# New Scam - be careful on the streets



## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

this happened to one of my students - I hadn't come across it before - I think he was rather lucky

learn-aprender: New Scam - be careful on the streets!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Sneaky! But the guy pretending to be a policeman presumably wasn't in uniform? 

It does worry me how many people legally have access to our passport / NIE numbers though - even parcel delivery drivers.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> Sneaky! But the guy pretending to be a policeman presumably wasn't in uniform?
> 
> It does worry me how many people legally have access to our passport / NIE numbers though - even parcel delivery drivers.


I know I'm being dim here......but what use could be made of such knowledge?
When I think what Tesco UK knows about me from my shopping bills I tend to be nonchalant about such things.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> Sneaky! But the guy pretending to be a policeman presumably wasn't in uniform?
> 
> It does worry me how many people legally have access to our passport / NIE numbers though - even parcel delivery drivers.


no he wasn'tin uniform - claimed to be a detective & flashed a badge of sorts

the main concern after the initial shock was over was that he had read the NIE & passport numbers over the phone, presumably to a third party - if my student had had bank cards on him he probably would have read those out too - & hey presto- one new identity with a credit card!


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> I know I'm being dim here......but what use could be made of such knowledge?
> When I think what Tesco UK knows about me from my shopping bills I tend to be nonchalant about such things.


read the article on Wikipedia about identity theft.
Identity theft - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And if they can sneak a photo of you while they are on the phone, I would imagine it makes the ID info doubly valuable.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> read the article on Wikipedia about identity theft.
> Identity theft - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> And if they can sneak a photo of you while they are on the phone, I would imagine it makes the ID info doubly valuable.


OMG he could have taken a photo with his phone!


my student did inform the Consulate of the incident in case someone tried to use the passport info


apparently they weren't at all interested


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> read the article on Wikipedia about identity theft.
> Identity theft - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> And if they can sneak a photo of you while they are on the phone, I would imagine it makes the ID info doubly valuable.




All is revealed....I shall be very careful in future.

Once I was sitting in the BA Lounge at Heathrow when a pinstripe-clad type had a loud conversation on his mobile with a business contact....I heard him give full details of his bank account number, name and home adress, IBAN and BIC....
He obviously thought that everyone in earshot was honest...
It being a well-known fact that crooks, moneylaunderers and cother unsavoury types always fly Ryanair....

And just remembered...OH had 1500 euros taken from her account last year, used for online gambling. She eventually had the money refunded from the bank but it took a couple of months. A few days before she had bought a mobile phone from Carrefour online....whoever dealt with the transaction knew her name, address, bank, bank account number. The only detail wrong on the gambling transaction was her date of birth. We presume the bank involved the police but have heard nothing.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> And just remembered...OH had 1500 euros taken from her account last year, used for online gambling. She eventually had the money refunded from the bank but it took a couple of months. A few days before she had bought a mobile phone from Carrefour online....whoever dealt with the transaction knew her name, address, bank, bank account number. The only detail wrong on the gambling transaction was her date of birth. We presume the bank involved the police but have heard nothing.


We had a similar experience, but only €400. Took two months to get it back. They tracked it down to a hacker in the online top-up database for Movistar PAYG mobiles!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> We had a similar experience, but only €400. Took two months to get it back. They tracked it down to a hacker in the online top-up database for Movistar PAYG mobiles!


Now I hadn't thought of that...
A friend in the UK was astonished to get a letter from Tesco advising her that a jar of Hollandaise sauce she had purchased a week or so earlier should not be consumed as it was subject to product recall...
Big Brother or what????
That's why I don't get worked up about CCTV cameras. There's so much intrusion anyway.
Interestingly, on that topic, the preamble to the US Declaration of Independence lists the right to the pursuit of 'Life, liberty and happiness'. In that order.
Life before liberty. Which, when you think about it, makes sense.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Now I hadn't thought of that...
> A friend in the UK was astonished to get a letter from Tesco advising her that a jar of Hollandaise sauce she had purchased a week or so earlier should not be consumed as it was subject to product recall...
> Big Brother or what????
> That's why I don't get worked up about CCTV cameras. There's so much intrusion anyway.
> ...


But is life without liberty worth living?

Anyway, the USDI only applied to property-owning white males.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> But is life without liberty worth living?
> 
> Anyway, the USDI only applied to property-owning white males.


:confused2: Where does it say that?:confused2:


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

jimenato said:


> :confused2: Where does it say that?:confused2:


In a book I´m reading - Howard Zinn, A People´s History of the United States. Very enlightening!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> But is life without liberty worth living?
> 
> Anyway, the USDI only applied to property-owning white males.


I think its scope has been widened since 1776
As I see it, the right to life is the platform on which all other liberties are founded. 
The right to fly to London, get on a tube and finish my journey in one piece is the basis for all the other freedoms I may have. If some terrorist blows me up or a criminal murders me what use are any other rights since I cannot enjoy them?
The terrorist/criminal is also depriving me of freedom to choose whether I live or not.
There is also the question as to what we mean by 'liberty'. To Mrs. Thatcher and her followers liberty is the freedom to spend one's money as one wishes. Not a view you or I would share.
The word 'liberty' is a compendium: there are many freedoms. Some are freedoms _to_ others are freedoms _from_.
It think it is important too to relate these freedoms to real-life situations and problems, not abstractions. 
Otherwise liberty is just another intellectual concept to be debated and defined, like so many abstractions beloved by some sections of the left.
And for very many people the answer to your question is 'Yes'. The citizens of the Soviet Union did not commit mass suicide.


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