Scam artists ... (revisited) ...

On April 22nd this year, I published my first in what has now become a series of posts in re this world-wide and extremely pervasive and continuing problem.


I was new to the internet scene at that time -- barely over three months of exposure -- and was really upset that I was being singled out.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth! I was not being 'singled out'. I was one of only many millions (billions?) who were being unwillingly solicited via e-mail.


However, because I was so new to 'the game', I took what I thought at the time were fairly drastic measures, which you can read about in my second post on this topic a day later.


Since then, of course, I have turned in multitudinous names and URL addresses of people/companies/senders to the Internet Crime Complaint Center and the FBI. Little by little, those types of e-mails have continued to be on the decrease, yet still they arrive.


Comcast (my provider) just recently announced that they would be limiting volume. That should certainly help. What is your provider doing to try and curtail some of this type of activity?



What has prompted this latest edition? Two things, the first of which is Craig Peihopa's very recent post wherein the scammer took things to a new height (seems to me).

Craig is in the photography business. Someone had attempted to take advantage of Craig's good nature by asking for help. You can read all about it in the first part of Craig's post.

The second part contains an unsolicited e-mail of a type that I'm sure ALL of you have received. Scroll down through that and get to the "The Nigerian Email Spam Scam" (YouTube). Worth watching. The 'bad guys get theirs' ... rrvit!



The second thing is what I heard on the local news this morning.

Some 11,000+ homes in the Houston area have blue tarps on their roofs, temporary 'fixes' while they are awaiting repair.


Scam artists are not just on the internet, are they?

It seems as tho Texas is one of those states that does not require roofing contractors to be licensed/bonded/certified -- sorry about that, but I don't remember the exact terminology used in the broadcast.

SO, guess what? You guessed it. I don't need to spell it out for you!



Reminded me very much of one of Carl Hiaasen's books, "Stormy Weather" (I think that's the one -- published in 1995), in which he describes some of the many scam artists who arrive in Florida after a hurricane.

If you're not familiar with who Carl Hiaasen is, I first wrote about him in my post of July 8th.

I went back to Google just a little bit ago, and brought this page up, which is an interview with Carl in January (this year? .. maybe).


ANYwhoozits, pay attention to what's arriving in your inbox, delete everything you possibly can (w/o giving away personal information), and take no prisoners!!