Tell me about common cons/scams: "Thanks, you suck. Hello, this is Linda."

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tell me about common cons/scams: "Thanks, you suck. Hello, this is Linda."

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Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

peanut posted:

This was from a regular gmail address. I'm not sure if it's spam, or just an idiot.

Subject: essay

Why Before What

The term WHY before WHAT is important for everyday leadership. What does it mean? Explaining to an employee WHY we need them to do something, before telling them what we WANT them to do will create a smoother transition and a better working relationship with fellow employees. When in a leadership role there are a lot of things that will need to be done throughout the day. It is not always easy to get everything done in the time frame you have, but do your best. Some of these jobs are passed onto your employees. Therefore it is important as team member, but also as a leader that if a last minute call comes in, and a job needs to be changed on the floor, using the WHY before the WHAT method can ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Say your boss just told you that machine 405 needs to go from a regular HD part to a SIPHD. This is not a 10 minute job and they are difficult parts to run. So before you run to your set up and say you need to change this back over to this part. Come up with a plan and a way of explaining the WHY before the WHAT. Robb I know that you have been working hard on keeping everything running today and you’re doing great but I just got word that we have to make some changes. We got a call this morning that we are very low on the SIPHDS. We have a new costumer and they need many different lengths of this part. We did not plan on this happening so soon but we are very excited to have another happy customer to work with. We have been trying to find a way to hold off on the changeover but it is not possible at this time.        We need the machine to be changed over as soon as we possibly can. Before bringing this up to you I have made some phone calls for some more answers and help. We do have another set up coming into help us with this to help make it go as smoothly as possible. I understand that this is going to take some time and it is not easy for us to do this. We have also asked the customer for all the lengths and amounts they will need for up to 6 months so next time we have a better plan and are ready for it. Before we get or make any set decisions is there anything that you think would help with process? Asking the employee if they have anything they would like to add or ask for anything is always a good way to end things. They may have better things to remember than you and also they are part of the team and need to always feel like they are.

            In conclusion, it will create a better working atmosphere if we implement the

    WHY before WHAT method of communication with team members. An employee that feels like part of a team, and not just a mule will give more of him or herself, and do a better job.

Probably should have told you WHY they sent you the email before WHAT = sending it.

# ¿ Nov 10, 2017 23:19

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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 03:53

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Midjack posted:

Assuming, of course, that it isn't itself harvesting valid email addresses and doing something else with that information.

I always trust free services that ask me for personal information to do good. :shobon:

# ¿ Nov 12, 2017 19:05

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

EL BROMANCE posted:

Aren�t a lot of the download tools loaded with adware/malware these days?

Neatly tying this discussion back to the thread topic! :v:

# ¿ Nov 17, 2017 03:28

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

https://twitter.com/ShadowFart69/status/942621636787703808

:patriot:

# ¿ Dec 18, 2017 06:29

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

I just got a call earlier today from the "Windows Department in Microsoft about my computer". I egged the guy on, told him the whole thing sounded suspicious, then asked to speak to his manager, so he hung up.

He said he was in Oregon, but I looked up the number and it's a Quebec, Canada area code. That spoofing is really annoying.

# ¿ Dec 21, 2017 05:53

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Pilsner posted:

If you can't save up like $400 a month for 12 months (to buy a perfectly drivable $5k car), what business do you even have owning a car? Insurance, fuel, repairs, tires, taxes, and so on. This is basic economics. Owning a new car is not a human right. You could just as well argue that buying a new car that costs you, for example, $500 per month in payments, will shatter the savings you need for future medical emergencies.

Did you miss the part where we're talking about the US, a country where in most places not owning a car makes you nigh unemployable?

# ¿ Jan 1, 2018 21:29

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Lutha Mahtin posted:

when i was in high school, we often had field trips to college fair days and had college admissions people stop by the school. i only realized years later that a big percentage of them were crummy for-profit schools. i went to a rural school, where the only colleges within a 90 minute drive were community/tech schools, so I've wondered if they targeted us more heavily than other areas. i certainly remember being impressed that there was a school called The Art Institutes where you could study COMPUTER GRAPHICS and the school was in a big city with so much cool stuff to do

The real kicker is when you realize how much of a scam all college in the US is. :smith:

# ¿ Jan 14, 2018 20:26

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

# ¿ Jan 16, 2018 00:40

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

shame on an IGA posted:

More than one mafia guy is on the record being resentful that they only charged about half what the average payday loan joint does

Mafia guy, shareholder, potato, potahto.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2018 00:44

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Teriyaki Hairpiece posted:

The major difference is if a mafia guy breaks your legs you're going to heal a lot faster than it takes for something negative to fall off your credit report.

Corporate veil, my friend.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2018 13:11

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

MightyJoe36 posted:

People wonder why, in the year 2018, it's still almost impossible to buy a new car without going through a dealer and going through the whole "what would it take to put you in this car today" and "let me talk to my sales manager" bullshit. They tried the "no-haggle" car sales with Saturn in the 1990s and the company ended up folding.

