1990 - 1995 in Irvine compared to now 2006 - ????

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
[quote author="skek" date=1212111153]Sorry, Deuce. Don't believe everything you read in an email.</blockquote>


Sheeeesh. Does that mean I should cancel that flight to Nigeria to help repatriate some of my long-lost relative's account holdings?
 
IR2, theres a thing called scambaiting which is where people respond to those nigerian emails and pretend to be lured into the scam. then they turn things around on the scammers -- such as pretending to be a church that will send money if the scammer joins the church and completes all the initiation rites... usually involving getting a ridiculous tattoo!



<a href="http://www.419eater.com/html/ahmed_sadiq.htm">scammer gets scammed into getting tattoo</a>



i've heard of one guy who promised to send money if his potential scammer would rewrite an entire harry potter book by hand. he scanned all the pages into pdfs and posted online. and of course never sent the money.
 
[quote author="acpme" date=1212113418]IR2, theres a thing called scambaiting which is where people respond to those nigerian emails and pretend to be lured into the scam. then they turn things around on the scammers -- such as pretending to be a church that will send money if the scammer joins the church and completes all the initiation rites... usually involving getting a ridiculous tattoo!



<a href="http://www.419eater.com/html/ahmed_sadiq.htm">scammer gets scammed into getting tattoo</a>



i've heard of one guy who promised to send money if his potential scammer would rewrite an entire harry potter book by hand. he scanned all the pages into pdfs and posted online. and of course never sent the money.</blockquote>


I <strong>am </strong>embarrassed to have been duped. I'm usually the one directing others to the snopes site.



An interesting personal story as an aside...



The most savvy scheme I've seen happened this year with a two-stage phone call. First, I received call from a woman letting me know that there was some unusual activity on my credit card, and then rattled off 16 digits of gibberish. I let her know it wasn't me and she politely apologized and thanked me for my time. No request for info, no real threat sensed. <em>Seed of doubt planted in my head.</em>



Next day, another call from an authoritative-sounding gentleman telling me that I was being sent to collections for unpaid bills. After shooting a quick, unfairly harsh look at Mrs. IR2 thinking maybe there was a Nordy's account that I wasn't supposed to know about, I asked what this bill was for. Then he gives me the, "Can I confirm your information?" but slyly asks me to give it to him, without giving me anything to confirm.



My response - "If you have the info, give it to me, and I'll let you know if that is me and my soc.sec.#"

His response - "I can't give that information out, but if you can confirm your d.o.b.?"

My response (still fairly calmly) - "I know who I am. I've paid all of the bills that I know of. If I'm being sent to collections I'm sure that you have my info, I'm still not giving it out. Who am I speaking with, again? He gave me an unconfirmable name (might've been skek jones, but I don't remember) and id# and then came his threat against my credit scores and that if I didn't clarify this, I would only penalizing myself.



He was persistent, and called twice more. When I reiterated my same stance the calls finally stopped.



I chalk it up to another cost of having your name and number (and balding headshot) on every bit of marketing that gets sent out.



Hope this may help even one of you out there. Guard your info.
 
what pisses me off is even though you can be guarded with your personal info, someone else could totally blow it for you. try refusing to give your SSN to a healthcare provider or in an application for school even though they legally have no right to ask for it. yet records of educational institutions are constantly compromised.



sorry for derailing...
 
best way to deal with all these id thieves to freeze the credit history. eventhough its annoying when u wants to open a new account, but again this is the safest way to make sure no one misuses ur info even they have ur ssn and all other details.
 
doesnt help if they file a fake tax return with your SSN. that happened to about 120 uci grad students this yr when the university's student health provider got hacked. victims didnt find out until after they filed their returns and got notifications back from the IRS.
 
[quote author="acpme" date=1212113418]IR2, theres a thing called scambaiting which is where people respond to those nigerian emails and pretend to be lured into the scam. then they turn things around on the scammers -- such as pretending to be a church that will send money if the scammer joins the church and completes all the initiation rites... usually involving getting a ridiculous tattoo!



<a href="http://www.419eater.com/html/ahmed_sadiq.htm">scammer gets scammed into getting tattoo</a>



i've heard of one guy who promised to send money if his potential scammer would rewrite an entire harry potter book by hand. he scanned all the pages into pdfs and posted online. and of course never sent the money.</blockquote>


Funny story I read on NSXprime where a guy lead a Nigerian scammer on for days on the sale of an NSX. He eventually made the scammer hold up a sign that said "I am ID.10T" That was his file name to release the funds. Guy set-up fake phone numbers for MoneyGram and everything. Had ridiculous names for all his associates like Jen DerBender.
 
