Rats Steal Money in Their Underwear

Each day we receive too many telemarketing calls and most do not apply to us; mortgage refinancing, merchant charge card fees, national advertising, etc. This week, I got something I thought was original. A man called the office asking for my husband, James.  Since Jim was with a client, I offered to take a message.  The man refused to give his name, but said he was a process server and by law had to make a courtesy call to announce he was coming by with a court summons.  Since I thought process servers generally surprise their targets, I was immediately suspicious.

Mr. No Name claimed Jim had committed multiple felonies by failing to pay a bill, but if I called Mr. Klein, a private detective at a New York telephone number and arranged payments, then Jim could avoid court trial and possible jail sentence. I admit over 35 years of marriage, not every bill was paid on time, but ALL were paid. I was beginning to smell a rat.

The man refused to answer questions as to who was owed the money, the amount owed, or when the debt was incurred.  I hung up and planned to ignore the call.  Then wondered if his incorrect information would affect our credit, so I called the number to the head rodent.

PI Klein claimed Jim obtained a payday loan a few years ago and the check used to pay it off, bounced.  I said his information was wrong, that Jim didn’t use payday loans. His smug reply was that most husbands use payday loans to hide cash from their wives. With interest and penalties added to the original loan, Jim now owed over $1800.00.  Klein offered me the convenience of paying the debt with my credit card. How kind of him and how stupid of me if I agreed!

Even if Jim did get the loan, since I do the bookkeeping, I would have noticed a bounced check. Klein ignored that fact and threatened both Jim and me with jail.  He said deliberately defrauding a financial institution was a felony.  Maybe it is, but we are not guilty. The call ended with me refusing to pay and Mr. Smelly Rat promising to call repeatedly until I do.

Those who know me can guess what I did next, Internet research! The call was original to me, but not to law enforcement, the BBB, and the Internet Crime Complaint Center. I learned a lot about how to steal money without holding a gun to the victims. Criminals can easily get rich without leaving home or getting dressed and no stocking mask required.

So far, Klein has called back once.  I ignored the message to call him immediately. Maybe he is too busy to harass me because he has too much money to count.  I hope not, but sadly, there are many who threatened with jail would give out their financial information. I wonder if the villains will only withdraw the amount of the debt they claim is due or will empty any account they can access.  Be aware some rats use the internet to bite.

Ridiculous Parking in New York City

Mr. Sol Chaimovits with the New York City Finance Dept just sent me a thank you email for paying $7900 in parking fines over the internet with a credit card ending in 7587.

First thought, how did I get added to a New York City database? Second, who did run up this excessive bill in parking fines? Third, if they can afford to pay thousands in fines, can I get a loan?

I have NEVER been to New York City. If I had visited that city, I would NEVER drive a car … maybe a tank.  If I parked a tank, the fees may result in $7900 of fines, but I couldn’t pay that amount in one lump sum.  Also, the credit card listed doesn’t match any of mine.

The link in the email does match the legitimate one used by New York City to pay parking fines on-line.  I didn’t click it (I’m not that stupid, remember I can drive a tank) but I did Google it.  The problem is the attachment.  Many folks would open it and receive a virus or be hacked or whatever devious reason this fraud was sent.

I usually succumb to curiosity except when it affects the safety of my computer. Using safe research, I discovered that a Mr. Sol Chaimovits lives in Brooklyn, but according to his LinkedIn account, he doesn’t work for New York City.  I feel sorry for Sol if this scam is causing him problems. But, if Mr. Sol is really sending out these bogus emails, he deserves whatever repercussions occur.

The moral of this story is to be careful opening emails.  Unless you are in the habit of paying $7900 to anyone, beware.

Photo from
dailymail.co.uk

IRS Tax Scam

If you received an email from the Internal Revenue Service (service@irs.gov), before reading it would you fortify your coffee with liquid courage? As a bookkeeper, I wasn’t concerned. I’ve bookmarked irs.gov to help me navigate the “Bermuda Triangle” of tax laws. After reading the email, I still wasn’t concerned, I was angry.

This is a scam to gain access to your computer and your personal information. It is NOT from the IRS. Because of my tax experience, I knew immediately that the email was phony.

“The IRS doesn’t initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information. This includes requests for PIN numbers, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts.” Except from IRS.gov

How many people would believe the email was official? Those who followed the e-mail’s instructions could be victims of identity theft and have their bank accounts raided. The least serious impact would be the need to have their computers debugged.

It is inexcusable to prey on others. If clever criminals devoted their creativity to legal ventures, they could stop worrying about jail. Ok, I admit that doesn’t disturb their sleep. There are too many electronic cons for any agency to investigate and prosecute even if they managed to find the bad guys.

It is up to us to be cautious when opening emails. Filters may dump suspicious emails into a junk file, but it is not 100% accurate. Tax season is beginning and there will be more attempts to steal from you and not just electronically. Here is a link to the real IRS site with warnings and what to do about suspicious emails and identity theft

Dear Hacker

Computers and e-mail accounts get hacked constantly.  Typically, your list of contacts receives an e-mail supposedly from you, that offers weird products and you get the blame. Last night I received a suspicious e-mail.  The creepy aspect was that it came from my e-mail address.  Someone hacked my account to send me an e-mail.  It was not to sell me anything, but to direct me to information on a topic, that I’d been researching.

Big Brother as written in  George Orwell’s novel 1984 is possible. Governments and other entities can and have used electronics to watch various populations.   Who is watching me and why?

 

Dear Hacker/Watcher,

Help me understand why you chose to hack me.  I’ve listed the most common reasons and would really appreciate learning why I peaked your interest.

1. Money ~ I am poor. My bank accounts are not worth your trouble.  Transfer fees would eat up the balances.
2. Identity theft ~ my credit history is almost non-existent as I avoid using credit.
3. Blackmail ~ there is nothing on my computer that would embarrass me. For past jobs, I’ve passed FBI background checks and been told that my record is totally boring. I’ve never been arrested, sued, or photographed with a wardrobe malfunction. I’d hate to see the bad hair photos posted in Times Square, but there is nothing of an adult nature.
4. Prestige ~ serious hackers enjoy the challenge of getting into something governmental, military or financial. Your hacker friends will laugh if you try to brag about hacking an old  mature lady.
5. Power ~ I have none to usurp. Even my dogs ignore my commands.
6. My contacts ~ See number 3. You would consider my friends boring too.  They are honest people who take care of their families and rarely get arrested. If any have secret identities or are spies, they are good at their jobs.  I don’t know their secrets and I’m annoyingly curious.  So I’m asking you, why hack me?

Since I don’t know your personal email, I’ll send this to myself, I’m sure you’ll get it