The tip tapping of rain on the kitchen skylight it’s like being in a tent.
The cat’s asleep on the bed. The old git’s asleep in the bed.
I’m downstairs listening to the rain and recovering from yesterday.
It’s nearly 2.30a.m. and we’re both recovering from yesterday.
The old man got a phone call at 10.30 yesterday morning. At 12.30 he was still taking to the guys on the end of the line. By 2.30 the conversation was nearly over. The dawter walked in the door and told her father to hang up and ring the bank immediately. HE HAD BEEN SCAMMED. He keeps kicking himself for not realising that he was being duped but these new scams are fiercely clever, devious and utterly ruthless. They cleaned us out. Left nine pounds in our account.
The ‘oosbind did call the bank and two hours later they agreed to reimburse us but told us, emphatically, that they would not do it again.
‘It won’t happen again’ said the devastated ‘oosbind.
The scammers had played a game that was so clever anybody would have fallen for it and the old git did.
As the rain plays pitter patter on the window I’m recovering from being five minutes away from ruin.
We are just two of the 87% of people who are being targeted on a daily basis. The scammers say your card is being compromised. They say to hold the line whilst they work stuff out. They tell you not to use on line banking for two days whilst they sort the problem. They take your cards details then say they will issue new ones, if there’s a problem.
The bank said never, ever give details out over the phone. The bank advise you not to believe anybody. To hang up if they say they are from so-called government agencies or banks. And so now, having been once bitten twice shy, we won’t trust anybody.
The scammers gave us a telephone number to ring should their be a problem. So I called them
‘Hello Fraud,’ said the voice.
When I questioned them they said I was ringing a McDonald’s. I hung up and called again. The man on the other end moaned when I asked for his details so I could put £10.000 in his account. I was doing the self same scam o him that he had done on us. I called the number again and I hung up screaming Anglo Saxon insults into the mouthpiece.
The ‘oosbind put the number on a list of known scammers.
We both took a remedy for the shock, in the space of three hours we lost everything – in the space of two hours it was put back by the bank – but the scary thing is that we were one phone call away from penury.
So the moral of the tale is NEVER, EVER give away any of your details over the phone.
Lesson learnt. How sad it is that so many people are unable to survive that they have to rob each other. How sad it is that society has created an elite band of greedy criminals who think nothing of cleaning out the accounts of people like themselves. How sad it is that people of my generation are having their faith in human nature whittled away by a heartless few.
More and more people are scamming more and more people – isn’t it time that we shook the crumbs off our bed clothes and remade our bed? Change the sleeping arrangements. This kind of dishonourable living must change.
The rain has stopped, I’m tired, and I’m counting my blessings.
We’re the lucky ones who have enough money in the bank to buy a bottle of plonk and a bunch of bananas. But what of those who haven’t? Milan give away their surplus food to the needy.
I hope we’re not turning into a totally selfish society. They are dropping food from drones to starving dogs who are surviving at the the foot of the spewing volcano in La Palma. They are thinking about dropping nets so the dogs can be rescued. We need to be thinking about dropping nets to our own needy human pack.
We need to be thinking of how to change our society so that we aren’t all a phone call away from catastrophe.
My heart goes out to those scammers who are shafting there fellow humans. My heart goes out to all of us, and my sincere gratitude goes out to the rescuers amongst us who are paving the way for our futures.
The rain has returned. I’m going to bed to dream of better times.