Wednesday, March 01, 2006
American Express
Now American Express is a great company and they have offers that businesses can take advantage of to help them, not to put them behind the 8 ball, but my story is a bit different. What you read here is kind of boiled down to the basics, but there was a lot more than I could ever document in this blog.
As I began to note what was happening to my accounts, I started to go on line to view my statements and found that I owed American express a lot of money. I paid as much as I could and my Canadian student who was manipulating my account started to generate income to pay off the expenses he was incurring. One of these expenses was a Lap Top from Voodoo which cast over $ 6000. 00 U.S.. The charges got worse and worse and my Canadian friend was not able to come up with enough money to keep American Express happy so I called American Express and cancelled my Gold Business card Next thing I know, I go on line to see where I stand on this card and I see that I have changed to the Platinum card and got not only one but two cards and over $ 29,000 has been charged to them. I called American Express and and asked that the cards be cancelled, that I refused to pay the charges as I did not order these cards. I was told how to report this all to their fraud section who denied my claim saying that I had to know about all of this and that I should recover the funds from my Canadian "business partner". At this time they are trying to collect, but I am happy that I have a lawyer friend who knew all about this from the start
As I began to note what was happening to my accounts, I started to go on line to view my statements and found that I owed American express a lot of money. I paid as much as I could and my Canadian student who was manipulating my account started to generate income to pay off the expenses he was incurring. One of these expenses was a Lap Top from Voodoo which cast over $ 6000. 00 U.S.. The charges got worse and worse and my Canadian friend was not able to come up with enough money to keep American Express happy so I called American Express and cancelled my Gold Business card Next thing I know, I go on line to see where I stand on this card and I see that I have changed to the Platinum card and got not only one but two cards and over $ 29,000 has been charged to them. I called American Express and and asked that the cards be cancelled, that I refused to pay the charges as I did not order these cards. I was told how to report this all to their fraud section who denied my claim saying that I had to know about all of this and that I should recover the funds from my Canadian "business partner". At this time they are trying to collect, but I am happy that I have a lawyer friend who knew all about this from the start
Bye Bye Bank Account
When I received a phone call from a person that "won" the bid on the 50 Inch Panasonic screen and I learned that it was sold on eBay, not once but twice, this wasn't the first I had heard of the eBay scamming. Houlton Police Officers had visited my house, different officers on different occasions and with complaints that I had sold something on eBay, got paid and never sent out the merchandise. Not knowing what they were talking about, I had my young student talk to them.
I found that he had several scams running. I had wondered where my bank account was going and why. It had been connected to PayPal and Paypal was paying for things I knew nothing about. So, when there was no money in the account, PayPal started to take the money from my credit cards that found their way onto the PayPal site. By this time, there was no money left and so, PayPal closed my account. My Canadian student said, not to worry, he would have funds transferred from his Trust Fund in a Canadian Bank. After my student went back to Canada and never came back, I started to get bills from Pay Pal for transactions I had made and even a notice from a lay firm trying to collect. I contacted PayPal and asked for all of the account information and was told I could not have it without a subpoena. Now, I was completely broke and down went my credit score. If any of the people that were scammed in my name is reading this, please let me know about what happened to you. The U.S. Attorney can build up a case but needs to know how much money was involved and all of the scam particulars. I know that I have some screen names recovered from chat rooms from a lot of people that was being scammed as they chatted, but I don't know who they are by name or email address. I need help!!!
Oh yes, why didn't I see this in my bank statements, well my mail was diverted so I wouldn't see it. Finally I had to establish a Post Office box where I could start getting complains and horrible bank statements.
I found that he had several scams running. I had wondered where my bank account was going and why. It had been connected to PayPal and Paypal was paying for things I knew nothing about. So, when there was no money in the account, PayPal started to take the money from my credit cards that found their way onto the PayPal site. By this time, there was no money left and so, PayPal closed my account. My Canadian student said, not to worry, he would have funds transferred from his Trust Fund in a Canadian Bank. After my student went back to Canada and never came back, I started to get bills from Pay Pal for transactions I had made and even a notice from a lay firm trying to collect. I contacted PayPal and asked for all of the account information and was told I could not have it without a subpoena. Now, I was completely broke and down went my credit score. If any of the people that were scammed in my name is reading this, please let me know about what happened to you. The U.S. Attorney can build up a case but needs to know how much money was involved and all of the scam particulars. I know that I have some screen names recovered from chat rooms from a lot of people that was being scammed as they chatted, but I don't know who they are by name or email address. I need help!!!
