FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

I am sorry Kristi for you and Jackie and everyone. What a nightmare. I was hacked 3.5 years ago. I only noticed at the very last minute because I was checking something. I f I hadn't gone into PayPal when I do, my entire checking and savings account would have been wiped out. It took me a month to get any sense of order back and I still sometimes have nightmares about it. It's an ugly world out there--the wild, wild west of internet.
Thank God Jackie has her family and is loved.
Je t'embrasse
Sara in Paris

I forgot to mention that my nephew was 23 years old at the time.

And Praise the Lord that Jackie is at home with you and Jean-Marc and Jules encore.
vp

Je suis désolé Jackie.
Unless I recognize the number I simply do not answer. If it is important they will leave a message and I will be able to determine the legitimacy of the call. I know that legitimate areas of concern from any gov’t dept will be handled through the mail not a phone call. As a senior citizen I am a target for all sorts of scams. I have received robo calls from my own phone number before and the ph company response was, “sorry.” We live in a digital age where privacy is a thing of the past. One must be wary. Disheartening …

What a terrible experience for Jackie glad your home and safe❤️
It seems une Escroquerie Are prevalent all over the world now
But they have been lurking for years!
My experience was as an artist with a website online for many years - and fake clients Asking to purchase my artwork.
My first experience was in 2008. I was an experienced artist in her 60s. Had Exhibitions and lots of marketing experience.
A man contacted me Through my website contact form that he had seen my work and absolutely loved it and wanted to purchase several works of art for his wife for her birthday. I was thrilled !! I began my normal dialogue to activate his choices
This was before before PayPal or Venmo or Zell.
so the only way I could do a transaction that was international
( he used a very English name with a Gmail account)
at
that time was for money orders through the the US post office.
I did receive what I thought was authentic US post office money orders at a large amount (about $5000, )because he picked three paintings…
the catch was he wanted to use his own shipping agent and so he was sending extra money supposedly on the money orders and I was to cash take the cash out of my checking account and mail it to his shipper along with the paintings.
It all started to become very Complicated and suspicious.
So before depositing the money orders into my checking account and taking the cash money out for him ,I took the money orders to my local US post office to check them out and GUESS WHAT ! they were all fakes , they looked very much like normal US money orders but there was something screwed up about the barcode or the way they were printed I can’t remember exactly but needless to say I shut the whole thing down , luckily didn’t mail off the paintings and end up losing a lot of money.

I reported this to US treasury ,to the United States post office and was directed to the FBI at one point to do tracking but it was hard to track the emails because they kept changing the email addresses ,but these scammers are still to this day trying to get me all the time to send paintings and cash money to a address in various parts of the US. I later found out that this is happened to other artists.
So I’m not so lucky as they lost paintings and money with the hope that this was real. We artist are always vulnerable to fake clients and false statements as we are constantly creating beautiful work to sell. And these scammers come from all over the world.
I Stay vigilant, make people pay through PayPal now, that’s my system ,if they ask me to do something unusual I tell them that my business must come through PayPal and when I receive the money and it clears the bank ,I will ship my paintings.Period!
.All the best to you all
Marti Schmidt

I am sooo sorry to hear this. I do not have personal story but I do know that thousands of people are scammed regularly over their phone and the internet. Stories about this are in the news everyday. She is far from alone in this experience.

There are a lot of emails pretending to be from Amazon..
Usually informing you of a purchase you have not really made. In order to clear this up, they want to to call them and give your info. I came so close to falling for this, but instead I called Amazon’s real number
..and changed my passcode.

What a frightening story! I am so sorry that she had to suffer and lose her hard earned money to unscrupulous people.. A few years ago my husband’s company computers were hacked and he had to pay a ransom in bitcoins or all the files would be erased.He paid and the hacker told him how to protect his computers from further hacking. He then asked the hacker how he could be sure that he wouldn’t come after him again. The hacker said that he was an honest hacker! 😜

Happens all the time here in Florida! Just hang up! If it’s official, they will send you a letter, sometimes a certified letter. Or you can call a government agency yourself. (Or, the local police 😐) So sorry Jackie had to go through this horrible experience … her parents, too!! Enjoy your time together. Sending love and light.

