OT today's scam/spam

First, we received an offer to add 3 inches. Oh my. How many times has a
quilter needed to add three inches? I'll just have to check that one out for
you all.
Next, we received an ominous (try typing ominous, it is a good exercise)
threat from our credit card company. "Someone is using our credit card and
they want us to send all of our personal information including bank
accounts, etc. so they can verify." The pitiful funny was that their message
was very obviously translated by the same person that writes the
instructions for "some assembly required" things you hope to, one day, put
together. We could just barely understand the warning.
For what it is worth - we did, indeed, have our credit card usurped once
online. THe credit card company did not send us an email with poorly
translated language. They just immediately cancelled our card and called us
on the phone. Credit card companies are not as dumb as they look. Neither
are we.
I will let you know about adding 3 inches. Polly

I have an office-mate who almost participated on an on-line scam. He
was selling some wood on E-Bay. He found someone who wanted to pay
him for a load of wood that was maybe worth $2,000. But, they were
going to pay him $4,000. And, they were sending him a check for
$9,000 from the UK. He was to cash the check and then send the
remaining $5,000 to a supposed company that was going to pick up the
wood for delivery. I told him that anyone who wants to give you more
money than something is worth and then wants you to send them money
back is definitely not trustworthy. But, his inate greed almost got
in the way. He was actually going to do it until some of us in the
office did research on the internet and gave him lots of examples of
how this is a definite "red flag" about fraud. He finally did some
investigating and found that both the supposed person in the UK and
the person he was supposed to send the money to for delivery were both
in Taiwan!

So, the moral of the story is, don't let your greed get in the way of
your common sense. This is the newest internet buying fraud scheme.
They send you a cashier's check that clears your bank, you send money
to someone else and then all of a sudden the supposed "good" cashier's
check is no longer good. Somehow I think the bank involved in cashing
the check is somewhat responsible, but they don't think so.

Mardi


On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 02:32:09 GMT, "Polly Esther"
wrote:

First, we received an offer to add 3 inches. Oh my. How many times has a
quilter needed to add three inches? I'll just have to check that one out for
you all.
Next, we received an ominous (try typing ominous, it is a good exercise)
threat from our credit card company. "Someone is using our credit card and
they want us to send all of our personal information including bank
accounts, etc. so they can verify." The pitiful funny was that their message
was very obviously translated by the same person that writes the
instructions for "some assembly required" things you hope to, one day, put
together. We could just barely understand the warning.
For what it is worth - we did, indeed, have our credit card usurped once
online. THe credit card company did not send us an email with poorly
translated language. They just immediately cancelled our card and called us
on the phone. Credit card companies are not as dumb as they look. Neither
are we.
I will let you know about adding 3 inches. Polly



Real e-mail address spelled out to prevent spam. mardi at mardiweb dot com.
____________________

My Quilting page: http://www.mardiweb.com/quilts/MardiQuilts.html
Paint Shop Pro tutorials: http://www.mardiweb.com/web
Low-Fat Lifestyle Forum: http://www.mardiweb.com/lowfat

JA, You are right. Spotting a scam is a pleasure. Makes me feel smart. I
enjoy that. But . .. I have a very dear friend who trusts and loves
everybody. She says she's retarded. I think she's somewhere in the border
between genius and beyond. But she is so very, very vulnerable to scam.
There's the hurt. Polly

"John A." wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 02:53:23 GMT, Mardi wrote:

I have an office-mate who almost participated on an on-line scam. He
was selling some wood on E-Bay. He found someone who wanted to pay
him for a load of wood that was maybe worth $2,000. But, they were
going to pay him $4,000. And, they were sending him a check for
$9,000 from the UK. He was to cash the check and then send the
remaining $5,000 to a supposed company that was going to pick up the
wood for delivery. I told him that anyone who wants to give you more
money than something is worth and then wants you to send them money
back is definitely not trustworthy. But, his inate greed almost got
in the way. He was actually going to do it until some of us in the
office did research on the internet and gave him lots of examples of
how this is a definite "red flag" about fraud. He finally did some
investigating and found that both the supposed person in the UK and
the person he was supposed to send the money to for delivery were both
in Taiwan!

