*This* is the future? ??

[Martha Adams]

Joys of modern life. Grump. Here are a couple of modern goodnesses
that have arrived into my home recently.

#1. A piece of mail, no letterhead, no company address. It tells me
"Our records indicate you have received multiple notices ...." (Of
which I have no recollection.) Regarding the service contract for my
car (I have no car). It urges me to *quick* "Please call upon
receipt: 1-877-413-6377."

#2. In my phone answering machine today, a cold caller urges me to
sign up for a new credit card offering interest at half the usual
interest rate. No info there says who that was.

Which sounds to me very like an invite to provide my private infos to
a total stranger who is probably right around here somewhere on this
planet. And I did a Google search on that phone number which I
thought returned convincing reason not to call it.

And of course there's Trump in the Oval Office and Pruitt in the EPA
and what seems to be a mindless program to destroy anything Obama
achieved over his years in the Presidency. It makes serious aging
feel almost good.

Titeotwawki -- Martha Adams [Tues 2017 Oct 24]

[Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy]

Martha Adams <m...@mhada.info> wrote in
news:A_ednYkIkpvhanLE...@giganews.com:

> Joys of modern life. Grump. Here are a couple of modern
> goodnesses that have arrived into my home recently.
>
> #1. A piece of mail, no letterhead, no company address. It
> tells me "Our records indicate you have received multiple
> notices ...." (Of which I have no recollection.) Regarding the
> service contract for my car (I have no car). It urges me to
> *quick* "Please call upon receipt: 1-877-413-6377."

Credit repair offers have been around for decades. There have been
times when they have offered a genuine, and for some, useful
service.

Today is not one of those times. They're all scams.

This is as noteworthy as the sun rising in the east Every. Single.
Day.

>
> #2. In my phone answering machine today, a cold caller urges me
> to sign up for a new credit card offering interest at half the
> usual interest rate. No info there says who that was.

Credit offer scams have been around longer than credit *cards*, and
most certainly longer than credit repair scams.

Again, about as noteworthy, as rocks falling down whne you drop
them, instead of up.

>
> Which sounds to me very like an invite to provide my private
> infos to a total stranger who is probably right around here
> somewhere on this planet. And I did a Google search on that
> phone number which I thought returned convincing reason not to
> call it.

And? The only requirement to receive either scam is for e scammer
to become aware that you exist. They send them to literally
*everyone*.

>
> And of course there's Trump in the Oval Office and Pruitt in the
> EPA and what seems to be a mindless program to destroy anything
> Obama achieved over his years in the Presidency. It makes
> serious aging feel almost good.
>

You really, seriously, need psychiatric help.

--
Terry Austin

Vacation photos from Iceland:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QaXQkB

"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

[Paul Dormer]

In article <A_ednYkIkpvhanLE...@giganews.com>,

m...@mhada.info (Martha Adams) wrote:

>
> #1. A piece of mail, no letterhead, no company address. It tells me
> "Our records indicate you have received multiple notices ...." (Of
> which I have no recollection.) Regarding the service contract for
> my
> car (I have no car). It urges me to *quick* "Please call upon
> receipt: 1-877-413-6377."

A few years ago, I received two letters within days from two separate
companies both saying that as my car insurance was due for renewal, they
could do it cheaper. I have never owned a car. A year later, the same
thing happened again.

There was also the incidents I must have mentioned before where after I
moved into this house I kept getting parking fine notifications for a car
registered at something like my address. (They had the house number and
street right, but the post code was wrong and they were addressed to
someone I'd never heard of.) I even had the police and the bailiffs
round chasing the money. After about five years, it stopped, but I still
wonder why I never got any other car-related correspondence for this
person, such as road fund renewal.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <memo.2017102...@pauldormer.cix.co.uk>,

This sounds like the spamming calls I occasionally get, somebody
with an Indian (?) accent telling me he's calling in response to
my computer trouble. I tell him, "There is nothing wrong with my
computer you are a scammer goodbye."

We also get periodic snailmails, printed in a font that imitates
handwriting, telling us in jolly fashion that they want to buy
our house in Chula Vista.* We know perfectly well where those
things come from: people go through the property listings in San
Diego County and spam all the property owners, asking to buy
their houses (so they can "flip" them and make a profit).

