The political rise and collapse of West Germany’s chancellor Willy Brandt acted as a reminder of his time working for the Stasi.

In particular, in 1972, the CDU attempted to depose then-Chancellor Brandt by proposing that the Bundestag vote against him. The social-liberal alliance held a narrow majority, and every vote affected the outcome of the election. Then he revealed that Wolff was also involved in the case.

In other words, Brandt eventually won a confidence vote with a two-vote majority, and one of those votes came from Julius Steiner, who had been bribed 50,000 marks by the Stasi to support Brandt, whose ongoing control suited the Easterners. Chancellor Brandt, however, was forced to resign two years later as a result of his assistant Günter Guyom, a clandestine Stasi spy.

In 1990, 16 years after his departure, Wolff addressed him an apology letter in which he expressed his deep regret for the conduct that had led to his resignation.

People are the key to espionage

In an interview, Marcus stated that he has always preferred agents.

– It is difficult to generalise about a big service with a history of noteworthy failures and accomplishments. I feel that the CIA places too much emphasis on the technical aspects of espionage because they assume that sophisticated technology will ensure their success. In contrast, they undervalue human espionage, but I have always supported agents and their work. I said that the human aspect, not military strength, might be used to destroy terrorism. “The army primarily kills people,” he stated at the time.

His admission, which he wrote about in one of his books, that he had no idea the Berlin Wall would be built, stunned everyone.

I realise the whole thing seems ridiculous, but I honestly had no idea our people were starting to build a wall. It was a big problem for us since the spies had no difficulties going between different parts of Berlin up until that moment, but as the wall rose, it got increasingly difficult. I asked the interior minister how the head of the intelligence service could have been kept in the dark about such a serious incident. We eventually succeeded, although it was more difficult than before the Berlin Wall was created, he noted at the time.

Markus Wolf, the team’s chief of STASI’s Main Reconnaissance Division (HVA),

His Main Reconnaissance Department (HVA) made a substantial contribution to STASI’s national and international success. At its peak, the HVA employed 4,000 permanent staff members, accounting for just around 5% of all STASI workers. Other STASI workers looked up to them since they had access to possibilities for worldwide travel and advanced study.

As a result, the HVA had unparalleled effectiveness. Markus Wolf, the team’s leader, and his group, which focused mostly on West Germany, both contributed to the team’s success.

Despite having only 4,000 members compared to the STASI’s 100,000, this organisation attracted the most attention from the Western media. The HVA was successful partly because it had access to West German intelligence circles, but it was also successful because Western intelligence services were never able to pry into the HVA’s ranks.

Wolf had a reputation to maintain. Wolf’s inability to be physically identified by the West for even 25 years demonstrates the HVA’s exceptional security. Wolf became known as “the man without a face” due to the legend that arose as a result of his lack of information.

As a result, the HVA was the most distinguished division of the STASI. For two reasons, the hiring requirements were extremely stringent. If HVA officials wanted to work abroad, they had to be completely trustworthy first.

Second, the HVA’s growing mission included technological and scientific espionage. Only knowledgeable officials could comprehend and assess the value of information in this environment. The primary source of candidates was the Free German Youth movement.

It was critical that the recruits had no contact with any relatives in the West. As the task became increasingly difficult, an increasing number of recruits came from the families of high-ranking party officials. As an added assurance of loyalty, salaries in the HVA were higher than those in the STASI’s internal security branch. Given that there was not a single instance of desertion in the HVA, the effectiveness of those security measures has been shown.

HVA Organisation/Departments

“Department I” dealt with the “main target,” West Germany’s chancellor, his staff, and important ministries.

The “Department II” that worked with major political parties, labour organisations, and the Church was responsible for Brandt’s resignation in the Guillaume incident.

With the exception of the United States and Mexico, “Department III” was supposed to encompass the rest of the world, but in practise, it only included a small number of countries where East Germany had embassies.

“Department IV” focused on military espionage.

The counter-intelligence service in command of the attacks, “Department IX,” carried out many infiltrations into West German intelligence institutions.

By the end of the 1970s, the HVA’s research and technology efforts had surpassed those of the KGB throughout the Eastern Bloc.