So, the moral of the story is, don't let your greed get in the way of
your common sense. This is the newest internet buying fraud scheme.
They send you a cashier's check that clears your bank, you send money
to someone else and then all of a sudden the supposed "good" cashier's
check is no longer good. Somehow I think the bank involved in cashing
the check is somewhat responsible, but they don't think so.

Many, if not all, online quilt shops have lately been plagued by large
orders from Taiwan (Taipei, in particular) & Nigeria. Some of the
Nigerian orders also ask for additional things like cell phones and
the like. Even when you know for certain these are fraudulent orders,
it's hard not to fantasize about the extra income. I guess the trick
is to try to get pleasure out of not being a sucker.

JA

i feel so sorry for those ppl. I to this day will not order anything online
with a CC. I look for a phone number to call and place an order.

has been that way since i've been online, and that won't change, no matter
how safe others say that it is to do it that way.

Hope others will do the same, especially with stuff like that happening.

Maine-iac Rose
@---

On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 17:47:00 -0500, "Maine-iac Rose"
wrote:

i feel so sorry for those ppl. I to this day will not order anything online
with a CC. I look for a phone number to call and place an order.

has been that way since i've been online, and that won't change, no matter
how safe others say that it is to do it that way.

Hope others will do the same, especially with stuff like that happening.

Maine-iac Rose
@---


Actually, most of the scams don't involve the use of credit cards.
Using your credit card on the Internet is no less safe (and probably
more safe) than using your credit card to charge a meal at your
favorite restaurant. When you give them your credit card, they take
it away and then bring it back. What's to stop them from recording
your credit card number? On-line merchants work very hard to protect
your credit card information.

I've been using my credit card on the Internet for many years now and
the only problem I have ever had was an ISP trying to charge my card
when I had cancelled their service.

The best way to protect your credit cards and your credit is to put a
fraud alert on your credit reports. It's quick (a phone call or two
to Equifax, Trans Union and Experian) and the end result is 1) you get
a free credit report from all three credit agencies, 2) anyone asking
for credit information on you is advised of the fraud alert and asked
to get your permission first and 3) this is the best one....the credit
agencies will stop selling your credit information to every Tom, Dick
and Harry that will pay them for it.

You have to renew the fraud alert once a year, but that's a small
price to pay to protect your credit.

Another way to protect your credit is to sign up with services like
privista.com. That's the service I use, I'm not necessarily endorsing
them, it's just the one that comes to mind right now. These services
send you monthly bulletins as to whether or not something has changed
on your credit report. This will let you know immediately if you are
the victim of identity theft.

Mardi




Real e-mail address spelled out to prevent spam. mardi at mardiweb dot com.
____________________

My Quilting page: http://www.mardiweb.com/quilts/MardiQuilts.html
Paint Shop Pro tutorials: http://www.mardiweb.com/web
Low-Fat Lifestyle Forum: http://www.mardiweb.com/lowfat

Using your credit card on the Internet is no less safe (and probably
more safe) than using your credit card to charge a meal at your
favorite restaurant. When you give them your credit card, they take
it away and then bring it back. What's to stop them from recording
your credit card number? On-line merchants work very hard to protect
your credit card information.
The best way to protect your credit cards and your credit is to put a
fraud alert on your credit reports.

To piggyback on Mardi's good advice:
(1) When you call in to place an order with a credit card, the person taking
your call is putting into a computer -- how do you know how secure that system
is? You have to trust it.

(2) Cancel all credit card accounts you aren't using. Your credit bureau
report will have a complete list. Many stores have promotions to "apply for
our credit card today and get a 10% discount on all your purchases!" If you do
that and only use it once, you've still got an account. Accounts that go
dormant don't go away. You should write to the card issuer to cancel the
account (and keep a copy of your letter).

