Friday, October 02, 2009 finds the sun shining and the weather warm in Bellingham, WA. If it continues through the weekend, we can mow and fertilize our lawns, weed the flower beds and clean up the planters on our decks. Sounds like fun, huh?

Words of wisdom…beware of unidentified callers you don’t recognize or have dealings with. Received a phone call today from a party who stated his name and said he was from “Allstate,” and that they needed to know if I would be available to accept a certified delivery. I stated that we didn’t have our insurance with “Allstate.” only to receive by way of reply,  “I asked if you would be available to receive a certified delivery, a check delivered by the FBI, OK!” I hesitated and didn’t reply. He repeated, “I said a certified delivery of a check by the FBI, OK. Are you going to be available?” I hung up the phone. When I received the call, caller ID was “Blocked Number.”After hanging up on him, he immediately called back two more times. This time caller ID said “Unknown Name.”

After contacting the FBI, we were told that they receive about five calls a week with a similar scenario, Our caller was probably about two thousand miles away or out of the country, possibly in Canada, and that it is a scam. They often want you to deposit their check in your checking account (some banks have even held the check for a few weeks and then deposit it). You later find out the check was written on a bogus account. (These scammers are somehow stealing account numbers). I don’t understand entirely how this works, but be alerted, it is a scam and don’t give out any information over the phone or become a victim! The FBI said they may try a few more times until they get the ideal that we aren't going to take the bait.