On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…
Revised and revived from the archives
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) This song is best known from the 1948 movie of the same name, but it was originally written for a 1933 Broadway play called As Thousands Cheer. In the play, a young man reads about the parade in a New York newspaper and decides to go and show his lady love off to parade goers. What's the most recent parade you attended?
A Pride parade a couple of years ago. Now unless they have a disability and senior bus, forget it.
2) On Broadway, the song was performed by Clifton Webb. He'd had a busy stage career, appearing in musicals as well as plays by Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward, but when he was in his mid-50s, he was considered too old to be a leading man. Broadway offers stopped coming. He was unexpectedly cast by Otto Preminger for the film noir Laura and a new career was born. He worked steadily in Hollywood for 20 years and earned three Oscar nominations. Tell us about a time you were grateful your life took an unanticipated turn.
When I got laid off and I got my Master’s in Social Work.
I’m not grateful right now, see below.
3) Today he's fondly remembered by the students at UCLA who have benefited from The Clifton Webb Scholarship of the Arts. If you could give an endowment to a school or charity, what would you like it to be used for?
One word… and it is not “Plastics” but photography!
4) The biggest chocolate Easter egg was made in Italy, measured 34 feet tall and weighed a staggering 15,000 lbs. Do you think it's possible to have too much chocolate?
Naw, just do like I did, freeze them!
5) After chocolate, the top-selling Easter candy is Peeps Marshmallow Chicks. They're so popular that they were once the subject of a Jeopardy clue. Do you often watch Jeopardy?
I used to but I don’t like Ken Jenning, I rather wish Mayim Bialik was host.
6) Jelly beans are also popular this time of year. In a 2024 poll, jelly bean fans responded that black licorice is their favorite flavor. It's Crazy Sam's least favorite. How about you? What jelly bean flavor is at the top of your list, and which is at the bottom?
None!
Sugar!!!!!!
7) We've been talking a lot about sweets this morning. The only holiday that generates more candy sales is Halloween. When do you eat more candy: Easter or Halloween?
Why limit to just those two occasion… stock up the sales after Easter and freeze them.
8) According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are doing more of their holiday shopping this year at discount "dollar stores" than at department stores like Target and Walmart. Do you often make trips to the "dollar store?" If yes, what do you usually pick up there?
I was there only once when I was in a car accident on Cape Cod and I had to tape a broken part away form the wheel.
9) Easter is considered the season of rebirth. What makes you feel refreshed or rejuvenated?
Relaxing along side of a mountain lake with a gentle breeze blowing. Watching the sun go down.
I became a statistic this week: fraud.
Oh, they were sweet talkers. They had a reasonable explanation for everything.
The caller ID said Amazon. When I answeRed, he said he was from Amazon and asked if I had ordeRed a $1,200 pair of sneakers to be deliveRed to a California address. No!
“I’m transferring you to the fraud division…” click.
They asked all the right questions. They even suggested it could be my 82-year-old brother. “You can’t tell anyone, because they might be the ones who committed the fraud.”
[1st Red Flag — it still hadn’t dawned on me that it was a scam, but I did think that was strange.]
“Oh, I see there’s money laundering involved. I’m going to turn this over to the U.S. Treasury…” click.
“This is Jay Himes from the U.S. Treasury Fraud Department.”
[2nd Red Flag, he answeRed very fast.]
Very smooth. He got me chatting and relaxed. Then he said he needed a picture of my driver’s license for verification.
[Big, big, big, and even bigger mistake!]
It sounded reasonable because I’ve been asked for that with my brokerage account.
Then he wanted to know which accounts I had so they could check them for fraud. When I said I was looking at my bank page and didn’t see any transactions I didn’t make, he said, “Oh, they hide it on the dark web.”
[3rd Red Flag, they’re counting on us not knowing what the “dark web” is.]
Then he started talking about freezing my accounts while they checked them… um…
I said, “How do I know you are who you say you are?”
He replied, “How about you call your police station and have them call you to verify my cRedentials?”
So I looked up the number and told him. About 30 seconds later, I got a call. The caller ID said it was from the Police Department, with that same number displayed.
[4th Red Flag, that was very fast. I gave him the number, and they called back in less than a minute.]
[5th Red Flag, he had an accent. Now, maybe a town police department might have someone with an accent—but the odds that all of them would—the Amazon guy, the fraud division, the U.S. Treasury it seems pretty unlikely.]
“We want you to withdraw your money from your accounts and...”
[6th Red Flag, looking back it was also so the fact that the Amazon guy connected me right away with the Fraud guy, and the Fraud guy connected me to the Treasury agent immediately should have raised the flags!]
“You get a warrant signed by a judge, and I’ll…” click.
Over four hours on the phone and I was emotionally drained.
Off to the police station to file a report.
Off to the bank. I notified the police, my banks, my broker, and my cRedit card company. I froze my cRedit reports.
They recommended one more thing: Flag my driver’s license as stolen. I thought, yeah… sounds good. But as a trans person, I stopped and thought—okay, I get stopped by a cop and there’s a Flag for a possibly stolen license. As a trans person, who do you think the cop is going to suspect?
So now I lie awake worrying about this
So… how was your week?
** Thoughts **
- These guys are pros! This is what they do for a living.
- In hindsight, they never used my name until they had my driver’s license. Always ask who they are looking for. Like I said, these guys are professionals; if they asked for your license right away, you would say no. They work their way up to it until it seems natural to send it.
- They started small; a theft at Amazon—and worked their way up to the Feds... the U.S. Treasury Fraud Division, an inspector no less.
- I noticed that they all had accents; a little yellow light started flashing in my head!
- "I only have your word... I want proof!" "Okay, look up your local police department and we will send them our ID. They will then call you." Two minutes later, the caller ID says "Town Police Department." Hmm... that was fast! Too fast!
- And another accent!
- Then it moved to the pitch: "We need you to send your money to..." "FU! I’m off to the police department." CLICK!
I am so sorry you were a victim of fraud. You're right – unfortunately it happens all the time and these crooks are very good at what they do. I wrote a lot about credit card scams when I was in advertising and here's something I learned: telephone calls are not a legal way to notify you of fraud. Banks do it for expediency, but they always follow up with an email (and they shouldn't ask for your email because if they are a business you do business with, like your bank or Amazon, they should already have it) a notice on your online account, and a snail mail letter recapping. I'm glad you got through this, but no wonder you're exhausted. What an ordeal!
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