_____
*Chula Vista is a bedroom community in San Diego County, so close
to the US/Mexico border that it is frequently described as "a
suburb of Tijuana."
_____

And then there are the periodic phone callers who ask for my
mother-in-law, who died about fifteen years ago. They want to
know if she wants to sell her timeshare in a resort ... which she
sold about twenty years BEFORE she died, because nobody in the
family was using it. I always politely explain this to the
caller, and she (it's always a she) apologizes and says she'll
take the name off their list. But these people *don't* edit
their lists, and they keep sharing them with one another. I am
always polite with them, but it's a good thing the phone is right
by my bed. If Hal answered those calls, he'd rip them a new one.
Not because they're taking his mother's name in vain; he hates
spammers on general principle and doesn't think they deserve any
basic courtesy.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com

[pete...@gmail.com]

I'm with Hal on this. I want to make them question their life choices.

The Indian ones I'll describe in detail how they are 'bringing dishonor' on
their family, their father, and their mother. If male (it always is) I'll
as how much his sister charges for <redacted>.

American ones, I have to get more creative.

pt

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <0c90d04c-0eda-440b...@googlegroups.com>,

American ones usually use a recording, so after I've said "Stop"
three times and I'm sure it's a recording, I can just hang up.

If they aren't a recording, I tell them I'm on Social Security
and don't have a red cent to spare, which is true. "Thank you
for calling; goodbye." Click.

[Steve Coltrin]

begin fnord

djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) writes:

> If Hal answered those calls, he'd rip them a new one. Not because
> they're taking his mother's name in vain; he hates spammers on
> general principle and doesn't think they deserve any basic courtesy.

Spammers absolutely deserve basic courtesy. They should be offered a
blindfold and a cigarette before being shot.

--
Steve Coltrin spco...@omcl.org Google Groups killfiled here
"A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel
to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed."
- Associated Press

[Keith F. Lynch]

Dorothy J Heydt <djh...@kithrup.com> wrote:
> <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:

>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>> And then there are the periodic phone callers who ask for my
>>> mother-in-law, who died about fifteen years ago. They want to
>>> know if she wants to sell her timeshare in a resort ... which
>>> she sold about twenty years BEFORE she died, because nobody in
>>> the family was using it. I always politely explain this to the
>>> caller, and she (it's always a she) apologizes and says she'll
>>> take the name off their list. But these people *don't* edit their
>>> lists, and they keep sharing them with one another. I am always
>>> polite with them, but it's a good thing the phone is right by
>>> my bed. If Hal answered those calls, he'd rip them a new one.
>>> Not because they're taking his mother's name in vain; he hates
>>> spammers on general principle and doesn't think they deserve any
>>> basic courtesy.

>> I'm with Hal on this. I want to make them question their life
>> choices.

Likewise. Politeness is wasted on criminals. And if you're on the
federal do not call list, *or* if you asked them not to call you again
(which you did), they are criminals. If rudeness from lots of the
people they call gets them to quit, they should be thankful if the
government ever does decide to crack down on those crooks. It's far
better to be unemployed than to be in prison.

(If you're not on the federal do not call list, why not? It has no
discernable effect, but it gives you the moral high ground.)

And they might crack down, eventually. The spammer Sanford "Spamford"
Wallace ran rampant for decades, but the feds finally got fed up.
Today's he's known as federal prisoner number 16075-111.

Another approach would be to ask them to hold while you see if she's
available. If they're still on the line after ten minutes or so, tell
them, "I'm sorry, she can't come to the phone right now. She's dead."

>> The Indian ones I'll describe in detail how they are 'bringing
>> dishonor' on their family, their father, and their mother. If male
>> (it always is) I'll as how much his sister charges for <redacted>.

Sue Cochran (a friend of mine) suggests asking them (regardless of
their nationality) if their parents know what they do for a living,
and sarcastically adding "they must be so proud."

> If they aren't a recording, I tell them I'm on Social Security and
> don't have a red cent to spare, which is true.

It's none of their business. And if there's some way they can use
that information against you, they'll find it.
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.

[Keith F. Lynch]

Steve Coltrin <spco...@omcl.org> wrote:
> Spammers absolutely deserve basic courtesy. They should be offered
> a blindfold and a cigarette before being shot.

What if it's a non-smoking shooting range?

