232-365-4789

Can the dreaded Wind Turbine Syndrome infect my computer? I don't know, but Stephen did talk about Wind Turbine Syndrome last night.

Here's why I am so concerned. My computer has been acting up lately. I type a word correctly and yet it shows up incorrectly on my screen. I know I'm not making mistakes because why would I type it wrong?

The only explanation is a computer virus. And computers are somewhat technical. And Wind Turbines are somewhat technical. And there are wind turbines near where I live, not real close, but if I drive for a while, eventually I do see some.

Now for the clinker. I got a phone call from the Technical Department of, and here's where I have to be vague. I couldn't understand the woman. I had to ask her a few times to repeat what she said. "From IT." Oh, the Information Technology Geeks. Why was she asking if my computer was working or not? Did she know my computer had the dreaded Wind Turbine Syndrome? I was getting worried so I asked more questions, probing questions. And you know what? She.... hung.... up.... on....me!!!!!

Why would she call and then hang up when I started asking her questions? Well, here's one possible explanation:

FTC helps slow tech support scam; don't give remote computer access. You might want to click on the photo of that old lady (yes I said old lady, she's 101) and hear what they did with con artists back in the day.

The number on the Caller ID was 232-365-4789. There was nothing for a company name, just dashes. If they were legitimate they would have a company name on the Caller ID. Even then I wouldn't necessarily trust them. All they have to do is make up a name and lie about it.

So, I wonder if that's who called, some scammer. My gut feeling? Yep. They were looking for someone to scam.

I'm suspicious of anyone that calls me: "Mom? How do I know you're really my mom? Quick tell me what my dog's name is."

"Honey, you don't have a dog."

"Good answer, how ya doin' today Mom? Is that arthritis acting up again?"

So be wary of anyone that calls out of the blue with get rich schemes, or asking for charity donations, or telling you to quick do something, or offering to fix something for you. Don't give out account numbers or personal information or anything else. You can also stall and say tell me more, send me literature, let me talk to your supervisor.

If they hang up on you, consider yourself yucky. I mean lucky.

(Oops, I figured out my typing skills are getting rusty. I don't actually have a computer virus.)

567-248-4400

Rachel called this morning. Well, it was a recorded message, not actually Rachel on the phone. I think I remember that she said Credit Card Services or maybe it was some other name such as Card Member Services. It was urgent about my credit card account. She could lower my credit card interest. I should press "9" now. This is my final chance.

This was (of course) yet another in a long string of "final calls".

Two interesting things. First was what the Caller ID showed! It actually said PHONE SCAM. It would be interesting to know how that happened. Maybe there are so many complaints about that phone number that the technology is now able to show Phone Scam on my Caller ID. Cool.

Other thing is I Googled "Credit Card Services" and found this article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about Rachel and Credit Card Services. The article is from 2009 but information is interesting. One note, if you do read the comments after the article in the Star Tribune, be wary. Anyone can post something and send you to their website which could be a bad idea. So read the article, take the comments with a grain of salt and don't answer if "Rachel" calls.