OpenSource Connections
Category: Uncategorized
This morning, I received an e-mail asking if wed opened up an office in Zambia. Given my fawning over my trip last year to Botswana and South Africa, it was only natural that someone on the team be curious if Id actually made the leap and left. After all, he found someone on LinkedIn who claims to be a member of OpenSource Connections. A new employee in the Zambia office?
Not quite. As it turns out, the person who makes the claim to be a “co-ordinator” at OSC may simply be a mugu who goes by the name of “Simon Mugala.” The more likely probability is that Mr. “Mugala” is a member of a 419 scammer who is trying to prove to the poor people who respond to his spam e-mails that hes a legitimate member of a legitimate company that has millions, if not billions, in oil fortunes that need to be repatriated to the U.S. and only needs a bank account number to get that money over there.
The unknowing respondent (and, really, arent most people who respond to a 419 scam unknowing?) will probably look at Mr. “Mugalas” profile on LinkedIn and assume that hes from OSC. However, even the most cursory examination will reveal the flimsiness of this claim:
- He has 0 connections. This should be the big a-ha. Unless hes brand new to social networking and hasnt had a chance to connect, then he should have some friends. Its possible that Zambia hasnt discovered LinkedIn, but…
- He doesnt link to the home page. There isnt a website link in the page for his (our) company.
- A Google search of Simon Mugala + OpenSource Connections yields no results. Youd think hed be in an employee directory somewhere.
What LinkedIn lacks is the way for me to tell them that hes not a part of our organization. Furthermore, what it lacks is the reputation engine to state that based on existing evidence, hes probably not a member of our organization.
As for “Simon,” I hope he exists, and I hope hes a Zambian who loves open source and just accidentally filched our companys name. Id love to see Zambia one day, as my friends Carla Rountree and Amanda Hilligas can testify to, and maybe I can meet “Simon” and we can talk about all things FOSS!