Seriously, I don't think spammers deserve the death penalty. Unless,
of course, they have sent more than a billion spams, as that is likely
to have wasted the equivalent of an entire human life span.

A few spammers have sent more than a trillion spams. Each of them has
probably caused more loss of useful life than the 9/11 terrorists.

My main concern is about wrongful conviction. For instance plenty
of spams have been forged to be from me. Probably from you too. A
common spammer trick is to steal copies of individuals' address lists,
and spam everyone on each one with spams forged to be from everyone
else on the same one. Such spams are more likely to be seen, since
they appear to be from someone the recipient is likely to know.

[Keith F. Lynch]

Paul Dormer <p...@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
> A few years ago, I received two letters within days from two
> separate companies both saying that as my car insurance was due
> for renewal, they could do it cheaper. I have never owned a car.
> A year later, the same thing happened again.

The same here, except it was phone calls, not letters. I asked them
which car. Of course they couldn't tell me. Similarly, when a
telemarketer claims there's an issue with my credit card, I ask which
card. And if they claim a friend referred me, I ask which friend.

I've never had a car or a credit card. I have plenty of friends, but
if I discover one of them gave my name and number to a telemarketer,
I'll have one fewer.

> There was also the incidents I must have mentioned before where
> after I moved into this house I kept getting parking fine
> notifications for a car registered at something like my address.

I once found a subpoena taped to my door involving a car crash I was
allegedly involved in. Fortunately, I had an airtight alibi for that
day. I was on a business trip with coworkers more than a thousand
miles away all that week.

[Martha Adams]

==========================================================

Keith, your point about time lost to cold calls, so much of it for
so many people, is a really good point. It connects to a topic I've
been thinking about, namely, how good for people is this real world
we've developed, *really*? ??

Re phones, I've a 'Do Not Call' place but it seems to do no good. My
best setup evolved over 2-3 decades, is my phone answering machine
to screen calls. My friends know if I'm there I'll pick up when I
recognize the voice. Cold callers of course, get my null response.
But there's a problem with this.

(My answering machine says, "After the beep, record a message." My
idea is to provide no info to the caller since so many options exist
who he is and what he's up to; but for friends calling it's always
the same and it takes very little wait time.)

Namely, my setup has used-up/worn-out three answering machines over
recent decades and my present one must be getting along. But when I
look for answering machines, *there aren't any* Answering machines
seem to be off the market these days. How come? Why is that? ??

Titeotwawki -- Martha Adams [Wed 2017 Oct 25]

[Keith F. Lynch]

Martha Adams <m...@mhada.info> wrote:
> Keith, your point about time lost to cold calls, so much of it for
> so many people, is a really good point. It connects to a topic I've
> been thinking about, namely, how good for people is this real world
> we've developed, *really*? ??

You are G.H. Hardy, AICMFP. In 1915 he wrote, "A science is said
to be useful if its development tends to accentuate the existing
inequalities in the distribution of wealth, or more directly promotes
the destruction of human life."

> Namely, my setup has used-up/worn-out three answering machines over
> recent decades and my present one must be getting along. But when I
> look for answering machines, *there aren't any* Answering machines
> seem to be off the market these days. How come? Why is that? ??

Probably because most (?) telephone service providers have built-in
voice mail. And because phones are often sold with built-in answering
machines.

I had a hard time finding my last answering machine. I bought it in
2010. It was still working fine when I discontinued using it when I
moved in 2014. Similarly with my last dialup modem, which I bought
in 2013.

[Paul Dormer]

In article <_ZedncdGn8iR0WzE...@giganews.com>,

m...@mhada.info (Martha Adams) wrote:

>
> Namely, my setup has used-up/worn-out three answering machines over
> recent decades and my present one must be getting along. But when I
> look for answering machines, *there aren't any* Answering machines
> seem to be off the market these days. How come? Why is that? ??

Over here, you can get combination phone and answer machine, which is
what I've got. (I never answer the phone these days unless they start to
leave a message or someone has said they are going to call back.)

I'm currently on my second or third phone/answer machine depending how
you look at it. When I moved in to this house in 1995 I decided I wanted
a cordless phone with answer machine but the one I bought kept losing the
outgoing message so it was replaced. The replacement lasted at least ten
years and it wasn't the answer machine part that failed. The handset
stopped connecting to the base station.

