The Vent and Rant Thread

[wodin]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

... the bank put a hold on the card, called us, cancelled the card immediately and then sent a new one.
This was a debit card and it had been used fraudulently.

Yes, thanks Cinisajoy. That's basically what's happening except I'm being proactive in that I cancelled the card myself, and I will go to the bank to get a new one rather than waiting for them to send it (I rely heavily on it and would rather not wait).

The sticky part is recovery of the $1K, and the PITA part is changing all my on line payments.

[HomeInMyShoes]

That sucks wodin. Hope it all turns out okay.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by wodin

Yes, thanks Cinisajoy. That's basically what's happening except I'm being proactive in that I cancelled the card myself, and I will go to the bank to get a new one rather than waiting for them to send it (I rely heavily on it and would rather not wait).

The sticky part is recovery of the $1K4, and the PITA part is changing all my on line payments.

Note our bank called within 30 minutes of the purchase.
And yes I hate updating the online payments too.
Auto pay is wonderful most of the time.
Hope you get your thousand back very soon.

[wodin]

Thanks,

I just got back from the bank with a shiny new card, and disputed the charges to Sports Authority. The banker looked up the transactions and they turned out to be a non-pin transaction (well duh!) and that Sports Authority failed to exercise due diligence, so it's pretty sure that I will, as Melody said "you're going to get your money back". It's only a matter of time, but luckily I have a sufficient cushion so it shouldn't be a problem.

[Cinisajoy]

Glad you have the cushion.

[cromag]

Originally Posted by CRussel

dummy terminals sitting on top of real ones. Basically "man in the middle" of a hardwired transaction.

A major business here in Canada, where we us Interac _heavily_. Why all our cards are moving to chips.

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I should have known. So simple I didn't even think of it.

If it's an RFID smart-card it's even easier and can be done without contact as a "walk-by." None of my cards have RFID, but I took them out of my wallet* anyway and keep them in an aluminum card keeper, which blocks RFID readers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID_skimming


* Once upon a time I only kept my driver's license and some cash in my wallet. Now I have dozens of cards of various types and no cash.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by cromag

If it's an RFID smart-card it's even easier and can be done without contact as a "walk-by." None of my cards have RFID, but I took them out of my wallet* anyway and keep them in an aluminum card keeper, which blocks RFID readers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID_skimming


* Once upon a time I only kept my driver's license and some cash in my wallet. Now I have dozens of cards of various types and no cash.

I think I have $2 in my purse.

[WT Sharpe]

Windows 10 is great until one day it decides you don't need a Start Menu. Or direct access to OneDrive. I've been playing around with my PC for the better part of a day trying to get everything back to normal. I even created a separate user account. That sort of helps, my Start menu works fine there, but I'm still not in sync with my OneDrive, nor can I find the link to my files in the cloud in Windows Explorer. I can still edit with the online tools, but what a pain that is. And I hate the idea of moving all my files and settings to the a user account.

Evidently this is a rather common problem. I'm really getting tired off spending more time on repair and maintenance than I do on productivity.

[wodin]

RFID cards are relatively rare, and should not be confused with contact smart cards. Those are the ones with the little square of gold or silver foil divided into segments that are designed to slide into a smart card reader. Those are completely impervious to skimmers of either the RFID or magnetic type.

You should be aware though that if you swipe a smart card rather than inserting it into a reader it's the same as any other magnetic strip card and can be read by a magnetic skimmer.

[cromag]

After the warm weather and rain we've been having lately, most of the snow has melted away.

But not the "gift" that the town's snow plow left us. The mailbox is still inaccessible to pedestrians and vehicles alike. And it's solid ice.

EDIT: No one else on our street seems to have gotten on the plow driver's bad side. Still don't know what I did to bother him.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by cromag

After the warm weather and rain we've been having lately, most of the snow has melted away.

But not the "gift" that the town's snow plow left us. The mailbox is still inaccessible to pedestrians and vehicles alike. And it's solid ice.

NYC got 24" - 30+" of snow, depending upon where you were.

The City has an established drill for this. Assuming it gets sufficient warning, the Sanitation Commissioner says "Everyone's on OT!", the garbage trucks all get snow chains and plows affixed, the salt trucks are on the street, and there are a thousand plows working to keep the streets cleared. They concentrate on major arteries, so side streets may have issues, but they generally do a good job. (An exception occurred years back when a freak blizzard hit NYC and dumped 2' of snow with no warning. The city was shut down hard for a couple of days, and every bar and restaurant had a snow party because no one could go anywhere. I watched people on Third Avenue - a major North/South artery - with dropped jaws saying "This is what it looks like with no traffic! I've never seen that before!" )

The other day I watched with interest as Sanitation did post storm cleanup. 30th Street (an East/West cross street in Manhattan) had piles up to 5' high created by plowing. An earth mover trundled down 30th to one corner, and turned to face the opposite direction. A couple of plow-bearing salt trucks blocked the other end. The earth mover then started digging into the piles, picking up huge mounds and spreading them on the street. When it finished, the first salt truck drove over the spread and laid salt on it. The piles had been reduced to the point where sanitation could once again actually pick up the garbage.

Yesterday we got a good rain which washed away most of the remaining accumulation.

Tomorrow, we're supposed to get another 2" of snow.
______
Dennis

[wodin]

It rained a little here yesterday, lucky I didn't ride my motorcycle to work.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by wodin

It rained a little here yesterday, lucky I didn't ride my motorcycle to work.

Glad you didn't get rained on while on your motorcycle.

By the way, I love your sig-quote. I know it was originally by someone else but it is something I need to remember right now. I had a horrible panic attack at work yesterday. I can't really go into details but, so far, it looks like I was worrying without cause.

[WT Sharpe]

I got rained on AND snowed-on many a day when I had my bike. My wife never let me take the car to work. She told me, "You're the one who wanted a Harley, so ride it."

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I got rained on AND snowed-on many a day when I had my bike. My wife never let me take the car to work. She told me, "You're the one who wanted a Harley, so ride it."

Yup. BTDT. Though the worst was a very early spring ride to Minnesota where an unexpected storm came in somewhere west of Milwaukee. Temp dropped to about 20F and we were in a near whiteout. Only really bad for about 10 miles, but a very scary 10 miles!