Peter Rhodes on scams, spies and something missing from UK's Eurovision entry
Star columnist Peter Rhodes gives his views on the UK's Eurovision entry, scams and spies
“Do you know how to spot a scam?” asks a leaflet from Nationwide on the latest developments in cyber crime. Oddly enough, the very next day I had a phone call from a bloke claiming to be an officer with the Metropolitan Police.
Now, thanks to Nationwide, I was fully alert to so-called “impersonation scams” by people pretending to be from “trusted organisations.” Does the Met count as a trusted organisation these days? I told Pc Dodgy I didn't believe a word of his tale and he hung up.
If Vladimir Putin is hell-bent on dominating Europe, what sort of Europe has he in mind? This is a man who, if we believe the court reports, accommodated one of his crack espionage teams, true heroes of the Motherland, in a B&B in Great Yarmouth. Makes you wonder what sort of housing he has in mind for us mere proles.
As I reported recently there are some stories that pop into the headlines from time to time, vanish and reappear later. One such yarn is the claim of the extended Edwards family to ownership of a multi-billion dollar slice of Manhattan. Another is the tale of someone suffering from aching joints who is miraculously cured by a squirt of WD40.
I mentioned WD40 recently and a reader writes, recalling an old newspaper report of a man using it, with amazing results. On their website, the makers of WD40 refute curative claims as “completely false” and advise against using the stuff for any medicinal purpose. On the other hand, they tell of “a bus driver in Asia” using a can of WD40 to remove a python, which had coiled itself around the undercarriage of his bus. You simply never know what the day will bring.
I noted recently: “It is a golden rule of showbiz that men perform in proper clothes but women perform in underwear.” Sure enough, our entry for Eurovision is announced as Remember Monday, a female trio who trill in their undies. But that may not be enough to meet the contest's appetite for the exotic. Is there time for them to grow beards?
