Monday:
(morning)
I had two things to dread today and have got one of them over with, the dentist visit. I am very dentist-phobic (I bet there is a real word for that - there you go, ondontophobia). I have no problem with doctors or needles or intrusive examinations; but put me in a dentist chair and I'm a trembling mess who gags every few seconds as the dentist tries to do something horrible like, oh, clean my teeth. It is actually a very stressful experience for me. After I had to have a root canal, which took several hour-long visits, I didn't go back for four years. This time it's been two years since my last visit, and I tried a new dentist, the one I take my kids to. She is lovely, and she tried a few things to help me. She let me sit up instead of lying back, and that was enormously helpful. It's not pain I'm scared of, I think it is mainly that helpless feeling. Also I can feel like I'm drowning. So sitting up was much better. Also she put some salt on my tongue. I've never heard of that before, but it actually helped stop me gagging so much. Weird. And finally she did half the clean with the usual electric stuff and the water spray and suction etc but decided I wasn't handling it well and went to just a manual pick. She deals mainly with kids and I think she was great!
The best thing was no cavities so I don't have to go back for another year. But when I do, it will definitely be to her. And she asked me to put a review online, I will and it will be glowing!
The other worry for today is getting the roof inspected, I need to get the tiles fixed asap but it's hard to find someone to do it soon. I've got the representative from a big company coming today, and I've just got the feeling they are going to be very pushy about getting the whole roof restored or something I don't want or need. So I will have to be assertive, which I find a bit scary. But hopefully it won't be like that. I try not to worry about stuff that might not even happen.
(afternoon)
The roof guy was very nice but as I expected pushed for total roof restoration which is not something I want to do right now with the future so unsettled. The interaction was fine, but he said there isn't really a temporary patch-up that he can do. The worrying part is that I actually believe him about what needs to be done, I've had quite a few handymen/insurance people etc come out here lately and this house really needs some work. But I don't want to spend thousands when I don't know if we're staying, or going away for a year, or renovating, or maybe selling permanently. Yet I don't want the roof to leak every time it rains and destroy the new floor and ceiling (when we get a new ceiling)! Troubling. I plan to get another opinion about the roof from another tradesman, and I'll see if they give different advice.
(evening)
I was just finishing dinner and feeling good when I got yet another phone call from those scammers. They call from India, so there is nothing the local police can do, and it may be one group or several with similar stories, but it is basically the same scam: "we are from x internet company and we can fix your computer remotely if you give us access". I was nearly caught out the first time because I was indeed having serious computer problems and they seemed to know about it, it was just bad timing (for me, perfect for them). I was lucky they didn't get away with anything. This is, what, the sixth time they have called me? And most of those in the past month or two. I responded much as I did last time: "Does your father know what you do for a living? Does your mother? How can you live with yourself?" Last time the woman hung up on me straight away, this time there was just silence until I hung up on the man. Then I started shaking. I could hardly walk for a minute, my legs were trembling so bad. I really hate confrontation! And part of me actually feels sorry for these people in a country with so much poverty where they might not have much choice. Would I steal food if I was starving? It's just a more sophisticated form of doing that. What if your choices are starvation, prostitution, or working for internet scammers where you never have to meet your victims? Of course some of them are probably heartless bastards. But some of them might feel guilty every day.
Report card:
Diet: Ok. Better today.
Exercise: Poor. Very short walk. It was something.
Water: Good.
Sleep: Poor.
Mental health: Poor. It's been a very stressful day. And I was really hoping to hear about Tim's job, but no.
Showing posts with label scam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scam. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2015
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Weigh in Thursday
Thursday:
Starting weight: 85.3 kg
Last week: 81.9
This week: 81.4
Loss: 0.5
Total loss: 3.9 kg
I lost half a kilogram this week, and I am very happy with that. I really wasn't expecting a loss at all. I guess not turning to food when stressed really helps! Half a kilogram is a good steady loss.
