Andrew, back in the day when AT&T owned our rotary phones and we were on a party line, we had to pay attention to the ring so we knew it was a call for us. We were nice people so we hung up when someone was already using their phone and I'm pretty sure they did the same thing. I think they hung up when the conversation turned to the color of the babies' bowel movements (not sure it's still a common discussion among mothers). When the other three houses on our line gave up and paid the extra for a private line, AT&T called to get us to pay as well. Liane asked how much more and declined. We lost the party line when we moved.Back when I was gainfully unemployed, I would occasionally spend time on the phone with the scammers. I would agree to most if not all the demands, sorry, requests. Naturally I didn't, and had no intention of following up. I would usually end the 3rd or 4th call by mentioning that I had the police, FTC or some other government agency listening to the conversation, or tracing the call. It generated some wonderful results. Usually with lots of foul language and comments about my (unmarried) parents.
Now that I'm gainfully retired I don't have the patience.
My greatest joy when the Microsoft scammers called to tell me my computer was broken and they needed to access it to fix the problem. I would act all excited and thank the caller, typically someone with a strong Indian accent. "Mr. Sharma" would walk me through the process to link my machine to his and I would type the opposite of what he suggested and say "Is it working now" over and over. Best I ever achieved was to waste about 45 minutes of his time. My time on these calls was usually waiting for a document to finish printing out or faxing on the second line.
Dan, since we put a robocall blocker on our phone, the number of scam calls is way down. Unfortunately, the phone still rings -- once -- to let you know you got a call. I glanced at the phone to see if it was from someone we knew and I didn't answer the 'PRIVATE CALLER.' Had Liane not answered on the first ring, it might have been blocked. I always let those go to voicemail but Liane worries it might be Publishers Clearing House and we don't want to miss out on getting rich!WOW! The lengths these SOB's go through to scam money........... Unfortunately there are those that don't realize it and **** goes their money. So glad you're not one of those.
Tom,
A.) Number five is coming in the next couple of months.
B.) I do love a creative scam. I don't know why this one didn't use the name of a real lawyer. The real reason I posted about this was to share the new targets and topics they use. Ten or fifteen years ago I got a frantic e-mail from a friend who attended a class reunion. He needed $1,500 wired immediately to get his passport and IDs replaced because he was stuck at Heatrow airport. Had he included another classmate or two on the email, I might have been interested. I don't send money to people I don't see for 50 years.
Kirk, the older I get, the more suspicious I get. I don't recall Joe Namath or JJ Walker being inducted into the "Trust me! Hall of Fame.
Dennis, now you're making me feel bad. I suspect your friend who lost $10K is not alone. Everyone who has a teen or older grandchild worries something bad will happen to them.
Pat, now YOU are making me feel bad because I haven't been contacted about our Netflix Account.
Oh, wait, I did get a whole lot of notices in my e-mail that I deleted. I also get a daily reminder from Amanda of the huge savings I can get on my Cadillac's insurance. I fell for it once and requested a quote but they won't tell you how much until they have your Social Security number, last 1040, middle name of your maternal grandmother and the location of your youngest child. I did find out about the "Extended Warranty" on my cars. For $99 a month I can get basic coverage on the CTS-V, so $1,200 a year. If your transmission needs work in 5 years, they might pay something close to the $6,000 you've handed over. Monster Transmission will sell me a "quick ship" 6l90e transmission for the Cadillac for $2,999 and a performance one for $3,999. I can replace our 20-year old PT Cruiser with a nicer one for that kind of money. Same with my 36-year old Corvette convertible.
Cody, we're usually the same but a recent event softened us up. Our second grandson's significant other gave birth to Liane Roberta last Wednesday. Grandson called from the hospital to tell us the great news. Then he asked for a favor. The baby unexpectedly came a month early and he doesn't have the money in his account to cover the hospital co-pay. The co-pay is $6,000 and they only have $3,000. We loaned them the money (cash) that day with re-payment promised with no date specified. He was going to re-pay us on Monday but I said no, keep your money until you know their are no unexpected expenses with the baby. Found out yesterday that because she was a little premature, the baby has Meconium Aspiration Syndrome. We may have a place for the $12,700 we didn't spend.If a family member called from jail, I do hate to be the one to break it to them that they are staying in Jail if they were counting on me.
If it’s ok for my uncles, it’s fine for anyone else.
Derek, in the old days, burglars used the obituaries to target houses that would be unoccupied the day of the funeral. I had to take away my mother's phone when she was in her 90s. Charities would squeeze multiple contributions per year. Worse yet, the doctor's office would call to schedule a mammogram and charge her for not showing up. I don't think a woman with congestive heart failure needs a mammogram when she's 94. Over my objections, the oncologist did a lumpectomy and six weeks later my mother was dead.
@Squankum, there I was feeling all techy by installing Hoopla on my phone and listening to The Hot Zone. I remember installing IBM ViaVoice in the late 90s and finding it to be more work than it was worth. Now I have conversations with machines that recognize 99% of my mumblings. I wonder if the our fantasy granddaughter applied a Florida accent filter. She really did sound like all of our granddaughters who were born and raised here.
Kay, I'm with you. Does Judy answer those calls? I succeeded in getting Liane to press the green phone symbol to answer a call but maybe that was a mistake.
Scott, I'm real close to switching from USPS delivery to RugerMail. Is it rude to answer those messages with hysterical laughter?Received a text message this morning that my vehicle was going to be repossessed if I did not contact Best Buy Auto Sales in Moses Lake Washington to make a $243 payment immediately. I texted back telling them them to come get it.
(I haven't had a car loan in over 20 years)
I've only had car payments once, when we lived in Australia 34 years ago. I thought cars cost close to the same down under as here but they were double our prices.
@Squankum, I think it works like appliance extended warranties. We had a GE microwave that broke down a lot. They paid for all the repairs until the touch panel went bad a few months before the warranty expired. They refunded what I paid for the warranty, cutting their losses. I don't know if anyone is doing repairs on '87 Corvettes, let alone trying to cover them with a warranty. Many of the parts I buy are only available used or rebuilt. My friend is eBay.
Dan, your time still has value. Apparently my life has value as an ATM. I do have to say we had a wonderful Mother's day with our son and his wife. They brought bagels and fixin's to our house and I made the coffee. Spent a few hours together without a crowd -- it was wonderful right up to the moment something in my roundhouse upper bridge went pop. It is no longer a 'permanent' bridge and the blender is my new dinner companion.This is exactly what I do! My time is too valuable to deal with those POS's.
