A career conman it looks like. He's nearly totally invisible on google. Feels like even his name may be fake (his name matches someone who's totally different but seemingly well respected in Calgary in comparison in a totally different field)
*Never mind, seems like could be the same guy after finding more info. The news you do see are paid ads passing as articles.
A career conman it looks like. He's nearly totally invisible on google. Feels like even his name may be fake (his name matches someone who's totally different but seemingly well respected in Calgary in comparison in a totally different field)
I'm interested in the source for the first claim, cause I also came up with almost nothing relevant for "Zak H Calgary" on initial google.
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This was my fear when the Alberta vaccine card website went online early and had a lot of red flag’s popping up.
I don’t know what kind of normal apps people are using where the need to upload personal info like doesn’t seem odd or unusual, but it is odd and unusual. And why would you even not just use the legit Alberta one now that it’s been able for over a week.
I'm interested in the source for the first claim, cause I also came up with almost nothing relevant for "Zak H Calgary" on initial google.
Pepsifree got duped but his google fu may not be strong. For all I know he may have been sending money to a Nigerian prince as he found that Nigeria is a country on google and sounds legit
I mean CSEC got duped, and they put potentially millions in this app. That warrants a lot more scrutiny and questions on their side.
The guy's name could be an alias, he's totally invisible, supposedly a University of Calgary grad, and student entrepreneur regional champion in 2012 (but can't find anything on it outside of the paid articles). Someone with more time could have fun digging, but I still think this is could be an alias.
For those unaware, and an unknown little advertising secret, anyone can purchase a news article or even a TV slot passing as a subject matter expert as long as you have the $$$ (those guests that come on regional news to talk about mundane topics that seem like filler? Those are usually ads). A paid news piece on the Calgary Herald would likely be pretty cheap.
All of a sudden, you become 'accomplished' and vetted by a media source.
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I had a run-in with Zakir at UofC through one of the business clubs. That was well over 10 years ago and I don't want to dox myself so that he can fake being a cop and call me too but I will say that unless he has a very strong technical cofounder he's not even close to being qualified to run this company.
The name is real, it's not an alias. I wouldn't put much stock in a university "entrepreneurship" award 10 years later though.
Last edited by Flames0910; 09-27-2021 at 10:22 AM.
Pepsifree got duped but his google fu may not be strong. For all I know he may have been sending money to a Nigerian prince as he found that Nigeria is a country on google and sounds legit
I mean CSEC got duped, and they put potentially millions in this app. That warrants a lot more scrutiny and questions on their side.
The guy's name could be an alias, he's totally invisible, supposedly a University of Calgary grad, and student entrepreneur regional champion in 2012 (but can't find anything on it outside of the paid articles). Someone with more time could have fun digging, but I still think this is could be an alias.
For those unaware, and an unknown little advertising secret, anyone can purchase a news article or even a TV slot passing as a subject matter expert as long as you have the $$$ (those guests that come on regional news to talk about mundane topics that seem like filler? Those are usually ads). A paid news piece on the Calgary Herald would likely be pretty cheap.
All of a sudden, you become 'accomplished' and vetted by a media source.
Even if you win a somewhat legit award/distinction or making a magazine list is not much better in terms of 'vetting'.
A career conman it looks like. He's nearly totally invisible on google. Feels like even his name may be fake (his name matches someone who's totally different but seemingly well respected in Calgary in comparison in a totally different field)
*Never mind, seems like could be the same guy after finding more info, i think even the organo stuff is fake. The news you do see are paid ads passing as articles.
CSEC should issue an apology and warn their customers not to use this service. Lots of people are using it because they told them to use it.
I'm surprised their proof of vaccination page hasn't been updated yet. I would have assumed that would be item #1 for this morning but they don't seem to care. Scrub the Portpass recommendation and issue a follow up email until this situation is resolved.
That the quality of a website isn't indicative of the quality of a company. Of course, I have egg on my face because that was obviously the case in this situation, but I maintain the truth of that statement in general.
Even if you win a somewhat legit award/distinction or making a magazine list is not much better in terms of 'vetting'.
Fake it till you make it is a business strategy that I know far too many people use, because it can work.
Oddly enough, I found that the origins may be real, and that his sister did take over and the company has a new name. She is very visible unlike her brother (although it seems a smaller operation then is being led to believe).
I've seen a few Everknight screens back in the day. Only recognized the name because as mentioned above I had met the guy and was always a bit bemused by his press clippings. Sticking a few cheap screens in a bar bathroom and then exaggerating their impact to make the next sale isn't much of a company though so I imagine that was real (though not all that innovative).
Unfortunately it doesn't really qualify you to run a third party passport app with people's private health info.
And even though the individual is greasy and scammy and showcases the worst elements of startup culture, it's appalling that an organization of CSEC's size and clout didn't do any kind of security review before recommending this app.
Last edited by Flames0910; 09-27-2021 at 11:03 AM.
Just goes to show sometimes even a Google search ain't enough. Don't I look stupid.
All paid shill ads unfortunately...I worked behind the scenes on some of this stuff before, a well kept secret not well known to the public. It's a bit of an eye opener.
You will understand my hate for the media a little more today
This is what happens when you have a provincial government that refuses to do the right thing(proper, secure, verifiable passport). The scammers step in. Just another massive failure by our worthless government.
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All paid shill ads unfortunately...I worked behind the scenes on some of this stuff before, a well kept secret not well known to the public. It's a bit of an eye opener.
You will understand my hate for the media a little more today
This is obviously not the point here, but no, they aren't.
Avenue's Top 40 Under 40 is nomination based and not a pay-to-play award, and David Parker (who wrote the Herald article) does not do paid stories, he writes of-interest pieces on businesses and business owners. You can certainly pitch an interesting story to him, but it's not simply a matter of handing out cash.
Calgary Herald also marks sponsored content.
If you had worked behind the scenes on this stuff before, you would know that. Source: I currently do, as my actual job, including work with Redpoint (Avenue), Postmedia, and David Parker.
The OGM one is probably pay-to-play though, if I had to guess by the site (have no experience with them).
Whatever he achieved was either legit enough to earn some recognition, or he's enough of a con-artist to fool others into giving it to him. But not everything is paid for.
