Man steals credit card info by memorising details
Tokyo: At a time when data breaches have become common, a clerk in Japan stole credit card information by just looking at and memorising the details of over 1,300 customers. According to the police, Taniguchi worked the register part-time at a mall in Koto City. Whenever a customer would pay by credit card, the suspect allegedly memorised their 16-digit-number, name, expiry date, and security code, all in the time it took to process their purchase, said a report in japantoday.com on Sunday. The 34-year-old clerk, working at a mall in Koto City, near Tokyo allegedly memorised the 16-digit credit card number, security code and expiry date of customers and used it to make purchases online. The scammer, despite apparently having a Sherlock Holmes-level of memorisation ability, led police straight to him by using stolen credit card information to buy two bags valued at 270,000 yen (approximately $2,500) — which he then had mailed to his own address, according to ANN news. The police have found a notebook containing several dozen names and numbers and are currently linking them to past incidents to determine the scope of the alleged crimes of Taniguchi. (IANS)
Climbers to make autumn Everest ascent after 9 years
Kathmandu: At least 10 mountaineers are preparing to make a bid to scale Mount Everest, breaking a nine-year hiatus in climbing the world’s highest peak during autumn. Four American, four Polish, one British and one Spanish climber have been granted permission to climb Everest this autumn, according to Nepal’s Department of Tourism that issues climbing permits, the Kathmandu Post reported. The world’s highest peak normally sees the highest number of climbers during the spring season. Very few have climbed it during the autumn. According to the Department of Tourism, the last time Everest was climbed in the autumn season was in 2010, when American Eric Larsen achieved the feat. Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki had made six unsuccessful autumn climbing attempts. The climb in autumn is again seeing a revival with a team of dedicated climbers to make the bid. (ians)
UK braces for coldest winter
London: The UK could be bracing for one of the coldest winters in 30 years, scientists have warned. The scientists made this prediction after analysing current sea temperatures and weather systems over the North Atlantic, The Daily Mail said in the reported. The team, led by professor Mark Saunders, told The Sunday Times: “This would rank the 2020 January-February central England temperature as the coldest winter since 2013 and January-February 2020 as the seventh coldest winter in the past 30 years.” Freezing Arctic air is set to descend on the UK in the first months of next year as the Gulf stream will sidestep Britain, leaving the country without the rise in temperature it normally brings to the British Isles from the Atlantic and Caribbean sea. According to climate prediction experts, before the cold blast, warmer weather was on the way, with some forecasters suggesting it could turn out to be the hottest September on record, with highs of 26 degrees Celsius. (IANS)