rock-n-writing-archaeologist

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

hot goss by series

Riker (and therefore Picard, who is in his ready room and doesn't want to acknowledge this conversation) : hey guys! We get that life is messy sometimes, but let's try to keep it professional on the bridge and save your stories for ten forward, please and thank you :)

Sisko: as your captain, I couldn’t care less who you date. However... (sighs and looks at Dax, who gives him puppy dog eyes) since Dax is just going to come in here and tell me the story anyway.... go ahead. What happened last night

Janeway and Chakotay: ENSIGN KIM IF YOU DON'T TELL US WHO YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON RIGHT NOW WE'LL COURT MARTIAL YOU

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

O'Brien should be allowed to say "fuck" once an episode

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

Say whatever you want about Legends of Tomorrow by the CW, shout any take you have about the plot or script or often lack of plot or regularly perceived lack of script from the rooftops as loud as you wish, all takes on this burning pile of God knows what that smells kinda nice but probably isn't great to be breathing in are fully welcome and probably valid, but Ray being basically physically incapable of performing a heil even to keep his and everyone else's cover and instead just punching a Nazi in the face to avoid it is, in my not very humble but definitely irrelevant opinion, one of the greatest character moments I've ever seen and I will die on this hill

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

vulcans having bland cuisine has the same energy as the kelloggs cornflake masturbation thing . the key to controlling our volatile inner urges is leaving out the flavors

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

PSA: Credit Card Phone Scam

(Or, how Tumblr just saved my ass)

I saw a PSA recently about a scam going around with spoofed official numbers calling and asking for information, and how you should hang up and call back using the correct number rather than just go along with what the caller is telling you. But this is Tumblr, so I'll never be able to find the post again.

I decided to make my own, because this literally just happened to me an hour ago. Hopefully my story can spread some more awareness and save other asses the way mine was saved.

Around 7:30pm tonight (Friday), I got a phone call from a 1-800 number. I almost didn't answer it, then I saw it was 1-800-465-4___, and I recognized that as the start of the CIBC phone number, so I picked up.

Me: Hello?

Guy: Hi, is this [MrsD]?"

Me: Yes.

Guy: Hi, [MrsD], this is _____ from CIBC, how are you tonight?

I thought, okay, this is a sales call. Right before I'm about to sit down for dinner. Typical. Mentally, I'm already putting together an exit strategy, preparing to say no to everything and get off the phone ASAP. But then—

Guy: We've just flagged suspicious activity on your CIBC Visa card. It was an online BestBuy transaction for $980.00. Was that your transaction?

Me, flustered: Uh. What? Sorry, how much?

Guy: $980.00 at BestBuy, was that you?

Me: Oh. At BestBuy?

Guy: Yes, your card was used at a BestBuy in [town nearby]. Was that you? Did you go to [town nearby] today? You don't live in [town nearby], right?

Me: Uh. No?

Guy: Okay, so I need some information to verify this transaction.

By this point, my brain had caught on that something about this was hinky. First of all, I thought he said it was an online purchase, then he said it was in person. But maybe I'd misheard, he was talking fast. My second thought was that every other time there was a suspicious transaction, I got an automated phone call and a text message with instructions to call back. I've never had a person call me directly.

My third thought was, well, the phone number on the caller ID was right....

THEN! I remembered a Tumblr post I saw recently, and I remembered what it told me to do.

Me: I'm skeptical about this call. I'm going to call CIBC myself and look into this.

Guy: What? Ma'am, you can just tell me, I can verify—

Me: No. Thank you, but I'll call the number on the back of my card.

Guy, getting more agitated: Ma'am, if you look at the number on your card, you'll see it's the same number.

Me: You know that can spoofed, right?

Guy: Uh— but ma'am—

Me: Sorry, but I need to make sure. I'm going to call CIBC directly.

The guy kept sputtering, but I hung up on him. In that moment, I really didn't think that he was a scammer. In fact, I thought I was being paranoid and was maybe kinda rude to the guy. I wondered if I was being overcautious, and I felt a bit guilty.

I called the number on the back of my credit card, waited 15 minutes for an agent, and told him what just happened.

IMMEDIATELY—

Agent: You didn't tell him anything, did you?

Me: No. I said I wasn't in [town nearby] today, but that's it.

Agent: Good. You did the right thing by calling us, let me look into the transaction for you.

Then, a minute later:

Agent: I'm not seeing any transaction like that. There's no flags on your card, nothing suspicious at all.

Me: So it was a scam?

Agent: Yep. Entirely fake.

I was honestly surprised. I really thought that there was some kind of mix-up and that I would be apologizing to this guy for being rude to his colleague.