Wolf himself stated that “other Warsaw Pact countries’ intelligence services do not gather information on science and technology to the same extent as the HVA.” The HVA’s organisational structure is another indicator of the importance they placed on science and technology.

In 1966, “Department X” was established within the HVA. On both sides of the Iron Curtain, he was entrusted with propagating false information, which was regarded as an essential component of alternative warfare.

Wolf’s “Department X” comrades further up their onslaught against West Germany. They attempted to sow discord and mistrust between West Germany and its allies by disclosing that West Germany’s top officials were former Nazis and war criminals.

Romeo-spies

He also mentioned the Cold War era, specifically that conditions were extremely tight and that the situation peaked in 1962 during the Cuban crisis, when war nearly broke out.

Tensions escalated during the Vietnam War, he added, because American generals frequently attempted to unleash an atomic bomb on Vietnam on occasion.

Marcus Wolff’s go-to approach, according to the revealed secret, was to recruit attractive secret agents—both male and female—into the adversary’s official ranks.

I understand that James Bond-style espionage stories are popular, but they only represent one component of the intelligence work. Because all sorts of intelligence work rely on personal interactions, Romeo situations occur frequently. The problem is that a great agent might be destroyed by a great love, which is something you don’t want to happen.

In one interview, Markus stated that women offered some of the most important knowledge to his service in a number of ways. Because the majority of ministerial or military secretaries are women, knowledge that most civil employees or other government officials lack passes via their hands. He stated they were our most trusted top-secret confidantes.

Renate Lutze (secretary of the Director of the Ministry of Defense’s Department of Social Affairs), her husband Lothar, and Jürgen Wiegel were arrested in June 1976 on suspicion of transmitting confidential material to the STASI, startling Bonn with yet another security controversy. According to the investigation, the trio’s espionage was the worst in West German history, and their arrest resulted in the detention of sixteen more East German spies.

By the late 1970s, the renowned “Romeo” method had been uncovered, in which an undercover agent seeks to seduce a lady (typically a Secret Service employee) who has access to classified material. However, because more males were working in secret organisations in the West, the tactic was less successful than expected.

The East German and Yugoslavian services did not cooperate.

In interviews, he also indicated that, to the best of his knowledge and at the time he served the Stasi, no one from his service worked with Yugoslav service personnel. Despite the influence of the Soviet KGB service initially being strong and having their own people in its service, the Stasi, in his opinion, has been an independent and independent service since 1960 that has had a great deal of cooperation with the Soviet older brother, all with the aim of fighting against the enemies of the time. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s current president, once claimed that the meeting never took place because he was serving in Dresden, East Germany, at the time.

When he retired in 1986, he left the Stasi and began writing books.

Marcus Wolff’s literary work, or more specifically, his writing as a writer, was notable because his forums and promotions were consistently well-attended. He added that the circumstances were particularly unpleasant, given how negatively people viewed East Germany at the time.

Years of writing and judging books

He states in his memoirs that after Germany was reunited, he turned down the CIA’s offer to reveal KGB agents in exchange for a green card and a happy life in America.

After discovering that a warrant had been issued for his arrest, he escaped to Austria and then the USSR, but a year later he turned himself into German authorities. On that particular occasion, he was detained for a short period of time before being released.

In the 1990s, he was tried for high treason, corruption, serious assault, and kidnapping. In 1993, he was sentenced to six years in prison, but in 1995, he was declared innocent. At the second trial in 1997, he was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in four murders; however, this punishment was eventually reduced to two years with a suspended sentence.

Markus “Misha” Wolff—also known as “The Man Without a Face”—died at the age of 83 on November 9, 2006, the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

He left behind his wife, eleven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

He was laid to rest alongside his own brother and the famed East German filmmaker Konard Wolff in the section of Berlin’s Central Cemetery reserved for leftists.

No matter how much time, money, tools, and passwords you put in place to protect information, no one can avoid an accidental chat in a shop, coffee shop, aeroplane, or gym, and by that point, I can confidently assure you that all your secrets are gone.

Forever.

