Take a look at the referenced telephone numbers. Have you gotten a call from them? You're the only one.
I don't think it's fair for people to call my number several times and leave bizzare messages. A few days ago, I called a friend of mine to complain about calls that I had gotten. I had found those calls quite annoying and wanted to do something. She adviced me to block it. I did once, but the same message was sent to me via another number except the last digt was different. Of course the calls continued to come in and when I decide to hang up, my phone would ring again. When I choose to ignore the calls, I'd get a message that the warranty on my car. Oh, by the way, I have no warranty that is about no expire.
Nonetheless, I decided to call back one the number that called me. I decided that I had gotten too many calls and I wanted to put a stop to the annoying calls. A machine answered me. It did give me the option of ending the annoyance cycle to which I had been subjected. It asked me to "press 1 if you want to be put on the do not call list" Is that so, it read my mind. Thank you very much for asking me if I don't want you to annoy me. Guess what, another number began to call me.
I've begun to monitor the numbers. Now, each time I'd get such calls, I've decided to publish the numbers.
203-649-1215
203-649-1217
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Advertisement and Fraud
Have you ever gotten an email that you clearly can tell is a fraud?
I’ve gotten a few of those fraudulent emails. Some of which claimed to be from the FBI informing me that someone left me an inheritance somewhere and that the FBI needs my personal information before it can send me the money.
I don’t know but the FBI of all organizations to choose. Why anyone would mess with the FBI?
Of course, there are many who try to defraud by putting advertisements in: craigslist.org
Below is the advertisement, which was posted on Craigs List on February 23, 2009. I include the email that I sent to the advertiser and the response that I received. I’m sure that it is a fictitious name that someone is using to make the advertisement appear legitimate
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"$1200 / 2br - Condo in Georgetown (Georgetown)
Reply to: hous-1046490020@craigslist.org
Date: 2009-02-23, 5:10AM EST
The condo is fully furnished with all necessary amenities(exactly like in the pics),the unit is equipped with recessed lighting, central air and heat.....this Fabulous Condo (2 Bedrooms/2 Baths) is located on Grace St. at Wisconsin Ave,1 block to M street,1 block to Waterfront Park, ....... "
__________________________________________________________________________________
Below is the response that I got:
" From: "Dorothy Parker"Add sender to Contacts To: marieapt@yahoo.comMessage contains attachments1.jpg (30KB), 10.jpg (27KB), 11.jpg (24KB), 12.jpg (25KB), 2.jpg (29KB), 3.jpg (29KB), 4.jpg (29KB), 5.jpg (37KB), 6.jpg (24KB), 7.jpg (24KB), 8.jpg (30KB), 9.jpg (22KB)
Hello,
Thanks for taking the time to look at my property.My name is Dorothy Parker,I'm 48 years old,I'm a construction engineer and I'm the owner of this condo(2 bedrooms,2 bathrooms,1100 square footage).I lived in this beautiful condo for over 5 years,loved every day of it.It's located in the heart of Georgetown at 3210 Grace St.
The prime location can't be beat and the garaged parking is an amenity sure to be appreciated by anyone(located at 1/2 block to M street,1/2 block to Georgetown Waterfront Park....Views of Potomac and Downtown Arlington from balcony)
The condo is fully furnished with all necessary amenities(exactly like in the pics),the unit is equipped with recessed lighting, central air and heat, the condo come with two parking spots,a storage unit where you can deposit my furniture (if you don't like it and you want use your furniture),there is also a linen closet, and most importantly, a new front loading stacked washer and drier.Pets allowed.I've moved to United Kingdom with my job (i am a construction engineer) and decided to
rent it because the rent is is very expensive here.The price is so low because I'm here and is very hard to find a tenant.I can rent you the condo for max. 6 years .I really want to find a good and responsible tenant for it, and I hope that you can send me some personal information about yourself.The rent of the condo for 1 month is $1200 including all utilities(water,electricity, Internet,cable, parking,air conditioning, fireplace, dishwasher, garbage) and I want to receive the money monthly in my bank account.You can move in the condo in the same day when you receive the keys. The only problem is that I`m
the only person who has the keys and I have nobody in United States that could show you the condo.In order to check it,see if you like it(I'm sure that you'll love it),you need to receive the keys and the contract. Obviously we need a way to complete this deal in a safe and fast way for both.The solution is provided by a company called RENT (www.rent.com) which will handle the payment and delivery of the Keys .A friend of mine moved here from California and used the company to resolve the same problem . This procedure allow you to pay the rent only after you will receive the keys,after you will
see it, decide if you will stay in the condo or not( I will receive the payment after you'll check the condo).If you want to know more about how this deal can work please get back to me ASAP and I will send you the details step by step.
