Scams

Miscellaneous
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There’s a very good story in the NYT today about scams, posing the question, “Are we getting scammed all the time?”

I apologize if people can’t see this because of the paywall (maybe this will be your freebie), but the author talks about a scam job offer they got (he’s a free-lance illustrator) and the final tip-off was that they wanted to pay him in advance. That was obviously a way to get access to his bank info then either pull one of the “Whoops, I overpaid you, please refund 99% of it,” then they cancel the transaction, or maybe just enough access to pull it out directly.

I know some people who have been scammed. One thought they were calling Delta Airlines, but whomever answered what she thought was the right number conned them into sending them several hundred dollars in Target gift cards to pay for a flight. That’s nothing compared to what I just heard happened to a friend who got taken for around $100,000 (you read that right) by a mail order bride scam in Asia. Nearly every day I, and I’m betting most of you, get a text from a number you don’t know asking how you’re doing, inviting you to a party, etc.

About a month ago I saw another article, either in the NYT or NPR, about how the Asian girl who just wants to say hi is really a victim, male or female, of human trafficking. The very next day I got a message on WhatsApp, which I almost never use, from a pretty Asian woman (maybe) asking if I was my sister’s (by name) brother and could I send her my sister’s contact info. That was creepy to say the least.

I have spent some time watching YouTube videos of some people fighting scams, primarily Scammer Payback and a guy named Jim Browning. That came in handy a couple of weeks back when “my pastor” sent me a text asking if I’d get a couple of Google gift cards for women in the hospital. I knew that was BS, and messed with them for a while just to keep them from moving on too quickly. I eventually asked them if they liked Pierogi, the pseudonym that the guy on Scammer Payback uses to stay anonymous. When they said they didn’t understand I said he’s the guy on Scammer Payback on YouTube. Then added, “We’re done, a$$hole.” The scammers had somehow gotten access to the church directory and were sending texts to a lot of people. Fortunately the office admin got an email out to everyone quickly warning them about it.

So, please, all my UF.N, or even if you’re a UF.N nemesis, be careful out there.

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My neighbor, who is a bright clever individual was scammed recently, and keeps saying he’ll tell me the details one, but I doubt he will. He is obviously so embarrassed in retrospect that he fell for it.

My brother, who is a retired SLC Police Officer, and who tragically is showing some of the early signs of dementia that run in our family, was scammed early last spring out of over $10K. Again, I have not heard the details, or even about it from him. His wife told me as a part of a conversation to see if I could help convince my brother to stop avoiding his doctor recommended neurological testing.

The irony is that my brother spent a good deal of he middle part of his career investigating fraud. The cons that come along now are so much more sophisticated than a generation ago.

Be very careful out there everybody. The old adage that “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is”, doesn’t even apply to a lot of the se scams.

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My mother in law fell for one, luckily we caught it before the $10,000 got sent. She is in the early stages of dementia, and 10 years ago would’ve just ignored the text.

Since both MIL and FIL are using card monitoring on their accounts to alert them of transactions. They have my wife getting the alerts, too.

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The sad thing is, especially here in Utah, people you know or family members may be part of the scam. I have been approached several times by friends or acquaintances trying to convince me to get involved in some sketchy business or scheme. This has ended a few friendships for me.

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Possibly unrelated but not really.
Im single, lonely at times. I joined tinder out of curiosity, deleted my account before payment would renew.

Almost every “woman” that responds asks you to pay for booking, then pay for sex.
Best case scenerio you lose money and get ghosted. Worst case scenerio your guilty of paying for prostitution.

I entertained several conversations from maybe 2 dozen different accounts. I mean some of the " proof" they sent was fun to watch but it was obvious it was all scams, they never say what part of town their in until you say where you are.

I definitely had fun toying with them as they hoped to rob me. One even threatened to inform the police if i dont send them money ( i never paid, intended to pay. Agreed to pay set a meet up etc) i laugh at them um youre the one solociting… no response.

Everyone is trying in every aspect to screw you over… no pun intended :heartpulse::facepunch::heartpulse:

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(Just be happily single! I’m sure my neighbors wonder who Stuart is that I’m yelling at…he’s my deaf cat.)

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“The simple narrative taught in every history class is demonstrably false and pedagogically classist.”

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Just this morning, open my email, header says something about an invoice for a payment, (totally unexpected of course), declined to click on the link to see that payment.

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I tag those as phishing scams, but I’m not sure the email providers actually do anything as a result.

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Seeing as how I get dozens of scam notifications every week, it occurred to me the other day that if something were actually ever wrong with my bank account, my credit card account, my Amazon account, my Netflix account, or any of the others, I’m not sure how they would actually notify me.

I’m not going to click on any sort of e-mail or text link, and I don’t have the time to call every one of these places to confirm there actually isn’t an issue with I get him with the phishing attempt.

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