Telemarketers: Let's Get Rid of Them

      A few minutes ago I received a call that said name and number unavailable. I did not recognize the number and  I was not familiar with the area code. I did not answer the call. They did not leave a message. Does this sound familiar to anybody?  Sometimes we can get two or three calls a day.


     I Googled the call I just had and found out that it's a scam. They want to lower your credit card interest rate. All you have to do is give them your credit card number and they will do the rest!!!!


    In Canada they have established a do not call list. I put myself on the list. I still get telemarketer calls. There are loop holes in our law. Telephone surveys are legal so that means make a little survey and then sell. Enforcement of do not call is a sad joke so the bad guys will see if they can get away with things. Canadian do not call laws do not apply in the U.S. So calls can be made from the U.S. and our do not call list has no authority.


    Sometimes I tried talking to the caller and trying to waste their time. Most of the time they were only too willing to visit. Questions like how's the weather there and where do you live were pleasantly discussed.


    Now recently I  learned that I can use a feature on my phone and block unwanted callers. Most of you probably know this as I'm usually far behind in these little technical features.  Not all phones have this feature. Now I block every telemarketer. I can block up to twenty numbers. Once I hat twenty I should be able to take the first numbers off as  they usually don't use the same number for very long.


    So all who dislike telemarketers block their numbers on your phone. I'm sure if we all get together we can put them out of business. Just think..no more calls in your dinner hour.

Computer Maintenance Phone Scam

          There are many scams on the internet and fortunately we are well protected from most of them.

          This week I received two phone calls from  scammers. It works like this. They phone you and say that they are computer maintenance and they have an appointment to fix your computer. They pick an easy topic and quote a good deal. They will fix the problem remotely but you have to open your computer where they specify so they can do the work. So you  open parts of your computer so these guys can get your pass words and get around security. They are then able to access your accounts no matter what they may be. They could also set up an identity using your information.

         I received two calls this week. The first one my wife answered and the English was so poor that she hung up and had no idea what they were talking about. My wife also answered the second call and this time she understood what was being said and quickly told them that they must have the wrong number as we didn't have any appointment for computer maintenance. When she told me about the second call I knew immediately that it was a scam as I had just read about it in the paper.

       So it's kind of creepy to know that the scammers have been so close to you.

       I hope that none of you gets taken in by this scam. We all have little problems with our computers. We all want things to be a little speedier. These guys promise you an easy fix. Beware.