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Can I speak to Emily's mom?
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What parent doesn't want his or her kid to succeed? The phone call relating your freshman/sophomore's expressed interest in SAT/ACT tutoring software may make a parent marvel at the remote possibility of teen initiative.  Don't be fooled. Instinctual incredulity ("Are you sure my kid wants to study?") was probably correct. This is likely an unsolicited cold call; your kid will confirm not "checking a box."One organization uses the name American Education Foundation. Like many potential scams, its name is similar to other established foundations, allowing consumers to confuse the two. Solicitors also market the expensive software under the name University Prep Center. Besides being rude and often hanging up on people who question them, these solicitors claim to be a nonprofit, but the website indicates a pending application. It looks more like circumventing the National No Call List while aggressively peddling the software. Remember, when it comes to scamming: First reaction, best reaction. That is, if the first reaction is skepticism. Pesky or questionable telephone solicitors? First: Register on the National No Call List Second: After registered for 30 days, you may report them to the FTC |
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Death be not proud
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Internet Buzz Examiner Joshua McIntire's article on melting bodies with lye, pressure and heat for a greener funeral reminded me of one of the best scams perpetrated on the media ever. Joey Scaggs, who made hoax press releases into an art form, proposed a global chain of funeral theme parks in 1999. Clients could design their own creative graves for visitors' amusement. .gif){kind=small} Designer Mary Dresser envisioned cremated remains in a giant ant farm; another proposed a fiber optic cable running from his unembalmed body to a monitor where people could view his decomposition. (Hopefully after lunch at Heaven's Gate Café or Dante's Grill.)Scaggs claimed his goal was exposing the greedy scamming of the death care industry; sort of a prankster version of Jessica Mitford's 1963 exposé, The American Way of Death (updated in 1998.) Check out the www.Finalcurtain.com website that fooled 40 newspapers, 19 radio stations, 10 magazines, and 6 television crews with its death theme park designs. |
Lines Moms use to con kids
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Main Entry: con Function: transitive verb Inflected Form(s): conned; con·ning Date: 1896 1 : swindle 2 : manipulate 2b 3 : persuade, cajole Note: In relation to mothers, please see Definition #3. In a worst case scenario, #2. "Five more minutes." – Could mean anything from 30 seconds to six days. Time is especially relative when kids can't read a clock. "Tell me a story about your picture." – Translation: "I have no idea what this is or even which way is right side up." "Do as I say, not as I do." – Role modeling is overrated. "When you missed curfew and didn't call, I thought you'd been in an accident." -- Expressing post-driver's license frustration over losing any semblance of parental control. Okay, every mother received this video at least four times the last year, but it's Mother's Day.
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Fairy dusted
.jpg) Would this picture fool you? It convinced Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes' creator, that fairies flew among us.Two fads helped popularize the Cottingley Fairy Hoax: Home photography after the 1900 Kodak Brownie introduction and an interest in Spiritualism, whether table-jiggling séances or mediums channeling deceased loved ones. Pre-Photoshop, scammers doctored early photographs as evidence of UFOs, ghosts, and astral projection. Although many favored double exposures, two young girls in 1917 England used traced magazine fairy illustration cutouts, propped with hatpins. Conan Doyle, despite a budding friendship with skeptic Harry Houdini, fell for the photographs hook, line and sinker, writing articles supporting their authenticity. The girls didn't 'fess up until the 1980s. This hoax illustrates several points in the Scamzaminer guide.
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When magic goes bad
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Street scams like Three Card Monte are magic tricks, except with bystander betting instead of pass-the-hat tipping. While the con game varies, you can be pretty sure of several things. --Anyone winning or offering you advice is working with the scammer. --Anything the scammer says misdirects your attention. --The scammer knows the Throw (throwing either the top or bottom card when holding two) even if he appears clumsy. --Your money will disappear like magic. The sound quality of the following '80s recording is poor, but it is worth watching to see sleight-of-hand master magician Dai Vernon (1894-1992) at work. Vernon gleaned much information and skill befriending con artists and cardsharps, but he worked legit as an entertainer. Street suckers everywhere can be grateful.
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Karin Malchow
Gullible suburban mother of four regularly duped in her half-century life. Exploring hoaxes and schemes as the ExSCAMiner, she attempts answering the nagging question: Should I have fallen for that?
Gullible suburban mother of four regularly duped in her half-century life. Exploring hoaxes and schemes as the ExSCAMiner, she attempts answering the nagging question: Should I have fallen for that?
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Interesting Donald Trump interview on CNBC
Listen to The Donald's thoughts on the real estate industry on CNBC. As usual, entertaining and interesting, and always bombastic. ...