[Mike Van Pelt]

In article <osrc8p$d44$1...@reader2.panix.com>,

Keith F. Lynch <k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
>My main concern is about wrongful conviction. For instance
>plenty of spams have been forged to be from me. Probably from
>you too. A common spammer trick is to steal copies of
>individuals' address lists, and spam everyone on each one with
>spams forged to be from everyone else on the same one. Such
>spams are more likely to be seen, since they appear to be from
>someone the recipient is likely to know.

I've seen a lot of spams "From" someone I know. Oddly enough,
I don't think I've ever seen one (or only rarely) where the
email address is the actual email address of that person; it's
some random yandex.ru or 163.cn or gmail or hotmail or something.
They just paste the name of someone I know on some random address.

Years ago, there was a leak of Facebook email addresses with
"Friends Lists", but the "Friends Lists" were by name, email
addresses not included. That seems to be what has gotten
into the spam ecosystem.

--
Mike Van Pelt | "I don't advise it unless you're nuts."
mvp at calweb.com | -- Ray Wilkinson, after riding out Hurricane
KE6BVH | Ike on Surfside Beach in Galveston

[Mike Van Pelt]

In article <_ZedncdGn8iR0WzE...@giganews.com>,

Martha Adams <m...@mhada.info> wrote:
>Namely, my setup has used-up/worn-out three answering machines over
>recent decades and my present one must be getting along. But when I
>look for answering machines, *there aren't any* Answering machines
>seem to be off the market these days. How come? Why is that? ??

Answering machine functionality seems to have been folded into
cordless phones. I haven't seen a stand-alone answering
machine in decades, but I haven't been looking for them, either.

I've got a decent one in my multi-handset cordless phone, but
I've actually quit using it. The phone company's voicemail does
a voice-to-text and emails it to me when someone leaves a message.

For dealing with robo-calls, if your phone company has the
simultaneous ring feature, look up nomorobo.com. I've set this
up, and it is fantastic. A few still get through, but far fewer
than before.

[Keith F. Lynch]

Mike Van Pelt <m...@web1.calweb.com> wrote:
> I've seen a lot of spams "From" someone I know. Oddly enough, I
> don't think I've ever seen one (or only rarely) where the email
> address is the actual email address of that person; it's some random
> yandex.ru or 163.cn or gmail or hotmail or something. They just
> paste the name of someone I know on some random address.

In my experience, it's about half. There may be some selection bias
there, as anything that purports to be from yandex.ru, yandex.com, or
163.com (but not 163.cn, oddly) is discarded by my filters even if it
also has the name of someone on my whitelist on the From line.

> Years ago, there was a leak of Facebook email addresses with
> "Friends Lists", but the "Friends Lists" were by name, email
> addresses not included. That seems to be what has gotten into
> the spam ecosystem.

I've never been on Facebook, so that's unlikely to be the cause of any
spams I've gotten. Unless someone put my name on such a Facebook list
despite my being a Facebook unperson. (Is that even possible?)

[Keith F. Lynch]

Paul Dormer <p...@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
> When I moved in to this house in 1995 I decided I wanted a cordless
> phone with answer machine but the one I bought kept losing the
> outgoing message so it was replaced. The replacement lasted at
> least ten years and it wasn't the answer machine part that failed.
> The handset stopped connecting to the base station.

My brother's cordless phones with answering machine still works fine,
except that the two cordless phones both stopped displaying anything
on their LCD screens, first one then the other. Yes, the batteries
have been replaced; it didn't help.

[Paul Dormer]

In article <jdrIB.41882$4A2....@fx40.iad>, m...@web1.calweb.com (Mike

Van Pelt) wrote:

>
> For dealing with robo-calls, if your phone company has the
> simultaneous ring feature, look up nomorobo.com. I've set this
> up, and it is fantastic. A few still get through, but far fewer
> than before.

Robocalls still tend not to leave messages on answer machines in the UK.
I presume they are set up to detect an answer machine answering and to
hang up. (99% of all calls on the answer machine are silent.)

Just occasionally, something goes wrong and there is a pre-recorded
message, but it is obviously not supposed to do that. For a start, the
recording starts in mid-message, and the message is usually on the lines
of "Press 1 to receive details of our offer", which doesn't work on the
recording.