Perth Voice Interactive

A VOICE reader targeted by international scammers wants to warn others of a diabolical scheme preying on Perth men looking for a date.

The scheme extorts victims out of thousands of dollars by threatening to send intimate videos of them to their family and friends.

The blackmailers connect with their targets on online dating platforms and then set up a video call in hopes of gathering racy footage to use as extortion material. 

The scams have become increasingly common over the past few years, but what surprised our reader was the length of time the scammer committed to the ruse. 

After matching on the dating app Tinder, this scammer spent weeks texting with the target before asking for a video chat.

For “at least two weeks, if not more,” our reader Mark (not his real name) told us, which made him think it was unlikely a scammer would spend that much time on a target. 

The scammer was in the Philippines but Tinder allows people to search for dates in distant places. She came up with a cover story that she worked at a Perth hotel and was in the Philippines for a holiday until February.

Then this week she asked for a video chat via Instagram, and things quickly heated up.

Such steamy video calls are pretty common among young daters: About 50 per cent of generation Y and generation Z have sent a nude image of themselves or disrobed during a video chat, according to a 2023 study published in Archives of Sexual Behaviour.

“It’s pretty normal,” our gen-Z source said, “for me and my generation, this is pretty common,” and this had followed a pretty typical flirty trajectory.

Shortly after the call started the woman exposed her breasts, and asked the target to show himself.

The heat of the moment lowered our source’s guard enough to heed her request.

“I see breasts, my normal reaction is: F*** yeah,” Mark says. “So I obviously go to whip out my appendage and, you know, give it a few one-two-threes.” 

And then the woman asked him to show his face again. Shortly after he did, she hung up.

“A few minutes go past, and she sends me a screen recording of literally what I was just doing.”

“And then she sends me a screenshot of all my contacts,” including parents, friends and family, whose accounts were found on social media.

“And then she’s like: Send me $10,000, or I send it.

“This all happens at like 10pm and I’m freaking out. And the other thing is I didn’t want to tell anyone obviously, because like I’m ashamed that I was in this position in the first place, like a f***ing idiot.”

They bargained down to $1,000. Mark first attempted to send the payment via PayPal, but the platform refused to let the payment go through. The transfer eventually worked via the international transfer service Remitly, sending the money to a bank account in the Philippines. 

But it wasn’t enough: almost immediately, the scammer asked for more money, now wanting $4,000 to delete the video. 

Mark says that’s when he realised they could just keep asking for more, and he got angry.

While stalling the blackmailer with a few invectives, he set all his social media accounts to private, and then blocked the scam accounts. 

He reported the encounter to Remitly and to the police via the federal ReportCyber website, providing the scammer’s phone number, name and the bank account details.

The police contacted Mark the next day, and he says “they figured out who they were”. The initial PayPal transfer failing made the scammers desperate enough to send their bank account number. Police are also able to create a “hash”, a unique code related to the video, that can be put in databases to prevent the video being uploaded to popular porn or social media sites. 

Because Mark reported the crime quickly to Remitly, the company was able to cancel the payment before it was finalised and the $1000 was returned to his account.

Mark says the police “were actually really good. They’re just like: Yeah, you’re not alone, there’s heaps of people this happens to, but it’s really good that you’re coming forward and telling us about it.

“So many people are ashamed, which I totally get.”

But Mark was more angry than ashamed, and he says “I’m pretty happy that I spoke out, because obviously you could tell that they’d done it to a lot of people,” given how practiced the scammers seemed. 

“So who knows how much money they’ve taken from other people?”

by DAVID BELL

BROADCASTER and author Sandra Ramini-Harris says society needs to redefine its notion of ageing, saying older people are being sidelined despite the wealth of experience they have.

The Perth resident, whose illustrious career included interviewing John Lennon and Yoko One while sharing a bed with them during a peace lie-in, has just written her fourth book Act III which addresses the challenges and stereotypes associated with ageing.

Approaching her 83rd birthday, Ramini-Harris says older people need to embrace the third act of their life, and advocates for a positive shift in perspective on ageing.

She began writing Act III when she noticed a decline in work opportunities, attributing it to ageism. 

Experience

“That surprised me because I knew I was doing good work, and I knew, in fact, it was probably the best work that I was doing, because experience is a great teacher,” she said.

She critiques the language commonly used to describe older people, rejecting terms like “wrinkly senior” or “elderly.” 

She argues that this demographic represents a reservoir of experience, with each year lived adding valuable insights. Ramini-Harris urges a celebration of age rather than an apology, emphasising the need to relish the freedom and choices that come with the later stages of life.

Ramini-Harris says her goal is not only to get young people to reconsider these stereotypes, but also to inspire older people to embrace the later stages of life with enthusiasm. She says many have fallen for the ‘young is everything’ message of mass media.

She criticises the trend of cosmetic procedures aimed at reversing the ageing process, advocating for authenticity and embracing the beauty that comes with age – grey hair and wrinkles.

Ramini-Harris also rejects the notion that merely existing is a worthwhile goal. 

She wants to live life fully, savouring every moment, experiencing new adventures, and cherishing milestones like witnessing grandchildren flourish, and says others should do the same.

