Back in 2000, there was a bomb scare by the "Gold Building" in Downtown San Jose. Many streets were closed off because they didn't know how dangerous the package was.
Watch the 6 pm coverage by KRON TV. The video features Pete Wilson at the anchor desk, Sgt. Steve Dixon, and Jim Goldman reporting from the field.
Fun Fact
I was there!
The interesting thing about this story is that I was actually n the building when this was all going on. I had arrived at work really early that morning. There wasn't an announcement to the people in the building to leave.
I remember calling co-workers letting them know what was happening.
Back in the late 1990s I lived in San Jose, California. One of the shows that I loved to watch was the 11 pm KRON news.
I had a VCR recorder, and every once in a while, I would record the news.
The following are a couple of clips from the year 2000. The first clip features the "Internet Phone" - a phone in the desert. The second clip is a classic "From the File" funny that Pete Wilson would do.
There seems to be a lot of scammers trying to take advantage of people during the pandemic. Back in September, I got this strange voice mail:
Apple Transcript
This is the transcript done by Apple:
'Hello please listen carefully the new law CV 19 - makes a current credit card balances in certain price of the loans and lines of credit, not a collectible and not enforceable so um do the current situation that we're all facing the new laws helping to stop predatory banks and lenders what we all get back on track if you want to find out how much of your debt will be your race please just call me back at 619-900-2845 again 619-900-2845 thanks take care''
Fun Facts
As of today, there has been no law about loans or credit card debt not being collectible or enforceable.
The phone number: 619-900-2845 is the same number on the caller id. It registers to no person or organization - at least nothing found online.
Notice that the voice message never indicates the company/financial company that they represent.
I get a lot of Credit Card scams on my cell and landline. This past spring I got a couple of voice messages that seemed very similar. These were left on my cellphone about 24-hours apart.
I am thinking these are going to the same call center in some foreign country.
Call From: (302) 501-7927 - NEW CASTLE DE
Apple Voicemail transcript:
Hello. This is Alice calling from the underwriting department regarding your Discover credit card account based on your recent payment activity and balanced you are eligible for an interest rate reduction to as low as 1.9% to take advantage of this limited-time offer please call card member Services directly at 1-800-694-0048. Once again, that's 1-800-694-0048. This will be the only notice you received and this offer is only valid for three business days. Thank you.
Call From: (302) 306-2083 - HARTLY DE
Apple Voicemail transcript:
Hello. This is Elizabeth calling from the underwriting department regarding your Capital one credit card account based on your recent payment activity and balance you may be eligible for an interest rate reduction to as low as 1.9% and there is additional information. I need to confirm your eligibility or so please return my call directly in the underwriting department at 1-800-258-6019. Once again 1-800-258-6019 and will be the only notice you receive and this offer is only valid for three business days. Thank you.
Avoid These Scams
Any company that "cold calls" you with an interest rate reduction offer is likely a scam. Especially if they need to "verify" your credit card number so they can look it up.
Have fun with these calls, never give any legitimate information.
I don't have any active student loans, but I still get someone trying to scam people that do. In this voice message, the caller puts some pressure to make sure that I call back.
'Hi my name is Rachel Cooper and my ''''_ ' ' 0157 I'm calling you today in reference to your student loans I need to discuss your payment options with you as soon as possible um it looks hear that there is an urgent changes to your account ' ''''' ''''' recently so if you can go ahead and give me a call back the number is 866-230-8249 I'm also going to go ahead and give you a reference number to have handy when you do a call back it will just make things a little bit easier on ''' ''''_ and that reference number is 25243''
Don't fall for these scams. Make sure that you know more about the company before giving any confidential information.
Filmora is a great application, but I have been playing around with Final Cut Pro and found that its a much better application for my needs. I like the text editing capabilities and I find that it is much easier to align videos from multiple angles.
Over the next few week's I'll share some of the cool features and highlight techniques that highlight the advantages of using Final Cut Pro.
Here are a couple of classic technology commercials from my movie collection:
Iomega Zip Drives
WebVan
Sun Microsystems
More Videos to Come
Over the next few weeks, I'll reach into my person VHS collection and pull some more classic Internet/technology commercial from the late 1990s and early 2000s.
My collection also has a lot of great classical Infomercials including Don Lapre, Matthew Lesko, Tom Bosley SMC and Jeff Paul's Shortcut to Internet Millions.
This week's Audio clip was from a call I got back last February. The guy started the call asking for what areas do I experience pain. I missed the first few seconds as I was trying to setup up the recorder.
The call came in on the landline, I put the phone on speaker and turned on the Voice Memo recording on the iPhone XS Max.
Medicare Call Recording
Great call to listed to:
Notes on the Call
Clearly this is a scam as they are trying to steal my "Medicare Number."
The caller must think I am an old person as his tone changes slightly during the call - almost as if he thought he had a chance of getting someone's Medicare ID.
Did you catch the part where the guy says he's on a secure line! Seriously. Did they really think that I would fall for that? Did he forget that the caller-id was spoof to trick me to answer the phone? How does one secure just one side of a phone conversation.
At the end of the call, I hung up the phone since I didn't have a card and don't have to spoof.
At the Framingham MBTA Commuter Rail station there is a radio station that lets people know what's going on. Unfortunately, most people are busy with their smartphones to listen to a radio station. They get updated information from social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Framingham MBTA Station is 1640 AM
Strange Recording
On September 14th, I was in my car at the Framingham station waiting for the p508 train, 7:40 AM train, and had the radio running. I recorded the following clip:
I thought the clip was strange since the p508 is a very popular train. Shouldn't they at least have something useful on the radio? Maybe it will go away soon as an expense cut. Before it goes away, check it out the next time you're at the Framingham Station or any of the MBTA stations, and see what's on the radio.
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