TRUTH IN ADVERTISING?

Like so many others, my phone constantly rings with calls from Name Withheld, Unknown Caller, 800 Service, and various towns around the country where I don’t know anyone. Thanks to Caller ID, in my opinion one of the greatest inventions ever, I never answer any call unless I recognize the name or the number of the caller. So all of these robocalls either go directly to voicemail.

Many leave recorded messages, either from live individuals or computer generated voices, trying to sell me a new roof, replacement windows, house siding, basement waterproofing, cemetery plots, or insurance. Any day now I expect to start receiving automated sales calls similar to the email spam I get for enhancing both my male and female body parts. (I guess they’re covering all bases.) It’s only a matter of time.

I’ve also received messages from callers with thick accents who, in broken English, threaten me with imminent arrest if I don’t pay the back taxes I owe to the IRS. The sheriff is already on the way unless I pay up NOW. Not only don’t I owe the IRS anything, I’m smart enough to know the IRS will never make a phone call like this. Unfortunately too many people have fallen for this scam. More have fallen for the phone scam where the caller claims to be holding a family member for ransom.

In 1969 we put men on the moon. Here it is nearly fifty years later, and no one can seem to put a stop to these lowlifes who disrupt our lives and scam innocent people out of thousands of dollars.

The other day I received a call that claimed to be from Apple. A computer-generated voice told me that my Apple devices were in jeopardy. I had to immediately “press 1” to learn how to avoid losing all my files and the use of my devices. But take a look at the display on my phone. I guess this scammer believes in truth in advertising.