Miriam: My wife and I had an experience similar to yours. After pursuing the
matter the supposed aide was found to have along history of theft. She got a
sentence of 12 years and was pardoned after 7 years.
Richard
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 25, 2019, at 10:41 AM, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
So, I had a substitute home health aide whom we found by advertising. Debbie
and I interviewed her and we both liked her and felt that she was well
meaning. I've had her a few times when Yaneek, my regular aide, couldn't
come. She seemed to be kind, but she did sort of dumb things like using my
wash cloth as a cleaning rag and a few other little things. Once, my daughter
thought that a lot of orange juice seemed to have disappeared, but she wasn't
sure and that seemed petty. There were other little things, hard to describe.
Then I was going to have her for the week that Yaneek couldn't work. On the
second day, she told me a story about how she had a doctor's appointment on
that Wednesday. It was a very confused story. Then the appointment changed to
Tuesday and she left early that day. I knew she lied about something but it
seemed unimportant. She brought me two pieces of deliscious candy. Tat night,
Melanie noticed that a whole lot of luncheon meat was missing. There was no
doubt that it had been taken without permission. On a whim, she asked if I'd
looked in my wallet lately and noticed if my Visa card was there. I hadn't
looked. She did, and it was gone. We discovered that $267 worth of
merchandise had been purchased from a local store on Monday might. Also, $40
in cash was gone. . So that was the end of my substitute aide. Everyone
thought that I should report her to the police. I didn't see any good coming
from that.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2019 11:06 AM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] more than one way to skin a cat
You've heard of tough love? Well here's a tale of tough Scam.
Think of people so immoral that they sit up nights devising ways to steal
from total strangers by playing upon their innocence. It used to be that we
were cautioned to avoid being trapped by con artists, to never go for the
"Something for next to nothing" come on.
But yesterday's Con Artist has morphed into today's Scam Artist.
Remember those "Good Old Days" when a knock at your door on a dark and stormy
night came from a young woman whose car broke down, and all she wanted to do
was to call her husband on your phone? And if you let her in she pulled a
gun on you? Well, the Scam Artist is a non violent sort of fellow,
preferring to rob you from a distance.
Following is an example of how this works.
And don't think it couldn't happen to you.
Carl Jarvis
*******
Wednesday a week ago, I had a phone call from someone saying that he was from
some outfit called: "Express Couriers," (The name could be any courier
company). He asked if I was going to be home because there was a package for
me that required a signature.
The caller said that the delivery would arrive at my home in roughly an hour.
Sure enough, about an hour later, a uniformed delivery man turned up with a
beautiful basket of flowers and a bottle of wine. I was very surprised since
there was no special occasion or holiday, and I certainly didn't expect
anything like it. Intrigued, I inquired as to who the sender was.
The courier replied, "I don't know, I'm only delivering the package."
Apparently, a greeting card was being sent separately. (The card has never
arrived!) There was also a consignment note with the gift.
He then went on to explain that because the gift contained alcohol, there was
a $3.50 "delivery/ verification charge," providing proof that he had actually
delivered the package to an adult (of legal drinking age), and not just left
it on the doorstep where it could be stolen or taken by anyone, especially a
minor.
This sounded logical and I offered to pay him cash. He then said that the
delivery company required payment to be by credit or debit card only, so that
everything is properly accounted for, and this would help in keeping a legal
record of the transaction.
He added,
"Couriers don't carry cash to avoid loss or likely targets for robbery."
My husband, who by this time was standing beside me, pulled out his credit
card, and 'John,' the "delivery man," asked him to swipe the card on a small
mobile card machine with a small screen and keypad.
Frank, my husband, was asked to enter his PIN number and a receipt was
printed out. He was given a copy of the transaction
The guy said everything was in order, and wished us good day.
To our horrible surprise, between Thursday and the following Monday,
$4,000 had been charged/withdrawn from our credit/debit account at various
ATM machines.
Apparently the "mobile credit card machine," which the deliveryman carried
now had all the info necessary to create a "dummy" card with all our card
details including the PIN number.
Upon finding out about the illegal transactions on our card, we immediately
notified the bank which issued us a new card, and our credit/debit account
was closed.
We also personally went to the Police, where it was confirmed that it is
definitely a scam because several households had been similarly hit.
WARNING: Be wary of accepting any "surprise gift or package," which you
neither expected nor personally ordered, especially if it involves any kind
of payment as a condition of receiving the gift or package.
Also, never accept anything If you do not personally know or there is no
proper identification of who the sender is.
Above all, the only time you should give out any personal credit/debit card
information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or transaction!
