Apple's Sam Sung raises charity money

Former employee auctioning business card with unusual name for children's foundation He is a former Apple employee with a very strange name.

Mr Sam Sung, 25, worked as a specialist at an Apple store in Vancouver, Canada, for three years.

While there, customers could not help but notice his name on his ID card.

After quitting his job at Apple last summer, he decided to put his business card to good use, the Mail Online reported.

He set up an eBay auction to sell one of them and help raise funds for the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada.

In a photo on his eBay page, Mr Sung poses next to his business card, which is framed alongside his employee T-shirt and ID badge - although these are not up for auction.

The bidding began on Tuesday with a starting price of 99 US cents (S$1.25). It has so far raised more than US$80,000.

The auction closes on Aug 15, the report said.

While he is pleased to see the auction doing so well, Mr Sung told Canada's Metro News that his concern is ensuring those bidding on the item are authentic bidders.

He said: "That's what my focus is on right now, just maintaining that integrity and making sure that it's not going to get out of hand.

I'm just kind of keeping fake bidders at bay."

Those who place bids from brand new accounts that have no feedback from other users are being blocked from bidding, he said.

eBay administrators have also provided him with online tools to help determine every bid's authenticity, he said.

Mr Sung, who shot to Internet fame in 2012 when a photo of his business card went viral, said he came up with the idea after one of his old business cards fell out of a book.

When he approached Ms Jennifer Peterson, the director of the charity's British Columbia branch, about his idea, she was elated. "When Sam called me with his idea, I was of course thrilled," she told ABC News.

"But I believe neither of us thought it would get to this, especially so quickly. My staff and I are watching the frenzied bidding with much excitement."

She said that the average cost of a wish is about US$10,000, which means if all the bids thus far are genuine, Mr Sung will have provided wishes for at least eight children.

This article was first published on August 10, 2014.
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