Ramini-Harris suggests people should join groups like book clubs, Probis or Rotary, saying it fosters connections and creates spaces where seniors can share experiences and support one another.

Act III is available on major online platforms like Amazon, and Ramini-Harris welcomes direct inquiries through her email address sharrisramini@gmail.com

by STEVE GRANT

VINCENT Men’s Shed has celebrated its 10th birthday and renamed to Vincent Community Shed so everyone knows they are welcome to join.

Unlike the stricter men-only outfits, the Vincent shed has always been open to women since it started up in 2013. 

It  has some female members on the books, but a typical day at the Farmer Street workshop is still mostly blokes.

“We want to make it more open to the public,” long-time chairman Roy Haagman says, and that’ll include expanding the range of crafts practiced there beyond timber and metal working: “Boardgames, cooking, pottery, sewing, who knows!”

The men’s shed movement has been centred around improving members’ health since it was started by South Australian care worker Maxine Chaseling 30 years ago.

She noticed older men often experienced rapid declining health if they didn’t keep active after retirement, and founded the first community shed in Goolwa in 1993.

Mr Haagman joined the Vincent shed about eight years ago, soon after retiring as a credit manager.

He says the positive effect on members has been plain to see in his time there. 

“For physical health and mental wellbeing… you can see a difference in them, in their outlook,” he says. 

The Vincent shed has an extra tool to help members forge camaraderie: Every morning at 10.30am there’s a mandatory down-tools order, and all members gather for a cup of tea or coffee and a chat. 

“I’ve learnt so much since joining,” Mr Haagman says, about both tools and people, both of which can be temperamental. 

“I love working with people – you’ve just got to accept that everyone’s different.”

Anyone interested in joining up is encouraged to come along and have a look around during opening hours on Mondays and Thursdays 8.30am to 12.30pm, Tuesdays 8.30am to 4pm, and Saturdays 9am to 4pm.

by DAVID BELL

A HEFTY new apartment complex with shops and a tavern is planned for the North Perth stretch of Charles Street.

Developers are hoping to get approval for double the standard height allowance.

The seven-storey $35million proposal would include 59 residential apartments, 15 units specialised for disability or aged care, and 42 micro co-living units for short-to-medium term accommodation. 

It will be built on the site of North’s Perth “Village Square” at 299 Charles Street, a commercial block which has been progressively emptied of its tenants over the past year or so. All existing buildings there are due for demolition.

In the distant past it hosted Brownes Dairy HQ, which relocated in the 1970s.

Vincent council’s built form policy lists a “standard” height of four storeys or 13m for that strip of Charles Street, but Space Collective Architects are hoping that the Joint Development Assessment Panel will allow near-double that at 25.3m at the highest point.

Vincent planners reckon this one counts as eight storeys, but the applicant says it’s more like seven storeys across the majority of the sloping block.

Extra storeys can be granted by the JDAP if a project fits with the “desired future scale and character of the street and local area”. 

The JDAP, a state government body that decides the fate of bigger projects, has been pretty amenable to granting extra height even when the local council disagrees (‘Triple trump’, Voice, December 16, 2023).

Public comment on the proposal is open until February 6 via imagine.vincent.wa.gov.au.

by DAVID BELL

A MERGING of musical genres is planned for this year’s City of Bayswater community concert with hip hoppers, jazz players, swing singers and Indigenous artists sharing a stage for the night.

There’ll be soulful numbers from Noongar duo Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse, hip-hop from Noongar/Jingili artist ZERO Emcee, and a jazzy streak from Lucy Iffla and the 950 Express Big Band.

This year’s community concert has been co-named  “Ngala Maya”, a Noongar term meaning “our place” and there’ll also be Aboriginal and contemporary dance and didgeridoo playing.

Bayswater mayor Filomena Piffaretti said in a pre-event press release they aimed to host a community event that’d cater to all ages and interests.

“Bringing together jazz, hip-hop and Indigenous culture means there really is something for everyone at this free event,” Ms Piffaretti said.

It’s free and there’ll be market stalls and food trucks on site at Pat O’Hara Reserve Morley from 4pm to 8.30pm on Saturday February 3. 

PERTH songwriter, musician and architect Amir Mishkin says there must have been an angel “orchestrating behind the veil” to give him the chance to write the soundtrack for a documentary about his famed great-great grandfather.

Mishkin-Qalam was considered the greatest calligrapher of 19th century Persia (now modern-day Iraq), but his conversion to the Baha’i faith saw him exiled and imprisoned on Cyprus for more than a decade by the Ottoman Sultan of Constantinople. 

Recently the documentary Mishkin-Qalam had its Australian premiere at Hoyts Booragoon, following its international launch in Cyprus, where most of the recreations and interviews were shot by film-makers Eland Nasehi and Arman Arian.

Already it’s picked up four film festival awards, including best original score at the European Art Festival for Mishkin’s soundtrack.

Mishkin says there was a fair bit of detective work to flesh out his ancestor, who lived from 1826 – 1912, but there was already a bit of “family folklore” to get things started and a couple of articles written by his own father about 40 years ago.

