Telephone scammers in Mexico are capitalizing on the fears of parents in Mexico by committing “Virtual Kidnapping”, a phone scam that creates the impression that a child is held hostage.  From the New York Times:  The phone call begins with the cries of an anguished child calling for a parent: “Mama! Papa!” The youngster’s sobs are quickly [...]

The Philippine embassy in Singapore stated that the trafficking of Filipina women into the country is continuing.  From The Inquirer (Philippines): The Philippine embassy said the trafficking of Filipinas in Singapore “continues unabated.” The embassy’s admission came six month after INQUIRER.net first reported the sharp increase in the incident of the transnational crime in the island-state. In the report [...]

59 human trafficking victims were recorded in 2005. 125 victims were recorded in 2006.  212 recorded in 2007.  Source: Veronica Uy, “Trafficking of Filipinas in Singapore ‘unabated’-embassy,” Inquirer.net, April 28, 2008.

The IIPA reports that Pakistan lost $156 million to book, music, movie, and business software piracy in 2007.    Source: Romail Kenneth, “http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\04\26\story_26-4-2008_pg5_11#mce_temp_url#,” Daily Times, April 26, 2008.

The Untied States Trade Representive is accusing China and Russia of flooding the global marketplace with counterfeit and pirated goods From AFP: The United States on Friday named China and Russia as among the worst protectors of intellectual property rights, flooding global trade with counterfeit items such as DVDs, designer bags, medicines and software. In an annual report [...]

According to a news release by the United States Postal Inspection Service, ” The U.S. Postal Service issued 188 million postal orders in the fiscal year ending September 2004, during which approximately 3,700 counterfeit postal money orders were cashed. That works out to about one counterfeit for every 53,000 issued, and losses were calculated at [...]

The piracy rate for software, music, and videos in Vietnam is estimated to be as high as 92 percent. Source: Office of the United States Trade Representative, “2006 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers: Vietnam,” March 31, 2006.

Source: “Counterfeit goods rampant,” VietNamNet Bridge, October 22, 2007.

Source: Associated Press, “Piracy Fines to Increase in Vietnam,” International Herald Tribune, November 8, 2006.

Source: David Lague, ” U.S. Official Presses China to Punish Piracy,” New York Times, November 15, 2006.