The majority of car buyers want it that way. They want to go into a dealer and pretend that they're a great "horse trader" and then brag to their buddies how they out-negotiated the sales guy and "got a deal." Same thing with Van Meat.

No, that's actually because regulations make the alternative impossible. Nobody likes buying cars this way.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2018 14:00

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

ToxicSlurpee posted:

The place I got my current car from (note: I bought it used rather than new) actually does no haggle pricing. The price on the website is the price you pay. No negotiating, no shenanigans, no dickhead salesman trying to rip you off. There wasn't even a four square!

I did some research and...the price I paid was actually fair. The whole process was so painless I was legitimately confused. There was a minor issue with the car that cropped up in the middle of it all that they promised to fix. I kicked myself for not getting that in writing but they had their mechanic fix it for free the next day despite that. I expected to get dicked over on that one but they were like "sorry 'bout that, brah. Got it covered."

Typing that out sounds like fantasy especially compared to some of the other places I've had to deal with but it's actually true.

Moving away from cars, on a scale from 1 to hella, how much is this an mlm?

# ¿ Feb 10, 2018 02:15

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

I just got a weird email from a gmail account ostensibly belonging to my late grandma. It had a real weird looking image in it. I hope the preview reading process on the server side didn't get my account hacked, I sent an email to warn my Dad.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2018 13:54

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

"We are calling you from A Common Cable Provider in Your Area with a special offer"

LOL, I should have recorded this, somebody got a robocall script and forgot to specialize it.

# ¿ Feb 24, 2018 23:33

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Lutha Mahtin posted:

like many people now, i usually let incoming calls just go to voicemail if i don't recognize the number. i got a voicemail the other day from a local area code that started out "hi roger, we have in our records that you have an insurance policy coming due please consider us this time around" and yeah my name is not roger and i don't have that kind of insurance. the guy then goes on to give his name and that it's a local branch of a well known insurance company. it was a real call lol. i wonder if that clueless insurance guy knows he sounds exactly like every scam call in the world

Most spam calls I get don't try for a name.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2018 08:09

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

EL BROMANCE posted:

The student loans messages I get usually use the name of the guy who had my phone number before me, so they either got his details from somewhere or he willingly gave that up at some point. Been getting them for a year and they�re always due to expire the next day. What luck.

My phone number was caught up in some kind of data breach... under some other guy's name and details. So if I do get a named spam, it's from that.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2018 20:15

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

EL BROMANCE posted:

Yeah my number just must be on so many lists, either due to previous owner stupidity or bad luck. I don�t tend to make/take calls super often these days as I tend to use online tools as I speak with people internationally, so my recent calls list for the week tends to look like this. No reason to expect any of these are legit.

I'm Scam Likely.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2018 21:28

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

EL BROMANCE posted:

Sorry I�ve been dodging your calls, Mr. Likely.

A Likely story.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2018 21:50

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Fil5000 posted:

Oh, of the Conneticut Likelys?

No, the Boston Likelys. Common mistake.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2018 23:15

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

BigDave posted:

Ah, yes, founder of the Likely Real Estate Company.

"Our Prices Are Credible!"

# ¿ Mar 4, 2018 23:47

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Oh, wow! The FBI EXECUTIVE Director is emailing me?! Oh, boy!

# ¿ Mar 6, 2018 13:58

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

goatsestretchgoals posted:

Counterpoint: You used to be a mod on the SA forums. FBI/SS emails should be nothing new!

To my knowledge they only contact the site owner.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2018 05:58

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

peanut posted:

It's been impossible to get Carp tickets since they won the championship in 2016. loving internet scalpers

The recent Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Live series was beset by scalping bots. They managed to mitigate it a little bit, but not enough for me to be able to get a ticket. I'm not one to be on the lookout to buy as soon as ones are available, though. I am a bad fan. :smith:

# ¿ Apr 14, 2018 04:42

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

PhazonLink posted:

been getting a lot of voice mail spam the last few days.

"press two to be put on our do not call list. Be healthy and be blessed."

sounds like some fundie thing.

Just got two of these today. Reported them through the do not call website.

Also got this spam email, which I am not going to bother opening:

# ¿ Jun 2, 2018 07:53

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Lutha Mahtin posted:

is it even worth reporting robocalls now? most of the ones i get seem spoofed, where i see identical or very similar numbers over several weeks

This one, at least, doesn't seem to have been: it was not the same area code as my cellphone, was the same one for both calls, and when I looked online I found that other people have complained about the same scam from the same number.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2018 08:31

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Corsair Pool Boy posted:

I'm getting one or two of these every week. If anyone finds out what it is, ease let us know. Mine always come from a D.C. area code (202).

