A SCAM IS A SCAM, IS A SCAM!!!

I must admit the minds of crooks, scammers, hackers, thieves, call them as you wish, is amazingly inventive and it takes imagination to protect ourselves from the EVER evolving art of scamming!

I decided to share this “observation” with everyone, because recently I had an AHA!!! moment that there is a PATTERN which could be applied to any products or companies. It is NOT about the names of products or companies which could, and ARE CHANGED as soon as the consumers discover them.

What is the KEY to discover a scam before you loose money?

If you get ANY FREE offers which ONLY require you to pay $3.95 or $4.99 or EVEN ONE PENNY by using your credit or debit card, think twice before giving away your card information.
All the scammer wants is your card’s information. Once they have it, before you realize what is happening, they could max out your card!

THE PATTERN TO AVOID:

Recently, I noticed after ending transactions with reputable, safe and secure institutions, such as my bank, a “SURVEY” is offered, as if from the institution I just did business with, and as if the institution OFFERS it. As a “thank you,” I am offered a FREE product for answering three questions.
The best and safest is to CLOSE the WINDOW and NOT click on OK!!!

However, if you are curious, as I am, and you click on ok and answer the three questions, and as a reward you are offered a few FREE products, of which you could choose one or two and only pay for shipping, think TWICE before you give out your credit or debit card information thinking you will only be charged for the shipping! Chances are you might be charged for much more. Of course, some “free offers” might be legitimate. It is up to us to make a choice and take a risk.

Could we have the best of both worlds?
What do I mean by it? If I feel the free product is something I really, really could not live without and I want it so much, I’m willing to risk, there is a way to avoid being totally scammed…

How to risk without risking being scammed?

Buy a PREPAID CARD with a very low limit. Of course, the lower the limit, the smaller the risk!

This is a perfect illustration of the proverb:
Better safe than sorry!

Enjoy your hard earned money and please share with us your experiences and tips!

Political Thoughts! My Choice is… no Choice!

Disclaimer:
I am not a professional political commentator, neither am I an activist in either the Republican or Democratic parties.

Who I am, is a woman, who came in the USA as a political refugee in 1981.
At the time, I was in my late 20s, well-educated, fluent in English. A skilled professional, I was not applying for an American visa coming from some unknown corner of the world but I was coming having behind me, as proof that I was who I said I was, eight years of working as a translator for the US Embassy un Bucharest, Romania.
Yet, the process to apply, be verified and at last approved as a political refuge to America took time and how it felt to be “suspended” between two countries, ” is described in my book ‘The Gypsy Saw Two Lives.’
It was a hard, thorough process to ensure the safety of America because I could have been anyone under false pretense!
I wrote this paragraph, so the readers don’t wonder who I am and what gives me the right to an opinion!
This is a FREE country, the very reason I struggled with both emotional and physical hardships to make it MY LAND, so I could speak freely!
In other words, anyone could express their opinions without the fear we experienced under Eastern European communism before 1989 when Ceausescu was executed and communism became but a sad part of history!

I have been a grateful American citizen since 1987. I raised a family, wrote a book and currently this blog is read by people in over 130 countries. I like to believe, I contributed to make my new home a better place to the best of my abilities and continue to do so!

As millions of Americans, and the entire world I has been watching the 2016 “fight” for the Presidency of the USA.

Watching is an understatement because, unlike any other time, the twists and turns of the 2016 fight for the Presidency of the USA has been like NO OTHER!

It started with most, if not all so-called ” political experts,” giving the opinion that Trump was not going to be a presidential candidate for long! There were 17 qualified Republican candidates, why would the American public support Trump? Some of what he has said throughout the year, which gloriously confirmed him as the Republican nominee, turn my stomach! Specifically the quote, repeated over and over, in adversarial adverts manta about Megan, a respected Journalist! “Blood was coming from her eyes and “where ever???” Is this guy serious?
But that was the beginning and the avalanche of insults continued!
But wait a minute… despite all logic he kept climbing in the polls and even I, found myself thinking that I do want a safe environment for my grand children and a prosperous America! Was he the MAN????
His message was great but HOW WAS HE GOING to accomplish this fairy tale plan?
As much as I love fiction, when it comes to our future, it is our responsibility to take a close look at reality and decide, is it fiction or reality?
Without getting into details, the truth I discovered was not only disappointing, but alarming: several bankruptcies to protect his personal assets, the Trump University and the law suites…
Okay, if he makes America safe I could live with it but then there was the WALL and I wondered if there was any understanding of TUNNELS once the Wall was built!

