Daily Archives: May 22, 2010

How Many Times Do I Have To Tell You …

… that the most often overlooked risk in your energy supply chain is suicidal Sciurus Carolinensis? It started with FirstEnergy customers in North Royalton (Ohio) when a squirrel found its way into a circuit breaker in a substation and knocked out power to 9,000 homes. Then another squirrel went on the offensive and caused a power outage for thousands of home and business Gulf Power customers in Central and West Destin (Florida).

Now another squirrel has managed to infiltrate yet another substation and knock out power to 17,000 Georgia Power customers in DeKalb County (Georgia). They’re organized, they’re on the attack, and they’re out to take down your energy supply chain! You better be ready, or you’ll be next!

How To Respond to Dubious Unsolicited Business Propositions

We all get them … that sleazy e-mail, call, or, when the con-artist, or, sales representative, is really ambitious, an impromptu office visit offering to slash your software license fees by 90%, reduce your toner cartridge costs by 60%, or securely meet all your cleaning needs for 20% less than the cleaning agency down the street. And we always know, in the back of our minds, that this is just another scam. But how do we respond? Especially when we know we should be polite and professional?

We should follow the lead of Mike Nash and confront the offeror with our suspicion. Because, sometimes, con-artists are more honest than your boss, who’s really only interested in climbing the corporate ladder on your back. Check out this skype transcript where, when a scammer was asked if his important business proposition was really an offer of millions of dollars that I won’t get because you’ll rip me off with advance fee fraud, the scammer, realizing the intended mark isn’t going to bite, got right to the point and said you are right and moved on.