I took Thor to the vet this morning for his final immunisation shots (and some drops in his nose!) This time the vet said 7-10 days, and then that a week is ok, so he'll be able to walk the kids to school with me on the last day of term next Friday. Just in time for the school holidays. Yay, only a week until we can go out for walks and to the park! And last night he only woke once, nearly 6am, so that is going really well.
**My bank just called me and the scammers tried to take around $600 but it seems to have been successfully stopped. So that is good.
My computer has been completely wiped and reset from the original start-up discs so hopefully we've removed any viruses they put on. And the bank's fraud department is checking everything their end.
So yesterday generated a lot of stress and work, but hopefully no worse will come of it. I am trying to forgive myself for being so gullible. Sean Anderson made a lovely comment yesterday about how being trusting just means to expect others to be as honest as you are. I agree that is not a bad thing and I would hate to always assume the worst of everyone. But "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me", I will be a bit more careful from now on.
Starting weight: 85.3 kg
Last week: 81.9
This week: 81.4
Loss: 0.5
Total loss: 3.9 kg
I lost half a kilogram this week, and I am very happy with that. I really wasn't expecting a loss at all. I guess not turning to food when stressed really helps! Half a kilogram is a good steady loss.
I took Thor to the vet this morning for his final immunisation shots (and some drops in his nose!) This time the vet said 7-10 days, and then that a week is ok, so he'll be able to walk the kids to school with me on the last day of term next Friday. Just in time for the school holidays. Yay, only a week until we can go out for walks and to the park! And last night he only woke once, nearly 6am, so that is going really well.
**My bank just called me and the scammers tried to take around $600 but it seems to have been successfully stopped. So that is good.
My computer has been completely wiped and reset from the original start-up discs so hopefully we've removed any viruses they put on. And the bank's fraud department is checking everything their end.
So yesterday generated a lot of stress and work, but hopefully no worse will come of it. I am trying to forgive myself for being so gullible. Sean Anderson made a lovely comment yesterday about how being trusting just means to expect others to be as honest as you are. I agree that is not a bad thing and I would hate to always assume the worst of everyone. But "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me", I will be a bit more careful from now on.
Being scammed
Wednesday:
I was scammed today, by what was apparently a well-known group. They were certainly very smooth and professional. I never thought I would be taken in like that. I feel so stupid and upset. After 'grooming' me for an hour on the phone, they ended up with access to a lot of stuff on my computer. Of course everything is changed, banks notified etc now. I am writing this on my laptop, we are going to completely wipe my PC. I don't care if I lose a few unsaved photos or a few days writing. I'll feel safer.
When I found information about this particular scam later on a government website, it talked about how they use a mixture of friendliness and bullying and that was so true. I started off very cautious and they were calm and reassuring (I talked to a couple of different people) then later when I got suspicious somehow they were able to bully me into continuing. Oh I feel like an idiot.
I was vulnerable to this particular scam because I'd been having a lot of internet troubles for the past few days, with no internet access for hours at a time, so when someone from the internet provider called to help me fix it, it seemed quite reasonable. They didn't really know I was having problems, they just call people at random on the chance that quite often they will get someone who is.
It ended like this: I was trying to make a small payment to them, using my MasterCard online, but it apparently wasn't going through. So he got me to log into my bank account to see if the payment had been made. (Yes, stupid me.) He started flipping through screens from his end! He had access to my account. I burst into tears and he shouted at me, telling me he wasn't doing anything. He was really aggressive, how dare I accuse him. I was about to pull the plug, when he apparently put $1500 into my account. What the? (Turned out he had just transferred it from another of my accounts, which I didn't realise at the time.) It was weird enough to make me pause for a moment. I asked for an explanation and I didn't get one that made sense, but what he wanted me to do was go to an ATM and withdraw $1200 of this and put into his nominated account and I could keep the other $300. What what what?? I turned off the computer and pulled all the plugs on the modem etc, and even the landline phone, then called my husband, the bank, and the police. My husband came home for a while and also called his brother, who is a bit of a computer expert, for advice. I was shaking for an hour.
As far as I know I am have not lost any money, but they have quite a few of my personal details which is scary for identity theft.