Looking back on it now, I can see all the telltale signs of it being a scam call:

Time of day. Early evening on a Friday, chances are people are either sitting down for dinner or in a hurry to get somewhere. In this situation, a lot people probably wouldn't think twice about giving "the bank" some information just to get off the phone. (Joke's on them, I have no life!) But the way that I reacted to his introduction did evoke the desired reaction of Ugh, what now? Leave me alone! that the scammer was banking on (pun intended).

Sense of urgency. The scammer spoke fast, threw details at me quickly, and made sure I knew that I had to give him my information right away. This honestly threw me off. It was overwhelming, and I felt concerned and a bit frantic for a few seconds until I thought about what I know about scams and what I'd just read in that Tumblr PSA.

Complete lack of empathy or understanding about my skepticism/anti-fraud precautions. The last time I had to get a new credit card number due to fraud, the agent I spoke to said things like "I know this is frustrating", "I'm sorry this is a hassle", etc. And of course the CIBC agent I spoke to tonight was immediately grateful that I'd called them directly and reassured me that CIBC would never ask for information. By contrast, the scammer was outright dismissive of my concerns and got agitated when I wouldn't just trust him right off the bat.

Emotional provocation. Similar to #2 & #3 above, the scammer was very good at making me feel things. Worried and fearful at first, then guilty about being suspicious, to the point where I actually apologized to the guy. (Granted, I am Canadian, but still!)

And finally, I cannot stress enough: the spoofed phone number. I am a pretty well-informed person. I keep up with news about scams and whatnot. I know that phone numbers can be spoofed. I've been in front of my phone when it just starts to ring and I can see the auto-dialler number appear briefly before it gets replaced with a number that has my area code. But tonight—early evening on a Friday—I was cooking dinner and my phone was across the room. It had rung several times by the time I got to it. I only picked it up because I recognized the CIBC number. And when the scammer started his spiel, the fact that the number was the same was enough for me to give him just a tiny moment of trust. Had he actually gotten past that first barrier and started requesting my information, I think I would have caught on, because people asking for sensitive information over the phone is a huge obvious red flag. I like to think I would have caught on, anyway. But maybe not! That fake number almost had me.

TL;DR: No matter what the number on your caller ID says—that it's your bank, your energy company, your internet provider, whatever!—if the person on the other end is requesting sensitive information urgently, don't panic. Stop. Think. Then tell them nothing, hang up the phone, and call your service provider yourself using a verified phone number.

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

I like to imagine SOTR is Haymitch telling his story to Peeta and Katniss, prose and all.

Haymitch saying "Somewhere, Beetee’s heart breaks into fragments so small it can never be repaired." and "Then I somehow make my way home and fall asleep . . . where I feed her another gumdrop."

Meanwhile Peeta and Katniss are listening like stop stop the story's already tragic

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

I think I’m gonna reread the alex rider series. I forgot about it for a long time even though I was obsessed with it in 5th grade. I love that depressed spy and his messed up life.

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

this is fred, the dot.

fred wants to grow into a beautiful tree, but sadly has no branches

reblog to give fred a branch

i will post fred status updates as he grows

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

i love how suzanne just gives us a little treat by mentioning the katniss plant every book. like here u go. ik u miss our girl. she's fine. enjoy lowercase katniss

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

Haymitch and his ducklings

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

They use raspberries to line the floors of children's hospitals now

William Mason Brown (1828-1898) "Raspberries in a Wooded Landscape" Oil on canvas Located in the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

my baby doesn't belong to any white man

North of North is about a young Inuk woman who gets sick of her narcissistic husband's macho BS and moves in with her single mom. that... probably makes it sound like one of those shows, doesn't it.

well, maybe it is, maybe it's not (it's not). while Siaja (Anna Lambe, gorgeous, absolutely stunning) runs around trying to put her life back together and find herself (but first find and hold down a job and learn to coparent with her almost-ex - yeah of course she has a kid, she's 26!), there is life happening all over place in the tiny Nunavut town. Ice Cove is the kind of tight-knit community where your people won't leave you alone - but they also won't leave you alone, you know?

the show doesn't preach, but while you're laughing, it still quietly, casually shows you how colonialism doesn't really end.

how it lingers.

here's your white mayor. here's your language being slowly forgotten and now you need a translator to understand your elders. here's your town's lack of funding and what it gets it has to fight for (and how do you fight for it when there's another town (the Shelbyville to your Springfield, the Woodbury to your Stars Hollow) that even has a sushi place?). here's a French Canadian man who calls you Snocahontas. here's your mother's self-sabotaging old trauma.

*sigh* fine, there's also walrus dick baseball. if anything, watch it for the walrus dick baseball

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

I'm really hoping it's similar to Pete or Trevor's powers, where the more she uses it the stronger she gets and the longer she can use it for, and this was just the start

I’m gonna say it Hetty’s power was lame

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

Two characters both seen as silly and considered idiots but both went to law school

[rock-n-writing-archaeologist]

mamma mia wishes it had what north of north has. introducing the long lost father by making out with him while not knowing who he is