I never witnessed social engineering fail in my humble professional experience as a part of human intelligence operations.
Now, let us delve a little deeper and remind you of a recent social engineering performance in the heart of the United States, in which the principal player was Anna Chapman.

Those who don’t’ remember or don’t know there is certain individual and her name is Anna Chapman, a Russian national, was part of a group of Russian sleeper agents who were operating in the United States under deep cover.
She was known for her socialite lifestyle and her use of online platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook to connect with influential individuals.

Chapman is believed to have used her charm and conversation skills to engage with high-profile individuals in various industries, including finance and politics.

By leveraging her attractive appearance, she managed to gain access to events and circles that provided her opportunities to gather information.

Her interactions were part of a broader effort to develop connections with influential people who could potentially provide her with sensitive information or facilitate her access to valuable networks.

While the full extent of her activities remains largely unknown, the case of Anna Chapman showcases how social engineering and the art of conversation can be employed by spies to establish trust, gather information, and further intelligence objectives.

Information is the Commodity

Information has value, which can be tangible or intangible. 

Whether its complex data sets stored in the cloud or a partially formed idea that has yet to be seen or heard by anyone else, all information can be traced to the same means of production: Humans.

All the information we take for granted exists (directly or indirectly) because of individuals, not hardware or software. 

Social Engineering, as it applies in human intelligence and cyber security, is the art of using manipulation as well as strategic deception and coercion to extract information from a target.

Corporate entities and globalised society have embraced the ‘network society’ and assume that networking is a must for success. 

However, most businesses do not have risk management processes capable of preventing social engineering attacks, which have grown in sophistication and popularity with the rise of today’s hyperconnected world.

The COVID-19 crisis has altered the structure of society to favour social engineers, who have changed tactics in response to the decline of physical meetings and centralised work forces to instead prey on far more vulnerable targets: People working from home. 

Social engineering has long been an element of tradecraft across the field of human intelligence, but for the last forty years, social engineering conducted in cyberspace has become a major part of the intelligence and counterintelligence cycle.

Today, navigating social engineering is an indispensable organisational KIN (key intelligence need).

Information – The Importance and Value of Information/ Sources of Information

Information has value; it can be tangible or intangible. Information can be stored or simply be an idea, but all information has a source.

The root source of that information is typically a person, not a piece of hardware or software.

Note: Data is now the most valuable commodity in the world. 

Information, in its purest form, is raw, unrefined material, and remains so until it has been distributed orally, verbally, written, or stored. 

Raw information will sooner or later become part of the intelligence cycle. Without information, intelligence of any kind would not exist.

Our identity and construction of self as individuals, members of communities and/or social groups is dependent on information. 

Our exposure to the information ecosystem commences the moment you open your eyes – this illustrate that information is not only about passwords and documents, but the subjective interpretation of reality, what we perceive and think about what we perceive, as individuals 24/7. 

In terms of Social Engineering, it is important to understand that identifying a Person of Interest (POI) is part of a social engineer’s research process, and is an objective based on the analysis of previously identified information and decision-making processes.

Types of Information Sources:

• Open Sources – social media, newspapers, radio, electoral office, TV, chat, social and business networking.
  Controlling our ever-expanding digital footprints.
• Close Sources – all sources restricted to the public, including material categorised as classified, and is usually stored in a (ostensibly) safe place, sometimes also guarded or protected by technical, mechanical, human or legal countermeasures in order to restrict access. Unauthorised access to this kind of information is illegal.
• This is the social engineer’s cornucopia, and it is typically this kind of information that cyber threats will seek to elicit either directly or indirectly (i.e., access credentials) from their targets.
• Off The Record Information – This kind of information does not have a clear legal definition, and there is no such thing as “off the record”. Hence, information provided in conversation is open to interpretation, exploitation, and if necessary, can be used in a court of law as evidence. 

Anything posted online is there forever – in cyberspace, anything ‘said’ is rarely ephemeral, and this is particularly important to recall given that we now rely so heavily on CMC instead of face-to-face meetings. 

What is Social Engineering?