Let me know if you are interested because I really need to take care of this matter by the end of the next week.
Regards,"
___________________________________________________________________________________
My recipe:
“If it’s too good to be true; it is too good to be true”. If you wre to see the pictures of the apartment listed, you'd know that it's too good of a deal that it had to be a fraud.
Beware of consumer fraud. Although this one looks obvious, often, other advertisements appear legitimate and these crooks manage to deceive many. Let’s expose those who try to deceive.
In the days to come, we will post more information on fraud, types of fraud and some of the steps to take to keep you from being a victim.
You’re welcome to post your comments and share your experiences.
I’ve gotten a few of those fraudulent emails. Some of which claimed to be from the FBI informing me that someone left me an inheritance somewhere and that the FBI needs my personal information before it can send me the money.
I don’t know but the FBI of all organizations to choose. Why anyone would mess with the FBI?
Of course, there are many who try to defraud by putting advertisements in: craigslist.org
Below is the advertisement, which was posted on Craigs List on February 23, 2009. I include the email that I sent to the advertiser and the response that I received. I’m sure that it is a fictitious name that someone is using to make the advertisement appear legitimate
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"$1200 / 2br - Condo in Georgetown (Georgetown)
Reply to: hous-1046490020@craigslist.org
Date: 2009-02-23, 5:10AM EST
The condo is fully furnished with all necessary amenities(exactly like in the pics),the unit is equipped with recessed lighting, central air and heat.....this Fabulous Condo (2 Bedrooms/2 Baths) is located on Grace St. at Wisconsin Ave,1 block to M street,1 block to Waterfront Park, ....... "
__________________________________________________________________________________
Below is the response that I got:
" From: "Dorothy Parker"
Hello,
Thanks for taking the time to look at my property.My name is Dorothy Parker,I'm 48 years old,I'm a construction engineer and I'm the owner of this condo(2 bedrooms,2 bathrooms,1100 square footage).I lived in this beautiful condo for over 5 years,loved every day of it.It's located in the heart of Georgetown at 3210 Grace St.
The prime location can't be beat and the garaged parking is an amenity sure to be appreciated by anyone(located at 1/2 block to M street,1/2 block to Georgetown Waterfront Park....Views of Potomac and Downtown Arlington from balcony)
The condo is fully furnished with all necessary amenities(exactly like in the pics),the unit is equipped with recessed lighting, central air and heat, the condo come with two parking spots,a storage unit where you can deposit my furniture (if you don't like it and you want use your furniture),there is also a linen closet, and most importantly, a new front loading stacked washer and drier.Pets allowed.I've moved to United Kingdom with my job (i am a construction engineer) and decided to
rent it because the rent is is very expensive here.The price is so low because I'm here and is very hard to find a tenant.I can rent you the condo for max. 6 years .I really want to find a good and responsible tenant for it, and I hope that you can send me some personal information about yourself.The rent of the condo for 1 month is $1200 including all utilities(water,electricity, Internet,cable, parking,air conditioning, fireplace, dishwasher, garbage) and I want to receive the money monthly in my bank account.You can move in the condo in the same day when you receive the keys. The only problem is that I`m
the only person who has the keys and I have nobody in United States that could show you the condo.In order to check it,see if you like it(I'm sure that you'll love it),you need to receive the keys and the contract. Obviously we need a way to complete this deal in a safe and fast way for both.The solution is provided by a company called RENT (www.rent.com) which will handle the payment and delivery of the Keys .A friend of mine moved here from California and used the company to resolve the same problem . This procedure allow you to pay the rent only after you will receive the keys,after you will
see it, decide if you will stay in the condo or not( I will receive the payment after you'll check the condo).If you want to know more about how this deal can work please get back to me ASAP and I will send you the details step by step.
Let me know if you are interested because I really need to take care of this matter by the end of the next week.
Regards,"
___________________________________________________________________________________
My recipe:
“If it’s too good to be true; it is too good to be true”. If you wre to see the pictures of the apartment listed, you'd know that it's too good of a deal that it had to be a fraud.