(3) If you pay your account balances in full you often find that they keep
giving you more credit. (At one point I had $35,000 on one account and $20,000
on another.) That can be a red flag to a lender (such as mortgage) because,
technically, you could charge up to the hilt on all such accounts. You can
call the card issuer and ask that the credit limit be reduced.

(4) I charge as much as I possibly can to get frequent flyer miles and
Discover benefits (they offer double-the-value on some of their gift
certificates). I avoid statement shock by entering every transaction into my
checkbook just as if I'd written a check. Since the checking account bears
interest (little as it is), I earn a bit on the encumbered-but-not-expended
balance.

And that's today's advice! g

Nann in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that
one is always making exciting discoveries."
A. A. Milne
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

well I don't use my CC in restaurants, I figure if I want to eat, I'll pay
in cash, not put on CC and be paying for that meal 10 years to come. I only
use in emergencies and that is when I can see the person that takes my card
and not leave me alone waiting for them to get back. Maybe that is why my
credit history is in good shape. I have gotten our credit reports from time
to time, and without a blemish, knock on wood, but plan on trying to keep it
that way. and now with identity fraud, it is much worse now.
If I do find something online thru a catalog, I usually call them us to find
out what the s&h is. But must admit, there were times when I gave my CC#
over the phone, and got to thinking, I don't want to do it that way.
just my thinking, not to hurt any1, or try to have them change their ways,
I'm not like that, I just wanted to put my 2 cents in, what it is
worth...Maine-iac Rose

"Nbhilyard" wrote in message
...
Using your credit card on the Internet is no less safe (and probably
more safe) than using your credit card to charge a meal at your
favorite restaurant. When you give them your credit card, they take
it away and then bring it back. What's to stop them from recording
your credit card number? On-line merchants work very hard to protect
your credit card information.
The best way to protect your credit cards and your credit is to put a
fraud alert on your credit reports.

To piggyback on Mardi's good advice:
(1) When you call in to place an order with a credit card, the person
taking
your call is putting into a computer -- how do you know how secure that
system
is? You have to trust it.

(2) Cancel all credit card accounts you aren't using. Your credit bureau
report will have a complete list. Many stores have promotions to "apply
for
our credit card today and get a 10% discount on all your purchases!" If
you do
that and only use it once, you've still got an account. Accounts that go
dormant don't go away. You should write to the card issuer to cancel the
account (and keep a copy of your letter).

(3) If you pay your account balances in full you often find that they
keep
giving you more credit. (At one point I had $35,000 on one account and
$20,000
on another.) That can be a red flag to a lender (such as mortgage)
because,
technically, you could charge up to the hilt on all such accounts. You
can
call the card issuer and ask that the credit limit be reduced.

(4) I charge as much as I possibly can to get frequent flyer miles and
Discover benefits (they offer double-the-value on some of their gift
certificates). I avoid statement shock by entering every transaction into
my
checkbook just as if I'd written a check. Since the checking account
bears
interest (little as it is), I earn a bit on the
encumbered-but-not-expended
balance.

And that's today's advice! g

Nann in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that
one is always making exciting discoveries."
A. A. Milne
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Make sure you keep checking your credit report regularly. By keeping such a
"spot less" record also makes you a target. I've heard where they use your
credit to get new accounts for themselves to use on your credit. Apparently
if you have excellent credit (makes sense) that you make yourself more of a
target. I've heard that they recommend you to have a few blemishes on your
record to make yourself less attractive. This is not something that I would
do to myself or recommend. Personally, I think you're better off monitoring
your credit report to make sure there are no fraudulent accounts and/or put
a fraud alert on your reports.

As for giving out your CC#, just carry the right cards. Ones that make you
liable for absolutely nothing on unauthorized transactions are best. As
long as you use reasonable caution you should be fine. However, watch you
accounts carefully so that if someone does start using your number you'll
know and can have it cleared up right away. If you have a really good CC
company they will also watch for fraudulent use of your CC#. Some just keep
trying account #'s until they get one that works. This happened to my
in-laws. The company had just received a charge for gas that looked funny
so they called them up to see if it was a legit charge. It wasn't so the CC
company took care of it. DH and I have also had legit charges our card
connected with our checking account verified. They called made sure that
everything with the transactions were legit and correct. So (IMHO) really
there is no need to go overboard with not giving out your number as long as
you use reasonable cautions and keep a watchful eye.

