That Phone Call - Fraud Protection

Not sure what to make of this one. I think it may be a case of mistaken identity.

-----

Caller: Hi, my name is Laura. I'm calling from the Bank of America Fraud Protection department. Don't worry, there is nothing wrong with any of your accounts.

Ducheznee: Hi Laura. I'm not worried.

Laura: Is this Mr. [my name]?

Ducheznee: This is he.

Laura: I'm calling to discuss one of our security products that I think you will find quite interesting. Is this a good time?

Ducheznee: Yes, it is. What would you like to talk about?

Laura: [Laura proceeds to describe the same "protect your accounts" monthly service fee program that is advertised in every credit card statement and every bank statement that passes through the US Postal Service.]  So you receive all of that plus free credit report monitoring all for $7.95 a month.

Ducheznee: That program sounds fairly common. I've seen advertisement for something very similar from my credit card company and from my bank. Assuming I were interested, how would I proceed from this point.

Laura: Oh, we'll just deduct the cost of the program from your checking account each month.

Ducheznee: Really? And how do you intend to do that?

Laura: It will be an electronic transaction.

Ducheznee: I'm sorry. I mean, how do you intend to gain access to my accounts?

Laura: Oh, we already have a record of all of your accounts.

Ducheznee: You do? You have access to all of my accounts at [XYZ] Bank?

Laura: No, just your Bank of America accounts.

Ducheznee: I don't have any accounts with Bank of America.

Laura: That's odd. But you are Mr. [me] at [my phone number]?

Ducheznee: That's me. I haven't had an account at Bank of America for at least 15 years.

Laura: So your phone number is [my phone number]?

Ducheznee: That is the number you just dialed to reach me.

Laura: And you are Mr. [my name]?

Ducheznee: Yes, I am. Is it possible that you may be looking for another Mr. [my name] and somehow, some computer has linked in my phone number?

Laura: And you're positive you don't have any accounts with Bank of America? Maybe a mortgage?

Ducheznee: I used to have a checking and savings account at Bank of America, but closed them when your company tried to strong arm the Boy Scouts of America and force them to have gay scoutmasters as role models for young boys learning to become men.

Laura: I'm sorry. I'm not sure why your name and phone number are in our database if you don't have any accounts with us. I apologize for the interruption.

Ducheznee: No problem at all. Have a good day.

-----

Everyone is entitled to receive one free copy of their credit report annually from each of the three credit reporting agencies. There are many web sites out that use similar language in an attempt to trick you into using their paid service. Don't be fooled. The Federal Trade Commission endorses only www.annualcreditreport.com. There is no cost for this. If you're asked to pay anything, you're on the wrong web site.

There is also a company [link to be included later if I can track it down] that nationally syndicated radio talk show host Lars Larson endorses. They charge a one-time fee of $5.00 to do the same thing mentioned above. I have not yet checked them out, but I respect and trust Mr. Larson's endorsement. I do intend to research the company in question when I have some time.

My Share?

Yahoo! ran a feature on its home page over the weekend offering advice on the "Top Five Ways to Get Your Share of the Stimulus" by Amelia Gray.

I don't know Ms. Gray, and I certainly do not mean any disrespect toward her or Yahoo! specifically. But I take issue with the very premise of the story. By no means is this the first I've heard this phrase, "your share of the stimulus".

Just what exactly is my share? I can calculate my share of stock in my company based on the amount in my portfolio compared to the number of shares outstanding. If I were in one of those winning lottery pools I would know what my share was - 1/nth of the jackpot, where "n" is the number is people in my pool. When dining with friends, my share of the bill is based on the price of the food I consume.

So is not "my share" of the stimulus is equal to whatever additional financial burden I suffer as a result?

The tally of the bailouts/stimulus is, I believe, near $3 trillion. There are roughly 300 million people in the U.S. (though the majority do not pay taxes). For our purposes, let's assume every single citizen works, receives the same salary, and pays the same amount of taxes. The $3 trillion burden shared equally among all hypothetical taxpayers comes to $10,000 apiece.

If you take $10,000 out of my budget, guess what? I'm going to spend $10,000 less than I otherwise would have. That amounts to $45 billion taken from my state's economy.

So I figure "my share" for my family of five is $50,000 (again, in this hypothetical situation where each citizen shares equally in the cost). I'd like "my share" direct-deposited into my checking account. Better yet, why not save everyone the hassle and spare us the administrative costs at the same time? Let me keep my share in the first place. Let everyone keep their share.

The government aims to create jobs, get money into the hands of the people, and spark spending, investment, and the like. Newsflash! The money is already in the hands of the people. To paraphrase nationally syndicated radio talk show host and all-around good guy, Lars Larson, why does the government believe it is better able to spend our money than we are? They've proven they are capable of spending money in very large amounts and very quickly, but their own financial records prove they are definitely not "better" at it than we are.

As Milton Friedman, the late Nobel Prize and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, once explained to Phil Donahue,

"The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus . . ."

Here is the full video. It's only 2.5 minutes long and, I think, VERY entertaining. Donahue is left speechless. This footage is from 1979. Except for the clothes, and Donahue's hair, you might think the clip was from last Friday.

Thanks to Newsmax.com for the history lesson.