ureadit

This is a follow-up blog to an earlier post where I coined the word “scexting” to describe being scammed by a mobile phone texting operation. In the article, I described how both my wife and I fell victim to separate online scams that asked for our cell phone numbers. Well I’m happy to say that even though I called the scamming company twice and asked them to CANCEL the charge, this month’s phone bill showed the charge nevertheless.

Luckily, the folks at T-Mobile were once again willing to remove the amount from my phone bill. During my conversation with the T-Mobile agent, I learned that you can ask them to disqualify any extra charges on your cell phone account. Unfortunately, this will result in disabling the downloading of ringtones. In my case, that makes no difference. I have no need to listen to a Britney Spears song when someone calls me on my mobile phone.

The T-Mobile agent also told me how to send text messages to other people’s mobile phones using my online T-Mobile account. Recall in the original “scexting” post that I was scammed by being misled into thinking I was sending a text message to my son, who has an AT&T mobile phone. I did not realize that I could have used my online T-Mobile account to send mobile phone text messages directly from my PC, even if the recipient is not on the T-Mobile network.

It’s nice to know this, even though the usefulness of this information is a bit late. It’s like that old expression, “Experience is something you get right after you need it.”

Searching around the Internet, I learned that this scam is running rampant, and has been doing so for several years. In some cases, people have claimed that their mobile phone numbers were taken from their Facebook profiles and targeted for unauthorized charges on their phone bills. It’s scary to think of how many people just pay the bill without analyzing it, thus giving money to the scammers unconsciously. For each person who fails to look at the bill, the scammers make $9.99 per month.

Bottom line here should be obvious: Don’t give out your mobile phone number. This is especially true for websites that offer to give you the answer to a question, but will only “text” it to you. Furthermore, scrutinize your monthly bill for extraneous charges. Your mobile number may have been harvested off your Facebook account.

Best,

Dan

PS: One of my best friends, my cat, died in my arms yesterday. She was 18 years old, which is very old for a cat. She suffered from kidney failure.

While talking to the veterinarian about the kidney failure, I learned something about kidneys in cats and dogs: they are sensitive to mineral build-up that can occur by drinking tap water. The lesson: don’t give your cats and dogs tap water. Tap water has lots of minerals and other chemicals in it, and it often creates stones that degrade the kidneys. The degradation can fester for years until organ capacity is lost, and the blood goes toxic. If your house water is softened by a water softener, be especially diligent about what your pet is drinking. Water softeners add salts and other minerals to the water, and can devastate your pet’s kidneys in a few years.

Sure, 18 years is a long life for a cat, but she may have lived longer had she not suffered from kidney failure, which could have been brought on by all that tap water I gave her during her life.

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