'You have some extra charges on your card,' the caller said, identifying herself as from our credit card company. Someone had charged more than $1000 on AirCanada, among other things -- and she was just checking 'as a courtesy.'
She asked for the last four digits of our Social Security -- then, when questioned, read off an OLD CARD NUMBER. She obviously thought it was a current one.
Alarm bells went off immediately. Why would the credit card company use an old card number?
A check of our account showed nothing amiss. A further call to the credit card company cemented it -- this was definitely a scammer. Meanwhile, after hanging up on her, she called back 22 times in 30 minutes. Obviously, she thought she had a live one!
Whew.
Just in case, the company sent a replacement card (yes, with a new number). And we'll be checking our account regularly. But this woman was very convincing. To make things worse, the number that came up on the phone was one of the credit card company's real toll-free numbers. (They can easily fake this sort of thing.) And we have had it happen a few times that the company would question a charge -- and text to find out.
Don't make the mistake we nearly did -- don't panic. Don't believe what they're saying. CALL THE COMPANY DIRECT.
Work is progressing -- but there's more to do. A 'big' storm came in last weekend -- everyone around us got 4-12 inches of snow, but Fort Garland had barely an inch. Supposedly we'll have stormy weather nearly all week, with plenty of white stuff. I'm a bit skeptical...but we've got 'mare's tail' clouds out there -- a harbinger of bad weather. Time to reload the wood rack and make some chili, just in case.
P.S. If you've been reading any of my Really Old posts (like 2008-2009), and wonder why they're disappearing --
Someone has been hacking my oldest posts, and using them for something -- I'm not sure what. But the visits to the blog have been blowing up, ever since this started happening. If I return the old pasts to 'draft' form, it seems to slow them down some. Sorry about that.
It does seem weird to realize I've been blogging since Dec. 2007 -- more than sixteen years!
The Oscar winners list. Think 'love theme for Oppenheimer.' Or Poor Things... take your pick.
People who've DECLINED major awards. Including Dolly Parton and the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- twice!
A beautiful antique portrait slashed and sprayed with paint -- by pro-Palestine protestors. Gee, I am sick of this...
A trip down the river to the Tam Coc caves in Vietnam. (Travel with Kevin and Ruth has been visiting Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam lately.)
Thirteen expenses you can take off your budget right away. (From One Hundred Dollas A Month)
Things you saw personally -- but couldn't prove. Some weird ones here.
Gina Lollibrigida's last words.... at her death, aged 95. And if you enjoyed that...
Ten peoples' ironic deaths. Including the general who declared, "They couldn't hit an elephant at that distance" -- just before Confederate snipers cut him down.
The "gold-filled" burial just discovered in Cocle Province, Panama -- and the chief was buried face-down!
The abandoned (and haunted, they say) school in the "San Luis Valley" that's being renovated for ne use. This is near us! I suspect it's a building I noticed in San Luis, about 20 miles away -- but have to find out.
Some very funny "impeckable" bird photobombs and divebombs.
The woman who started her career at McDonald's scrubbing toilets...and now owns TWELVE McDonald's restaurants. Good for her!
Just before everything went crazy...
Have a good week.
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