My son was scammed a number of years ago when he was in med school by a caller (phone i.d. of local police dept.) claiming to be the local police. The caller said my son would be arrested unless he paid the “IRS.” Of course, the IRS does not have local police do their collections, nor due they make demands over the telephone. But he had just pulled an “all-nighter” studying for exams and was at a weak point. Unfortunately, he paid and was taken for several thousand dollars. Like your daughter, he understood his error upon reflection, only exacerbating his pain and self-hate. These criminals are very clever and prey upon the vulnerable, quickly assessing victims who will respond. Please tell Jackie she is a crime victim and not a dumb person. These criminals know how to motivate people when they panick. - Jerry

So very sorry that Jackie (and you) had this upsetting and scary experience, especially as she worked so hard to earn her money. I hope that she will take it in stride. She certainly won't be scammed again!

My husbands e Mail was lifted and a message sent to all of his friends to send money . It took 2 days with Yahoo on phone to see what was going on . They had all his e mails going to them . This came out of Ethiopia . It came across as an e Mail from our carrier and when he opens that email it gave them access. At least the received no money!

Salut! Just this past week I received a request from a pharmacy from which I receive my scripts. The request was to complete a survey. Usually, I just delete the message, but this time I decided to complete it. At the end of the survey, I scrolled down to see what I had qualified for...it was a vacuum & all I had to 'fork over' was shipping & handling, which was $2.99! No problem! I provided my credit card info and continued until I saw the cost and I started to delete the provided info. My credit card company turned down the request. The next day, I received several emails from them, urging me to phone them, which I did. I was told that all was well and that they were taking care of reporting the fraud to the pharmacy and the agencies dealing with cyber fraud. I am very grateful! Your daughter's experience was frightful...so glad that she has returned to the safety of France.

Dear Jackie, I am so glad you are safe. What a horrible experience. People of all ages and professions and nationalities get scammed. I won't add the stories of my friends -- there are plenty of examples in the comments already. Thankfully you are home and safe. Don't think you were 'stupid' for even a minute! These evil folks are very clever and believable!

After you've had time to rest and enjoy the love of your family, I, and all your 'fans' look forward to hearing what you decide to do next.

Sending love to you and the whole family.

Carole

These calls and threats are ALL scams. Social Security will never call you, much less threaten or ask for money immediately. Hang up immediately and do not worry about it. These calls are false and are scams to get you to send money. Usually they target the elderly. Now it looks like they are after the young. Never again ok?

Remember that getting your money is their goal. They practice until they get it. I am so sorry. I have had hackers freeze my computer screen and tell me I must call the number on the screen. They then try to get a cleaning service contract to weed out these viruses for $175/year.
I kept saying "I'm sure your business is legitimate. I just need to double-check with my computer friend." That bought me time, & I learned of the scam. It was almost chance that I wasn't taken. My mother did fall for a similar scam.
It's a horrible feeling. You are a good person and I predict you will recoup your losses twofold and quickly! Meanwhile the theives remain morally bankrupt.

Hi Kristen & Jackie,
Someonw on this blog said "Do NOT answer calls from an unknown number." I have practiced this policy for many years - if they are for REAL, they will leave a message and then you may choose to respond.
Sorry to hear about this "kerfunkle" It is not an easy world we live in now. Be proactive and PROTECT YOURSELF!!! A complicated and distressing lesson to learn
Jacki (no EEEE's) in Idaho.
BTW all this happened to you on my BIRTHDAY#73...

Don't let your dear daughter feel badly. I know to be scammed is a blow to self-esteem or sense of trust. As a non-senile woman of a certain age I almost got caught myself. I already know not to give anyone my SSN over the phone (unless I've initiated the call). I know that financial institutions and government offices never do cold calls and ask for private information (always by mail). However, I still remember my heart pounding the afternoon I got caught up in that IRS scheme going round. It sounded so real and sincere about a problem. I told them I didn't know much about taxes, I can't help them. I need to ask my husband. And I really meant that because I thought it was real. They said they'd call back. I couldn't call my husband because he was in France and probably had his phone off while he slept. Luckily, our accountant was still in his office. He told me DON'T ANSWER IF THEY CALL BACK.

I knew better, but these people are so excellent at scamming that it's so easy to go into an immediate panic with the stories they tell. So two little pieces of advice for anyone out there: 1) if an important financial or government document disappears, report it immediately, even if you hope to find it in a day or two. And 2) reminder not to ever click on any links sent to you if you are not expecting them. It's easy to look at the full sender's email address and decide if it's from the real company.

Hugs to Jackie. She's so lucky to have such great parents she can depend on like this.