“He was quite a well-known artist, the leading calligrapher of Persia – modern-day Iran. He had a colourful life, and… we know that he had a fabulous sense of humour,” Mishkin said.

“What struck me was the degree of sacrifice that he made in his personal life, and in his career, and it was all in the path of his calling.

“His calling was serving humanity.”

Mishkin says his ancestor’s artistic flair was discovered at an early age and he was introduced to the Shah of Persia who was so impressed he appointed him as tutor to his son. 

“He really started out living a life of luxury while producing his incredible work, which gave him fame throughout Asia Minor. But when he discovered his his calling, that’s when the hard times started for him and he was an exile and a prisoner of the Ottoman Sultan.”

The calligrapher’s resilience and unwavering joy, even in the face of adversity, left an indelible impression on Mishkin, and he says it’s remarkable that when his great great grandfather was finally released, he harboured no bitterness at all.

“There was no baggage; the sense of humour was there well into his old age.”

He says Mishkin-Qalam’s message of peace still resonates, and he feels the timing of the documentary’s release amongst global war and instability is serendipitous.

“I think it’s truly his day today; I think he was 100 or 200 years ahead of his time and we’ve now caught up.

“It’s relevant to a democratic melting pot like Australia, where we have the individual freedom to choose our own values, and support each other and being the best we can be. 

“It’s also extremely relevant to the current global situation, because the film’s story carries a message, that is the great need for world peace.”

Mishkin and his family’s involvement in the film is such a remarkable coincidence that he says it must have been “written in the stars”.

A family friend happened to fall in behind one of the film-makers while he was strolling in Italy and chatting to an acquaintance about his plans to document Mishkin-Qalam’s life. Telling them that he had the calligrapher’s descendants on speed dial, a hook-up was quickly organised and the family agreed to act as executive producers as well as helping with translations and anything else they could behind the scenes.

When the film-makers heard of Mishkin’s musical collective Elviria, which delves into rock and electronic dance music, they invited him to write the score.

The Mishkin-Qalam soundtrack became a departure from Mishkin’s usual style, embracing world rock fusion to align with the historical and biographical nature of the story.

“The usual stuff that I do is almost science fiction kind of sounding, like galaxy explosions and hovercrafts sounds and that kind of thing going past,” he says.

“The first thing that came was the main orchestral riff off the title track, Mishkin-Qalam. It’s quite regal, and if you like, ancient, and kind of almost empire sounding.” 

The lyrics, a reflection of Mishkin-Qalam’s three life chapters, were crafted to capture the essence of his great-great-grandfather’s journey, from artistic discovery to exile, imprisonment, and his ultimate “connection with the universal consciousness”.

For more information or to get a copy of the documentary, head to mishkinqalam.com.

by STEVE GRANT

YOU’VE almost certainly seen artist JD Penangke’s work.

Her murals sprawl across buildings, bus stops, fences, sports team shirts and school uniforms, but this week she’s stepping outside of her commissioned work for her first ever solo show.

JD Penangke is the nom-de-arte of young Boorloo/Perth artist Jade Dolman, who is Whadjuk/Ballardong Nyoongar on her mother’s side and Eastern Arrernte on her father’s side.

Her work quickly became highly sought after for commission pieces by schools, councils, companies and government departments since she started painting murals full time about six years ago.

But that roaring success has meant putting some of her personal creativity aside in the meantime while working to spec for clients, and she seldom found time or verve to pursue painting when off the clock.

“I had not painted on canvas for about five years, because it just felt like work to me,” Dolman says.

Preparing for her first solo show at Blank Walls Studio has reawakened her creative side.

“This experience of the art residency at the moment has really changed that relationship that I have with canvases, and I feel like I’m kind of taking it back and owning that experience more.”

Dolman has titled the show Boybidi, made up of two Nyoongar words roughly meaning ‘smoke trails’.

Smoke features prominently in her work. In an urban environment, smoke usually signals danger, but for Nyoongar people it signifies change, cleansing and regeneration, and smoking ceremonies mark significant events like birth, death or the change of seasons.

“Culturally, what it is like to us, smoke is really like a cleansing,” Dolman says. “To me it signifies change… overcoming change, coming out stronger, growing, letting things go.”

Dolman hadn’t planned to base the show around smoke until she started her first day of the residency at Blank Walls Studio.

“The only thing I went into my residency knowing was that I wanted to paint the walls… and I wanted to paint it like a river, but only in grey.”

As the work took shape, she realised what she had painted. “I kind of sat back, and I was like: Oh my gosh. It’s smoke. It’s like the concept came through me.”

It turned out to be a fitting concept given 2024 is a year of change for Dolman, who’s planning to put aside a lot more time to pursue more of her own individual creative works this year.

“2023 was my year of experimentation and learning different techniques. I did a glass residency in Sweden. I also did a lot of work with pottery, and learning lots of foundations for how to work with that medium. So this year, I’m looking to grow some those skills, and just be able to express stories through multi-mediums, and see how that goes.”

JD Penankge’s Smoke Trails is at Blank Walls Studio, 268 Lord Street, Perth on January 12 from 7pm til late.  

by DAVID BELL