Teal

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tealstar
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Teal
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Matlacha, FL
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Married
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Publishing

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Teal's Modest Adventures

Life & Events > About Fraud
 

About Fraud

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.”

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.”

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.”

xx, Teal

posted on July 14, 2015 8:41 AM ()

Comments:

I received the same email from a old school friend who was stranded in a foreign country and needed money. I sent a reply back and said if you are who you say you are then what was your sisters name and what was the name of the street you lived on when we went to school together. I never got a reply back.
comment by gapeach on July 19, 2015 5:41 PM ()
your dead right on that top one its a con job ,tried it once .
my keyboard screams for help--stiil a one finger tapper but improving.

laugh at the 2nd--the rest are all con mem'
Kym lets those selling on the phone lets them prattle on they think they have a sale , at very end she says no thanks and hangs up
comment by kevinshere on July 15, 2015 6:46 AM ()
If I get calls where I do not recognize the calling name or number I just don't pick them up. My phone habits have really changed since the spread of robocalls.
comment by hobbie on July 15, 2015 6:17 AM ()
Good for you Ms. Teal!! There is a new one going around telling you that
there is a small claims suit against you ..let's hope it is a scam. I
referred it to the attorney general's office.
comment by elderjane on July 15, 2015 5:16 AM ()
All calls that warn of an imminent legal threat are bogus. That is not how legitimate problems are presented. You don't get e mails or phone calls, you get snail mail on legal statioery with lawyrer's names, identity of suer, phone nos., etc. The scammers depend on you being paranoid and/or hysterical. They offer you a way out and they'll advise you for a price. Don't fall for it.
reply by tealstar on July 15, 2015 10:13 AM ()
It can be at least a part-time job dodging all these 'opportunities.'
comment by troutbend on July 14, 2015 9:37 PM ()
Because I have contributed to just causes, my e mail gets 50 like-minded organizations targeting me every day. I delete 99%. and the subject line has to be really important for me to open it. Many petitions are sent out repeatedly because there is always a reqeust for funds after you sign. If I am in support, I sign, and click out without a contribution. They say, "Wait, you're not finished," and my answer is click.
reply by tealstar on July 15, 2015 10:17 AM ()

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