It’s hard to think of what life would be like without cell phones or land lines, but, for sure, we wouldn’t miss all those phone scams that plague our daily lives.

That’s the common theme for this week’s Snippets issue, starting with a cunning trick crooks are using to target people who’ve been cited for traffic violations and some other offenses.

Like all the most effective scams, this one is remarkably simple.

The crooks simply comb publicly available court lists and other public records to identify the names of those who’ve been fined.

Then they call them and either invite or insist that the fine is paid over the phone, immediately.

The caller claims to be from a company hired by the local courthouse to simplify the payment process.

Victims are asked to provide payment card information, which means they’re immediately out by the amount of the fine.

But, of course, the crooks also have their card details which points to a high likelihood of identity theft.

Action: As far as we know, no law enforcement or legal authorities use an outside firm to collect fines over the phone.

Never give your card details to someone on an incoming call. You have no way of knowing they are who they say they are.

And, by the way, watch out for calls alleging a red light violation, again asking you to pay over the phone or via a money wire.

They’re fake. Police don’t notify you of violations over the phone.

TV Discount Call
Another fake phone call comes from crooks posing as your TV service provider, offering a great discount deal if you pay upfront for the next three months’ subscription.

This scams starts out as what seems to be a promotional telesales call in which the crook offers a free gift (an Amazon Kindle reader in one case) in return for the recipient agreeing to make quarterly payments in advance.

They also offer a discount of up to 50% if the customer agrees to pay immediately by card over the phone.

Action: This scam isn’t unique to TV companies. It has also been used by crooks posing as utility company reps.
Again, never agree to deals like this or give card details to an incoming caller.

Don’t be fooled by caller ID seeming to confirm the call is from your TV company. Caller ID is easy to fake.

Note also that satellite TV company Dish has recently issued a warning about bogus reps calling and offering discounted upgrades that have to be paid for with prepaid Green Dot debit cards.

“If you receive a call requesting a payment in exchange for a promotion or upgrade, do not provide any information and disconnect the call,” the company says.

Veterans Targeted
Another sneaky phone trick targets veterans who accidentally dial the wrong phone number when calling the VA National Call Center or the VA GI Bill Call Center.

According to the Federal Times news service, a marketing firm is using numbers similar to those of the VA centers.

Vets who accidentally dial this number are offered a $100 Walmart gift card for providing personal financial information.

Of course, victims never receive the gift card but they may lose a lot more after giving away their card details.
Action: The VA says it never asks for card or banking information over the phone.

Make sure you dial the correct number (800-827-1000 for the National Call Center and 888-442-4551 for the GI Bill Call Center).

Misdialing is a common problem. See Careless Dialing Could Cost You Money from the Federal Trade Commission.

Verizon Refund Warning
Staying with our phone scam theme, service provider Verizon recently warned that scammers were using bogus caller ID to spoof a genuine Verizon customer support number, offering a $54 refund for bill overpayments.

The message came as a robocall or voicemail.
Victims were directed to a realistic-looking website where they were asked for their Verizon account details as well as their credit card numbers. In other words, this was a phishing attempt.

The particular site that sparked the alert has now been closed down but variations of the tactic no doubt will crop up again, and with other service providers.

Verizon also has a long page full of email phishing scams — everything from refund notifications and discount offers, through blocked accounts to past due notices.

Action: When you need to visit your phone service provider online to check your account, independently find their web address — don’t use provided links.

News Alert of the Week: An estimated 2 million computers have been infected by malware recently after victims clicked on a Facebook posting that purported to direct them to compromising photos of a friend.

The clever scam includes the name and profile photo of the friend, and the message says something like “(Friend’s name) private video” or “(Friend’s name) naked video.”

Don’t fall for it.
That’s all for today — we’ll see you next week.
 

I form relationships and I break them off after a few decades because I cannot watch them age while I remain the same. I can manage to age some but eventually it wears off.

How can I explain to my love that she ages and I don’t? I can extend her lifespan by up to 60 years if she does not have sex uncovered with another.

But doing so involves giving part of me to her when we make love.That risks my own immortality because if she has sex with another uncovered she will extend my immortality to that person. I will lose some of my immortality to that person and become vulnerable to the diseases that person she gives my immortality to because their germs will be immune to my natural immunities.

