Ever since I started this blog, actually. I know, I know. I mean, it’s to be expected. Start a blog and watch your phone just blow right up.\u00a0It’s like they can’t get enough<\/em> of ME… the scammers, that is. I’m being scammed.<\/p>\n I’m\u00a0the latest\u00a0victim of\u00a0this thing called “robocall phishing scams.” Have you heard of this? What is happening\u00a0actually<\/em>?…\u00a0is,\u00a0WordPress sold my contact information. Sold it to everybody, apparently. Random calls started coming in the day after I registered my blog. So now, phone numbers I don’t recognize dial me up 3-5 times\u00a0per day. To combat them, I’ve found the block caller<\/em> option on my phone. So, no\u00a0biggie. They call, I block them, they call with another number, I block them again. (Hi-ya!\u00a0I’m the Karate Kid of call blocking!) These are easy-to-handle annoyances.<\/p>\n These\u00a0type of scammers operate at a level of harassment I feel we’ve all come to accept and expect in this day-in-age. We’re tired of it, yes, but\u00a0at this point, what can you do? They’re kind of like\u00a0harmless adolescent stalkers who can’t take a hint (I mean, no,\u00a0I don’t care at all what you’re doing tonight and, why yes, as a matter of fact, I do\u00a0have plans. No, I can’t break them. Yes, I’m busy. Very, Very Busy, GREG<\/em>….\u00a0 Sorry<\/em>. That was a flashback. And, I changed the name, though I have no idea why I’d protect that jerk.). Hopefully they will give up on you, or you’ll move and change your number, or get a really big boyfriend… or mean dog. One way or another, it can’t go on forever, can it?<\/p>\n But this specific robocall text<\/em> (which I didn’t know was a thing) is interesting not just for it’s\u00a0just passing command of English (actually… I’m pretty impressed. Good job ESL teachers!), but\u00a0because it threatens me with an arrest warrant. LOOK!<\/p>\n I got two more\u00a0voicemails saying virtually the same thing, but by a non native English speaking robot. I’m not blacking out the phone number in the picture. I’ve already reported them to the FTC (the Federal Trade Commission, not the flower delivery company. That’s FTD. Not that you would confuse the two… because I sure didn’t.). You should too. These guys, or anyone else who tries to mess with you. REPORT THEM ALL. And place yourself on the FTC National Do Not Call Registry.\u00a0 (https:\/\/www.consumer.ftc.gov\/articles\/0133-cell-phones-and-do-not-call-registry)<\/p>\n And then\u00a0send someone flowers. It’s nice, and… karma<\/em>.\u00a0 \u00a0(https:\/\/www.ftd.com)<\/p>\n You can see I’m irritated. How dare they? And a text, of all things.\u00a0I’ve never been audited, but I’m pretty sure when it happens the IRS contacts you via snail mail– with an\u00a0officially postmarked, signed, stamped, and notarized letter. It’s not a robot call <\/em>thing,<\/em>\u00a0or robot text <\/em>thing.\u00a0 I’m not sure what’s more insulting: that these guys are trying to intimidate and\u00a0rob me,\u00a0or that they are too lazy to drop a note in the mail.<\/p>\n So, does it go down\u00a0sort of like this?<\/p>\n Hey Hon, here’s an ad on Craig’s List for “quick, easy money.” And we can work from home! We just\u00a0need $200 for\u00a0some list, a second grade education, and\u00a0no\u00a0moral compass.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Or! Is it more like an Eastern Block,\u00a0Imperialist Russia sort of thing… Like this:<\/p>\n Minions! Today you will be calling 10 million stupid Americans. Remember: ABC! Always Be Closing!!!<\/em><\/p>\n What is wrong with people? And by people, I\u00a0 don’t mean just the scammers. Because these scams must be working some of the time.\u00a0Some small percentage of the scammers’ stream-lined\u00a0automated system must be effective. They are collecting on enough of their calls to cover the initial expense of the lists they ponied up for.\u00a0\u00a0I place at least half\u00a0the onus for our current state of affairs on the gullible… for the robocalls, the scams… Trump<\/em>! We live in a culture of heist.\u00a0It’s the wild wild west out there. Whose fault is that? Look no further than your own sweet, Wi-Fi challenged great aunt.<\/p>\n I know. The victims of scams are often those who\u00a0need our protection the most:\u00a0the elderly, the sick, the feeble minded… and those who have\u00a0been living isolated and alone,\u00a0believing everything they see on cable network news and stocking up on gold bonds. As far as I’m concerned, that last group is just asking for it. And, they are wrecking it for the rest of us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 8\/3\/17 So, suddenly, I’m getting\u00a0lots of calls. Ever since I started this blog, actually. I know, I know. I mean, it’s to be expected. Start a blog and watch your phone just blow right up.\u00a0It’s like they can’t get enough of ME… the scammers, that is. I’m being scammed. I’m\u00a0the latest\u00a0victim of\u00a0this thing called “robocall …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dont-read-this-its-crap","category-i-dont-like-this"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scribblemescribbleyou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scribblemescribbleyou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scribblemescribbleyou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scribblemescribbleyou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scribblemescribbleyou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/scribblemescribbleyou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278,"href":"https:\/\/scribblemescribbleyou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions\/278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scribblemescribbleyou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scribblemescribbleyou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scribblemescribbleyou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/scribblemescribbleyou.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_1209-1-276x300.png\")
<\/p>\n