Hi Kristi
So sorry to hear of this. It's awful when our children are in trouble and so far away.
In addition to our cellphones, we have an answering machine on our landline (Old school, I know) and screen all calls, 95% of which are solicitations or scams.
Lots of good advice above. Best general practice I've found is to independently contact the supposed "source" of the info. i.e. If Netflix emails me saying have a problem with my payment, I do not click on the email links or call the number provided, but contact Netflix directly via phone or website info that I look up independently.
Hope this helps someone.
Paul

I got a call from Rogers (phone company) who told me that there was suspicious activity on my account and it had been frozen. I hung up and called Rogers back. It turns out the call was real and someone had gone into a store saying they were me and tried to get a new phone line attached to my account. The store flagged it because the ID they used looked suspicious. I went on to contact the police to report the attempted fraud and identity theft. Next, I called my bank and the two national credit bureau companies to put a warning on my accounts to only open new accounts/credit by calling my phone number from their files first. All this and I was completely unaware that it was happening. I’m so glad the Rogers people were suspicious.

I’m sorry for what happened to Jackie.

OH NO! I can't imagine how helpless you and Jean-Marc felt being across an ocean from Jackie! And, how wonderful that she didn't lose any more money and was not in physical danger. And, note, Kristi, how tuned in your were when you asked your husband if he had heard from your daughter...that started the ball (of light) rolling.
We must all learn how to safeguard ourselves from all sorts of criminal attempts to make us victims. You must know that major corporations, hospitals, and our very U.S. goverment has been hacked. I do not think anywhere IS safe--it is up to us to be informed and vigilant but not frightened or obsessed. Of course, it feels safe to be home with your protective parents and in your own home, but I imagine that is not what your daughter envisions for the rest of her life.
By the way my daughter spent part of her late teen years living in Paris while working for a major modelling company--she stayed with a group of fellow models and survived unscathed.
Sending love and appreciation to you all for sharing--by sharing you attract more love and power!
By the way, you seem to have multiple "Valerie's" so maybe add my last name. My mother (while in France for years) decided she would name a daughter either Valerie or Jacqueline, both names she loved.

Since this is a language site, my experience may be helpful to those of you who do translation work, and I hope that by describing it I don't enable some crooks out there but instead keep your readers from falling for this one.

This is, as I now realize, a common scam where an e-mail will be sent asking the recipient's interest in doing a translation. In my case it was purportedly from a university graduate student. The paper was in a field that I'm particularly interested in, so I gave the writer a quote after perusing it. Based on the structure of the content, I mentioned to the "client" that it seemed to be a "back-translation" (flag #1), that it had originally probably been written in the language I was going to be translating into, to which I got no response (flag #2). I proceeded nevertheless, as the job was time-sensitive (flag #3) and I had just enough time to do it if I started right away.

As the work progressed, I had difficulty getting in touch with the "client" to go over some terms (flag #4). By then, however, they said they would send a partial payment so I was assured. They then said they were impressed with my work (flag #5) and had another important project that they wanted me to work on.

The check I received for the first translation was for well over what I had quoted for it (flag #6). The explanation given was that it was to avoid delays in getting the second translation going as time was of the essence (le temps presse!). They kept insisting that I let them know when I deposited the check (flag #7) and were unhappy at my delay.

Then they told me that there had been a change (malheureusement!), that the second translation wasn't approved, so to keep the amount I'd charged for the first translation and return the balance of what they'd sent to them (an indisputable, foot-ball-field-sized flag #8) via my own wire transfer.

This was the clincher. I wasn't about to send anyone money before knowing their check had actually cleared. I immediately called my bank to tell them I'd submitted a check to deposit I now thought might be a scam. They ultimately confirmed that it was, indeed, made out by a false entity. I didn't lose any money, though I did lose all the precious time I'd spent working on the fake translation job.

After that, I kept receiving e-mails from many different entities using the same scheme, with different names and so-called circumstances. They must have gotten my contact information from a professional organization's contact/referral list that's open to the public, and no doubt are still busy scamming other professionals in the field.

So, translators: "prenez-guarde!"

p.s. I'm not all that myopic in not having reacted more strongly than a simple "hmmm, what's going on here?" to the flags as they arose. After all, it's hind-sight that's 20-20!

Praise to God that Jackie is home. Praying for recovery and direction for her. The evil people in this world never cease to amaze me. That was a horrid thing to do to her—to anyone! I'm so sorry all of you had to go through this.

Hi Kristi,
So sorry for Jackie! There are so many people just waiting to take advantage of others. I'm glad she is back home with you all!

So sorry for Jackie. She is certainly not alone, unfortunately.
Glad she is home and feels safe again with her family.
Sending love and big hugs.

