One Click Away From Being Robbed

Posted on 25/02/2025 by Grumpa Joe

This morning, as I scrolled through my emails looking for real mail, I came across a message from Geek Squad. The subject line was “Your subscription has been renewed for two years.” I didn’t recall having a subscription, and I was leery. Two years ago, my old computer was on its deathbed, and I was frustrated, and it is possible that I did seek some help. The cost exceeded five hundred dollars, so I decided I had better follow up.I dialed the number on the bill. I got through almost immediately and had a very clear line. Immediately, I was suspicious because the man who answered had a heavy accent. I continued the call and he led me through a number of button pushes that led to a screen titled Screen Connect Client, with two buttons : Accept, or Deny. The alarms went off in stereo. He insisted I open this screen and I asked him why he needed to get into my computer to cancel the subscription.” “I am not getting into your computer.”

“Why does it say “Screen Connect Client?”

He answered my question with a question. “Don’t you want me to help you cancel this order?”

I responded, “How can your company take orders from your end, but you must cancel them from mine?” At this point, I noticed some agitation in his voice. He continued arguing that he wanted to help me and that I should cooperate by clicking the button. I accused him of being a scammer. Now, his voice turned to anger. A legitimate customer service rep would not get angry by my questions and accusations.

“This phone call is over.” I clicked the button to end the call. I’ll deal with my credit card company, that is, if there is a charge.

Not ten minutes later, I answered a call that was identified as a scam. The caller was a male from another country. He read me a long dissertation about how I was selected to win 25 million dollars and a new Mercedes Benz. All I had to do was to follow him through his company’s procedure. I was congenial and replied that he would have to follow mine before I complied with his company’s protocol. It is simple, I said, “Go to your bank and have a certified check made for twenty-five million dollars, and deliver it to my front door in the new Mercedes.” He ignored my protocol and continued with questions. “All we need is your driver’s license.”

“I don’t have a license or own a car, so I am excited that you will give me a new Mercedes.”

“How about your Social Security Number?”

“I never applied for Social Security and don’t have a number.”

“How about a State ID number?”

“Nope, I don’t have that either. You don’t need any of that stuff. You found me at my desk over the phone, and that is all the ID you need to know it is me.”

“We have to be very careful because twenty-five million dollars is a lot of money.”

“Twenty-five million is a drop in the bucket. I am independently wealthy, and my wealth far exceeds twenty-five million.” He didn’t give up and changed his line of attack. “We can direct the money to a charity of your choice. All we need is to be sure you are who you say you are.”

“You know who I am. You were able to find me at my desk in my house.” I was getting bored with his attempts to get me to send him more info, so I ended the call.

Two minutes later he called again. “You are having fun with me right?”

“No, I am not,” and I hung up.

Filed under: Aging, Seniors | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

I Stepped In It Again

Posted on 30/03/2023 by Grumpa Joe

Today I decided that some of my problems with a slow computer is the result of using Norton anti-virus protection. The decision was predicated on receiving an e-mail invoice from Norton reminding my subscription was up for renewal. Not trusting the e-mail request I went seeking the Norton web page where I could opt out. I lost a lot of time searching for the page. Frustrated, I finally decided to call their help number on the invoice. My bad, first I didn’t trust this invoice, and then I use it to try to solve my problem.

The sound of the agent’s voice was heavily accented and most likely from a foreign country. I explained to the agent that I wanted to unsubscribe from my subscription, and wanted a refund. She assured me this would be no problem and told me that I had to fill out a special form to do that. I explained that I could not find any such form on their website. She said she would help me get to it. After an hour of her help a new screen popped up on the screen flashing on and off from APPLE warning that my computer has been compromised. Oh no! Suddenly it all made sense. These people are sophisticated hackers who are in the business of stealing from unsuspecting naive dupes like me. I shut the computer off and hung up. I will deal with Norton another way.

I had to leave to drive my wife to a doctors appointment and when we came home I re-started the computer in safe mode. Everything seems to be working and I won’t know if I lost any data until I start looking for files.

What really bothers me is that they used Norton’s logo and made everything seem legit both in the email and while they were helping me. Maybe it was Norton I was speaking to, but I wasn’t taking any chances beyond what I already did.