One thing that almost gives me half a smile is when he asked me when I needed to get back to work and I said I didn't work, I was a housewife. Looking back, I can see his 'oh' was of disappointment!
Really though, I am very very unsettled and distressed. My stomach is all churned up and I feel sick still, many hours later.
Just to put the crown on my afternoon, the kids were still not home half an hour after school finished. They haven't been walking home without me for long, only a couple of weeks, and it is only two blocks away. There is no reason for it to take them half an hour. I got really scared and went out to search for them. I found them dawdling home over the school oval, apparently with no idea they had been playing with friends so long.
One ray of light in the gloom, I didn't turn to food. What I really wanted to do all afternoon was write it all out on my blog! Which I have finally got access to do. Writing it out helps, even though you all know now how stupid and gullible I am.
I just realised that yesterday the section I wrote for my novel (and didn't save to a USB, so will now be lost) was an exploration of how my heroine is extremely trusting and some people saw that as a weakness but others didn't. I suddenly see it as more of a fault than when I wrote it yesterday!
I was scammed today, by what was apparently a well-known group. They were certainly very smooth and professional. I never thought I would be taken in like that. I feel so stupid and upset. After 'grooming' me for an hour on the phone, they ended up with access to a lot of stuff on my computer. Of course everything is changed, banks notified etc now. I am writing this on my laptop, we are going to completely wipe my PC. I don't care if I lose a few unsaved photos or a few days writing. I'll feel safer.
When I found information about this particular scam later on a government website, it talked about how they use a mixture of friendliness and bullying and that was so true. I started off very cautious and they were calm and reassuring (I talked to a couple of different people) then later when I got suspicious somehow they were able to bully me into continuing. Oh I feel like an idiot.
I was vulnerable to this particular scam because I'd been having a lot of internet troubles for the past few days, with no internet access for hours at a time, so when someone from the internet provider called to help me fix it, it seemed quite reasonable. They didn't really know I was having problems, they just call people at random on the chance that quite often they will get someone who is.
It ended like this: I was trying to make a small payment to them, using my MasterCard online, but it apparently wasn't going through. So he got me to log into my bank account to see if the payment had been made. (Yes, stupid me.) He started flipping through screens from his end! He had access to my account. I burst into tears and he shouted at me, telling me he wasn't doing anything. He was really aggressive, how dare I accuse him. I was about to pull the plug, when he apparently put $1500 into my account. What the? (Turned out he had just transferred it from another of my accounts, which I didn't realise at the time.) It was weird enough to make me pause for a moment. I asked for an explanation and I didn't get one that made sense, but what he wanted me to do was go to an ATM and withdraw $1200 of this and put into his nominated account and I could keep the other $300. What what what?? I turned off the computer and pulled all the plugs on the modem etc, and even the landline phone, then called my husband, the bank, and the police. My husband came home for a while and also called his brother, who is a bit of a computer expert, for advice. I was shaking for an hour.
As far as I know I am have not lost any money, but they have quite a few of my personal details which is scary for identity theft.
One thing that almost gives me half a smile is when he asked me when I needed to get back to work and I said I didn't work, I was a housewife. Looking back, I can see his 'oh' was of disappointment!
Really though, I am very very unsettled and distressed. My stomach is all churned up and I feel sick still, many hours later.
Just to put the crown on my afternoon, the kids were still not home half an hour after school finished. They haven't been walking home without me for long, only a couple of weeks, and it is only two blocks away. There is no reason for it to take them half an hour. I got really scared and went out to search for them. I found them dawdling home over the school oval, apparently with no idea they had been playing with friends so long.
One ray of light in the gloom, I didn't turn to food. What I really wanted to do all afternoon was write it all out on my blog! Which I have finally got access to do. Writing it out helps, even though you all know now how stupid and gullible I am.
I just realised that yesterday the section I wrote for my novel (and didn't save to a USB, so will now be lost) was an exploration of how my heroine is extremely trusting and some people saw that as a weakness but others didn't. I suddenly see it as more of a fault than when I wrote it yesterday!
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