Wow, the prime thread is viral in just 3 days. Wonder if it'll top the Sitko thread.



Though the source may be in doubt, the "triangles of life" theory has a lot of merit. Would you rather be under a desk or next to a desk if the roof comes down? Obviously it depends on if the desk collapses or not.
 
<a href="http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/19161-Biddle-Dr-92603/home/4739515">Here's an example of Real Estate Doesn't Always Go Up</a>



After eight years of ownership, someone still did not make a profit.

<strong>

Sales History</strong>



Date Price Appreciation

Jun 01, 1990 $359,500

Jun 12, 1998 $315,000 -1.6%/yr

Jul 26, 2002 $459,500 9.6%/yr





<strong>Current List Price:</strong> $787,000



_______________________________________________________________





<strong>Sales History</strong>



Mar 25, 1992 $520,000

Aug 04, 2000 $540,000 0.5%/yr



<a href="http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/1-Centaurus-92603/unit-12/home/5710612">Another 8-year performance</a>



<strong>Current List Price: </strong> $1,025,000
 
And then we entered 1994 and the fed spiked rates to pay for th inflation they created battling the 1992 recession. Soon OC went BK. It's deja-vue all over again.



http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3BlDnM9VbLo&refer=worldwide



``The market certainly believes the next move is a tightening regardless of what the economic data is,'' said Charles Comiskey, co-head of U.S. Treasury trading in New York at HSBC Securities USA Inc., one of 20 primary dealers that trade with the Fed.
 
Ahhh the 90's. I remember it well...



<a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/US-banks-post-first-quarterly-apf-14483155.html">US Banks post first loss since 1991</a>



Over and over and over. We just can't help ourselves
 
<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid=aZ7mKR2ZSJqU&refer=home">Banks May Fall to 7% of S&P 500 Before Losses End, Analysts Say </a>



"Banks, brokerages and insurers, the biggest industry in the S&P 500 from February 2002 until April 2008, slid 78 percent from the February 2007 peak, lowering their position in the benchmark gauge to 10 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The proportion will probably keep shrinking until it <strong><span style="font-size: 13px;">matches the October 1990</span></strong> level, said Mary Ann Bartels of Bank of America Corp. and John Roque of Natixis Bleichroeder Inc."





Over and over and over and over
 
<a href="http://lansner.freedomblogging.com/2009/03/17/oc-tax-roll-my-fall-42-billion-assessor-says/16669/">O.C. property tax values face 1st drop in 14 years</a>



Let me get out my calculator. 2009 - 14 =??? Hey, look at that, 1995.
 
Let me see 2009 - 15 is....Wow look at that 1994. Coincidence? I think not



<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aKrqdLil0pGI">?Problem? Banks Rise to 15-Year High on Bad Loans, FDIC Says </a>
 
[quote author="IrvineRealtor" date=1212117833][quote author="acpme" date=1212113418]IR2, theres a thing called scambaiting which is where people respond to those nigerian emails and pretend to be lured into the scam. then they turn things around on the scammers -- such as pretending to be a church that will send money if the scammer joins the church and completes all the initiation rites... usually involving getting a ridiculous tattoo!



<a href="http://www.419eater.com/html/ahmed_sadiq.htm">scammer gets scammed into getting tattoo</a>



i've heard of one guy who promised to send money if his potential scammer would rewrite an entire harry potter book by hand. he scanned all the pages into pdfs and posted online. and of course never sent the money.</blockquote>


I <strong>am </strong>embarrassed to have been duped. I'm usually the one directing others to the snopes site.



An interesting personal story as an aside...



The most savvy scheme I've seen happened this year with a two-stage phone call. First, I received call from a woman letting me know that there was some unusual activity on my credit card, and then rattled off 16 digits of gibberish. I let her know it wasn't me and she politely apologized and thanked me for my time. No request for info, no real threat sensed. <em>Seed of doubt planted in my head.</em>



Next day, another call from an authoritative-sounding gentleman telling me that I was being sent to collections for unpaid bills. After shooting a quick, unfairly harsh look at Mrs. IR2 thinking maybe there was a Nordy's account that I wasn't supposed to know about, I asked what this bill was for. Then he gives me the, "Can I confirm your information?" but slyly asks me to give it to him, without giving me anything to confirm.



My response - "If you have the info, give it to me, and I'll let you know if that is me and my soc.sec.#"

His response - "I can't give that information out, but if you can confirm your d.o.b.?"

