Schrödinger’s Credit Card.
Only good for buying cats.
I hate buying cats at that place. You never know what you’re going to get until you open the box.
Kinda like having kids, hunh?
The AARP Bulletin that arrived yesterday had an article about the inner workings of a “fraud factory,” and how “Jim Browning” is fighting back (among other things, he’s hijacked the scammers’ computers and CCTV cameras). Interesting stuff.
Isn’t that the old hunter2 gag?
I found a bag full of cash in the cellar of a house I bought and decided that I needed a Swiss bank account to keep it out of the hands of the authorities.
I had no idea how to go about it so I googled “how do I open a Swiss bank account?” This got me 14,350 hits and I scrolled past the ‘ads’ to a likely looking website.
After a succession of emails, I was sufficiently satisfied that the guy was a genuine broker. I packed the cash in a rucksack and flew over to Basle and handed the cash over to my contact, a swarthy gent in a smart suit.
“This is your account number and password,” he said, handing me an envelope. “You understand that we are a new start-up, which is why the interest rate is higher than you can get elsewhere.”
After he left, I opened the envelope to discover that my account number was 00000000000002, and my password was Password.
ummm, you know that now everyone has access to your account now, right?
I’m trying a new tactic. I’ve told them I’m not interested, I’ve told them I will never buy anything from anyone who cold calls me, I’ve told them to take me off their list.
Now, I refuse to speak English. I hope that at some point, I get taken off their lists based on that.
I end most of these conversations with “Arigato!”
Listen. Understand. That Scammer is out there. It can’t be reasoned with, it can’t be bargained with…it doesn’t feel pity of remorse or fear…and it absolutely will not stop.Ever. Until you are scammed.
I got one this afternoon. Caller (with a thick accent,of course) claimed to be calling from Medicare about the new Medicare card which was being sent to me. This new card was going to have a bar code and chip, and would be sent on Monday once he confirmed my information. He knew my name and address, but he needed to verify the claim number on my Medicare card. I was in a mildly whimsical mood, so I pulled out my wallet and made up a number that followed the letter-number sequence on the card. Apparently there’s some sort of system to the numbers, because he pointed out that one of the characters couldn’t be an “L”. I apologized and said it was actually an “E” (blaming my “poor eyesight”), which was apparently acceptable. He then read the clam number back to me and I confirmed it was correct.
Then he started asking me questions about my medical conditions - was I diabetic, did I have heart disease, cancer, any pains? When he asked for my doctor’s name I hung up.
Yesterday, I actually got a “heavy breather”…! It said the name of the town and the phone number, but I’m pretty sure that was spoofed. Still… some guy is fapping to a middle aged guy?
A-Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
I got two calls in the past two days. Apparently I’m being investigated by some federal agency for “illegal use of funds”. 
No problem. They have this clever system that shows the account as empty if anyone looks.
I don’t pick up unless I recognize the number, but did get the phishing USPS “scheduled delivery for package changed” text today.
I regularly get calls about duct cleaning (possibly spam rather than fraud, although the callers always have an accent, but this may just be marketing farmed out to a cheap call centre), to which I respond by informing them that. as I had told them many times before, we only have chickens, not ducks.
We often get calls from “VISA/Mastercard Security” on our landline. The only calls I ever get on my cell, which go directly to voicemail even on the rare occasion I actually have it turned on, are in Chinese. I have been told these are likely calls threatening to report the recipient to Immigration unless they pay up. I am not Chinese and have no idea why they call me every few weeks.
I use online banking, but check my accounts every couple of days, as well as having notifications if any amounts over $20 are charged.
Regarding the Chinese language messages, a 90-year-old woman in Hong Kong was scammed out of almost $33 million by this or a variation of this scam.
Robo-dialers. They just call every number possible (or every number in a specified range).
Not sure if it’s a scam, or who is being scammed here, but I keep getting calls about dogs that I supposedly have for sale.
Yep, there are puppy scammers. No actual puppies are sold, only money sent.