Oh yes, why didn't I see this in my bank statements, well my mail was diverted so I wouldn't see it. Finally I had to establish a Post Office box where I could start getting complains and horrible bank statements.
Friday, February 24, 2006
The BIG SCREEN Scam
I was sitting at the kitchen table doing some book work when the phone rang. The student picked up the phone and was talking with someone that represented one of the computers that he had tested. After some discussion, he turned to me and asked, could we buy a 50 inch plasma TV screen. I said I did not think so, I did not want to have any more charges against my credit card. He made another couple of phone calls and then said, Mr. X at XYZ computer company, whose gaming computer came out as the top scorer, wanted to do some publicity work with his PC by showing a picture of a game on a 50 inch screen that would be used as the monitor for the PC. He then told me that he was given the name of a finance company that would finance the screen and no payment had to be made for a year and there would be no interest until that time. He was promised by Mr. X, that if we got the screen, his company would buy it so that I would not have to pay anything. Guess what, again I took him at his word and yup, we got the 50 inch screen and I was indebted to the tune of 5995.00. This was a big 50 inch Panasonic screen. When it arrived, he took the screen, put it up on a large table, right next to this beautiful Farari Red Gaming Computer and took some pictures. . The computer was put away, I think it was sold on eBay using my account, and the screen remained on the table and had become the monitor for his computer until Mr. X bought it. Some time later, not hearing from Mr. X. I wrote him a letter and asked what his intentions were, I never heard a word in reply. The big screen was used as a monitor for playing PC games and stayed in place for several months until a friend of mine from Germany came to visit in August of 2004, almost immediately it disappeared and I was told it was stored away in safe keeping so no one would use it, as after all, it would be going to Mr. X.
It was about 8 AM one morning in September of 2004 that I received a phone call from an irate person that wanted to talk to me, I told him that he was talking to me, and he said no, he had talked to "me" before and that I wasn't the person he talked to. He wanted to know where his big screen was that he had won on a bid on eBay ( by the way, it was not put up to bid on my eBay account, that had been closed). He told me then who he was and I had my student on the phone to do some explaining to him and then to me. I was told that Mr. X wasn't going to buy the 50 inch screen so he sold it to raise the money to pay off the screen with the finance company. Guess what, I then found that he had sold the screen twice, used a fictitious serial number, on eBay, to someone in Seattle. That guy got the screen, paid for it and I never got the money to pay the finance company.
To this day, the finance company is hounding me. Hopefully, my credit counseling agency will make a deal.
It was about 8 AM one morning in September of 2004 that I received a phone call from an irate person that wanted to talk to me, I told him that he was talking to me, and he said no, he had talked to "me" before and that I wasn't the person he talked to. He wanted to know where his big screen was that he had won on a bid on eBay ( by the way, it was not put up to bid on my eBay account, that had been closed). He told me then who he was and I had my student on the phone to do some explaining to him and then to me. I was told that Mr. X wasn't going to buy the 50 inch screen so he sold it to raise the money to pay off the screen with the finance company. Guess what, I then found that he had sold the screen twice, used a fictitious serial number, on eBay, to someone in Seattle. That guy got the screen, paid for it and I never got the money to pay the finance company.
To this day, the finance company is hounding me. Hopefully, my credit counseling agency will make a deal.
The Plot Thickens
By now, I was pretty much convinced that this young student was legitimate and just needed help setting things up. He claimed that he was engaged to help develop Star Wars Galaxies and spent a lot of time at his computer working on things that I know nothing about. His pay for this was $ 250.00 a day, paid into his account in a Canadian bank. Actually, after awhile he received a beautifully bound game which was the final product of what he was working on. He also said that his resources was a trust fund that was set up for him in Canada.
