In the middle of it, my phone rang. It came up as 'potential spam'. I did not answer the call. It was immediately followed by another phone call listed 'verified caller. Wyoming'
I am a curious woman. I figured that the two calls had to be related. They were different numbers, but from the same 307 area code. So I answered it.
An unmistakably Indian accent said, 'are you looking for a passenger side fender for a 2008 Lincoln MKZ?'
(Side note: I was not driving the car. Actually, nobody was driving it. It was parked and quietly minding its own business when it was hit.)
Cautiously, I said 'Yesss...' while wondering how those searches were visible to him.
"What color?" he asked.
"Silver."
He said, almost instantly, "I can get you one for $146."
I said "I don't even know who you are."
He said, "My name is Lucas Anderson."
"Not to be rude, but I received two phone call within two minutes of each other. I don't know who you are, or how you figured out what I was looking for. Also, your accent is not a Wyoming accent. I am not comfortable handing out my credit card information under these circumstances."
He earnestly began to explain why I should trust him.
Unconvinced, I hung up.
Don't know if I am paranoid and missed out on a good deal, or whether I dodged a bullet.
I was surprised to hear to receive a bulletin on my phone that a woman and baby down the road are missing, considered endangered. I do not know her, but it is something that grabbed my attention. I don"t know the back story but am hoping for a happy ending.
Other than that, it was a quiet day. I received a call from the office staff to see if I got home okay last night. They also had a cancelation and asked if I wanted the appointment.
Less lead in time = less stress.
I said yes. I can hand deliver the thank you card and the gas card to them.
May is a busy month. My daughter and son in law's wedding reception. My youngest daughter is coming stateside for it. My son and his family will be here. We have a trip at the end of it. It was a lucky break to get that earlier appointment.
The White House posted a picture of trump and the King labeling it 'Two Kings'.
The Republicans posted a picture of the King wearing a MAGA hat.
Mike Johnson denies we're at war.
The GOP voted today to end the government shut down without their exorbitant ICE funding demands.
One positive sign at least. The rest of it is insane.


The sad thing is that you can't tell if it is spam...but best be safe.
ReplyDeleteHooray for appointment rescheduling....nicely convenient.
Yes..peacocks..😆😆😆😆
The fact is that if I have any doubt, I just cannot bring myself to provide information. In this case, I did not call them...they called me.
DeleteBest be safe I suppose, though it is hard on the honest Indian person we happen to come across. Saw this morning Senator Sara Jacob standing up to Peter Segheth - go that woman she was brilliant.
ReplyDeleteHecwas told by someone to grow up. Perhaps it was her.
DeleteIf in doubt.... but Lucas Anderson sounds like a very westernised person...no?
ReplyDeleteOh Andrew. I have talked to many Ashleys and Brandons and the like to whom English is a second language. I do not believe that is their real names.
DeleteReading up on it, Indian call centers routinely provide American names for their employees because their own names are sometimes difficult for westerners to pronounce. It is a way to shorten the phone call, not allowing it to be side tracked by the whole 'I didn't catch your name and how do you spell that.'
DeleteScammers are so sharp and on the ball, it's frightening.
ReplyDeleteWe could all do with a Goofus in our communities, to keep order.
Maybe I can train him to take questionable phone calls.
DeleteThe gerrymandering! The USA is a corrupt country.
ReplyDeleteIt is shocking that they can refuse black candidates.
DeleteI agree with your caution about the call. It could have been ai!
ReplyDeleteI hink I may have figured out how it happened, but I just can't bring myself to give a credit card number to an unknown entity.
DeleteYou did good — rule of thumb for safety is NEVER to give information during any call or transaction you did not initiate.
DeleteDo tell — how did they know what you were looking for??!!
I think what happened is that I started out at a familiar website. During the search, you wind up at an unfamiliar website, a different one. Is it possible to hack a website? When I searched the site again last night it happened but I immediately caught it. I did send an email to the company. But at this point who even knows where that email will end up.
DeleteYeah. Boud's right- could have been AI. You cannot be too careful these days.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have a busy time of it coming up. I really hope all is well with these appointments.
Yeah. I just got to get through this summer. I just do not want to do another house.vhonestly, I just don't.
DeleteIt's like when I am talking about something with my phone nearby and then the next time I go on my phone, I get all of these ads for whatever I was talking about. It's creepy that the phone is listening in on my conversations when I am not even ON THE PHONE. Scary!