“Failure to protect secrets has widespread ramifications and the perils posed must be addressed”

Industrial espionage has been in the news again recently with various reports about Huawei’s activities. At a time when businesses are investing billions in data protection, are they overlooking some of the most basic forms of intelligence gathering devices – humans?

One way or another, people are often responsible for a loss, often inadvertently. Military intelligence has long used activities, often termed ‘social engineering’, to capture sources of information.

With the shift to the network society and our increasing dependence on networked technologies, social engineering is conducted with staggering frequency online, and is usually one of the first steps in the “cyber kill chain”.

Social engineering, in cybersecurity, refers to “tactics used to trick people into revealing sensitive information or taking unsafe actions”.

Social engineering is therefore fundamentally about coercion, deception, manipulation and decision-making.

Social Engineering has designed to have outcome prior commencing any activities so for successful social engineering we must have the good story. Sometimes called a ‘legend’ in human intelligence, or a ‘narrative’ in information and narrative warfare.

Story must start with “one upon a time” then continuing with unicorns and princess. Not.

Story is required without doubt. Story is embedded into human society and regardless how short or long story is, require capturing the interest from opposite party. 

That can only be achieved if story is based on some facts (facts are determined when Target Profile is created) only then deceiver will be successful. 

Story must have ‘reader response’ after all and after involving Target or POI into story, communication will lead into more detailed and planned conversation. 

What POI can discover that deceiver is lying thus planning for “the story” must be immaculate, well versed and deceiver will be trained and accountable for results. 

Understanding the enemy – Intrinsic V. Extrinsic motivations, hackers, cyber criminals (and their business models), insider threats, APTs and human error.

Understanding the problem: BYOD policies, home-work lifeworld boundary collapse, changes in behaviour (including maladaptation such as substance abuse) as a result of WFH.

Key Intelligence Needs – in the social engineering key intelligence needs represent two factors.

1. Need to Know (more intelligence about product, country, military, police, software’s etc) 
2. How to Know (identifying the target profile, POI – person of interest)

Both requirements are part of the below cycles which clearly identifies as a first step “need” and “how.”

Target Profile

A target can be individual, group, company, organisation, and each of those targets can be named differently for the purpose of social engineering or misleading and deceiving third parties. 

Elements for Target Profile can be adjusted as per requirement however as mentioned before it is important for social engineering to work that “the story” be filled with facts.

The limitations of cyber threat intelligence and the realities of individualisation.

Groups have completely different factors that inform their behaviour to individuals – understanding if your adversary is a target or targets is critical.

When Target Profile file has been created it is important to have the following key parts and based on the key parts story be designed and rehearsed.

After all, it is critical to remember that social engineering is virtually never detected until there is reasonable doubt that counterintelligence measures are required, so think before you start chatting with someone new. 

That was something I learnt early in my military academy education, which I later implemented in combat during war and translated into my corporate environment.

Communication is essential, and if there is no communication, a lack of communication, or misunderstanding, it is the responsibility of the LEADERS, not the employees or peers.

Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” contains invaluable advice for leaders and strategists, especially regarding how to interact with their troops – in your case with peers – employees.

He emphasises the need of being given explicit instructions and following them. Sun Tzu argues that if orders are unclear, it is the commander’s problem.

However, subordinates are at blame if they are given explicit instructions and still fail to carry them out. The ramifications of this idea for contemporary leadership are far-reaching, touching on areas as diverse as the workplace, the sports arena, the home, and even public policy.

The value of well-defined goals cannot be emphasised in the business world.

Leaders need to make sure their teams are on the same page by communicating their expectations in detail through regular team meetings, one-on-one chats, and digital channels.

When goals aren’t accomplished, leaders should check to see if their instructions were comprehensible before assigning blame. This method promotes an atmosphere of trust and open communication, two qualities vital to the success of any group.

In a similar vein, it is the leader responsibility to make sure his or her team fully grasps the game plan and methods. This usually entails plenty of time spent practising to the point where habits and methods become second nature, leaving less room for error in competition.

Reviewing past games is useful because it can reveal whether or whether a loss was the result of muddled tactics or poor execution, providing insight into where to focus improving efforts.

Sun Tzu’s teachings can also improve family interactions.