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were neck to neck in all polls!
Having defected from communism, even if I do understand the difference between communism and socialism, I did not like it at all when Sanders declared himself a socialist!
I didn’t contribute the average $27 to his campaign!
Then here came Hillary Clinton supported by her loving husband and adoring daughter, and delivered the speech of her career on Thursday night!
What could she have possibly say to make America forget the undeniable truths?
Emails, Benghazi, Bill’s affairs. Everything seems to continue to haunt her and America still doubts her honesty!
Then another twist:

Supposedly The Russians hacked in the One of the Democratic Party leaders emails and as a result the Chair of the Democratic convention was forced to resign!
As if this was NOT bad enough, and rumors are whispered left and right that The Russians hacked into the emails in an effort to HELP Trump to be elected!

As I was trying to understand WHY would the Russians support Trump, and as I was understanding Trump seemed to put very low priority on NATO and supporting the EU and the Baltic countries which earned their independence from Russia in 1989…
So… If the US would no longer be supporting these countries’ hard earned independence, it is easy to guess what would happen, with Russia already positioned for expansion!

I wished all these thoughts were just my innate fear of having lived under communism and fear of Russia for almost 30 years!
Unfortunately, once more, Mr. Trump clarified it for me in two sentences:
“Wouldn’t be nice to get along with the Russians?” and:
“Russians, if you hear this, I hope you find the emails…etc
What!!!! Inviting a foreign nation to interfere into our affairs?
The fairy tale that we could get along with Russia!!!

So… When we draw the line and write the cons and pros for both candidates, even if personally I wish there was a third choice… As it stands now, for me, there is no choice anymore!
God bless the FREE America where anyone could express their opinions without fear of jail or death!
Please express yours! You have the right!

In Response to Today’s Comment Regarding Identity Theft and China

Identity theft, plagiarism, hacking bloggers’ hard work and making money off of it!

I received hundreds of comments after the fantastic Word Press system protected me from over 30,000 spam comments! Thank you.

Some comments are written in such poor English that I simply don’t understand. I’m a foreigner too, but I learned English because I really wanted to be understood.

Other comments are simply advertising for someone’s products. If you sell sex toys, I am NOT going to  post your comment which clearly shows you did NOT read the post. You saw that 533 people READ the post in one day and your computer “kicked in” TRAFFIC!!! Let’s comment. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way on this blog.

If one comment tells me my blog loads fast and I MUST buy whatever, and the next says it loads fast, I will go with the second comment, especially if it’s not selling me anything.

Then, there are the REAL comments, the ones I appreciate and post and to which I answer and for which I am grateful.

The one which I received today, was one of the comments I value.

The person who commented on one of the schemes I exposed, was bringing to our attention that many identity thieves and hackers originate in China.

If you think this is true, my only suggestion is, do NOT purchase anything which is so inexpensive, it’s too good to be true. It probably is. Also, make sure where the item ships from. If you do not know from where the item ships, do not buy it.

I had a personal experience, which I will share, but do not want to point fingers, as it could have been a coincidence.

A while ago, I saw an advertising for a jacket. Wow! I said to myself, what a deal! I bought it on the web site of that particular seller (which meanwhile disappeared) and after ten days I received the idem shipped from China!  I was amazed at my good luck!

A few weeks later, I received a call from my bank. Someone was trying to use my card!!!

For once, being poor came in hand. I only had $30.00 in my account, as it was the end of the month:) so, the hackers could not buy anything.

After the event I thought… hmm… perhaps the item was so cheap, so that people, deals seekers like me, buy it, when the real PURPOSE is  for the seller to get our credit card information!  In my case, it was a debit card and I was broke. Sorry, hackers.

Because there is such a need to expose the truth, and so many of us have unpleasant experiences, we are in the process of building a new site, THE NUDE TRUTH- Where life is stripped of lies and the truth revealed! I will continue to blog  on the same topics as now, and MORE!

I’ll keep you posted. Thank you for continuing to read and comment. I really appreciate, as power is in the numbers… and HONESTY!!!