This is another case for using artificial intelligence in the core of the computer to sort out the thieves. It also points out that companies that rely too heavily on computer automation to replace human contact, and those who hide from telling customers how to unsubscribe, and to get refunds is not really interested in protecting the customer as they are in taking their money. Buying a product like the Norton antivirus takes but a button push to make the transaction. The reverse should be equally easy.

Filed under: Biography, Education | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

Duped Again!

Posted on 19/10/2022 by Grumpa Joe

After writing a post eight days ago about the many scams I have encountered I was scammed again yesterday. This time the scam involves two really big companies. The scammer uses a loophole in Google Voice to steal identity. To get into the Google Voice program it needs your phone number and a control number. I don’t use Google Voice, but I have become aware of it through my Lions Club. Our Secretary uses that App for our club contact number.

Exactly My Experience

The second company involved is Facebook. I am a Facebook user. I became hooked on their Marketplace feature. It is a valuable tool for selling, or buying stuff. It is easy to use and they provide many groups that are online to spread the word about any item I want to sell. I’m still in a downsize mode so I am still getting rid of things which I have little or no use for. Currently, I have sixteen items for sale. This week I listed a number of things that I have been tripping over for months and need to eliminate. These items are still useful, just not to me.

One item is a pile of left over composite flooring. I recently finished a floor for which I ordered ten percent more material than was necessary in case I had a problem. It is enough to finish a small room. I was lucky that I didn’t make a lot of mistakes so I had boards left over. They were not in the original packaging so I couldn’t return them to the supplier, and I choose to find a buyer. I hit the finish button on Marketplace and within a minute I get a reply that someone was interested. This kind of response is not unusual, but it doesn’t happen for every item. I responded to the inquiry that the boards were still available. A lady named Sasha replied “Ok cell number please.” Still not strange, I thought she wanted to call me to discuss the item. I gave her my cell number. She replied “Ok, I want to purchase it, I sent a 6 digit google voice code. If your post is real, send me the code. Then I’ll call.”

A few seconds later I got, “DId you get the code?” in large letters. I thought it was a little strange to want this in such a hurry, but I was fumbling with my phone trying to retrieve the code she sent. I finally found it, and texted the code. While I awaited the next move I searched for Google Voice to learn more about it. While at that site, I saw the word scam attached to voice. “Oh no,” I said out loud. I knew immediately that I had been taken by a scam. I read the description of the scam and it was my experience to a tee. I never heard another word from the scam buyer. She got what she wanted my phone number and a code.

Smart Seller Shuts Down Scammer

I have been reading articles on how to undo this scam, but they are over my head. It’ll take a few more reads to understand all of it.

In the mean time, I want to unload on Google and Facebook. Both companies are actively building new businesses daily. This Voice thing is such a service. With all the available phone services on the market how could they think theirs would be competitive. The reason is simple, they make it FREE. All things Google are free. It is their business model. The problem is that by making it free, they make it easy for scammers to steal from the public. Google and Facebook both have so many free apps that users like me will take advantage of them. The problem is that I am too naive to believe someone is out to steal my identity. The result is that all these free services become froth with theft and become a huge problem for the one being stolen from. Is it my fault that I didn’t know that the Google Voice app existed and is vulnerable? Is it my fault for using Facebook Marketplace in good faith and leaving myself open to thieves? I guess the answer is yes it is my fault, but I also believe that this problem is bigger than me. Thousands of unsuspecting souls are using these apps not suspecting for a second that Facebook, or Google doesn’t give a rats ass about the people who kidnap their processes to use illegally. I’m sure that these two companies are so large that we are just collateral damage. I’m sure that I am asking too much of them to fix these security issues. They are much to preoccupied by their First Amendment violations and affecting the outcomes of elections to want to fix mediocre scams like the one above.

As a final word, I can only advise you to be especially careful when dealing with people on the internet. It is my experience that too many of them are into picking your pocket and/or using your name to do things you can’t even imagine much less do. Never, never, never, never send your code for anything to anyone even if you don’t know what they are talking about.

Filed under: Biography, family | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

PSA-220819-Book Report

Posted on 19/08/2022 by Grumpa Joe

This morning I finished reading a book titled “The Lies I tell” by Julie Clark. I opened GrumpaJoesPlace on WordPress to log the book into my booklist page. Surprise, surprise, my list has been corrupted. Some electronic gremlin has removed all of my 2022 reads and two thirds of my 2021 reads. No one ever looks at this list, except me. I use it to refer books I have read to friends. The page serves as a history of my reading. I show the title, author, the type of reading it is, such as fiction, history, etc. and my rating. Usually, if I like a book I give it five stars. I’ve noticed that many non-fiction books only have two or three stars. It tells me that I’d rather read stories than factual accounts. After fiction my next favorite class is history or historical fiction.