Conflicts can be greatly reduced if clear standards for tasks, responsibilities, and behaviour are established.

Having regular family meetings can help everyone in the family better appreciate their part in the whole.

When people don’t play by the rules, having an open conversation about what went wrong can help bring everyone closer together and improve future compliance.

The value of transparent discourse cannot be overstated in the realm of public policy and government. If governments want people to follow the rules, they should make those rules as clear as possible.

To do this successfully, it is common to employ various forms of media and online forums. When it’s obvious that people understand the rules and regulations, it’s time to put in place mechanisms to hold them to those rules and regulations.
Sun Tzu’s insights are more important than ever in today’s ever-evolving world.

By investing in leadership training that stresses the need of clear communication, modern leaders can greatly benefit from his ideas.

Leaders can use feedback mechanisms to learn whether subpar results were the result of ambiguous instructions or lax adherence, and then adjust and improve their methods accordingly.

Leaders in any field can benefit from internalising and using Sun Tzu’s concepts through building stronger, more cohesive, and more accountable teams.

You must have “caught” the name Andrew Tate out of the corner of your eye if you’ve recently used social media or read portals or newspapers online, which I’m sure you have because it’s tough to live and work without them these days.

If you use TikTok, even if it’s just to “tease and spy” on your children, you know that everything on it is fast, not always full of meaning, and radical.

Yes, Andrew Tate, a bald guy in fine suits standing next to expensive cars, at war with “the fraud of political correctness” and the “corrupt and decadent Western value system,” as he sees it.

What precisely is Andrew Tate’s name?

Andrew is a former kickboxer who was a millionaire (he discovered a way to get money on the internet), a “misogynist” (according to his opponents), and a “womaniser” (according to him).

In any case, here are a few Tate facts:

He was born in the United Kingdom 36 years ago and has dual citizenship in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

Following a successful career in kickboxing, he transitioned to influencer marketing, primarily dealing with male-female relationships, and many women see his statements as blatant misogyny and humiliation. As a result of all of this, Twitter banned him, but that’s not all.

He makes a lot of money by selling online training to people who believe his way of thinking would transform them into “real men” who are “not slaves to the decadence of Western civilisation.”

He is also accused of human trafficking and rape in Romania, where he is awaiting prosecution.

Romania

Tate lives in Romania for the following reasons: “I want to live in a country where I can pay the cop 50 euros when I break the law; I want to live in a country where we all have the right to corruption, not in the West, where that right is reserved only for the rich.”

Tate has been a committed kickboxer and martial artist since 2005, when he won the ISKA (International Sports Karate Federation) Championship in Derby and was ranked first in Europe in his weight class.

He defeated Jean-Luc Benoit to become world champion in the ISKA version of the light heavyweight division, and he went on to win the title a few more times.

The Hustler Academy

Tate used his social media profiles to direct visitors to his websites, where he promised them the chance to become wealthy and popular among women. He operates a studio where his girlfriends work, and he and his brother Tristan are accused of “selling fake girlfriend stories” to unsuspecting customers via webcams for millions of dollars.

Andrew Tate has created an ingenious pyramid scheme with his online “academy” Hustler University.

The Observer reports that Tate’s “followers” are tasked with flooding social media with his videos, selecting the most controversial footage to gain the most views.

Thousands of members of Tate’s secret online academy “Hustler University” do this every day in order to game TikTok’s algorithm and artificially enhance the popularity of his videos. They were a success.

In less than three months, he’s amassed a sizable online following and possibly millions of pounds. Tate’s 127,000 members pay £39 to become members of ‘Hustler University,’ and many of them are boys.

Customers were also paid a commision for each new customer they brought on board, and they promoted themselves by flooding social media with snippets from Tate’s most contentious films. The same as a pyramid scam.

Big Brother, Depression, and the #MeToo Movement

When he was evicted from the Big Brother house in 2016 for assaulting a woman with a belt, his public career appeared to be over. Soon after, a second video surfaced in which he orders the woman to keep track of the injuries he allegedly caused her. Both Andrew Tate and the actresses in the films have denied any misconduct.