ReplyDeleteThat is actually why my daughter-in-law got rid of Alexa.
DeleteLove that ending meme! Oooooh! Such meanies! LOL
ReplyDeleteAll the finger pointing! Release the peacocks, I say!
DeleteI think you're right that the car part guy was a scam.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Red. I hope spring is coming to your neck of the woods.
DeleteThat phone call freaked me out but I totally believe it--something similar happened to me earlier this week (after doing a search on Google for a CD-ROM external drive). I got 'Potential Scam', but not a second verified caller. I sure hope that woman and her baby are okay, please keep us posted. And I just now (on youtube) saw the Louisiana debacle, courtesy of our corrupted right-wing Supreme Court. Ugh!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI honestly think what is happening is that a website (a company we have used before) is linking to another site I am unfamiliar with. I am not sure what that is even called, but they must be able to access my customer information through that. I have notified the company.
DeleteI hope you Americans can take back your country soon. Like yesterday. Wishing you all the luck in the world. -Kate
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the pushback is getting louder and stronger. We can onlourselves heard.
DeleteThanks for the peacock meme, it made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteYou'll get to see all of you kids next month, wonderful!
It gave me a giggle
DeletePraying the woman and child are okay.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, that is pretty creepy that they found your phone number after using the internet. Creepy.
They were located safe, both of them, so that was a bit of good news. Just a bit shocking when something like that is reported is happening within 2 miles of your house
DeleteOh goodness Debby - scary times. I hope that the woman and child are found okay and your country can be found again. I do not like the way the world is going with its endless drive towards the money gods. Upcoming wedding? That will be nice.
ReplyDeleteReception. For Brianna and Don who married last fall. I hope so too, Jeanie.
DeleteGerrymandering is nothing new (NOT that it makes it right!). I just looked and the term was coined in 1812 when it happened in Massachusetts. And as for the US being a corrupt country.... also, nothing new. Just look at the history of politics in places like Chicago and Louisiana over the decades. There have always been pockets of it.
ReplyDeleteAgain, that doesn't make it right.
This administration takes the cake for absurdity. It can't end soon enough for me!
I think that we need to keep our focus on right here, right now. Trying to convince ourselves that this is business as usual is counterproductive. What is happening now is unprecedented.
DeleteGood to question the caller. And spooky. I'm presuming you've checked www.RockAuto.com for parts. They've been really good at keeping my cars alive for new parts that I can change (right outdoor mirror that snuggled with my garage door frame too closely) and light assemblies, rocker switches for usually half the price of dealers or local car parts stores. Their website is a little tricky for elderlings but I've ended up with many choices. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteRock auto is our first stop. They don't have one.
DeleteI think you did the right thing hanging up. How did they even know what you were doing online? The whole things reeks of fraud.
ReplyDeleteThat is my question right there.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt's really spooky these days. We keep hearing in the news about one more scam targeting seniors. I keep getting toll warnings that I haven't paid in Illinois. #1 I don't drive. #2 We don't live in Illinois anymore. And yes, I saw how Republicans had doctored that image of Charles wearing the MAGA hat. It's scary to see what is happening in our country.
ReplyDeleteUgh. We get those too. Our DMV no longer does registrations at the center, which means that you do have to do it online and provide things like your email address. I tried to renew ours and after putting in the credit card info, I was prompted to enter the capcha except one never appeared. It just sat there. are scammers gleaning information from there? Who even knows? We wound up going to the AAA because the problem never corrected itself.
DeleteWe were in a supermarket we don’t normally use and the cashier asked if I had a store card which would give me points. I said no, but I’d maybe think about getting one. When I got home I opened up the iPad and there was an application form for one, I mean how on earth……
ReplyDeleteI know. it is spooky sometimes.
DeleteI think my texts are still somewhat private, because when I mentioned wondering what kind of ads we'd be receiving after a interesting private thread, nothing appeared. Or there was nothing for sale along those lines...yet!
ReplyDeleteI have noticed nothing with texts, myself. It is linked to looking for or buying something on line.
ReplyDeleteWonder whose car he was gonna steal it from? Good on you for not following through on that. Just too weird though.
ReplyDeleteAs for the stupid government, I can't even... I am just glad we see very little news these days. I can hang on to my sanity!