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Not audio related but since there are so many darn scams floating around and I am usually very vigilant about this... but whoops, I just got taken for a ride...
So there was a knock on my door this afternoon and there was a clean cut college aged kid at my door. He said he was selling magazines to help send him to Europe as part of his journalism degree and do an internship with the BBC. He told me that his parents lived up the street (got the street name correct) and then told me that I might know them because they have a beagle they always walk.
Now, what sort of made me let my guard down was the fact that I do have a neighbor from a few blocks away (didn't know their name) that would walk a beagle. I would always talk to the gentleman while I was doing yardwork in the front of my house so somehow I connected him with this cleancut kid.
Anyhow, I wrote a check for about $50 and handed it to him. He then filled out some paperwork and was about to give it to me and told me that the magazines would go to charity. He was such a fast talker that it was actually rather hard to keep up but the charity stuff took me aback. It got a little odd so I asked for my check back... which he proceeded to do. He looked a bit disappointed and made some comment how this was just strange.
I saw him walk across the street to my neighbors and ring their doorbell. I didn't see him go in so I thought he walked away. A few minutes later, I thought I would drop by their house to see if they knew the kid. I rang the bell and the kid was inside. I asked the neighbor if he was going to buy the magazines and he said he was going to give the kid some money. He then asked me if he should send the kid back. At this point, between the beagle, my neighbor also trusting the kid, and my guilt... I told him to send him back over.
A few minutes later, a knock on the door... I wrote the kid a check and he gave me some receipts. After he left, the entire thing seemed still so strange that I searched google for the info on the receipt. Sure enough, it came up as a door-to-door magazine scam.
So here is the sort of fun part. I live in a relatively small wealthy suburb where the police are ready to pull you over for a 1 mph speeding violation. I called the police station and told them what went on just a few minutes prior. Apparently, someone else called in as well thinking it was a little fishy. A few moments later, the cops busted them trying to leave the area. The cops called back asking if I wanted to head over there but I really didn't want to get involved for the $50 I just got taken for (my wife got nervous about the entire thing).
Reflecting back on it, I should have gone over and gotten my money back and the little form with my name on it when the police had them. After reading up on the scam, I think that I want to protect my credit and bank account just in case...
Its amazing just how you can get tricked(I am usually very paranoid of these sorts of things in the first place and close the door on just about everyone)... I gotta tell you, it was the damn beagle... why couldn't the kid have picked a dog I had never seen.
So there was a knock on my door this afternoon and there was a clean cut college aged kid at my door. He said he was selling magazines to help send him to Europe as part of his journalism degree and do an internship with the BBC. He told me that his parents lived up the street (got the street name correct) and then told me that I might know them because they have a beagle they always walk.
Now, what sort of made me let my guard down was the fact that I do have a neighbor from a few blocks away (didn't know their name) that would walk a beagle. I would always talk to the gentleman while I was doing yardwork in the front of my house so somehow I connected him with this cleancut kid.
Anyhow, I wrote a check for about $50 and handed it to him. He then filled out some paperwork and was about to give it to me and told me that the magazines would go to charity. He was such a fast talker that it was actually rather hard to keep up but the charity stuff took me aback. It got a little odd so I asked for my check back... which he proceeded to do. He looked a bit disappointed and made some comment how this was just strange.
I saw him walk across the street to my neighbors and ring their doorbell. I didn't see him go in so I thought he walked away. A few minutes later, I thought I would drop by their house to see if they knew the kid. I rang the bell and the kid was inside. I asked the neighbor if he was going to buy the magazines and he said he was going to give the kid some money. He then asked me if he should send the kid back. At this point, between the beagle, my neighbor also trusting the kid, and my guilt... I told him to send him back over.
A few minutes later, a knock on the door... I wrote the kid a check and he gave me some receipts. After he left, the entire thing seemed still so strange that I searched google for the info on the receipt. Sure enough, it came up as a door-to-door magazine scam.
So here is the sort of fun part. I live in a relatively small wealthy suburb where the police are ready to pull you over for a 1 mph speeding violation. I called the police station and told them what went on just a few minutes prior. Apparently, someone else called in as well thinking it was a little fishy. A few moments later, the cops busted them trying to leave the area. The cops called back asking if I wanted to head over there but I really didn't want to get involved for the $50 I just got taken for (my wife got nervous about the entire thing).
Reflecting back on it, I should have gone over and gotten my money back and the little form with my name on it when the police had them. After reading up on the scam, I think that I want to protect my credit and bank account just in case...
Its amazing just how you can get tricked(I am usually very paranoid of these sorts of things in the first place and close the door on just about everyone)... I gotta tell you, it was the damn beagle... why couldn't the kid have picked a dog I had never seen.