Then homophobic and racial remarks and insults were revealed on his Twitter profile. In September 2017, mental health organisations chastised him for implying sadness was “not real.” During the height of the #MeToo movement, his Twitter account was blocked the next month. Then he wrote that women should “bear part of the responsibility” for rape, and he went on to build his career on the same premise.

One of the most often asked questions about Andrew Tate, who bills himself as a skilled businessman who can help others become wealthy, is how he made his money.

WebCam

The Fresh and Fit podcast producers asked Tate how he got started in business after his fighting career ended. Tate, a self-described entrepreneur, revealed that he began researching banks and financial institutions in general. Then he began compiling an inventory of his possessions, which included automobiles, real estate, and so on.

He emphasised that he initiated relationships with women from all around the world throughout his career. So, he reasoned that his girlfriends could have some money resources that he might use.

“I could open a strip joint, but that costs money, and paying utilities costs money,” he said on the show. “How can I use these women to make money?” he wondered. He then began working in the WebCam market, where he made his money. In translation, it became a macro, but on the Internet, it became something akin to a web macro.

During the height of my WebCam pimping, I thought I was the king of the universe, but the problem is that the first two girls worked for me because they loved me, but as the business evolved, you started hiring girls who didn’t love me but did it for the money.”

Tate alleges that the first girls were not compensated and instead “sold their bodies” to him out of love. He moved from the United Kingdom to Romania immediately after founding WebCam.

According to the Daily Mirror, Tate and his brother Tristan ran a web studio where women “sold sad stories” to unknown males who paid four dollars per minute to talk to them (the brothers took most of the money).

Master Tate

Tate, as previously indicated, is not a little individual lurking in some obscure corner of the dark web. He is a well-known TikTok character, with over 15 billion views on his videos. He rose to prominence in 2022 precisely because of his contentious views on male-female interactions.

Guru Tate, who teaches his mostly male devotees how to get money, acquire females, and “escape from the matrix,” went from almost unknown to the most talked about man in the world in a matter of months.

His name was more commonly searched on Google in July 2022 than Donald Trump’s or Kim Kardashian’s.

You need around 60-70% fans and 30-40% haters to be successful.

You will need an online war or conflict.

Controversy is usually explosive, especially when it involves sex and money.
Tate is a money and sex player. He photographs images with flashy cars and beautiful women and provides content for feminists, knowing that his nasty statements about women will enrage them. It is also intended for all men who feel threatened by women.

Unfortunately, I have seen comments from guys on LinkedIn claiming that Tate is “finally putting feminists in their place.” LinkedIn is ostensibly a professional network.

In short, Andrew Tate employed the following tactics to become famous and wealthy:
Developed an online school for £39 per month that promises to teach members about business, cryptocurrency, and other issues.

Developed an affiliate programme for rapid growth (one of the growth marketing approaches is to create a tool for each user to publicise the business to their friends in exchange for something in return).

Tate has promised a 50% discount on the monthly subscription fee to anyone who refers a new Hustler University member.

He produced a significant number of videos in which he tackles sensitive themes and made these materials freely available to his pupils for promotional purposes.

Thousands of people have formed separate TikTok profiles where they post these films in the aim of convincing others to sign up for Tate’s course, thereby flooding TikTok with free Tate promotion.

People watch such video clips because of the disputed material; therefore, TikTok’s algorithm assumes that people love such content and progressively promotes Tate’s other clips to them.

People go to the Tate website to sign up for a course or one of the “special programmes,” one of which costs around £5,000 and the “elite programme,” which costs around £7,000.

They eventually become Tat’s internet advocates, and the circle is complete.

Regardless, Tate worked out where the good money was, exploited the male population’s demand for quick cash and hatred for the #metoo movement, and built a well-structured business. I wouldn’t put my hand in the flames unless it was completely legal, however….
Another difficulty is that I, like the majority of people, despise what he does for a livelihood.

Arrest, Prison and Justice?

Andrew Tate, a controversial influencer, has been charged in Romania with rape, human trafficking, and the establishment of an organised criminal network for the sexual exploitation of women.

Tristan, his brother, and two accomplices have all been charged. They all refuted the allegations.

