Category: Time-Wasters

Any time-wasters not normally classed as scammers or spammers

October 22, 2016

Those Dreadful Time-Wasters

So, what rubbish emails and calls have there been to Brooklands Radio station in the last few days?

A simple scam message wanting me to click on a link to see ‘something you will like for sure’ but the message is in Spanish which I don’t speak. Is some idiot targeting Spanish speakers with .co.uk addresses?

An email from Fleet matters with the title ‘Some Vehicles Have No Wheels’. Strange, but they are trying to sell fuel discount cards.

A message claiming to be from Tesco Clubcard but is really from ds.prezzent.co.uk and they want to give me a £750 Tesco gift card. Yeah right – it’s just an enticement by a Marketing company to fill in their forms. There is no gift card.

A message from Barclaycard Customer Service. Hooray, they want to refund all charges made against my credit card last year – a total of £367.25. Only the message is sent to undisclosed recipients so they don’t know who I am. Plus, the link to click for instructions goes to freelyfun.co.uk whatever that is. Shame – no refund.

A warning that my bank account is going to be blocked due to a “transaction” and I can read details of the “transaction” by clicking on a link which actually says http://guestlistalamode.com /bank/report.doc Funny, I don’t remember having an account with a bank called Guest List A La Mode.

These people just waste our time and clog up the Internet with rubbish.

If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-waster do let me know, by email.

October 21, 2016

Chris Deals With Cold Callers

A guest post by Chris.

I don’t intend to be rude to cold callers but they do have scripts to work to and I disrupt that by giving unexpected answers or questions.

If they claim to be doing a survey, then I might say

“What’s in it for me?”

Probably, they’ll tell me there isn’t anything or the slow witted ones just keep asking questions.

I might say “I cannot believe you are asking for information without giving me anything.”

If they say I am going to be entered into a draw or be given £100 voucher off double glazing for example then I might say “Send me the cash or draw coupon or whatever first then I’ll answer questions”

A lot of the cold callers are from call centres in India and I have visited India several times so I might ask them whereabouts they are and ask about the weather or is my favourite hotel still there or something similar.

They don’t like talking about these things as it’s not on their script.

Other times, I might try to make the cold caller feel guilty.

I could tell them I have come down from the top of a ladder where I am painting the roof or been dragged in from the garden where I am cutting down trees to answer the phone.

Sometimes that works and other times they just stick to the script.

If they ring at lunchtime I always tell them I am hosting an important lunch party and cannot discuss my power suppliers or whatever it is they want at that time.

Of course that can lead to them suggesting they call again which obviously I don’t want.

If they are calling from England at lunch time then I might say

“Why are you calling at lunch time – are you not allowed lunch? I should have a word with my boss about that”

It can be entertaining dealing with cold callers but can just be an annoyance.

If you’ve enjoyed this post or found it useful then do share – click on the post title then scroll down to the social media share buttons.

October 15, 2016

Those Terrible Time-Wasters

So, what rubbish emails and calls have there been to Brooklands Radio station in the last few days?

A simple scam email wanting me to click on a link to confirm some information but it’s in Italian which I don’t speak.

A sales email from what seems to be a genuine company selling flow meters and switches. Surely that’s a very niche market and they should focus on businesses that could actually want such products rather than emailing the world at random.

The personal attorney to Robert Fitzpatrick wants my help in claiming the $11 million he left in his will and I will get 40% of that for my assistance. Could anyone believe that such an illegal act it’s a good idea even if the money existed which of course it doesn’t.

An email from Guiseppe Vaccarro that just says Hi and offers a link to be clicked on. Do people really just click on random links from people they’ve never heard of? I hope not.

A supposed £500 voucher from Marks and Spencer. OOPS, turns out it’s not really from M&S but from a company called marketgifting.com which has an empty website i.e. it’s a world of scammers..

These people just waste our time and clog up the Internet with rubbish.

If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-waster do let me know, by email.

October 9, 2016

Stupidest Scam or Spam of the Week

So, what’s the dumbest scam or spam on the Internet this week?

