Relaxing-Fun » Random

Western Union Check Scam

Johnny Z — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 02:38:18 +0000

Just a heads up for anyone savvy enough to check on too good to be true offers and deals online. My wife filled out a form online one day, I’m not sure where or for what, but she entered our phone number and address. We received solicitation phone calls already, but the latest attempt to extract our hard earned cash is interesting. The company name they are using this time was Fidelity Assurance Company.

Here is the letter:

My wife came to me with a letter saying that she had filled something out online and they wanted her to be their “secret shopper”. They also enclosed a check for $1,995 made out to my wife. The check looks real, but it is too good to be true. Read the letter. As their secret shopper, the first thing they want you to do is to test out Western Union. You transfer $1,455.00 plus a transfer fee of $125 to someone named Theodore Fransisco in the city of Atlanta. That info may be different on your letter, but rest assured these crooks are just trying to scrape a nice chunk of money from your account when you send them the money and your bank takes any money they may have given you back.

The envelope the scam came in was from Canada with no return address, and the bank on the check is the First National Bank A l a s k a. It is spelled out on the check just like I wrote it. Whatever you do, don’t send them any money or bother cashing the bogus check. Here is a link with lots of other folks that received the scam.

Still Searching for the Right Theme

Johnny Z — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 04:15:50 +0000

Sometimes picking the right theme is hard to do. I’ve found myself being torn by aesthetics and functionality. I prefer not only a home run, but a grand slam so perhaps I’m setting myself up for disaster. I’ll be changing the looks of the site a lot in the next days, hopefully I’ll find the right one. Sorry about any loss of functionality.

First Day in Indramayu

Johnny Z — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 02:02:25 +0000

Our first day in Indramayu was the beginning of what seemed like one long endless day. I met many people, and couldn’t converse with any unless Esih was by my side and in the mood. usually, she would begin translating and would quickly end up having a conversation with whoever I was trying to speak with, neglecting me while I stood there being polite and trying to seem like I knew what the heck was going on.

Anga is Esih’s cousin’s child. He was always there and seemed to be a crybaby.

Iin is Esih’s niece.

Mega and Nur are Esih’s cousin’s kids.

Mimi Dut. Esih’s great aunt.

A am is one of Esih’s cousins. She is with her daughter Cinta (which means love)

The view north from Esih’s family’s house. Notice the goats competing for the road with the motorcyclist.

Every day there were congregations of people at this point, under the large overhang/garage at the house.

Aliya and Baba Wawang.

The side of the house.

The mango trees next door.

Total strangers; I met them when we went to the bank. I was hoping to find out some information about travelers checks, as ours had mysteriously disappeared sometime between our time in Jakarta and our first day in Indramayu. It was another in a growing list of hair pulling frustrations for me. I was worried about our money situation and the checks were gone. I was hoping to use them to help pay of the airplane tickets if we could manage to not use them while we were there. I’ll tell the rest of this story later.