Posted by Ernest__CT on 6/8/07 7:23am
Msg #194191

OT: "Jury duty" scam

Please check out this scam with WWW.Snopes.Com for verification. This is NOT an urban legend!

Somebody calls you on the phone, claiming to be from the court system, and says that a warrant has been issued for your arrest because you failed to appear for jury duty. Oh, you weren't scheduled? OK, just provide your Social Security Number, birth date, and a few other details and the caller will try to get the warrant cancelled.

Identity theft! Don't fall for this scam!

Reply by MICarole on 6/8/07 8:12am
Msg #194198

Don't they usually send you a notice in the mail? I mean, they sent notice that a warrant is going to be issued, if you don't show up and show cause.

Reply by BrendaTx on 6/8/07 9:30am
Msg #194207

Re: OT: "Jury duty" scam - Carole...they

actually do call us here in this county if they are cancelling jury duty and the case settled...that's why this is so appropriate to me and will make me wary of scamming.

The jury system here is very polite and work hard to have good jury pools because our county's citizens are notorious for not showing up. It's in the newspaper all the time about Jury pools being too small b/c people don't show up. I was a sitting duck for this scam.

Elderly people who read the newspapers around here will be also.

Reply by BrendaTx on 6/8/07 8:17am
Msg #194200

Re: OT: "Jury duty" scam--thanks E.

Almost every weekday I send my mother a " 'prize" in the mail which can go into an envelope...like one little trinket (special bookmarks, a few pretty stamps, a credit card magnifier, a worthwhile coupon) -or- a good "tip" sheet (Everydaycheapskate.com-thanks to Christi) -or- an "advisory warning" which applies to seniors. It costs me around $.41 - $1.00 a day and it gives her a teensy-weensy something to look forward to in her mail. She's 74 now and gladly reports she considers herself in her second childhood. (Her words, not mine!)

This article just made the envelope. It's already in the outgoing mail. THANKS for sharing. (Mom doesn't have the 'net. As long as she doesn't I'll never run out of things to send out!)

Reply by Lee/AR on 6/8/07 8:40am
Msg #194202

Brenda...that is a great idea...I'm adopting it today. n/m

Reply by BetsyMI on 6/8/07 8:59am
Msg #194204

Brenda

What a great idea! I'm sure your mom treasures all those little 'trinkets'. Costs you next to nothing but you give a gift of yourself each day when you do this for her. I'm sure it's one of the highlights of her day. If my own mom were still alive, I would start to do this for her too. Sorry I didn't think of it when she was still here.

Reply by BrendaTx on 6/8/07 9:22am
Msg #194206

Betsy & Lee - - - I have read about people losing

their moms on this forum and it does not go over my head.

I am finally old enough to realize how I care
about her and how I want to just let her know
I am thinking of her....30 seconds, put a sticky on
that says "I love you!" and send her something.

The ahem, "fun" part is when she and the Vintage Boy Toy make
copies of them (On a fax/copier I foolishly gave her but that
another story) and then they take them
to their senior gatherings to share this little known info that
the 'brilliant' daughter has turned up.

People probably hide
when they see them coming with these stacks of paper
they (the internet savvy) have seen 100 times in
their email...but they are too polite to tell Mom
that "your daughter is not the
smartest person alive and I hate those stupid
articles she sends to you!"

See, my mother is still deluded into thinking that her child is more
special and smarter than anyone else in the entire world. It
drives me nuts ...but...isn't that exactly what we miss when
our moms are no longer with us? No one else will ever believe
in us like that.

So, with all that in mind, I give her something she can go out
and terrorize her friends with and do what makes her
happy...showing that "My brilliant daughter, Brenda, who writes me
nearly every day, sent me this. Your kids are probably not as
smart as she is so I will share it with you."

( I am very clear that I am not nearly as wonderful
as my mother thinks...but *my* son is..better, actually.
Now there's a truly gifted person....)

Reply by kathy/ca on 6/8/07 11:00am
Msg #194212

Brenda, waht an awesome idea! Mom past 2 years ago, had

Alzheimers Disease, so very sad! I spent lots of time with her but how fun it would have been for her to receive a little reminder of her daughter each day. Thanks for sharing and I hope one day when I am in that position, my girls will do something like that for me, how special!~

Reply by ZeeCA on 6/8/07 11:51am
Msg #194218

The flip side.... I grew up with a grandmother in Gary and

every week she sent a letter with a dollar in it... we each got a quarter from her every week to spend on what we wanted (bought a lot more back than!) we thought she was sooooo rich. She died when I was 12 and she was 53. We found out she gave up lunch once a week to send her grands $$ every week.... I cry when I think of that part but the joy every week of knowing she thought of us and loved us lots was such a great feeling growing up.

Reply by MelissaCT on 6/8/07 10:11pm
Msg #194301

Zee -- things you didn't know until you were grown...

My mom's godmother never had kids of her own. Myom would take us to visit her a couple times a year & she always had a treat for us. Problem was, they were always stale -- so we didn't really want them.

Took many years & I finally figured out that she only bought them to have something on hand for when she had young visitors. Shows how often she did.

Anyway, she's passed on almost 6 years ago. Her house has been torn down & a huge McMansion built in it's place.

Reply by Marlene/USNA on 6/8/07 2:50pm
Msg #194253

Re: What a lovely idea!

My mom is 91 and in the beginning of Altzheimer's, but this idea would so make her day. I'm going to start doing it for her, and for my brother who is caring for her in her home.

Reply by christiSocal on 6/8/07 5:21pm
Msg #194271

Re: What a lovely idea!

Such great ideas! I wish my Mom was still here, she would've loved Brenda's ideas. My grand-kids moved last Nov to AZ. So I'm going to use Zee's idea for them! I used to stop by with goodies for them and have missed that connection. Although I don't think a quarter will go that far anymore ;(