The Tate brothers were caught in their Bucharest house in 2022.

On March 31, they were transferred from detention to home arrest as a result of a Romanian judge’s decision.

According to the complaint filed in Bucharest, in 2021, the four defendants formed an organised criminal gang for human smuggling in Romania as well as other countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

In contrast, the Tate brothers have rejected all of the claims levelled against them.
The Tates’ lawyers are expected to contest the prosecution’s evidence during a pretrial hearing.

Prosecutors will also try to piece together a picture of controlling behaviour and strict boundaries, mostly through witness testimonies and texts reportedly exchanged between different individuals.

Financial transfers are also noted in the prosecution files, including £4 million deposited by Andrew Tate to an online bank account under the name ‘Rev Only Fans’.

Prosecutors state in their report that the Tate brothers do not appear to have income “from legitimate activities,” but that they have acquired “numerous properties,” “15 of the rarest and most expensive cars,” jewellery, and $400,000 in cryptocurrency since 2018.

Prosecutors believe that monthly membership fees to their online groups, War Room, and Hustler’s University, nett the brothers about $5 million.

Romania is ready to go to trial in this case, which will be widely observed throughout the world. Its Department for Combating Organised Crime stated earlier this year that it is still looking into possible juvenile trafficking and money laundering charges in connection with this case. Nobody has been named officially as a suspect.

The trial itself might go years before a verdict is made.

Prosecutors said that films of Andrew Tate outlining how to recruit, manipulate, and exploit women match the evidence.

It remains to be seen how strong Romanian justice will be in dealing with this case, which will receive a great deal of media attention.

Will Andrew Tate’s motivation for travelling to Romania be realised?

What is constant is that Andrew and Tristan continue to make a lot of money.

Have you been actively using LinkedIn, the main professional networking platform?

LinkedIn serves as both a digital CV and a business card for many people, including myself. It’s a platform for businesses to exhibit themselves, interact with people from all around the world, and facilitate the sharing of industry knowledge.

LinkedIn has long been a source of information on industry trends, entrepreneurial endeavours, employer branding, and technical breakthroughs.

We’ve celebrated successes, talked about business intricacies, and shared prospects.

Recent patterns, however, indicate that the platform is evolving, and not always in the intended ways:

Personal Blogs on the Rise:

An increasing number of users are treating their articles as personal diaries.

While sharing personal journeys has significance, one wonders if LinkedIn is becoming more of a daily diary, similar to Facebook or Instagram.

The increase of LinkedIn influencers promoting the “rise at 5 a.m. for productivity” credo indicates a shift in content approach. To be sure, there are certain posts that truly inspire and instruct.

From socialising to… dating?

Surprisingly, LinkedIn appears to be used as a dating platform by some. Many people, particularly women, report unwelcome approaches on the network. Is LinkedIn evolving into a sort of Tinder? The statistics point to an ominous trend.

Though LinkedIn has about 900 million members who use it for business purposes, a segment appears to be more engaged in personal hobbies. Disturbingly, some women have left the platform because they are fed up with the tendency.

A Haven for Fraud and Identity Theft? :

Identity theft and fraud on LinkedIn have become a growing concern by the end of 2021. The platform’s flaws were frequently highlighted by cybersecurity specialists. According to one analysis “LinkedIn has become the platform of choice for Phishing attacks.”

LinkedIn profiles contain a wealth of information that makes it appealing for fraudsters to concoct convincing scams or even assume someone’s professional identity.

Anecdotal data dating back to 2012 shows that LinkedIn has always had a subset of members with non-professional purposes. As the lines between social networks blur and the natural human yearning for friendship endures, we see platforms merge in unexpected ways.

Tinder’s motto, “Match, Chat, Date,” is straightforward. However, when applied to a platform such as LinkedIn, the ramifications are far-reaching. Is it now possible to find a “professional” match on LinkedIn just to discover they’ve been catfished?

It begs the question: as digital environments change, are we experiencing a shift in how we seek both professional and personal connections?

Finally, any platform’s evolution is a reflection of its user base. It is up to us to decide what we will accept and what we will reject.