Quiltingboard Forums - Not all thieves are stupid.

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Snopes rates this as partially true, not an urban myth. It has happened to several people.

I don't have a GPS but if I did I would put the center of my town as "Home." I don't think you need directions from there to get to your house.

Yep thanks for the advice. You can never be to careful.

I was thinking about this business of people being able to get your credit and debit card numbers without having to actually having your cards, using a gadget and passing close to you. Now explain to me, with two debit cards, a Visa, a Sams, a Lowes, and half a dozen other things with embeded numbers....library cards from two states, etc...just how do they sort out all those numbers?

Quote:

Originally Posted by auniqueview (Post 4906352)

Good question.

Very useful info. Thanks a million.

Regardless of what Snopes says or even whether you want to label it an urban myth or not, both scenarios the OP posted are very real possibilities. And trust me, if you have an accident where you are unconscious, even if you don't have your next of kin identified as such in your phone, the police will figure it out. (Afterall, they managed before cell phones and GPS's existed, so I think they can do it now as well :) ) I think it's far more important in today's society to be as safe as possible out there and it only takes a few easy precautions, like the OP mentioned, to stay just a bit safer. So thanks for the info - it's much appreciated!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peckish (Post 4899162)

I am a little suspicious of the part where the bad guys withdrew "all" their money from the bank account... Every bank account I've ever had access to, both personal and (as a bookkeeper) business, has a $300 daily limit.

I work at a bank and also question this. Large withdrawals are a red flag. We're required (by the FDIC, not just the bank) to be on the lookout for fraud and report it. Also, we know our customers pretty well. Still, you can't be too careful these days.

Good info. As far as texting goes, I'm safe there, I don't know how to, and can't received them either. I opted out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by luv2so (Post 4901629)

I think I would have called the police. Especially if I saw a truck with people moving things out and none of the people were the ones that owned the house. Even more so if I never saw a For Sale sign. I'm sure someone in the neighborhood talked to those neighbors.

I got a check for $5,000.00 in the mail a few years ago that asked me to cash the check and keep $1,000.00. I checked the bank, the signature name, address, etc. There was a bank by that name at that address and the signature on the check was from the President of the bank. I immediately called the bank and the law in Texas. They asked me to send the check to them, but void it first. Nope, not doing that. So I told them until I knew for sure what to do I'll just send a copy and keep the original until needed. Long story short, there was a ring of people living in a motel there sending out checks from various banks, they did catch them and I did send the original check and the thugs are serving time as we speak.

Sick people out there. Had I been stupid enough to cash that check I would have had to cover the entire $5,000.00!

Luvs2so, something similar happened to me about a year ago. I got a check in the mail, supposedly from CitiBank, for an amount over $3,000 and a letter telling me I had 'won' this. Hmmm...sounded good, but the check, although it looked legit on the front, didn't look like a normal check on the back. DH was with me at the time, and said the same. I called the CitiBank 800 number, spoke with a representative, who was very helpful, and told me, "M'am, that sounds like a scam" and told me to call my local law enforcement. I did, and found out a number of people had been duped. The 'winners' were asked to deposit the check, keep a certain amount, and Western Union the balance to a place somewhere offshore. There was also a phone number to call which didn't match anything in the continental U.S. Like you, had I fallen for that malarkey, I would've been responsible for the entire amount.

Quote:

Originally Posted by QM (Post 4904767)

Some friends of friends said that while they were at a football game their car was broken into. They lost the huge box on the back seat. They thought this was very funny as a) the thieves left clear fingrprints on their car but not on the others the broke into that day and b) the box was one they had created to fit the max size of an embassy bag. It was filled with toilet paper, rolls smashed for max content. things rarely turn out that well.

BTW, I have gotten literally hundreds of calls "about your credit account" and about "your mortgage". I don't have one of either. Our state atty general says that office has been swamped with calls on these, all after ID info.

That's why we like our caller ID so much! We don't pick up on numbers we don't recognize, or even on some numbers we DO recognized, as they've called before, and are just after donations to causes we do not suscribe to. We also have had calls from mortgage companies and those "about your credit acount"...