The Increase in Scams I was just reading about how David Bowie believed he was contacted by his deceased father because a few days after his father died, he was getting phone calls for a week and nobody would answer. I have to say this, I was getting phone calls for a year at the same time every day and nobody would answer. I am not the only one, it was some kind of a scam which I have yet to figure out. By the way the calls have stopped. Bowie, being a celebrity, could have even been harassed by a fan. I would have to say these calls were far from paranormal. The thing is however, humans mostly want to believe in things. That is why some of us are so easy to fool, and why there are so many scams. Charlatans have been taking advantage of people who are longing for a contact with their deceased relatives and friends. In all these centuries it just hasn’t worked out. The only thing which has happened is those who wanted to meet with them became a little poorer. Sometimes the spirit thing and hauntings is played against people. I remember one person who went to a fortune teller and complained about spirits haunting her home. The fortune teller saw an opportunity and told the woman the problem was caused because her money was haunted and the only way to get rid of the problem was to bring the money back to her and she would get rid of the curse. The woman brought all her savings, I think it was $10,000 at the time. The fortune teller placed the money in a wooden drawer and set it on fire. When there was only ashes, she told the woman the curse was over. After the woman left, she retrieved the money from under the table where it had fallen through the false bottom. To me two of the lowest crimes which can be committed are taking advantage of those who are grieving and those who are deadly ill and grasping for a cure. So many people who are in the last stages of incurable cancer go to places for a cure which are nothing more than places similar to the one with the fortune teller. Don’t forget this, crime is easier to perform today than ever before. I am not talking about the bail laws and non-enforcement of punishment, even though that plays a big part, I am talking about using the internet, phone and email to take advantage of us. Let me tell you about an email I have been getting for a couple of weeks. It states my cable provider is switching their email server and I should reply to the email to change to the new one. It was easy for me to spot as a hoax since it was sent from some server in a South American country. How many people might this fact get by? I suspect the emails wouldn’t be going out if they didn’t work a certain percentage of the time. I remember one justice official saying if these bulk emails fool even only one or two people, they can forget about their bank accounts and more. Also, it is very easy to send out bulk emails, so it doesn’t take much effort. I have mentioned this before but it is worth mentioning again. I received a phone call from someone saying he was my grandson and was calling from jail because he had a car accident and needed bail money. First let me say he sounded just like my grandson, but what the caller didn’t know was my grandson was home sleeping and didn’t have a car. Also unlucky for the caller was the fact his father was visiting me and immediately called home to check on him. I called the police and gave them the number that was used to call me, it was a Washington D.C. phone number, but I doubt anything was done. Some people actually posted their vaccination card on social media during the Covid pandemic and the result was identity theft. One scam which is used I call the bank scam. People call on the phone and say they are from the FDIC or bank and there is a problem with your bank account and they need personal information to fix the problem. If this ever happens don’t fall for it and if you want to make sure it is a scam just call your bank about your account. One scam which I have been called about for years is the one where someone makes believe they are from a police organization and is asking for donations. They come up with all these different names for their organizations with the word police in there somewhere. Another is the call which the caller says they are from the IRS or another government agency. They claim they have a check for you but you have to pay a fee to get it. The funeral assistance scam is one of those that preys on desperate people. During the worst of the Covid Pandemic many died and some families needed money to bury them. A call is made asking you to register for Covid funeral assistance. They ask for personal information and steal your identity and or your social security checks. Last there is the charity scam. This is where you see a charity on social media or one calls you claiming to help children, Ukraine or such, I think you get the idea. You give them money and even if you don’t give them any personal info, they get your money and at least your credit card info. There are not only scammers attacking us from inside our country, but there are foreign scammers who are making a nice living off of fooling us. A list was made of the top ten countries where scams come from. The list appears on Wonderslist. They list the top ten countries as: I should also mention the seller scam. That is where you see an object or something else for sail and it looks like a great bargain for what it is. When it arrives, it is nothing like the picture and is just a small piece of junk. Facebook had a few of these sellers on their site and they list different names but all seem to be the same place.
|