I’m so sorry about Jackie’s encounter with the scammers. As others have said, the US gov’t will only send a letter never call on the phone. Please notify them though that she has lost her SS card & will need a replacement or new #. I think getting a new # is not easy so after this trauma has passed, start that process. Best of luck to your family dear Kristi. Sincerely, Diane Arnold

How horrid for Jackie and all of you! Thank goodness she is home again and ready to recover from this trauma in your care. Good, honest people of all ages and all walks of life are targeted by these crooks all over our planet.

The worst price paid by victims is the self-doubt and undeserved shame for being fooled, allowing a seeming 'official' to control one's behaviour. It's such a hard way to learn a bit of healthy cynicism without losing one's trust in most people who ARE good, honest, and kind.

Please hold Jackie close for me too, Kristi. Keep reminding her that SHE is not one whit at fault. These scammers are experts with amazing skills and tricks. Any one of us can fall prey when our emotions are manipulated by such wily crooks.

Jackie, do forgive yourself, and please accept our thanks for sharing your story. Every such gift of personal experience helps to alert and protect others. Great to have this info to remind my own family and friends to be sceptical of 'officials' who call or email them about some 'emergency'.

My email was hacked this week, and a false plea for money sent out to all my contacts. The fake message got through a few people's spam filters and worried them about me. This event was minor compared to your ordeal, yet for sure, I'll be freshly wary going forward.

Big hug to you, and to your parents and brother as well.

Quel cauchemar! I'm glad the scammer was unable to complete the scam!

We recently got a call with that exact script from someone claiming to be our grandson. The unfamiliar voice was even explained by the "broken nose." My quick-witted husband came up with some questions that exposed the scam, but it was disturbing how much this caller knew about us and our family. It's really sad that people so clever are using their skill to cheat others when they could be doing something positive with it.

Hi Kristi,
What a horrible shock for you all and thank goodness Jackie is safe!
I’ve had many variable scam attempts made on me, the spookiest being where someone hacked my Facebook account and pretended to be one of my friends asking for financial support. Unfortunately for the scammer, I speak to my UK friend on the phone weekly and knew that he would not ask me for help in this way. I immediatelyI rang my friend and confirmed that indeed his FaceBook details were being fraudulently used. Given that I had the tightest security in place, and rarely posted anything on Facebook, I decided that deleting my account was the smartest thing to do....in fact I no longer have any social media accounts to temp fate. My girlfriend had her reputable (and expensive) online dating site hacked - the hacker/potential scammer was sending messages to both men and women on the site - he would just use another man or woman’s photo with a different name - and he would send the same message to everyone, but just tweak it to be either from a man or from a woman. Once he made contact with a woman, he would then get them onto Skype, without video of course, and try to exhort money from them. Let’s just say his voice and speech pattern came from the African continent, most likely. We girls had a good laugh at the scammers expense one night, as unbeknownst to him, we were all crowded around the computer listening as my girlfriend asked him specific questions and got him into a very tight corner with his continual lies - that’s when another male voice in the background could be heard pushing him to get off Skype! We then had the pleasure of telling him he had been recorded, and reported to all of the relevant agencies. At which point, he became very nasty. We clicked off and deleted my friend’s Skype account.
Unfortunately, these experiences leave a very nasty taste in one’s mouth, however I know in my heart that the vast majority of humans globally are decent, kind, loving and honest.

Hi Kristi and Jackie -I hope from all the above that you see this is not an uncommon incident. My husband, who is normally very discerning, fell for a scam which claimed he needed to get a money card from our local drugstore to “protect” our Apple services immediately! When he went to purchase it, the clerk (praise him!) asked, “Are you sure you want to do that?” Thus we were saved by a person as opposed to a dead cell phone. As a widow, I get all kinds of calls from “Social Security” (which NEVER calls), “Apple,” wanting to save my account”:by going online, “Amazon,” wanting to get information to “correct a suspicious charge,” etc. Terrible to say, but if the person leaving a message (because I don’t answer unrecognized numbers anymore ) has a very heavy accent, then I suspect it might be a scam operation in a foreign country, where scams are in full force, vigilantly at work in warehouses of telephone operators who case the whole planet for the vulnerable - young, old, and uninformed. I hope Jackie has not lost her taste for the joy of travel, living out life experiences in new countries (like the US!) because of the actions of a despicable person or group. Don't give them power over you, Jackie. Learn, live, regroup and go forth! As I could tell by your dead cell phone, God is watching over you. ❤️Janet

I’m so sorry to hear this happened to Jackie. I’m glad she is back home again for awhile. Something similar happened to my mom several years ago. Someone contacted her saying her granddaughter had gone to Mexico over spring break and she’d gotten arrested and needed $1000. They even had someone that sounded like a young woman crying in the background. My mom was given instructions as to where to send the money and she wasn’t to tell anyone else in case the granddaughter wouldn’t be released from jail. Unfortunately, my mom fell for it and $1000. was stolen from her. Such crooks! I’m so sorry Jackie that there are such people in the world. I can’t begin to relate to cheating and stealing from others. Bless you!

