All posts by Joan Y Edwards

Joan Y. Edwards is author/illustrator of folktale Flip Flap Floodle, a happy little duck who never gives up on his song even in the Mr. Fox's belly. She is author of 4RV Publishing's Joan's Elder Care Guide. It is full of practical hints and resources to promote healing and make caregiving easier. She has published 80 Gospel-Based Crossword Puzzles for Year A, B, and C. She has a Master of Education. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and Charlotte Writers Club. She enjoys watching humorous mysteries, like Columbo and Monk. Time at home, beach and mountain with family and friends energizes her..
Health, Spiritual

Beware Fraudulent Phone Calls and Text Messages

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triangular road sign with Fraud Alert
Thank you, Gerd Altmann and Pixabay for allowing me to use this image.

“Beware Fraudulent Phone Calls” by Joan Y. Edwards

Your trust of yourself and your trust in others may go out the window if you fall for a fraudulent phone call or other scamming or fraud attempts.

Last month, I fell for a scam.

If someone calls you and says they are from a certain company and someone has hacked your account. Tell them thank you. Hang up and call the company back on a number you know is the company or organization’s customer service line. I didn’t and wished I had.

A man called and said someone had fraudulently added two phones to my mobile phone account. Oh my  goodness. I thought…wow. They were fast at catching the fraudulent charges. I thought they were from the fraud department of my Verizon phone. But, they were not.

They sent me a text. It went directly in the same thread as my text messages from Verizon stating my automatic payment had been drafted. So I thought they were legitimate. However, scammers have a way of texting and imitating a phone from the company.

When they said they were deleting two phones, they were actually adding two phones.

Here is the thing to remember. Even if they say, like the man did to me, “The Good Guys always win.” They may not be the good guys.’

After it dawned on me that the call had not come from Verizon, and it was not the fraud department at Verizon who called, I called the real Verizon Customer Service, they said, “Yes, two phones had been added to my account and transferred me to the Fraud Department which took off the phones and tried to straighten it all out.  I never fully trusted and could not get back into my account again. So I changed to a different mobile carrier.

I pray for all people who believe the only way they can make money is to fraudulently scam other people. I hope they find a legitimate way to make money.

There is another scam going around about paying tolls. It goes through your text messages, Block it and report it as spam. Toll Services do not use text messages.

Let people leave a message on your phone. If it is urgent, they will leave a message. You can then call a number for that particular company or organization that you know is legitimate.

Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards

Flip Flap Floodle Firebird Book Award Winner Will this little duck’s song save him from Mr. Fox?

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