Sometimes I think I can make some money working from home. I have top typing skills. The keyboard shudders when I approach. One recent e mail said I could earn money writing. That interested me, so I looked at a site that said it was entirely free. Well, I never really found out. When I get a video that goes on for half an hour, I suspect flim flammery. You have something to sell me, if you can’t spit it out in 5 minutes, I can’t trust you. Also, signing up where they get personal information ain’t gonna happen unless I know more about what I am signing up for.
Lately I have been getting cell phone calls from people with foreign accents. They start out with “Hello, how are you today.†I answer by saying, “You don’t need to know. Who are you and what do you want?†One of them wanted me to give me information about something – now, I am forgetting what. I kept saying, why are you telling me this? What do you want? And he continued without stopping, so I hung up. Actually, I could have hung up with “Hell, how are you today?†but was curious. False warmth really turns me off.
Years ago, a fellow with an East Indian accent said I was eligible for great prizes and all I needed to do was give him my bank account information. I started laughing, and said, “You’ve got to be kidding.â€
And then there are the e mails that say the government has me on a list that says I am entitled to several thousand dollars. Those are forwarded straight to spam@uce.gov.
Lately, the Nigerians have been silent, but I used to get lengthy solicitations which told a hard luck story about a deposed prince, whose millions were being held hostage BUT I could help him get his money out of the country through a bank transfer and I could keep a percentage and all he needed was my bank account information. Sure.
Then one e mail referenced a recent acquaintance, a prominent writer whose pieces appear in the New Yorker Magazine. His computer was hacked and my e mail was lifted. The message was that Larry was robbed of his i.d. and bank cards in a foreign country and he needed funds to get home and would I send money to bail him out. So I picked up the phone and called him at home. I got his wife and she said, “We know, we’re dealing with it and thanks.â€
And I also particularly like the one where they assume every senior has children and grandchildren, and tell me my grandson is in desperate straits and needs my money to get him out of the difficulty. They count on family to get hysterical and send money without checking. I think once I responded with, “I don’t like the little s.o.b. Let him rot.â€
xx, Teal