I’m not here to sell you an extended warranty on your automobile.
I’m not asking you to buy the latest gadget or to upgrade your phone plan.
I’m not asking you to claim a package that has been mailed to you.
I don’t want you to unlock your Netflix or Hulu accounts.
I don’t want you to scan a QR code — some might not even know what that is.
I don’t want you to send me money because I’m stuck in a foreign country and can’t get home.
I’m not the IRS or Social Security and don’t want you to give me any of your personal information.
I’m not with the bank and have not noticed suspicious activity on your account.
I’m not offering you a free gift or a free trip.
I am here, however, to tell you how very annoyed I am with scammers!
My cellphone dings at least once every couple of days with Shaquille trying to sell me a $5 car wash. I don’t know Shaquille, but the last time I had a car wash as cheap as five dollars, I did it myself by inserting quarters at the car wash stall near Mr. Jiffy. The automated, fancy ones cost at least $10 for a rinse and no one is chasing me down, asking me to drive through.
I also get the texts wanting me to upgrade my phone — some legitimate from my carrier, but some clearly not.
And then there is the text that came through on my cellphone Monday morning that made me stop in my tracks for a split second and think back.
It appeared so very official, with even the state seal on it and a QR code allowing you to pay the fine. I was quickly scanning over it and I began to think there might be something to it. That’s how they get you — making it look very official.
It was a traffic violation from the State of Mississippi, Hinds County Circuit Court, Traffic Division.
Well, yes, I had been to Hinds County recently to drive a friend to a doctor’s appointment. And I might have — just might, not sure — run a red light. Not intending to, of course.
This text notice had a deadline on it for the very next day printed in bold red letters.
At any rate, for just that brief second, only a second, it got me. Then my common sense kicked in. It’s a little slower than it used to be ... ha! While I had been there, I was not driving my vehicle, so they didn’t have my tag info, and no one that I know of in Hinds County has my cellphone number.
It was obviously a SCAM.
I quickly took a screenshot of it, posted on my Facebook page to warn others, then deleted and reported it as a scam on my phone. Not long after, I noticed numerous other people sharing and posting the same — even the state’s news outlets.
This scammer had reached out to hundreds, if not thousands, of people statewide. I only hope no one fell for it. Especially those who had driven through that area.
Even though it’s hard to tell sometimes what is real and what is fake on texts and emails, remember to protect your personal info and your bank account. NEVER give that information out to someone who has reached out to you. Only give to trustworthy businesses/departments that you have made the call to yourself.
Just recently, a relative told me that her bank account had been hacked for a third time. She is not sure how it happened; whether her card info was swiped at a gas pump or something else.
Thankfully, the only time I’ve been hacked, the bank caught it and alerted me that someone had spent 89¢ at a record shop in Texas, then purchased football (soccer) tickets in Lichtenstein, Sweden. It threw up a red flag on my account followed by a phone call seeking to verify that I had not been to Texas, nor had I purchased any tickets for a game being held in Sweden. This Mississippi girl happily thanked the bank officer who caught it and called me to confirm.
I just can’t fathom that there are people who sit around all day on a computer thinking up how to implement new ways to steal your money. It’s so very disturbing! And maddening!
It is a very different world now than the one I grew up in and you must be much more careful and diligent about protecting yourself.
I tell you — if these scammers worked as hard and put in as much effort at real and honest jobs as they do at scamming folks out of hard- earned money, the world would be a better place, wouldn’t it?
