Scams

          Scam -  a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation.

          I guess by now we are all familiar, possibly too familiar, with scams.  We now face them almost daily through the internet and through our phones.  Scammers have bothered us, taken up our time and been a source of frustration.

          I often wonder how folks fall for them and lose so much in doing so.  I guess many, especially seniors, are looking to get rich quick or are just afraid to say no.  Some phishing scams - a scam by which an Internet user is duped (as by a deceptive e-mail message) into revealing personal or confidential information which the scammer can use illicitly - are so well done today that you can get taken in before you realize it.

          About a year ago I received an e-mail, supposedly from a friend of ours, telling me that they needed my help.  They asked me to reply if I could help them.  And, of course I did.

          The message in return was that their niece has cancer and it was her birthday.  They wanted to send her some electronic games but their Amazon account wasn't working.  They gave me the information and asked i I would place the order for them using my account.  They would give me cash to cover the order.

          Now they were good friends and had often helped us out.  I quickly agreed not thinking that it could be a scam.  A few minutes later I received another e-mail wondering why the order wasn't yet processed.  I then became suspicious and found that their computer had been hacked.  Fortunately I was able to contact Amazon and was still able to cancel the order ... nothing lost but my pride. 

          I had almost forgotten about it until a few weeks ago when I received two separate e-mails asking for my help.  One came from a high school friend in Texas who I hadn't seen in several years.  The other was from a lady who goes to our church.  Both were the same scam which is once again circulating.  This time I recognized it and contacted both to warn them that they had been hacked.

         A second scam that is tried on us regularly is the "Hi grandma" telephone call.  Each time it is somebody pretending to be our grandson who is in need of money.  Usually they are in jail or in a hospital and can't reach their parents.   I wonder how many grandparents fall for this.

          Recently my wife replied that she will pray for them since she knew that they were lying.  The caller was upset and replied that he didn't need prayer, he needed money.

          The last two calls were a little more concerning and aggressive.  In the first when my wife denied knowing the caller he called her by name.  Now I know that all that personal information can be found on the internet.  Nothing is private anymore.

          Then a few days ago I answered the call and was welcomed with "Hi Grandpa".  I knew it was a scam call but I asked who he was.  He insisted that he was my oldest grandchild.  When I asked for his name he replied "Kauffman".  I told him that my oldest grandson had been here to cut our grass the day before, wasn't in New Jersey, and wasn't him.  He then got more aggressive and said he knew where I lived, stated my address, and said he'd be here to visit me about noon.  I guess that he thought that this threat might scare me into cooperating.  But it didn't and this time I shared the call with the local police.  I knew that they couldn't do anything about it but they did give me some advice such as have a whistle ready to blow into the phone when such a call comes again.  So I guess I need to do some shopping.

          But then on Monday we did get another call that started with "Hi grandma".  I thought, not again.  But the caller went on to say "this is Josh".  We recognized him and he was our grandson.  He went on to tell us that he had just defended his work at Penn State and had earned his Ph.D. in chemistry.  Now that was not a scam - it was exciting news.

          This was a second in a week's time since a few days earlier we received the news that our granddaughter's husband, Daniel, had just defended his work and earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at PSU.

            So congratulations Dr. Daniel Cetnar and Dr. Josh Kauffman.  We are very proud of you and we than the Lord for your success.          

           And that folks was a good week and not a scam!