Little Emily’s nose crunched as she bent down to examine the deep red rose petals creating a carpet leading to the wedding arch. With her right hand, the toddler carefully arranged one petal after another until they were perfectly aligned. The gathered celebrants smiled as the wedding photographer knelt, then lay on the grass, snapping one shot after another, capturing that moment, when she should have been following the bride and groom.
The past several weeks I’ve been sharing all the steps I’ve taken after my computer was hacked and my personal data stolen.
This post will be short!
She said that, in her experience, most of her customers who are hacked, are hit because of online banking. Crooks are savvy and can easily figure out how to access online accounts!
2. Check your banking and savings accounts regularly. Look for strange transfers of money. Scammers often start by transferring small amounts, as little as one cent. If that goes through, they will then steal all your money. If that happens, I’ve been told it’s nearly impossible to get your money back.
3. Tell all your friends what’s happened to you. Your experience might protect them from having the same thing happen to them.
4. My last (hopefully last) tip is to keep records.
Create a file in which you keep copies of the ways hackers affected you, from photos of your frozen computer screen, to all the places you filed fraud complaints.
Good luck!
My computer was recently hacked. A fake message was sent from “Microsoft Security” giving false information. Like a fool, I believed them because my computer had been locked down that morning.
I didn’t realize it was a scam, even when the two different men that I spoke with gave “Anglicized” names but spoke with accents (I don’t want to speculate, but there was a hint of one of the Indian dialects). Both men sounded legitimate. They had my personal information: DOB, SSN, address.
The first man, from the so-called Microsoft Security, transferred me to an “Office” of the FTC. He also sounded legitimate, the site looked real. He took down my story about my computer being hacked. He then told me the FTC would represent me in a DC court. They would assign an attorney.
IF I GAVE THEM MONEY!
That’s when my eyes were opened. This was a scam.
My problems began when my computer crashed. This is the screen that set everything off.
I couldn’t control my mouse. Was afraid to turn off my computer.
I called my SIL who’s really good with computers. Because of this image, I couldn’t share my log in with him. The only thing he came up with was to turn off the computer.
When I restarted, my computer was back to normal. For a day. Then the screen returned.
I got a call from “Microsoft Security” which unfortunately I thought was real. It isn’t, so if you receive that call, DO NOT ANSWER!
Things spiraled rapidly.
My husband got our bank account flagged, thank goodness. Someone attempted to use my credit card to buy stuff from Amazon. I cancelled the card and notified the bank. It was also flagged, which was good, because they attempted to use it several more times.
Then they found my JCPenney card and tried to charge things with it. I got that cancelled and flagged.
Meanwhile my computer went to be cleaned up. They found five viruses imbedded, several connected to the dark web.
Please be careful!
If I could choose to be
anything in the world,
I’d prefer to stay me,
an ordinary girl.
Nothing too special,
simply plain ol’ me;
terribly typical
without mystery.
Lacking true beauty
from the outside,
I’ve talents aplenty
on the inside.
Reader, writer, singer,
puzzle-solver, too;
teacher, sister, mother,
friend to folks like you.
I’ve never had a dream
of golden luxuries.
I’m happy as I seem
floating on a breeze.
I yearn for happy days
filled with simple joys,
living, loving, always
playing with my toys.
Call me someone gentle
call me your best friend,
call me gorgeous twinkle,
forever without end.
Don’t jump out from behind a door
Screaming “Surprise”
Expecting me to react with unsurpassed
Joy.
It’s not going to happen.
Don’t plan a birthday party
A week before the actual date
Thinking I’ll appear with a huge smile
And clap my hands with joy.
It’s not going to happen.
Don’t wrap a fancy package with
Brightly colored ribbon topped with a bow
And drive all the way to my house
Knock on my door and
Think I’ll be dumbstruck with thanks.
It’s not going to happen.
Unlike some people I hate surprises.
No, I detest them
As I never know how to react
Or whether or not I’m expected
To reciprocate.
I’m stilted socially.
I didn’t grow up in a home
That taught or understood
Social niceties.
What to do when this or that happens.
I hate parties,
Not knowing what food to bring for sharing
Or what gift might please someone else
Or what to say to people I barely know.
I hate surprises unless its roses from my husband
Or a call from one of my grown children
Or a card from a friend
Or perhaps a gift of a prayer in time of need.
Put me in a room full with people
And I freeze.
My mind goes blank and I struggle to find
Something to talk about.
I drop into ‘teacher’ mode
posing questions as if to my students
listening to responses
while thinking of another question.
Don’t surprise me and expect
Gushing praise.
Don’t spring something on me
Thinking I’ll jump for joy.
Don’t hand me a gift
That I don’t expect
As I will feel guilty
For not having done the same for you.
To put it simply:
Don’t surprise me.
I thought I was smart enough to recognize a scam.
Many times I’d hung up on potential scammers. My favorite: a man pretending to be my grandson asking for money. First of all, my grandson doesn’t speak with an accent and definitely doesn’t sound like an old man. That was an easy one.
I’d fended of many calls pretending to be from Microsoft or the bank or a credit card company.
For months warnings have appeared whenever I was online, threatening that one account or another would crash it I didn’t do something immediately. I ignored those as well.
But when my computer crashed, giving me a robin-egg blue screen, I didn’t know what to do. Two of my neighbors are IT specialists. Neither were home. I tried shutting down my computer, but upon restart, the blue screen was still there.
I called my son-in-law, who knows more about computers than I will ever know. Because I couldn’t share the screen with him, I had to take photos with my phone and text them to him.
He suggested not just shutting down my computer, but unplugging it. I did so. Waited an appropriate amount of time. Restarted. The blue screen was gone. For one day.