Kristi & Jackie,
What a scary thing to go through! Especially when you realize your folder of paperwork is missing and someone out there has your personal information! Thankful she is home and praying for peace, healing & help in securing her information.

Several years ago, we were traveling to Southern California for our son's wedding & were looking for a place to rent near the beach for a mini-vacation after the wedding with family. After checking Air B & B and the other rental sites, I decided to check Craigslist. I thought I had found the perfect place, sent the deposits, but as the time came closer, all communication with the 'owner' stopped. It turns out it was a 'fake ad', there was no place to rent so we had no place to stay and were out a couple thousand dollars! But it gets worse ... when we got home we filed a complaint with the FCC and were then contacted by the police in this city. Turns out the couple was part of an organized crime ring that had been scamming people out of money for quite some time! While they were caught & taken to court (and hopefully put in jail!), they had spent all the money so there was nothing to recoup and repay those that had been scammed.

A lesson learned by this 50-something mom who is usually a pretty savvy travel planner! Like Jackie, though, we were thankful we didn't walk into a situation that jeopardized our physical safety, even if we were shaken and sad to have lost so much money. At the end of the day, it's only money, and while nice to have, certainly our lives and family are of much more value :)

Hugs!

So so very sorry for Jackie and all her family. When our daughter had some misadventures we always said, "it was only money, at least everyone is safe." So glad Jackie is safe and home.

I can relate to your experience Kristi. Our college-age daughter was traveling with friends in Spain. She called us from the Ramblas in Barcelona. In the middle of a pleasant conversation about her travels, she suddenly said, "I have to go now, I think I'm being robbed." Click. it was a very anxious time before we heard from her again, But it was only money and she was safe.

Hi Kristi,

I was close once when 'the fraud division' from my bank called me early one Monday morning telling me that there were two withdrawals from my account during the weekend (done by my son) somewhere in China! They wanted to help me retrieve it, but during the conversation I realised the truth!

So sorry for poor Jackie.

Thank God Jackie is OK and the scam didn't get completed. It's so sad when our innocent and trusting kids have painful (and scary) life lessons like this. The sad truth as evidenced by all of the stories above is that these scammers are skilled and very convincing. My mom got scammed for $1000 for a fire wall-we actually were able to call the scammer back and he had the gall to defend his actions. This was the second time this happened to her- they were very convincing. It's an unfortunate reality and Jackie is not alone. Nevertheless, how upsetting.. I pray for perspective and peace for all of you.

I agree but remember many of the scammers are from different countries, not in the US.

Oh, so sorry! A good friend, much older than your daughter and sophisticated enough to know better, got scammed recently. The scammers somehow got her credit card number from a
legitimate monthly payment she makes, told her she was the victim of a scam, and somehow convinced her to buy several Apple Play cards worth hundreds of dollars to resolve the problem. Finally, she did call both her bank and the credit card to put an end to all the nonsense. The credit card company has credited the charges, but the bank was dragging their feet, claiming she made the charges of her own free will, and they would not reimburse her for them. It amounted to about $2,000 total, I believe. I'm not certain how it's been resolved. People like this are just terrible!

I fancy myself being tech savvy and smart, and I was taken in by a similar scam.

I received a call on my mobile from someone claiming to be with my carrier. He said there was some questionable activity and wanted to verify for me that my phone number hadn't been stolen. He said he would send me a number in a text and all I had to do was verify it.

Long story short, I verified it, the person on the phone was doing a password recovery on my account, and used that to steal my carrier account password. Not a minute after falling for it I realized what I did, went to the carrier's nearest kiosk, and locked the guy out before he could buy phones with my name.

This is sickening! I too became victim of ID theft. I learned about it only when I went to apply for disability insurance last year after back surgery. I discovered then that a year earlier someone had applied for both unemployment benefits and disability insurance with the government using my id, and they got away with $10K!!! I would have not known had I not applied.

The ID theft happened when Experian's database got hacked, you might recall that happening; and here, I was paying Experian, one of the three credit reporting agencies, for data protection. I got $5 from the class action lawsuit against Experian.

Long-story short, the story is not over. I had to freeze my credit, I have to fill out a police report, file with government and federal trade commission, and I still have not received what the government owes me, the REAL ME, for disability insurance.

It sucks...tell Jackie I am sorry she had this experience in US...