Just my 2 cents.
Charlotte


"Maine-iac Rose" wrote in message
...
well I don't use my CC in restaurants, I figure if I want to eat, I'll pay
in cash, not put on CC and be paying for that meal 10 years to come. I
only
use in emergencies and that is when I can see the person that takes my
card
and not leave me alone waiting for them to get back. Maybe that is why my
credit history is in good shape. I have gotten our credit reports from
time
to time, and without a blemish, knock on wood, but plan on trying to keep
it
that way. and now with identity fraud, it is much worse now.
If I do find something online thru a catalog, I usually call them us to
find
out what the s&h is. But must admit, there were times when I gave my CC#
over the phone, and got to thinking, I don't want to do it that way.
just my thinking, not to hurt any1, or try to have them change their ways,
I'm not like that, I just wanted to put my 2 cents in, what it is
worth...Maine-iac Rose

http://www.hraunfjord.com/Articles/R...Regulation.htm
this is another reason that I don't use CC on the net, cuz some1 is always
watching what is being posted, whether in a NG or on a web page. just my 2
cents worth.

and yes I do try to get our credit report at least once every 2 or 3 years,
but maybe now I'll have to get it once a year. never thought about it your
way, but that seems real possible, so I'm taking your advice.

Maine-iac Rose
@---

"Charlotte Hippen" wrote in message
Make sure you keep checking your credit report regularly. By keeping such
a
"spot less" record also makes you a target. I've heard where they use
your
credit to get new accounts for themselves to use on your credit.
Apparently
if you have excellent credit (makes sense) that you make yourself more of
a
target. I've heard that they recommend you to have a few blemishes on
your
record to make yourself less attractive. This is not something that I
would
do to myself or recommend. Personally, I think you're better off
monitoring
your credit report to make sure there are no fraudulent accounts and/or
put
a fraud alert on your reports.

As for giving out your CC#, just carry the right cards. Ones that make
you
liable for absolutely nothing on unauthorized transactions are best. As
long as you use reasonable caution you should be fine. However, watch you
accounts carefully so that if someone does start using your number you'll
know and can have it cleared up right away. If you have a really good CC
company they will also watch for fraudulent use of your CC#. Some just
keep
trying account #'s until they get one that works. This happened to my
in-laws. The company had just received a charge for gas that looked funny
so they called them up to see if it was a legit charge. It wasn't so the
CC
company took care of it. DH and I have also had legit charges our card
connected with our checking account verified. They called made sure that
everything with the transactions were legit and correct. So (IMHO) really
there is no need to go overboard with not giving out your number as long
as
you use reasonable cautions and keep a watchful eye.

Just my 2 cents.
Charlotte

Big hugs to all of you for chiming in and making me smarter. Thank you so
much. I even made it just fine through the part that said "now they know you
know they know..." Well, almost.
Polly
"John A." wrote in message
...
On 23 Jan 2004 13:16:17 GMT, ospam (Nbhilyard)
wrote:

Using your credit card on the Internet is no less safe (and probably
more safe) than using your credit card to charge a meal at your
favorite restaurant. When you give them your credit card, they take
it away and then bring it back. What's to stop them from recording
your credit card number? On-line merchants work very hard to protect
your credit card information.
The best way to protect your credit cards and your credit is to put a
fraud alert on your credit reports.
...
(2) Cancel all credit card accounts you aren't using. Your credit
bureau
report will have a complete list. Many stores have promotions to "apply
for
our credit card today and get a 10% discount on all your purchases!" If
you do
that and only use it once, you've still got an account. Accounts that go
dormant don't go away. You should write to the card issuer to cancel the
account (and keep a copy of your letter).

Check the fine print first, though, if you do have a balance. Some
cards will hike the interest rate up to maximum when you cancel them.
If they do, it should say so in the printed terms they regularly send
you.

JA