New Cell Phone? Protect Yourself

I never realized how often people change cell phone carriers and get new cellular telephones. Now that I know they change those almost as often as the Sun & Moon change positions in the sky. Not that often? Surely as often as the seasons change...
Well to the point...Please protect yourself and your sensitive as well as private information when you do change cell phones.

Remember to clear your data out of those lists that you created. Many people store numbers, addresses, and other key information in those phones. You don't want someone getting your info. I don't know if you can wipe the data off the SIMMs card but if you can then reformat, delete all, or something just get your stuff cleared out.

It doesn't matter if you recycle it or throw it away. If you get a new cell phone protect yourself by clearing out all of your data.

Protect Yourself

Is there an end to the madness? I don't know where the end is but I guess we must try to be at least one step ahead of the latest thief. So here's the latest trick send in by S. Robinson of Michigan:

A woman said her son found his license plate missing so he called the police to file a report. They told him people were stealing the plates to get free gas. Given the rise in gas prices, people have taken to stealing license plates, putting them on their cars, then getting gas and running. The gas station will have "your" license plate # and you could be in trouble for "pump and run." Check your car periodically to be sure you still have a plate. If you should find it missing, file a report immediately!!!

It's amazing what the come up with. If they spent half as much energy coming up with legal avenues to get money or things they'd be rich by now. They'd see blue seas and foreign lands instead of grey shirts (on the other inmates) and steel bars.

Oh well, keep an eye on your license plate! Make sure you always know it's there! Be aware of your license plates, most of us never look to see if they're there.

Help Someone You May Never Meet

Many people go through this life gaining a vast amount of knowledge but never seem to share the helpful knowledge with others. I say this because in your day to day life take notice as to the conversations you have or hear taking place around you. We use emails, blogs, audio recordings, and books now more than ever before. These formats allow you to help people that you may never meet.

When you observe the chatter around you, you'll find that people are talking about what happened to them or what problems they're having. Why is this? Usually they're looking for answers. Unfortunately they're looking in all the wrong places. But that is why "word of mouth" advertising is so good. The "word of mouth" way of searching for answers takes the long way around the problem before connecting you with the person that has the answers you need.

The experiences in life equips everyone with some very valuable information. If this info is shared in the right format it will prove to be very valuable. That is one reason why you see so many new authors. The information is out there just look at the number of people around you (they all have experiences & knowledge). Most people don't know what's useful and what's not. Then there's the putting it all together, finding out what to do next, who to contact, and on and on, and, on......

So here's a tip. Go to this site: www.dpublishing1.com look around, submit any questions that you might have and be sure to include your contact info. And with a little time and effort we may just see your name in print.

You didn't think you were going through situations just to go through them did you? Of course you didn't. You experience many things to help make the way/journey easier for the next person (generation).

New Orleans Residents to Lose Their Homes!!!!!

I receive an email from one of my blog readers. This is worst than pouring salt in an open wound. Everyone goes on and on about how they feel about the devastation that Hurricane Katrina had on the area. Now we know it was mostly talk.

My reader heard this on a radio program found the article and sent it to me.

I heard on the radio this morning from a rep of www.acorn.org (they're helping the citizens to rebuild thru donations) that if the citizens donate rebuild or have a plan of action to rebuild by the 31st, they will lose their properties to the city. The red cross, the gov't, and the other large gov't groups who've been collecting funds for the rebuilding haven't came off the funds yet as promised and not only that over half of the people haven't even heard of this yet..the man said their waiting list is about 1000 people long now but as long as their on it, they'll be pardoned..but for everyone else who didn't hear the broadcast or don't know, they'll be out of luck.

This is the article infomation:
New Orleans considers taking homes through legal tool
By Scott Gold, Los Angeles Times October 23, 2005
NEW ORLEANS -- Officials and community advocates are quietly planting the seeds for an enterprising program that could give the government temporary control over thousands of privately owned homes decimated by Hurricane Katrina.

An increasing number of Louisiana housing authorities believe the proposal, which is based on an arcane legal concept called ''usufruct," could be a key to determining whether New Orleans will once again be a seminal American city or will stagnate with a population, like it has now, equal to that of Duluth, Minn., and Fort Smith, Ark.

''You are not going to rebuild New Orleans unless you are able to get government access to private property," he said yesterday. ''If government does not solve that problem, everything else is just talk. It is foolish to believe otherwise."