An email from “Foundation” but the email address is actually [email protected]

It says

“Your Attention Please”

“I have urgent donation information for you which will benefit you and your entire family with the less privileged in your local community”.

The scammer wants us to send him our name, gender, address, telephone number, date of birth etc.

So he wants to send me a large donation but doesn’t even know my name (as the email was addressed to Unknown Recipients).

The scammer might have at least selected private email addresses i.e. those of people rather than sending to company addresses such as ours studio@….co.uk

And the name at the bottom of the email is G.F. Candyman

The scammer obviously thinks that these scams are like taking candy from a baby.

Dumb

Do click on the Facebook or Twitter icons on top right to follow Fight Back Ninja

October 8, 2016

What Are Those Time-Wasters Up To?

So, what rubbish emails and calls have there been to Brooklands Radio station in the last few days?

An email from Amazon warning that our account will be shutdown unless we login now. But the email address is actually amazen.com – a slight misspelling.

An offer of fully decorated Christmas trees for rent. Maybe it’s a real offer but the email is from a Marketing company and I really couldn’t be bothered thinking about Christmas when it’s only September.

An email we get regularly from Gap Containers wanting us to buy shipping containers. How many times do we have to tell them that we don’t ship anything?

An offer of cheap payroll services. This is from a Marketing company looking for leads to sell.

A confirmation of a bulk order we placed with Amazon supposedly. It goes on to thank us for buying the power gadget that completely wipes out all of your power costs. Yeah right! The email sender is jealousies @ ofglamourouse.com and the bottom half of the email is a section from a book. Scammers include this kind of text to try to fool the spam filters. Doesn’t work though.

These people just waste our time and clog up the Internet with rubbish.

If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-waster do let me know, by email.

October 6, 2016

Are Christmas Hampers A Good Deal?

It’s only September but emails are turning up offering Christmas Hampers.

There has been a lot of publicity in recent years about how the contents of a typical store hamper can be bought much cheaper separately so it’s more difficult than previously for the big supermarkets in particular to get away with exorbitant prices.

Money Supermarket looked at a Waitrose Cracker Hamper and found

– Italia Collezione Prosecco Brut 750ml (Waitrose.com £11.99)
– The Whale Caller Sauvignon Blanc/Colombard 75cl (Waitrose.com £5.49)
– The Whale Caller Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon 75cl (Waitrose.com £5.49)
– Atkins & Potts Milk Chocolate Dipper 220g (Atkins and Potts £2.95)
– Buiteman Parmigiano Reggiano Biscuits 75g (Amazon.co.uk £11.51)
– Linden Lady Handmade Luxury Chocolates x 15 (Waitrose.com £6.99)
– Linden Lady Handmade Toasted Coconut Marshmallows 125g (Yourhamper.com £3.49)
– Maxwell & Franks Christmas Pudding with Cider 454g (Yourhamper.com £3.74)
– Olives Et Al Chipotle Smoky Chilli Nuts 150g (Olives Et Al £4.00)
– The Original Cake Company Round Top Iced Fruit Cake (Original Cake Company Iced luxury Christmas slab £4.65).
– 6 Waitrose All Butter Mince Pies (Waitrose.com £2.50)

Total cost bought separately £59.09 or £100 as a Waitrose hamper. That was in 2013 and things have improved since then.

The makers of hampers point out that you also get the hamper and the benefit of someone having chosen the items and packed them for you. However, the actual hampers are quite cheap on Amazon so you can get your own.

The days of huge sales of hampers at Christmas seems to have gone, especially since the largest of the monthly savings hamper clubs Farepak went bust 4 years ago.

Are Hampers worth the money?

It depends on how much you like the actual hamper box it comes in and how much you like someone picking the items on your behalf.

Basically it’s usually much cheaper to buy the items separately and if you want a hamper then buy a hamper on Amazon or EBay and fil it yourself.

Don’t be taken in by the emails – check the cost of the contents for yourself.

Do leave a comment on this post – click on the post title then scroll down to leave your comment