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I've got a friend who loves pranks (at other peoples expense), and I contemplated sending him a bag of dicks or an envelope of mayo, but then I discovered that I couldn't be bothered spending that much money on that twat! 
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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The trouble is that they're, by definition, unoriginal.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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And I mean that most sincerely.
Got a text this morning about possible fraudulent purchases, called the bank, and there was some $2000 of purchases made this morning on my CC (which I have in hand, wasn't lost.)
Of the list of items, my favorite was "gout cream from UK"
Marc
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That's what you're telling the missus, is it?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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One night I sat down to pay the bills. Noticed my CC limit was -200. Somehow, someone got a hold of the # and went on a shopping spree: air line tickets, their gas bill, paid of an installment loan. I figure it would not be hard to track them down....
Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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charlieg wrote: , their gas bill,
Pardon me for asking, but isn't that like a really stupid thing for a crook to do if they don't want to get caught (at least in the USA).
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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lol, you would think right? Then again, the banks went on the biggest robbery spree a few years back when they go bailed out, so stupid has no limits.
Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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charlieg wrote: he banks went on the biggest robbery spree a few years back when they go bailed out, so stupid has no limits.
Yeah - but the real thieves who got away with it:
The local mortgage bankers (main st, not wall st) who made predatory loansThe halting (by the the current administration) of the regulation that would not allow these loans*The banks/investment people got their piece in by packaging these as high quality paper when they were bound to default with the first economic hiccup where loan rates change. Again, the regulators were kept at bay.The bailouts - reminds me of the same type of crap that went on in the 80's, bailing out farmers that overspent on fancy equipment at ridiculous loan rates.
The real culprit is greed. Regardless of one's economic-system-of-choice, if you don't keep a sharp eye out, someone will cheat. By the time they're caught (as in above), the whole may be so deep that a bridge must be built by the rest of us lest we get washed in like a mountainside home during a monsoon.
The real culprit, never mind political rhetoric, is a result enforcing regulations. If either the second or third item, above, had been regulated then the collapse would have been significantly mitigated if not averted. The whole thing, except for it's scale, is nearly exactly what happened with the FSLIC collapse, again, real-estate investment, and again regulators called back, and as usual, the bill is picked up by the taxpayers.
*True that there was a law passed to make loans more available - but nothing in that law said to make loans that couldn't be service by the consumer - they were illegal but unchecked.
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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It's always easier when you are spending other peoples' money. You neglected to mention the direct intervention by Congress (Chris Dodd and Barney Frank) blocking any meaningful reform. If you want to be nice to people, do it with your own money.
Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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charlieg wrote: blocking any meaningful reform
Because I wasn't talking about reform. I was talking about illegal predatory loans that could never be serviced by the borrower should interest rates go up (they did) and these loans packaged and mislabeled (by the financial institutions). Loans made not by Wall Street, where the fraudulent packaging and reselling took place, but my Main Street, where the local mortgage broker talked people into these loans. So far as I've heard, none of these brokers got so much as a slap on the fingertip for the profits they pocketed.
But who was minding the store? Checking and approving/not approving these loans. Well, it was a replay of the Reagan FSLIC era: the Federal enforcement was called off as it was inhibiting commerce. Or, had it been in the 'recognized crime' world, influence peddling and racketeering.
But - as I did mention - the money finally spent was from the Middle Class's pockets. At least for the auto industry, the loans have been (or are being) paid back with interest. The laws, meant to stop this, never made it through congress (dominated by which party - duh).
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Marc Clifton wrote: gout cream from UK
Hell, that could be any number of members here at the Codeproject!
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Yep, their security is so tight that you and I only pay 3% on every credit card transaction.
Wout
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wout de zeeuw wrote: Yep, their security is so tight that you and I only pay 3% on every credit card transaction.
Yup. People who do this sort of stuff are a waste of the oxygen they breath.
Marc
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Let me guess, you just got back from DEFCON in Vegas and you forgot to leave your credit cards at home. 
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); }
Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016
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(More) AI (quietly) at work. 
/ravi
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Couple of years ago I got a phone call from my bank saying "we've spotted some fraudulent activity" and they got quite snotty when I asked them to prove they were my bank instead of answering the security questions to prove I was me...
Eventually I went into the branch and ... someone was trying to buy £4000's worth of costume jewelry from Hong Kong. 
All the money was returned to my account the same day (including £20 worth of phone top ups I hadn't noticed) and my card changed the same week. Good service I thought - apart from the verification part!
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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OriginalGriff wrote: Couple of years ago I got a phone call from my bank saying "we've spotted some fraudulent activity" and they got quite snotty when I asked them to prove they were my bank instead of answering the security questions to prove I was me...
I had that some problem once with BofA. In my case, the legitimacy was improved by a text message, a callback #, and the fact that my CC was now declining all transactions.
And lastly, they actually didn't ask any questions that would have been a full breach. No "full SSN", etc.
Marc
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Nope, I just got a call asking the normal security questions they ask when I ring them ... and no way am I answering those unless I made the call in the first place!
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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I had an interesting experience with BofA: I was making some minor purchase from a 711 when my card was declined while it was nowhere near maxed out. I was fumbling for another card cursing under my breath, when my cell phone rang. It was some security arm of the bank, wanting to confirm I was making that purchase at the very instant the same card was used for a purchase miles away on the other side of town. Then it dawned on me: My wife and I each has a copy of the same card and it just happened that we both used our cards at the very same instant in very different locations. The bank's computers picked it up and froze the card.
After I explained it to the bank's security guy, the card was cleared for further transactions. The 711 clerk listened to all this and was very impressed that the bank would call me and apologized for the inconvenience. I must confess I was impressed as well.
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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Funny, I have had that. The guy started asking questions on my card to 'verify'... and when I wouldn't answer, we shut down a bit. They had called me! And, I did the same thing, asking him to verify himself....which he could not....comical.
It eventually worked itself out, but they were a bit put-out that I would not answer their questions without them answering mine.
I think they (perhaps we) need to come up with a dual verification system rather than the onus on the customer. The two factor is still in favour of the company, not the customer....I think the two factor verification needs to be more a split verification....
Ken
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Got a call from the bank a few years back. They asked me "Are you in the Caribbean?"
I said, "If only I was".
They reversed all charges and sent me a new card.
If it's not broken, fix it until it is
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I never really got those credit cards... As far as I understand anyone who has your card number can make purchases... 
They aren't much used in the Netherlands, I don't even have one myself.
It rarely happens I can't pay using my bank card or PayPal. In the rare cases I absolutely need a credit card I just don't make the purchase 
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Uhm how much difference is there between a bank card and a credit card, except you need funds to cover the bank card. Operationally I think they are the same.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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Huge difference between debit and credit cards in the uUK.
You get all sorts of protection using a credit card, far safer paying by credit card.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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chriselst wrote: You get all sorts of protection using a credit card
Believe me, you pay for that protection one way or another. And I've never needed it
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