Not So New Scam - Jury Duty

Some people must lie awake nights thinking of new ways to defraud honest folk.

My San Francisco buddy "L" just forwarded this to me. The Snopes warning was issued in 2005 the FBI warning in 2006. It's been around for awhile but it's legit.

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From the FBI warning:

The phone rings, you pick it up, and the caller identifies himself as an officer of the court. He says you failed to report for jury duty and that a warrant is out for your arrest. You say you never received a notice. To clear it up, the caller says he'll need some information for "verification purposes"-your birth date, social security number, maybe even a credit card number.

This is when you should hang up the phone. It's a scam.

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Of course it is. The caller now has all your personal info and will steal your identity. The Court will not call you. They will send you a letter, on their letterhead which you can verify with a phone call.

In other news, not much. I spoke to the girls the other day (two of them at least) and they seem to be doing well. Rebecca was grounded but that's nothing new. Rochelle enjoyed her birthday.

We've had rain and wind, and a small city a couple of counties to the south of us even had a small tornado. It seems like they always head for the trailer parks and this one was no exception. It was strong enough to remove some roofs (rooves?) and knock down a few trees but no injuries.

Why is the plural of hoof hooves but I think I was right the first time about roof. I wonder how people who were not born to this language ever learn it.

Enough of that. Life continues uneventfully around here. One of my coffee date friends is leaving for NYC and then Israel later in the week and will be gone until late February. I'll be watching the news from there closely. On the other hand, my friend Dave who's been traveling around the country for a year will return in a couple of weeks. I've been following his journey on his blog ever since he began and occasionally wish I'd stowed away. He's safely in Southern California so now all he has to do is navigate the next 8 hours and hope most of our snow will have left by the time he heads for home.

He emailed me to ask if I was interested in coffee. Of course I am. We have a lot to catch up on and email isn't quite the same as sitting in Barnes & Noble chatting back and forth.

Son Jim, currently on the Mexican border with the National Guard, may be heading for Iraq. It's up in the air. He was scheduled a couple of years ago but an old, service incurred back injury kept him here at the last minute. Now they can't quite make up their minds (at least the last I heard).

Son Tim and I are planning on a trip north to meet one of my blogging friends in late February. Her sister is directing a performance of "Jesus Christ, Superstar" (in Concord at the Willows Theatre for any of you who are familiar with the San Francisco Bay Area). It should be fun. I know the film but I've never seen the live production although Tim has. And it will be wonderful to meet yet another blogging friend and one I've felt a very special link with.

We'll go down on the train early Friday the 22nd, spend the night, and come back sometime Saturday. I am so looking forward to it. We probably won't leave terribly early Saturday so if anyone's in that area and wants to try for a coffee date, we're up for it. My phone # is on the bottom of my emails.

Thanks to all of you for the comments. Sorry I haven't posted more but, as I was saying to an online friend, I wonder how interesting it can be to read about, the weather or the roast I prepared the other day and the salmon loaf from yesterday (turned out real well - one of the few things for which I had to google a recipe). Mine had always turned out a little dry in the past - this one was okay.

Or it may be just the wintertime blahs.

Have a good weekend and take care everyone. Perhaps I will finally update the blogroll again. It's not too out of date but I can think of a couple of friends I've missed.