Bill Moeller Commentary: Taking a Momentary Break From Doom and Gloom

Posted

The Chronicle and my fellow columnists, Julie McDonald, Brian Mittge and Brittany Voie have kept us up to date on the epidemic that surrounds us all, but I think it’s time we had a little chuckle or two, don’t you? Though not always funny, I find it hard to believe the number of scams that regularly appear on my computer! Is it because of my advancing years that I seem to be a target? 

Evidently there are people who have programmed and directed their scams to the point where, if someone falls into the proper age group, they are, therefore, considered senile enough to fall for just about anything. I consider my mental acuity to still be within useful boundaries, with the exception of two areas: one is the inability to recall the names of friends I’ve known from the time I arrived in Lewis County. I forget what the other one is.

If you’ve ever sent or received a message online, and are over the age of 65, I’m sure you must have received one or more of the following: a list of things that I’ve gathered within the last six months. First example, there was the warning on my email this past Sunday that, “The Classic version of Comcast email will be replaced by our new version. So it’s time to verify before you lose your email access.” followed by a place to click. The sender’s address, Rogerjunior@yayhoo.com just didn’t seem like a message from Comcast.

A few months ago I received the notice that, “The warranty on your hearing aid has expired.” I don’t doubt that one bit since my hearing aid was second hand when I acquired it. And once, I was sad when I learned that my “Access to USAA Banking is Locked.” I might have been interested to know how much money I was supposed to have sent them to get it unlocked?

And I thought that “Bank of America“ had taken my name off its list until I received another notice from them recently. I can only surmise that they became angry at my refusal to try to find out how much it would have taken to remedy my fiscal situation.

However, I feel slighted because I’ve never received a collect call from my grandson pleading that he had been arrested in Mexico and needed $2,000 or more to make bail. I would have liked to have him explain how he got from Seattle to Mexico on his bicycle, his transportation of choice.

A possible recent scam showed up on my computer saying that “the classic version of Email would soon be replaced” and told me where I could “right click” for more information.  I suspected a scam when I noticed the email address of where it originated: khokharfarooq@yahoo.I don’t make these things up.

A notice recently appeared on my screen that made me feel comfortable again.  It said “You’re protected to run Smartscan now.”  Oh, sure.



Chase Bank just sent me a message that said, “We detected suspicious activity on your Chase account and have placed a hold on your account, etc ...”.  I think I’ll just let them continue to hold it.

Still another recent one, supposedly from xFinity, had an email address of “purchase(a)apollofashioncompany.com”... hardly a company I’d be anxious to trust with my emails and certainly not with my money. 

I’m sure I’m not the only one in town who’s picked up a telephone to receive a final notice that their credit card had expired. That’s an easy one to slam the receiver down on. Possible conclusion after all the foregoing? Maybe a little experience and age are not all that bad.

But for what we’re dealing with today, we certainly lack the experience and age is of no benefit. Stay safe.

•••

Bill Moeller is a former entertainer, mayor, bookstore owner, city council member, paratrooper and pilot living in Centralia. He can be reached at bookmaven321@comcast.net.