This smart, educated, supposedly self-aware dimwit got scammed to the tune of $1,000. I’ll spare you the gory details.
A pet project of The Vegas Voice has been alerting its readers about avoiding scams. This article reveals the Aftermath once the scam has been detected. It ain’t pretty.
I had already paid $1,000 to my telephone scammers and was on my way to buy two more $500 gift cards (yes, as you have been told in past articles, those two words are the “holy crap, what are you doing?” tip-offs that you are entering the world of SCAM).
Just as my car was approaching Walmart, I heard the voice of God, “Jane, you are an idiot, a schmuck! You’ve been SCAMMED!” I made a U-turn and headed for my bank’s fraud department.
The bank first put a credit hold on my checking account. I could pay bills, but nothing could be withdrawn.
Ergo, the bad guys couldn’t drain my checking account. A new account was set up, but I had to wait several days for a new debit card and longer for checks.
I received new routing and account numbers in a mailed letter. This happened with little effort on my part.
However, the worst was yet to come.
After the bank did its thing, it was my turn. I had to update all my auto pays. Even though both my old and new accounts were available, I still received letters and emails giving me ultimatums stating if I didn’t pay my delinquent bills, my new address would be a holding cell at Clark County Corrections.
OK, I am exaggerating a tad. Scariness and uncertainty always make my brain dissolve into puddles of goo.
But emotionally I was a mess. Forgetting appointments. Having trouble sleeping. Taking immediate action helped alleviate this numbing terror. I actually got pretty good at navigating “Edit payment method” and “Update your account.”
Adding to my apocalypse, my email has been on the fritz. My server is a company in Oregon. For 10 years, it has given me excellent service. Then, of all things, they got hacked. This has just added to the insanity.
But all this shall pass. Educate yourselves about avoiding scams. I certainly have.