It may not be but a decade or less to the gentleman or perhaps some immunity to diseases he would have encountered or some cancer, but because it is passed on by someone other than me, those years cannot be replaced.

Since I not be immune to diseases that person has, if he passed on something to her, I could catch it. Hence a mate that does not practice safe sex with others will detract from my immortality and render my mortality defenseless from against the germs and diseases of that mortal she has chosen to have sex with uncovered.

I wonder if you were guilty of at least one such indiscretion and he just took the mysterious way out rather than hurt you by telling you he could not take the risk to lose his immunity to diseases and immortality because you could not be trusted to force your mates to wear a condom.

Making love to him was wonderful. But waking up in his arms is impossible to describe. I took it for granted when we were together. I have had many men since, great orgasms, I even thought I was in love a few times.

But in the end unconditional love is impossible to replace. I love him in degrees impossible to describe. I will make love again. I will love again. But I will never be loved that way again unless he returns.

If he does, I will abandon everything even my children to return to him, if that is what it takes to be with him again. In my misery I forgot our covenant, the result is I have two lovely children a daughter 8 and a son 6.

Their father, my husband is very well off. I invested in his business and gave him his start. He made millions, hundreds of millions. We moved to his home in China, but he allows me to return to my home in Nepal whenever I wish.

He is a fantastic father and a wonderful devoted husband. I do love him very much, but my heart will always belong to Zhev.

Return to me please my darling.

But there’s a price that comes with the convenience of being able to stay connected 24/7 with family, friends, colleagues and the rest of the world—and it’s not just in the form of an outrageous monthly bill. It’s your health.

One of the most publicized dangers of cell phone use has to do with exposure to the low-level radiation they emit. This radiation has been linked to cancers, including breast and brain,2-3 as well as other neurological and neurodegenerative disorders.

4 This connection makes sense, as continuous exposure to even slight doses of radiation can alter cellular DNA and lead to mutations that can cause cancer.

Let’s face it—cell phones are still a relatively new technology. We aren’t even close to realizing all the big and small health effects that can come from long-term use. And a higher risk of cancer could just be the tip of the iceberg.

Case in point: Research presented at the American Society of Hypertension’s 28th Annual Scientific Meeting and Expo last year has pinpointed another potential drawback of constant cell phone use—spikes in blood pressure.5

According to this study, a ringing cell phone can acutely raise blood pressure in hypertensive patients.

To come to this determination, researchers followed 94 people with mild to moderate hypertension. Prior to the start of the study, researchers asked the participants several questions about their cell phone use, including average number of calls placed and received per day, attitude toward turning their phones off and whether their phone was on at that moment.

The participants then underwent two series of six blood pressure measurements using an automated device. They were randomly selected to receive phone calls from one of the investigators (from an unknown number) during either the first or second series.

The researcher then dialed the selected patients’ cell phones three times. (Blood pressure measurements continued throughout.) The calls stopped as soon as the patient answered at least one of the calls.

After analyzing the results, the researchers found that systolic blood pressure increased significantly (up 7.1 mmHg) during exposure to cell phone calls. (Diastolic readings and heart rate were not substantially affected.) They also noted that the rise in systolic pressure was less evident in patients being treated with beta blockers, and in those who used their cell phone frequently (more than 30 calls per day).

The moral here? If you’re at the doctor, turn off your cell phone! Hearing it ring during a blood pressure reading could result in an inaccurately elevated measurement.

To that end, it also doesn’t hurt to turn your phone off every so often—or at least set it to mute or vibrate—to give yourself a break from the nonstop rings, dings, beeps and chirps we have grown so accustomed to. This is especially true for those who already have hypertension, as research shows that silence—plain old quiet—can dramatically lower respiratory frequency, heart rate and blood pressure.6

References:

Pew Research Center. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/06/cell-phone-ownership-hits-91-of-adults.
West JG, et al. Case Rep Med. 2013;2013:354682. doi: 10.1155/2013/354682.
Szmigielski S. Electromagn Biol Med. 2013 Sep;32(3):273-80.
Kesari KK, et al. Indian J Exp Biol. 2013 Mar;51(3):187-200.
American Society of Hypertension. http://www.ashabstracts.com/abstract.asp?MeetingID=797&id=105910.
Larsen PD and Galletly DC. Heart. 2006 April;92(4):433-34.