December chitchat

[Virginia]

Another day - another crises! Though my crises are small, they just take so much time to straighten out. Today I got a call that I let go through to the message machine because I was putting together supper in the crock pot. It was from QVC (the shopping network). She left a number. I called back and it was QVC but they were too busy to talk to me. At that point I thought maybe I better go on line and check my credit card. Sure enough there were 3 charges from QVC. Two of them were for over $800.00 each and one was almost $300.00. I called my credit card provider and after talking to two people,, I got through to their fraud department. They cancelled that card and are sending a new one. He said he would send it two day mail rather than the usual mail so I would get it sooner. Maybe it will be here by Thursday.

It is cold here tonight and due to be quite cold tomorrow. I have an appointment to get my hair done, but I do not plan on going anywhere else. I have enough food to last me until after Christmas.

Agate I hope your son doesn't have COVID. I seem to remember that he had it once before and little William also got it. My sister-in-law has stated that if everyone who is coming gets tested Friday and they all test negative that it will have been long enough that we will be fine. The Christmas party is Sunday night.

You mentioned the wrapping bags that are out now. I discovered them last year and love them. My hands are almost as bad as my legs so for me it has been wonderful.

[agate]

Too bad about the compromised card, Virginia. I don't know anything about QVC and so can't deliver an opinion on their track record, but a couple of times when I've had to have a card replaced, the credit card-issuing bank has been really prompt about getting a replacement card to me. I hope you'll get yours soon.

Tending to these details can take up enormous amounts of time and energy!

My hearing-impaired doorbell's battery went out on Friday and today it finally got replaced but that was one of my details for today, as well as waiting for the regular visit from the exterminator, who does every apartment every 6 months, and this time it was this floor's turn. We were told he would be here between 12 and 2, and so I figured I had the entire morning to tidy up the place a bit. But at about 10:30 the manager called and wanted the exterminator to come in within a few minutes. I was in the middle of breakfast, and she was willing to wait 15 minutes but they were here very promptly. I was really racing around here before that, trying to make the place look more presentable. It wasn't so hard, really, but I'm not up to being under pressure in the morning hours.


It's people who are in a hurry that add up to pressure on me. And a lot of people seem to be in a hurry, or I think they must be.

Yes, my son has had COVID before--at least twice, I think. This time he tested negative, and I'm really happy about that.

[agate]

Just a message for Virginia, mainly, because yesterday I sent her an e-mail explaining my absence. I'm back and so you don't need to bother posting about why I was away.

Yesterday I found nothing on the monitor screen and spent long hours on the phone with tech support. They initiated a system scan and it looked as if it might take days. It was only at 3% about 9 hours later.

However, I left it running overnight, and some time in the middle of the night it must have completed because by some miracle the computer was back to normal suddenly.

I was able to see BrainTalk on the iPad but not log in. I haven't been able to fix that log in problem, and apparently the admins here haven't been able to either.

I'm interested in knowing what other people do about tech support. Geek Squad? My go-to people in recent years have been at Dell because it's a Dell computer, and they offer a software-only plan that gives you help with software problems if you pay an annual fee. I pay the annual fee and luckily haven't needed much help at all in the last 7 years of this computer's life. But this time I was very very glad I had that plan.

I do wish that tech support people were easier to understand though. It was quite a strain trying to figure out what this lady was saying. Everyone I've ever talked to at tech support, whether it's about the smartphone or the computer or whatever, has had problems with speaking English. I don't understand why tech support can't hire people who have a better command of English but I suspect it comes down to saving money.

For a while during this long long phone session I was watching the captioning on the caption phone but then she had me unplug everything, and that knocked the phone captioning out for the rest of our conversation.

However, because this lady fixed whatever was wrong with my PC somehow, I can only praise and thank her. She's a genius, and what's more, she had to put up with a client who must have seemed like an ignorant fool to her.

At one point she must have said, "Now click on F12" but I didn't get it. We kept going over and over that sentence, and I could understand when she said "one" and "two" but I still wasn't understanding what she wanted. I could tell she was at her wit's end trying to get through to me.

[flatcap]

agate, all my software tech support is in-house. I do it myself.

If the hardware ever dies, I would need help with that, but I have a full image of my hard drive, so even if I had to buy a whole new computer, I could begin again pretty much where I left off. If I ever have to add something to the computer I have now, such as a webcam for whatever purpose (everyone but me seems to have one), I am confident I could do that myself. If I ever have to replace any of the existing peripherals on my setup, I could do that, too.

Regarding the presumably foreign-national-based tech support you receive from Dell, that is par for the course. Had you posed the question, I would have guessed the tech support person you spoke with sounded like they were from India. That is where many such call centers are located these days. If they had another accent, it could have been anywhere, but it's practically a sure bet it was not in the US.

