Fooled job seekers stuck with face tattoos

Two Indonesian job seekers have been fooled into having their faces tattooed in order to receive non-existent government jobs. The pair had their faces permanently inked after village chief Sawiyono told them he had received a text message from a government official offering them work as Jakarta intelligence officers.

The official, who said it was a job requirement to have their faces tattooed with dragons, was later discovered to be a hoaxer — but not before Nanang, 30, and Bambang, 40, had already undergone the painful and disfiguring procedure. The three men believe the anonymous trickster was a kind of "mystic", as they didn't feel in control of their actions when following his strange instructions. "I was half conscious when the shop owner tattooed my face, and didn't think it was a con," victim Bambang said.

"I just realized it was a con on Friday night. I was shocked and I cried." A horrified Sawiyono realised he had been tricked when double-checking the bizarre request with a legitimate government representative. "I am fully responsible for the mistake and I will do my best to help the men remove their tattoos,'' Sawiyono was quoted as saying. "I don’t know why I believe that person. "I feel half conscious when I follow the man's instructions." Indonesian police say that the tattoo incident was the third hoax of its kind to have been pulled recently. The men have filed a police report and are being treated in a local hospital.- msn, newsau

This is sad, but intelligence officers do need to be at a certain level of intelligence.  They have learned a valuable life lesson: Always carefully verify unusual information before acting on it. Some school systems  do not promote independent critical rational thinking skills. Analytical and skeptical thinking should be a mandatory Jr. High School course like civics. Call it "Defense Against the Dark Arts (of Deception)". I had a class in subliminal advertising in Jr. High School. Now I always look at the amazing warped sex and death scenes painted into the ice cubes in magazine alcohol ads. My point is that good teachers make a huge difference and Jr. High School classes can stick with you for life.

(The story itself could turn out to be a hoax. No source other than "correspondents in Jakarta" is given and the photo says "AFP / No Source".)