I got a call like that once. When I looked up the number, it was for the Chinese Embassy. I'm going to guess it's a scam spoofing their number.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2018 18:26

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

BiggerBoat posted:

I called that FCC number or whatever it was. I posted it a few pages back and it's actually worked wonders on my robocall bullshit

I've been reporting numbers on the website for weeks. Have not felt any reduction in robocalls.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2018 02:55

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Proteus Jones posted:

Did you re-register your number? It expires after 36 mos I think.

I registered less than 36 months ago, and I confirmed that it was registered before I started complaining.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2018 03:51

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

I got the dumbest robocall the other day.

This guy in a weird synthesized voice tells me he's an officer with the internet security force and there's been strange activity on my IP address. I need to call them before they block it. Then he says something about blocking my landline. A woman's voice then gives me a number to call, and then says that if I want to be put on their do not call list, to press 2.

I felt like I was listening to a neural network which was trained on a couple of scams and then set loose upon the world. :psyduck:

# ¿ Jul 11, 2018 13:17

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

ToxicSlurpee posted:

Despite the pooh poohing about the marketing that surrounds it the Mach 3 is in fact a drat fine razor.

Yeah, I tried the electric razor thing for years, went back to the Mach 3 and have no real complaints. Anything beyond that seems a bit excessive.

# ¿ Jul 16, 2018 01:29

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Wow, I guess the White House really is boring:

# ¿ Jul 17, 2018 01:13

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Just came up on my Facebook feed:

Sure, this doesn't at all look extremely suspicious and scammy.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2018 06:08

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Just have a three day waiting period on getting gift cards, with full refund if you change your mind.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2018 19:55

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Ancillary Character posted:

Then you'll screw over the internet sex workers being paid with gift cards.

If you're using them for that purpose you can plan ahead. Meanwhile, scams depend on pressuring people into doing things at short notice.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2018 21:04

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Corsair Pool Boy posted:

We can't get mandatory waiting periods for loving firearms, good luck with that.

The companies would throw an absolute fit if you tried to do it, even more than the NRA. I suspect a lot of gift card purchases are last-minute and they'd lose a lot of money if people had 3 days to find something else.

And I don't think it's the right solution to the problem - inconveniencing 99% of people to try to stop some from paying scammers just seems like overkill. Plus there are (sometimes) people that actually need to get their computer workable right away, much like there are some companies that pay crypto ransoms. If I were in the middle of a big project due tomorrow and that happened to me, $300 in gift cards might be a better solution than missing the deadline. Edge cases, but making gift cards harder to buy than guns or medical supplies just seems like a bad way to go about dealing with the issue.

You realize your argument could be used against all types of money laundering laws, right? "Oh, but what if someone needs to a pay a ransom to the Mob, we can't just start letting companies flag suspicious money transfers or be forced to report large money transfers to the FBI/IRS!"

Also there's no 2nd Amendment for them to fall back on. Honestly, gift cards themselves are a big scam. Transform legal tender into extremely limited currency! Sometimes with an expiration date!

# ¿ Jul 28, 2018 21:12

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Hoshi posted:

Not what I was suggesting at all. I didn't post a policy by any means, I suggested maybe another vector might be more appropriate than cashiers which is what I think most people were discussing.

It isn't just the elderly or otherwise caretaken that get scammed, though.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2018 05:45

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

therobit posted:

Many stores already have the people at the customer service desk looking out for people getting scammed with Western Union money transfers. Banks certainly all do as well. Part of that probably has to do with anti money laundering legislation and part of it has to do with having a duty of care. I don't think it would be too hard to move the gift card sales to the customer service desk and have a rubric for transactions that might be someone getting scammed.

I imagine that's part of the reason they've moved over to gift cards.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2018 06:40

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

ilmucche posted:

People frothing at the mouth to go off on perceived maga trump supporters all over the drat forums. I just want to talk about how a guy called me up asking if I was interested in their duct cleaning services, or telling me he was from Microsoft central security and there's a problem with my computer.

It is well known that the internet is a series of ducts, so you may want to call them back. :ohdear:

# ¿ Jul 29, 2018 08:40

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Money laundering has had an even crazier past than iTunes gift cards:

https://twitter.com/RobertWuhl/status/1023409462223093761

# ¿ Jul 29, 2018 17:11

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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 03:53

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

A variation on a classic, from the spam folder:

From: Publishers Clearing House <some email>
Subject: PCH Lotto: Alert!!! Code..some code

Congratulation on winning 850,000.00 USD in our 2018 Pch Lottery.
Kindly send your contacts to
some other email
Given Names:
Address:
Telephone:
Gender:
*Age:
Publishers Clearing House
----------------------------------------------
� Copyright 2018 Publishers Clearing House. All Rights Reserved

# ¿ Aug 11, 2018 17:51

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tell me about common cons/scams: "Thanks, you suck. Hello, this is Linda."

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