People in our building seem to be happy with Geek Squad — I see their car in the parking lot from time to time — so maybe that would be worth checking out. I would guess you could get and pay for help only when you need it, as opposed to paying a subscription fee, but whether that would save you any money is unclear. One thing is pretty certain, though, and that is you would be dealing with people face-to-face who most likely speak English as their first language.


ETA: I don't know what's going on with your iPad, but it's almost certain the issue is on your end. It is highly unlikely the problem is in the forum software. Any modern browser should work here, including Safari.

[Virginia]

Well, I just read the email Agate sent to me yesterday and was coming on to report on her computer problems. I am glad to see she is already back. My computer go to person is my brother. If he can't help then I will have to turn to someplace like geek squad. I think Agate did probably get someone from India, but at least they helped her - after she went through a lot of stress I am sure!

Agate, I can't get up and rush in the morning either. You can just forget me. I have often wondered how you make morning appointments. All of mine have to be afternoon now.

I didn't get on yesterday because I have been working to get a credit freeze through all 3 credit bureaus. It isn't just my credit card that was hacked. I can deal with that. Anyone who uses their credit cards quite a lot gets hacked now. They got me one the day after I reported the fraud. I told the man that I lived by that card, and he expressed a new one to me. Very nice I thought. So, I can deal with that, but what is driving me into a nervous breakdown is that the fraudsters are again trying to open accounts in my name. I received a call from a credit card provider asking if I had applied for an account. I quickly said no. Someone had applied in my name. That was a Visa. I then received a letter from Mastercard telling me all the information I would need to send in to open the account I had applied for (which of course I hadn't).

It just about drives me nuts trying to figure out how someone has that much information on me. Name, address, SS# and everything it takes to open new accounts. I got a new computer with new hard drive this year, I do not store my passwords on my computer. I do not store other information on there, so where could it be coming from other than other places such as Doctor offices and insurance companies being hacked? I received a letter back sometime during the year from Sun Life of Canada that they had been hacked and my information was stolen. Then there was the letter from UNC hospital some years back that they had been hacked and believed my information to have been stolen. This is so different from having your credit card hacked.

I have only been able to get through to one of the credit bureaus, so I better get back on it.

[agate]

Virginia, I've heard that the Social Security number is the biggie, the bit of information you don't want to share, ever, if you can avoid it. Sometimes when I've been asked for it, if I can't get by with just the last 4 digits, I give up on whatever it was. If you give out just the last 4 digits, that seems to be quite safe but not the whole 9-digit number. If you can remember any places where you gave out that SSN, that might help you to figure out where the information leak is. Another one is your exact birth date. You don't want to put that in a password or any place else but of course at times you do need to, and it's far safer to share that than to share that SSN.

Yes, freezing your information at all 3 credit bureaus seems to be essential. They've made it fairly easy, and it's even easy enough to unfreeze them temporarily.

flatcap, my last computer lasted 12 years and used XP much of that time. Then I got this new Win 10 computer. It was quite a change--Win 10 didn't have any of my old standbys for fixing computer problems. Anyone remember Dr. Watson, Disk Defrag, Scan Disk? And there were others. Some of them took hours to run but I ran them diligently and kept everything ticking away. This latest experience--needing to consult with Dell's tech support for probably the first time ever--has been a wakeup call. I will do more digging around in the Start menu and find ways of accomplishing what I used to do. This PC is getting old enough to need more attention.

I knew months ago that I was going to be using that Dell contract because the screen kept going black, several times a day, and then in less than a minute or so, it would be restored. It was a nuisance that I kept putting up with because I dreaded contacting tech support. I had a pretty good idea it was a driver problem and I could have predicted what they would tell me.

That is what I heard. The driver that would be needed is no longer available. At least I think that's what she said.

[agate]

Virginia, I can't recall whether you use a smartphone, but if you do, I just ran across this in an e-mail message. It might be good to have if you use a smartphone or any Android or iOS device for financial transactions. It's an app you need to download:

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

It looks as if you have to go through a long list of merchants and pick the ones you want to stop selling your data. This sounds tedious but maybe it's not so bad.

Still, another way of dealing with merchants selling your data on an Android or iOS device is just not to use those devices for anything where you have to enter credit card numbers or other private information. I'm not sure how risky it is to use a desktop PC for online purchases and other transactions involving revealing private information but it may be less risky than with mobile devices.

[agate]

There's one huge advantage in being pretty much mobility-impaired by MS. If you don't go anywhere, you don't feel the need for these mobile devices that are so popular--but so risky.

Using Google Maps on the smartphone, when I'm riding around on a paratransit van, I can see exactly where I am in real time. These phones know a lot about us.

[agate]

Virginia, I just received a notice from Xfinity/Comcast about a huge data breach affecting 35 million people. I don't know if you deal with them at all but if you do, you may have been among those affected. I use them only for TV but many have their Internet through them.

[Ikoiko]

Virginia, ugg another Covid wedding. I went to two weddings this year and they were both Covid spreaders!

And what a hassle about your credit problems!

