06 Mar Fraud & Slime Coming to a Neighborhood Near You
Be Aware: Fraud Coming to a Neighborhood Near You
Recently we had a check stolen from a mailed envelope, fraudulently altered, and deposited to the thief’s account. Seems it happens regularly where I live in Santa Barbara. My next-door neighbor had his cable bill payment stolen. A friend had a payment to the IRS pilfered and only found out four years later when they IRS sent him a non-payment notice–with accrued interest.
My bank told me it could take 90 days to resolve the issue—and I might get my money back. The police department, where I filed a claim, told me they have four months backlog on fraud cases (“call us back in April”). The US Post Office, who declared they would respond to my claim in 1-3 days, has yet to respond 45 days later.
It’s an epidemic. Just what we need, right, another one? And don’t get me started on credit card fraud. I know the printed check is going the way of the mimeograph machine (remember those?) and in our household we’ve moved MOST of our payments online.
So, this is a warning. Be careful out there. Thieves in the night are everywhere.
One more thing. I recently got a solicitation from a non-profit in the mail. After reading their material, I wanted to contribute. But they only gave me two options: write a check or send us your credit card number in the mail. Nope, not gonna do it.
We are all going to have to adapt to new technologies for monetary exchange—even dinosaurs like me. (What am I going to do with all my pennies!).
Ghostbuster Slime Living in a Neighborhood Near You
I loved all those old Ghostbuster movies. Funny, especially the ones with Aykroyd and Murray. I even liked the newer remakes. But they had a deeper message. Evil—characterized by slime—is everywhere, just waiting to be released.
I see that in our society these days. Maybe it’s politics or pandemics or social media, but it seems people think it’s okay to be mean. Angry, upset, offended.
You might find a better way than those reactions:
- Deep breaths
- Don’t reply at all
- Delay your reply or reaction
- Pray before you fire back.
- A guy in our book club had a classic, effective reply to someone who wanted to talk politics and whose views differed from his. “I love you too much to have this conversation.” Brilliant—and it worked.
Book Reviews
Doing Life with Your Adult Children, Jim Burns
My kids are in their mid-30s. I wish I would have read this ten years ago—and I know it’ll benefit even now. Chock full of great advice, like the subtitle says: Keep your mouth shut and the welcome mat out. Five out of five stars.
Playground, Richard Powers
I so wanted to love this book, since it came to me highly recommended with thousands of online reviews. (A great place, by the way, to see if you’ll like a book before you buy it). I know there is a powerful story in the book written by a Pulitzer Prize winning author—but I didn’t get it. The author’s method of switching character story lines in time and location totally confused me. How I made it past the first 50 pages is only a testament of my stubbornness not to give up. If you had a different opinion, please respond back to this email and let me know what you got out of it.
Big Intel: How the CIA and FBI Went from Cold War Heroes to Deep State Villains, J. Michael Waller
A brilliantly documented and researched account of how those institutions drifted over the last century from stalwarts of our democracy to bloated, ineffectual bureaucracies. The systematic infiltration of communist sympathizers into both the FBI and CIA shocked me. This may scare the willies out of you (whatever “willies” are). Four stars; it got a little deep and detailed for me but well worth the read.
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