It was fully correct, not just semi-correct!
When I was a first class petty officer (PO1) in the Navy I got a solicitation letter for insurance or something telling me that “families like the PO1s are jumping on this offer!”
Colin Rivera and his many doppelgängers have been spamming my inbox over the last few days:
What’s it for, a reverse home mortgage?
Or have you bothered to look?
They are all some variation of a flyer that touts accessing “tax-free cash from your home with no monthly mortgage payments,” but it never explicitly says “reverse mortgage.”
I think you’d need a full colon for the amount of BS you got him to swallow.
I just got this TEXT (not email) -
Amazon Product Recall Notice
Dear Customer,
Thank you for your continued support. Based on 2026 safety updates, an item you purchased in March 2026 (Order No.: 116-5837294-6048275) has been officially recalled due to safety concerns.
For your safety and that of your family, please stop using this product immediately and follow the refund instructions provided.
Access full recall details and submit your refund using the official link below:
https://j3n6x.co/(bs link)
We regret any inconvenience. Your safety remains our highest priority.
Sincerely,
Amazon Risk Management Team
It’s ridiculous, but also kind of effective, because I DID purchase a product that was recently recalled from Amazon. But, I didn’t buy it last month. And, I don’t think they would ever use SMS to contact me.
If anything, it would be via email, and it would be an actual Amazon email address leading to a real Amazon web page.
I came across a rather clever scam this afternoon. I got a call and the caller said that I would get a check for $4500 if I would talk to someone about home improvements or pest control. He coached me on how to answer all the questions and made it clear that I was not to talk about anything else and that I didn’t have to buy anything. After several layers of the usual “let me transfer you to my senior supervisor”, I was actually connected a couple of times to actual U.S. pest control near my (fake) zip code. I guess I should have specified a pest other than rattlesnakes because both times they were unable to help me. And both times I was sent back to the original caller. He then asked me if I wanted auto insurance quotes and again coached me on how to answer all the questions and not talk about anything else By “anything else” I’m sure he means the $4500 check. After several layers of the usual “let me transfer you to my senior supervisor”, this time I was connected to an actual U.S. auto insurance saleswoman. After a quite lengthy conversation about having a birthday on Christmas, her inability to find the manufacturer of my car on Google, how to describe my concrete and steel farmhouse, etc., it came to light that I own at least 15 or 20 cars and trucks if you just count just the ones I drive on the highway. I told her she would have to call my accountant, Wilhelm Keitel, for all the details. He is Haiti for a couple of weeks and I offered to give her the number in Haiti. She’s not allowed to call Haiti. She finally gave up and said call her when I have all the info together and Mr. Keitel is back from Haiti. I was then transferred back to the original caller who connected me through the usual layers to the very same U.S. auto insurance provider but to a different sales woman. The conversation was almost like the one of few minutes before except this time all of the information was in the system. Since she couldn’t call Haiti, I was sent back to the original caller. I’m certain that he was copying down all of my private information and he now appears to be really interested that I own 15 to 20 cars. I assured him that I own at least that many. This whole time I’ve been telling him I am really busy . He forgot all about the $4500 check and wanted to call back tomorrow. I said sure.
Through a similar sort of circumstances, I have previously talked to actual U.S. sales persons who eventually tell me that they pay up to $100 for sales leads such as this. Today’s scammer probably made a nice chunk of change today on my four lengthy calls that made it all the way through to the actual salesperson. And think of all the private information about me he gathered!
Who really got scammed today? The pest control companies and the insurance company who paid good money for sales leads that led to phone calls lasting 10 or 20 minutes each.
I think the scammer was toying with my (alleged) human nature when he tried to lure me in with something that sounded vaguely illegitimate about the $4500 but now I’m part of it. He’s not scamming me. He wouldn’t have to. We’re both scamming someone else together now somehow.
Please don’t tell me he’s not just another stupid scammer trying to get me to send him a gift card for the check. Although I do think he will eventually try to ask for one later. I think he is smarter than that, Surely he is making good money selling sales leads and stealing information.
There’s an aphorism that goes something like, “you can’t con an honest man.”
Honest people are scammed every day. Scamsters abuse that aphorism to justify their dishonesty.
Some of the advance fee scams involve a claim that you won a lottery by Google, Facebook or some weird world organization. Not dishonest, just insanely gullible.
My favorite was I won an entire BMW dealership along with a new (specific model)BMW car.
If I’m getting an entire dealership, I’ll pick my own damn car.
Not exactly a scam, but I have been getting these emails from CapitalOne that say:
See if you’ll be approved for a card offer with 100% certainty
I mean… What does that actually mean?
40% APR. If you’re lucky.
To me that seems to indicate you can check if you’ll be accepted without having to actually apply, so you can check, then decide whether to apply. What do you think it means?
My cell phone number may have once been owned by Thomas and/or Lesley Rodgers (Rogers?) based on the ENORMOUS volume of spam texts I get.
This has, clearly, been circulated widely on political lists - and likely others as well, since I get auto warranty calls occasionally. I have fun with those if I’m alert enough; I’ll basically burst into tears about how my Tommy was just killed in a car wreck, in the very vehicle they’re trying to sell a warranty for. We were on the way to the hospital for one of my surgeries last year when I got such a call for Lesley. I wailed that I WANTED MY MOTHER BACK! The others in the car barely held back their laughter until I hung up. Did I make someone feel awful? Oh, I really, really hope so.
The spam texts come from both ends of the spectrum. I block and report them as spam.
My latest spam/scam is for loans. I get at least one every day. It gets flagged by Verizon as possible spam so it goes directly to voicemail. So every week or two I have to clear out my voicemail and add them all to a telemarkers contact which will (I think) not be able to even leave messages. But they’re like a combo of cockroaches and rats with their ability to breed faster than either.
Oh yeah: the latest here is yesterday.
I got a call from a local area code - I’ll usually pick those up.
A guy with a foreign accent claiming to be from Verizon and asking if we were having issues with our Verizon service. I did not tell him anything at all, just hung up. I reached out to Verizon and nope, not one of theirs.
And, my HUSBAND got a voicemail (and a second call which did not leave a message) asking if I had applied for a loan or credit card with their company. They had my name and the last 4 of my social. That one has me more concerned. With all the data breaches over the years (and I was caught up in the OPM breach) I know my info is out there, but this is the closest I’ve seen to it being used.
Eh… You know how so many places ask you for the last 4 of your SSN, and not the whole thing? That’s because if that much info is exposed, it’s not that big of a deal. I’m not saying there is zero reason to be concerned, but I don’t think people could do a lot with just that much.
I get a large number of calls, voice mails, and texts for Monica, whoever that is. I always tell them that she can’t talk right now, she’s her mouth full.
“I’m pulling out her intestines right now, can you call back in a few minutes?”