[Virginia]

I didn't get much done on my credit stuff. I seem to have a lot going on today. However, when I worked and worked trying to get through to Equifax and Experian , and was unable to do so. It went on and on. Finally, someone I was working with asked if I have a VPN on my computer. It rang a bell. My brother put it on as an extra safety feature when he installed my computer. It scrambles everything so no one should be able to get my IP address. I use my computer to order almost everything. I occasionally use the tablet I am on now, but I will not ever do that again, to purchase anything. We are unsure if it is on the tablet. It would be protected if my Wi-Fi is. When I get some time I will go into settings and see if I can find anything about it.

I will have to send the credit bureaus a copy of my drivers license and my SS card and write a letter asking that a freeze be added to my reports. This is not a sure thing, as was explained to me, because there are some bad credit lenders who don't always check the credit bureaus the way they are suppose to.

Ikoiko, no one else in the wedding party has come down with it. Everyone going to the family Christmas party is going to be tested Saturday. If one comes back positive they will all stay away. If they all test negative they are coming Sunday night. I probably will talk to them way across the room. I realize at that point the chances of me catching something would be slim, but I am vulnerable as are a couple of others. Weddings do seem to be super spreaders. I guess it is because everyone is so happy and hugging and stuff like that. I hope they get to come because they have been looking forward to it, even though it will be bitter sweet since their Dad had ALWAYS been the one to bring them. Still we would miss them if they were unable to be there and they would miss us.

[flatcap]

I didn't get much done on my credit stuff. I seem to have a lot going on today. However, when I worked and worked trying to get through to Equifax and Experian , and was unable to do so. It went on and on. Finally, someone I was working with asked if I have a VPN on my computer. It rang a bell. My brother put it on as an extra safety feature when he installed my computer. It scrambles everything so no one should be able to get my IP address. I use my computer to order almost everything. I occasionally use the tablet I am on now, but I will not ever do that again, to purchase anything. We are unsure if it is on the tablet. It would be protected if my Wi-Fi is. When I get some time I will go into settings and see if I can find anything about it.

You can create online accounts at the credit bureaus and freeze your credit reports on your own. You can then un-freeze them as needed (e.g., if/when you apply for credit yourself). It is much easier this way than over the phone (I speak from experience).

I have accounts at all three of the major credit bureaus. I recommend signing up with them, but it's up to you. I realize it is a pain to have more online accounts, then having to keep track of your login information, but this is one case where I think it is worth it.

Below are the login pages. You can create new accounts from there in all three cases. If your TransUnion credit report is already frozen, you will be able to un-freeze it if needed from your new account. You can then re-freeze it.

Last, don't fall for the "credit lock" business the credit bureaus are selling. What you want is a freeze. Independent experts agree a freeze is the way to go. A freeze is also free.


Equifax

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...


Experian

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...


TransUnion

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...


Why a Free Credit Freeze Is Better Than a Credit Lock (Consumer Reports)

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

I will have to send the credit bureaus a copy of my drivers license and my SS card and write a letter asking that a freeze be added to my reports. This is not a sure thing, as was explained to me, because there are some bad credit lenders who don't always check the credit bureaus the way they are suppose to.

You won't have to do any of that if you sign up online. Also, it's a sure thing that any bad credit lender will never be able to collect from you on a bad loan. You can also have those accounts deleted from your credit report.

Note that you will have to give the credit bureaus a lot of personal information when you sign up online. The good news is, they already have it. Giving it to them to establish your online accounts merely verifies your identity.

We talked about it before, but you should also create a my Social Security account. I am surprised the ID thieves victimizing you haven't already stolen your Social Security. It happens. Your having a my Social Security account will help prevent this.

Last, you might also want to consider signing up for a credit monitoring service. They will notify you whenever anyone (including yourself) applies for credit in your name. This will help you take action if needed as soon as possible. I am currently using Experian IdentityWorks. It came to me free as part of the settlement for the class-action lawsuit against Experian for the large-scale data breach they suffered a few years ago that exposed the personal information of a huge number of people. When my free subscription expires, I will probably keep the service. It seems worth the price. On the other hand, I might try Experian's free credit monitoring service instead. We'll have to see what my budget allows.


my Social Security

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...


Experian Free Credit Monitoring

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

[flatcap]

<snip> Duplicate

[Virginia]

Flatcap I do have an account with SS.

I was trying to sign up on line with the credit bureaus using their free credit service. I was unable to do it and it turned out to be because I have a VPN on my computer as part of my security system. I had to get them on the phone at both agencies. It is still not complete. I need to get somewhere to copy what they need and write the letters. Also I am out of stamps and have to get somewhere to buy them or order them through the P.O. and wait for them to be delivered. I have been really busy the last couple of days and I had company come by both days. I was glad to have them and tried not to act as though I was in a rush.

Thanks for the information regarding the credit bureaus.

[agate]

You'd think that the post office would be prompt about stamp orders but the last time I ordered stamps through them, I waited quite a while for them to get here.