Monthly Archives: February 2017

SCAM — “Can you hear me now?” — SCAM

Neighborhood Security

My Computer Consultant asked me to alert my friends to a NEW SCAM.

Your phone rings (usually but not limited to cell phones). There is usually a delay and some noise like the caller is having trouble with a headset.  A voice asks “Can you hear me now?”  The normal response is to say “Yes”.  DO NOT SAY “YES”!

The caller has information from your credit card and is recording you saying “Yes”.  Or he has several other things in mind, from selling you a resort time share, to a cruise to services you do not want. He then charges your credit card and when you dispute the charge, he plays a supposed tape from your “call” to him in which he ask if you agree to the charges and your voice is heard saying “Yes”. Your credit card company then drops the complaint and you are on the hook for the fraudulent charge.

Remember –   If the voice on the phone says “Can you hear me now”, HANG UP – Do not reply.

For further information type “Can you hear me scam” into your web browser and read the articles there.

NOTE: Just before I started writing this article I sent an e-mail to several friends advising them about this scam.  A friend in Australia replied that she forwarded my e-mail to one of her friends in Boston, who received a “Can you hear me” call just afterward –  and promptly hung up.  Score one for us!

Alert Neighbors & Their Security Cameras Help Police Capture Thieves

Neighborhood Security

I just learned about a break in which happened at 12427 137th Ave. E. on 29 Dec 2016 between 9 and 10AM.  The thieves broke a window in the dining room to get into the house.  They also broke into the workshop.

The police were helped by a landscape gardener and a neighbor of the homeowner supplying video from his security cameras and pictures of a red VW Jetta.  Unfortunately they were unable to make out the license plate number.  The neighbor noticed the car because it was driving slowly and turned into his driveway, possibly because his garage door was open.  The driver turned around when he noticed a person standing outside by her car.

Police were helped because the thieves left clear fingerprints on the victim’s outside window and sliding door.  The fingerprints were in the police fingerprint system. The victim’s alarm system helped alert another neighbor.

Police arrested Joshua Adam Kaelin and Michael James Taylor two weeks later.  Charges have been filed and a court date scheduled for 8 March 2017.  Unfortunately none of the items taken in the burglary have been found.

Wrong Side of the Road! – A Still Relevant much delayed post.

Neighborhood Events

The post below got misplaced.  On the theory of “better late than never”, here it is.    A  recent survey has shown that the practice of “cutting the corner” still exist.

I was checking the Neighborhood Cameras on 19 Nov 2015 when I noticed two trucks coming around the blind curve at 11728 136th Ave E. on the wrong side of the road, entering our Neighborhood. The time stamps show that the first truck entered the Neighborhood at 2147 hrs. and the other at 2156 hrs. (That’s 9:47 PM and 9:56 PM for you civilians).

Yes I know that at night you supposedly can see lights coming from the other direction in time to get over into your proper line, but you are betting your life on it. Not to mention the lives of whoever you might run head on into. (All for a time saving of maybe 1/2 of a second.)

Please stay in your own lane when you are coming around the blind curve.  As far as I know we have never had an accident in the blind curve. Lets keep it that way!