I’ve contacted the happiness engineers at Word Press to help me restore this file. I was able to locate a back up which has 28 entries for 2022. I read a book a week, and at this point I should be on number thirty, this back-up is not too far away. The good thing is I found the back up, the bad thing is I am too stupid to know how to actually restore it to the Blog site.

A few years ago, our library dumped the Dewey Decimal system of classifying books. I complained bitterly to the director, but my voice rolled off like water from a duck’s back. I had to join the modern age of computers they said. Since then I notice that the books come with a label that classifies the type of reading it is. Hmmm, it finally sunk in that putting books on shelves at random would only cause chaos. The moderns have finally realized that even computers need some classification scheme to help them locate material. Dumping Dewey has made it easier for library staff to shelve books. Shelving by a simple class and the author alphabetically removes the strain caused by trying to determine decimally which slot a particular volume fits into. Anyway, I have joined the moderns and have accepted their new system, I had no other choice.

I’ll end with a short synopsis of The Lies I Tell. Although it is fiction, it has to be based on history because the author has told a story about a lady conman with such detail that it had to be taken from an actual source. The principle character in this tale is a young lady who becomes homeless because her dying mother was desperate for funds, and fell prey to a man who stole her savings and her home, then evicted her and her grammar school kid. Mother and daughter wound up living out of their car. The mother dies and the daughter is left to her own choices, she chose to become a grifter. The story held my interest throughout simply because of the uniqueness of this grifter’s style. Her motives for selecting marks made me think of Robin Hood who stole from the rich so he could give to the poor. She picked on men who take advantage of women. She did it in a way that kept them from getting police involved. This is a five star read.

Filed under: Biography, Book Review, family | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »

Mystery Solved

Posted on 21/10/2020 by Grumpa Joe

People who know me know that I am a gullible fool.

I fall for scams regularly. During my time blogging I have been trying to answer a question that has plagued me. Just how does a politician making $178,000/yr retire a multi-millionaire? Even if a Senator serves for thirty years his lifetime earnings are five million three hundred and forty thousand dollars. If he is as honest as we are expected to believe, he pays taxes which generously cuts that by 28% or down to three million eight hundred thousand dollars. How about having to live in two towns? If he keeps a separate home in his home state and one in Washington he cuts it down to two million seventy-two thousand dollars. At this point we have to wonder if he eats because that amount of money over thirty years gives him $69,066 dollars a year to travel between homes, provide sustenance for his family and and the expenses of running two households. Don’t get me wrong, a huge number of people living in the United States never earn that much in a single year, yet they survive, they raise families, they own cars, and sometimes go out to dinner. So with this simple analysis of a politicians lifetime salary, the mystery of how in the world he retires a multi-millionaire has been revealed.

That answer came to me over the news this week. It seems that poor Joe Biden, who was forced to use public transportation to commute to his job in Washington, has been running a simple scheme that is padding his pocket. Once it was exposed, I am satisfied believing that many politicians are using the same procedure. The rumor is that Joe was selling his influence as Vice President to foreign nationals by booking appointments and meetings through his son’s company. There was never a link to the politicians until now. It is against the law to take money from foreign governments by US politicians who may or may not give them information that may or may not be classified. If, however, the politicians is booked by a third party, the politician is absolved of wrong doing. The politician gets paid by the third party and not by a foreign government. There is never any linkage to the politician to the foreign government. The ruse is so simple I firmly believe every politician in Washington is using it. It also gives the politician total deniability because he simply claims there is no evidence that he met with the foreign government. I only wish my own ethics and morals were so decayed as to have thought of a similar scheme to have exploited my long term employer. Actually, I can’t make myself believe I could do such a thing.

That is why I am so gullible, I truly believe that every one is as simple as me when it comes to honesty and character. I am finally beginning to realize that the world is loaded with people who have no morals or scruples, but I believe they do. That is why I am an easy mark for a scam.

Filed under: Aging, Biography, family, Government | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

Next Page »