Usufruct is a centuries-old legal concept that gives a person the right to use and profit from property that belongs to someone else. In Louisiana -- with its unusual legal system founded on Napoleonic code rather than English common law -- usufruct can apply to private property rights. It is sometimes used here to give a husband or wife control over property after his or her spouse dies. In layman's terms, proponents of the housing program want to give that control to the government.

Authorities would locate scattered homeowners to determine whether they have the means or the inclination to rebuild. There are believed to be at least 100,000 homes in New Orleans that are damaged to the point that they are not currently habitable. If the owner is not planning to return anytime soon, local officials would strike a deal. The owner would sign over controlling rights of the property -- but not the title -- to the government. In most cases, that would likely be the city of New Orleans, but the program would apply statewide and could involve numerous municipal or parish governments.

Through contracts targeting hundreds of properties at once, the government would then pay to make the home habitable again, while assuming, in most cases, mortgage payments for the owner.The home would then be rented out, first to displaced ''essential workers" such as teachers, police officers, firefighters, and their families, then to the public. Rents would probably be subsidized, and checks would be written to the government agency that signed the deal or to a company hired to manage the money.

The owner would be allowed to return after an agreed-upon period of time, provided he or she can repay the government for repairs made to the home. If, at that point, the owner does not want to return or cannot pay for the fixes, the government would have the right sell it. If the house were sold, the government and the owner could share in both profits and losses.

Now if any of you have rental property then you know how hard it is to get a person out of your property. Even if the person hasn't paid the their rent for months!!!!

This looks like a sneaky backdoor way to legally take someones property!!!!

Credit Card Scam

You know me by now...This seem like good info so I'm passing it on. It is somewhat lengthy but very informative. Here's the snopes link if you'd like more info: http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/creditcard.asp


This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all the information, except the one piece they want.

Note:the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it.By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to protect yourself.

The scam works like this:
Person calling says, "This is (name), and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a Marketing company based in Arizona?"

When you say "No", the caller continues with,

"Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?"You say "yes". The caller continues - "I will be starting a Fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1- 800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number "Do you need me to read it again?"Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works.

The caller then says, "I need to verify you are in possession of your card". He'll ask you to "turn your card over and look for some numbers". There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security Numbers' that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, "That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?" After you say No, the caller then thanks you and states, "Don't hesitate to call back if you do", and hangs up.You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the Card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called back within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISA Security Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 was charged to our card.

Long story made short - we made a real fraud report and closed the VISA account. VISA is reissuing us a new number.

What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master card directly for verification of their conversation. The real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card!

If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit. However, by the time you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost to late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.

Please pass this on to all your family and friends. By informing each other, we protect each other.

Personally:
I've had many people calling to sell me something or check something I usually don't let them continue their spill. I politely cut them off and tell them they need to send it through the mail because there are too many scams going on. Whatever they tell me, my reply is "that's good" or "I understand but please mail me what you want me to know, thank you and have a good day". Then I hang up immediately because I mean business. I don't give them any info on the phone other than to acknowledge that I am the person they called for.

Chevrolet & Ford Smoke Screen

I recently returned from a trip I took to Spain. To my surprise I found they have many small cars similar to the Hybrids that were being marketed in the US.

Why am I bringing this up?

Because of the high price we pay in gas there's a scramble to find a new fuel source. Some of us have jumped on the Hybrid car bandwagon. Now we are losing the HOV privileges and we are still strapped with the inconvenience of having to use electricity and gasoline.

Car manufactures such as Chevrolet(Matiz), Ford, Nissan(Micra) make cars similar in size to the Hybrids but run solely on gasoline. Yes you heard correctly. Our two largest car makers want us to buy their American made cars are holding out on us!!!!!!

These cars get Better than average miles per gallon. They save money and gas but are not being offered to Americans. In fact the majority of Americans don't know they exist because the auto makers only show you the large gas guzzling vehicles. Yes America loves its large vehicles but they also like the smaller ones. Example: Beetle(old & new), Mini Coop, Golf, Miget, Fiesta, etc...

My photos aren't that good but here's a page you can view. Most of the info you find through search engines state this is a car under Daewoo but it's Chevy.
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/frame.php?file=car.php&carnum=2092

Nissan:
http://www.nissan-offers.co.uk/micra.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Micra

Ford(gasoline & diesel). I didn't get the name of the vehicle but this page shows many of what they offer the UK.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_S-MAX

What's up with this? And now Ford selling it's company to a Europeon company!