He then surprised me by telling me that he was the Executive Editor in Chief of an on line program that evaluated computers and computer hardware. He now had a project that involved getting computers from some of the manufacturers of the best gaming computers available. They were to be shipped to him and he had to use my facilities to run tests and overclock these computers and do a write up on each computer. Soon the computers started arriving and there were long hours invested in running these computers at their maximum. When he was finished, he wrote up his report on each computer which was published on the internet. I was told that his reward for this was to keep the computers, that the did not need to be shipped back and that after awhile he would be allowed to sell them. As a Canadian, he could not use his eBay account in Canada to sell and deliver in the U.S.. I guess I should have checked up on this but when he asked if I had an eBay account and could he use it, I agreed. I had only used my ebay account to buy on line and did buy a fine computer for myself some time back and was well pleased with it. Since I did not use the account any more, I agreed and he said that I should change my name on the account which I did. Along with using my eBay account, there was a PayPal account that went along with it and that of course was tied into my bank account I also had credit cards that he said we could use to buy parts and perhaps build our own computers. The credit cards were also listed on the PayPal account. I applied for and received an American Express Gold Business card.
This was the beginning of the demise of my retirement savings.
He then surprised me by telling me that he was the Executive Editor in Chief of an on line program that evaluated computers and computer hardware. He now had a project that involved getting computers from some of the manufacturers of the best gaming computers available. They were to be shipped to him and he had to use my facilities to run tests and overclock these computers and do a write up on each computer. Soon the computers started arriving and there were long hours invested in running these computers at their maximum. When he was finished, he wrote up his report on each computer which was published on the internet. I was told that his reward for this was to keep the computers, that the did not need to be shipped back and that after awhile he would be allowed to sell them. As a Canadian, he could not use his eBay account in Canada to sell and deliver in the U.S.. I guess I should have checked up on this but when he asked if I had an eBay account and could he use it, I agreed. I had only used my ebay account to buy on line and did buy a fine computer for myself some time back and was well pleased with it. Since I did not use the account any more, I agreed and he said that I should change my name on the account which I did. Along with using my eBay account, there was a PayPal account that went along with it and that of course was tied into my bank account I also had credit cards that he said we could use to buy parts and perhaps build our own computers. The credit cards were also listed on the PayPal account. I applied for and received an American Express Gold Business card.
This was the beginning of the demise of my retirement savings.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Is There Another You, Identity Theft
Is There Another You This is all about Identity Theft. How it happened and how it can happen to you.
Be Careful Who you Trust
After retirement and taking on a young College student from Canada to rent a room things started to happen. My student originally told me of a plan that he had to establish an internet gaming network. He needed to find backers and I helped him with a small loan to go to a company that read business plans and if they liked it, they would find financial backers. They kept their promise and one of these backers was a large internet company, not naming any names here folks. Armed with a letter from this company, my student now had to put his plan in motion by finding a location to install a bank of servers capable of handling a national network dedicated for gaming. Once a headquarters could be established several rooms had to be available at very cold temperatures to allow the servers to overclock without damaging the processors. There is a local Mall that was unable to keep enough stores in it to make a profit and they were facing bankruptcy. My student, armed with a letter from one of the major backers went to this mall, spoke to the manager and offered to buy out the entire mall for a multimillion dollar figure to be paid by the backers. This would establish a location for the many servers needed to handle this gaming operation. The boldness of this proposal and the knowlege of this young student convinced me that he was on the up and up and thus I began to trust him. Within a few weeks, a representative of a well known manufacturer of high end gaming computers came to my home and he and the student spend a couple of days going over details . This put the frosting on the cake and I was totally convinced this was legitimate, as was the student.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Not what you would hope for
I started working when I was 13, quite High School, lied about my age and cooked on a Lobster Smack. From there, I went back to high school, on a Liberty Ship, the John W. Brown, from there to college, got a Merchant Marine license and a commission in the Naval Reserve. Went to sea for 12 years, came home started a business, got married, we had a son, got divorced then went to work for the government. So, after 57 years of work I finally retired and had some money set aside in a Thrift Savings Plan. During the last few years, I hosted four foreign students. I had bought a house closer to work and there I hosted my last student. My son was away and when my student went back home, I had an empty house So, with three bedrooms in a big house, I advertised for someone to rent a room. I took in a student from a Canadian university who was working on a plan to establish a computer gaming network. This sounded like a good deal and so I thought that there would be a life after retirement. I ended up broke, nada, credit cards in my name were maxed out, bank account wiped out and a bunch of people complaining that I had cheated them on eBay. This was retiremen? Certainly not what I hoped for.