Beware of consumer fraud. Although this one looks obvious, often, other advertisements appear legitimate and these crooks manage to deceive many. Let’s expose those who try to deceive.
In the days to come, we will post more information on fraud, types of fraud and some of the steps to take to keep you from being a victim.
You’re welcome to post your comments and share your experiences.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Consumer Fraud and hotel housekeepers
I just read “Confessions of a Hotel Housekeeper”, an article written by Allison Rupp published on February 2009 in Yahoo travel. In the article claims that Ms. Rupp worked at the Yellowstone National Park’s history Old Faith Inn in 2004 and wrote about hotel housekeepers that “cut corners” such as “instead of Vacuuming, I picked up Some Crumbs”. To my surprise, the writer did not mention that some of the guests might have noticed that she did not do her job.
I’ve stayed in many hotels ranging from the best and highly priced to the moderately priced one. I could always tell when the housekeeper, changed the sheets, vacuumed the carpet and actually clean the room. Often, I’d deliberately mark the sheets, pillowcases, strategically put something on the floor just to check on the housekeepers.
Very recently, I was a long-term guest at a hotel. I whether I was in the room when the housekeeper clean, I could always tell whether or not she cleaned. In that hotel, the housekeeper was the laziest and dirtiest person ever. She cut corners “Rather than scrub the tub with hot water, sometimes it was just a spray-and-wipe kind of day”. She did wipe the tub rather than clean it, I could tell because the water lines were visible and the marks that I’d deliberately leave had not been removed. Sometimes, the housekeeper would forget the spray bottle which she used to spray and wipe rather than wash. I could see the color of the detergent that she used, and that would get so disgusted that I’d want to regurgitate. I knew exactly how often she changed the sheets because I’d write the dates on the sheets and on the pillowcases.
What hotel housekeepers must realize, is that they may end up on You Tube as they deceive their employers and put the people who pay for their salary at risk. Worst of all, they can end up on You Tube for the world to see just how often they think that they can really fool the guests. After reading “Confessions of Hotel Housekeeper” I’m even more disgusted with hotels and their cleaning staff. It is one of the reasons that I often ask the housekeeper not to clean my room; I don’t even want them in my room. Normally, I’d inspect the room and disinfect it myself after I check in.
My recipe to hotel guests, let the hotel housekeeper do the cleaning in front of you or don’t let the housekeeper in at all. The fact that housekeepers fail to sanitize hotel rooms is a critical problem that hotelkeepers must weigh in. It is a health problem that put consumers at risk.
If you’ve experienced similar problems or problems with consumer fraud or have been defrauded, share your thoughts in protest of consumer fraud.
I’ve stayed in many hotels ranging from the best and highly priced to the moderately priced one. I could always tell when the housekeeper, changed the sheets, vacuumed the carpet and actually clean the room. Often, I’d deliberately mark the sheets, pillowcases, strategically put something on the floor just to check on the housekeepers.
Very recently, I was a long-term guest at a hotel. I whether I was in the room when the housekeeper clean, I could always tell whether or not she cleaned. In that hotel, the housekeeper was the laziest and dirtiest person ever. She cut corners “Rather than scrub the tub with hot water, sometimes it was just a spray-and-wipe kind of day”. She did wipe the tub rather than clean it, I could tell because the water lines were visible and the marks that I’d deliberately leave had not been removed. Sometimes, the housekeeper would forget the spray bottle which she used to spray and wipe rather than wash. I could see the color of the detergent that she used, and that would get so disgusted that I’d want to regurgitate. I knew exactly how often she changed the sheets because I’d write the dates on the sheets and on the pillowcases.
What hotel housekeepers must realize, is that they may end up on You Tube as they deceive their employers and put the people who pay for their salary at risk. Worst of all, they can end up on You Tube for the world to see just how often they think that they can really fool the guests. After reading “Confessions of Hotel Housekeeper” I’m even more disgusted with hotels and their cleaning staff. It is one of the reasons that I often ask the housekeeper not to clean my room; I don’t even want them in my room. Normally, I’d inspect the room and disinfect it myself after I check in.
My recipe to hotel guests, let the hotel housekeeper do the cleaning in front of you or don’t let the housekeeper in at all. The fact that housekeepers fail to sanitize hotel rooms is a critical problem that hotelkeepers must weigh in. It is a health problem that put consumers at risk.
If you’ve experienced similar problems or problems with consumer fraud or have been defrauded, share your thoughts in protest of consumer fraud.