When it appeared the second time, I received a phone call from Microsoft Security. I was skeptical, but it seemed legitimate. They knew stuff about me. My SSN, DOB, and even credit card. I did what they said. They transferred me to the FTC, where I spoke with someone claiming to be an Officer. He gave me a case number.
Meanwhile my husband visited the bank. I am so glad he did that! We had no idea how deep these scammers were into my computer and our finances.
The blue screen went away. For another day.
Another phone call. The voice sounded familiar. By now I am scared. They know everything about me. SSN, DOB, home address. Even my oldest son’s name.
When they asked for a cashier check to safeguard my accounts, I knew this was a scam.
Fortunately I had already begun changing passwords. I’d filed complaints with two federal agencies. After the second call, and then a third, I filed complaints everywhere I could.
I still don’t know ow safe we are.
My computer has been cleaned up. Five viruses had been found. Several connected to the dark web. They were deeply embedded in my computer and hadn’t been stopped by either of the antivirus programs installed.
I’m sharing this as a cautionary tale.
If you get that blue screen, take your computer in for a cleansing!
Don’t try to fix it on your own.
Don’t talk to anyone who claims they are from a know company.
Please be smarter than I was.
Alone
In the middle of a crowded room
Silent voices scream for recognition
Fear
Twists guts into compressed clay
Paralyzing limbs, numbing throats
Degradation
Fills the ears of the emotionally injured
Ruining scarce moments of hard-fought joy
Depression
Carries sinking hearts into oblivion
Erasing memories of happiness felt
Hands
Reach out, begging for salvation
Yearning for one sign of love
Answers
Arrive in rain-soaked clouds
Pouring down tears of understanding
Compassion
Clears the night of unmasked terrors
Awakening remnants of esteem, long forgotten
Joy
Blooms in multi-colored bursts of words
Spoken, thoughts shared, kindnesses felt
Light
Seeps into crevices of the heart
Obliterating shards of self-doubt
Happiness
Explodes in multicolored bursts
Opening souls to welcoming voices
Surrounded
Encased
Enfolded
Alone no more
all of life is a series of
nonstories
the might-have-beens
the almost becames
the things we dreamt of
doing
but never did
the wishes unfulfilled
presents never delivered
or received
places never visited
near-misses
chance occurrences
that developed into nothing
the left-behinds
and
soon-to-be forgottens
all stories untold
mysteries locked
romances closeted
things never experienced
foods never tasted
but secretly yearned for
nonstories frozen in place
and time
with no characters to lament
plots stagnant
themes dragging behind
do we obsess
over the lost stories
and live life in a
vacuum?
of course, not
we constantly create
our personal life stories
our dreams springing to
a life lived luxuriously
laughing joyously
over the endless
possibilities
I don’t want your blood
Dripping over my head
Not literally or symbolically
Your thoughts and fears,
Your inhibitions and philosophies
Would infiltrate my defenses
So keep it to yourself
I don’t want your tears
Dripping over my head
Not one salty drop
Polluting my ducts, my eyes,
My heart my very being.
That sadness is contagion,
An invisible hammer to crush
My defenses
So keep them to yourself.
I don’t want your beliefs
Dripping over my head
Uninvited misconceptions
Invading my perceptions
That I’ve spent years
Rehoming as I take in
Information to be analyzed.
So keep them to yourself.
Drip-dripping all over me
No blood, no tears, no beliefs.
Uninvited, unwanted
Invaders of my very self.
No gushes, no rivulets, no streams
Dripping over me.
So keep them to yourself.
I hate dealing with corporate hacks. I understand, that for consistency, the agents must work from a given script. I understand that they cannot deviate from that script, not even one word. But that doesn’t make it right nor does it help the customer.
I recently misplaced a credit card that I use on a regular basis. I have looked everywhere but cannot find it. Today I gave up the search and called the help number. The first agent was hard to understand due to his accent. He also spoke in a monotone, repeating the same information, over and over. He couldn’t verify either of my phone numbers because they “are not in the system.”
Of course they’re not in the system because I never gave them to the card holder! All they had to do was call….they’d get me. But, no, they can’t do that.
Instead I have to send them a copy of my driver’s license. I refused. Hung up.
I tried working with the store’s customer service, but they can’t do anything either.
Back to the bank. This agent was positive, upbeat, and claimed he could help. But then he transferred me to an agent who repeated the same phrases over and over and refused to deviate even when I cited her responses before she could read them! Four different times!
I still have accomplished nothing. I have no “old” card, but apparently they will issue me a new card only once I email that driver’s license, front and rear.
When did customer service become so difficult?
Before I got married I worked at a now bankrupt furniture store. In customer service! I wasn’t suited for the job, but it was a job when I desperately needed one.
The phone rang constantly, people inquiring about their orders or when an order would be delivered. Those were the easy calls.
I discovered that there are miserable people who love nothing more than to spew their misery all over the world. They’d call angry, determined to cause a fight. They wouldn’t calm down, even though I spoke in a calming voice. They wanted what they wanted and wouldn’t stop until they were satisfied.
A scratch on a leg meant a new piece of furniture. An unzipped cushion? Yes, a new one even though all they had to do was zip it up!
What I had to do, no matter the temperament of the customer, was to remain calm.
It was hard as I have little patience for rudeness, but in order to keep my position, I complied.
After months of this, I request a transfer to another position and was granted my wish.
Today’s “agents” don’t seem to understand that a satisfied customer is one who will continue shopping at the store. Perhaps they are hired to be indifferent. Perhaps their training is so limited that they aren’t given permission to think. Perhaps their temperament tends toward rigidity.
I’m not sure. But what should be a position to help customers reach satisfaction, the job seems to be annoy the heck out of anyone who dares raise a concern!
Words and Thoughts 