My response (still fairly calmly) - "I know who I am. I've paid all of the bills that I know of. If I'm being sent to collections I'm sure that you have my info, I'm still not giving it out. Who am I speaking with, again? He gave me an unconfirmable name (might've been skek jones, but I don't remember) and id# and then came his threat against my credit scores and that if I didn't clarify this, I would only penalizing myself.



He was persistent, and called twice more. When I reiterated my same stance the calls finally stopped.



I chalk it up to another cost of having your name and number (and balding headshot) on every bit of marketing that gets sent out.



Hope this may help even one of you out there. Guard your info.</blockquote>


I know this is a rather large sub-thread bump, but I have been in the position of having someone ask me for information over the phone as well. Most recently, it was to "donate to the police officer's family foundation" or some other BS - purportedly that thing where you get a badge sticker and not get tickets? Either way, the caller was kind of pushy and acted shocked at the idea that i would even consider not donating to the local police... (so many things wrong with this, if it were legit). I did what I always do.... AND YOU SHOULD TOO:



If someone needs your information over the phone, you:



1. Verify the name of their organization

2. Ask the individual for their personal extension

3. Let the caller know that you will look up the phone number of the organization YOURSELF on the internet (this assumes its a legitimate corp or utility - should be obvious to you), call in through the company's official line, and then dial the extension to reach him.



A legitimate caller should have no problems with these steps. In the case above, it was as simple as me saying I wont give out my credit card info over the phone and to send me a brochure in the mail. To be honest, I was less concerned with legitimacy and more outraged at the prospect of being hit up for cash from the cops. I never did receive that information in the mail....



EDIT: heheh, see also my advice on taking the picture of the "newspaper/magazine subscription sellers" with your cellphone camera when they come to your door. In short, you explain that people use it as <em>a scam to stake out neighborhoods for burglary</em> and they shouldn't mind getting their picture taken ("after all, you want my time and attention"). Watch them scamper off like scared cats. Its also fun to quiz them about the high school they came from and make stuff up, watching them confirm complete nonsense. - "Oh, is Mrs. McGuillicuty still teaching science there?" ha ha.
 
<a href="http://lansner.freedomblogging.com/2009/08/31/detroit-hotel-old-lincoln-sl-asset-closed/35105/">just like before</a>



Detroit hotel, old Lincoln S&L asset, closed

August 31st, 2009, 11:11 am ? Post a Comment ? posted by Jon Lansner

<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><strong>Ah, the memories came back. Another downturn, different flim-flams!</strong></span></span>The old Pontchartrain Hotel in Detroit in trouble once again ? even with a new name. many moons ago, it was one of the assets that 1980s S&L crook Charlie Keating used to hide dicey assets and cash flows at his Lincoln S&L of Irvine in the late 1980s.



The news, from Detroit Free Press ?



Detroit?s Riverside Hotel, long the most distressed hotel in the downtown market going back to its days as the former Pontchartrain, is closed and will be put up for sale again. The latest chapter in the tangled financial history began in early July, when Mutual Bank, a suburban Chicago lender, foreclosed on Shubh Hotels Detroit LLC, a partnership based in Boca Raton, Fla., that had purchased the old Pontchartrain in 2005. Then on July 31, the Illinois Department of Financial Professional Regulation?s division of banking closed down Mutual Bank as insolvent and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as receiver. United Central Bank of Garland, Texas, assumed Mutual?s deposits and assets, including its loans to the Riverside Hotel. Royal Oak attorney David Findling, the local receiver appointed by the Wayne County Circuit Court after Mutual foreclosed on Shubh, said the hotel requires significant repairs before it can reopen.



And the scam, from reference.com ?



In 1985 the hotel was purchased by Crescent Hotel Group, a subsidiary of Lincoln Savings & Loan for $19.5 million. Lincoln S&L Chairman Charles Keating soon thereafter arranged to buy the hotel outright from the company and set up the Hotel Ponchartrain LP, controlled by Keating, his family, and executive contacts, to hold it. The sale was financed by a series of ethically questionable loans from Lincoln and its subsidiaries and totaled $38 million. This arrangement was later cited by Sen. Donald W. Riegle (D-MI) as his basis for considering Keating a constituent during his involvement in the Keating Five
 
[quote author="MojoJD" date=1251422828]

I know this is a rather large sub-thread bump, but I have been in the position of having someone ask me for information over the phone as well. Most recently, it was to "donate to the police officer's family foundation" or some other BS - purportedly that thing where you get a badge sticker and not get tickets?</blockquote>


was it from the 11-99 foundation?
 
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