Jay Cronley: Beware of people after your money
BY JAY CRONLEY World Staff Columnist
Sunday, March 03, 2013
3/03/13 at 4:52 AM
Three people flirted with me.
Not bad for a day's action.
At least that's what it said on my computer.
This message was more like a teaser: Hit the button to find out who had found me to be so charming.
Hitting the computer button is not the happy-go-lucky lark it used to be. There's no telling who is on the other side of these so-called flirts, somebody off a shore at the very least, somebody after your numbers.
We're past the prince wanting your help in finding a place for a few million bucks. Citizens now face barrages of fake official mastheads and false accusations.
It could be difficult for some to resist being called delightful.
But seated at a screen, deleting anything new is the right thing to do.
Credit status: The letter said congratulations, because of my great payment history, my credit line with this place had been dramatically increased.
I went back and reviewed my credit record with this card and found that I had been making the minimum monthly payments for a couple of years - great history, indeed.
Great for them.
Can you imagine how many calls to machines and strained accents would be required to restore this account to its previous credit status?
There's not enough free time to waste in finding out.
Sales pitch: Two well-dressed and perky people, a man and a woman, rang the bell and stood on the front porch.
They had photo IDs.
It was dark, so I turned on the porch light.
I work at home at night a lot.
"I'm not interested," I said.
"How can you say you're not interested when you don't know what we're here about?" the man replied.
This caught me off guard. People knocking on your door after dark are supposed to apologize for any interruption and leave.
"Here's how I can know I'm not interested," I said. "Everything I'm really interested in, I already have."
This caught him off guard.
They were hustling TV and phone and Internet services.
They left.
Call deception: The newest game happens when a hustler's call shows up as a local area code, in this case 918.
They could be calling from Shanghai about second mortgages, and still their call shows up with a 918 area code.
Cons like this teach a person how to let a phone ring out.
Guarding your things is at least a part-time job.
Original Print Headline: Beware of people after your money
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