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The Blur

Questions Thread

By The Blur, in General Chat

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Buce

Buce

Posted
Posted (edited)
9 hours ago, Wymsey said:

Possible scam?

 

I earlier received a text message about some parcel, but am not sure if the information below is a scam, so have sent DPD a message (the company mentioned in the message):

-

Hello, 

 

Today I received a text message stating that I've missed a delivery and it sent me a link.

 

When I opened this link, it gave me a tracking number and informed me that I need to pay £1.99 to rearrange a redelivery slot - I tried putting the tracking number in on your website, but no results showed for this tracking number.

 

The tracking number is: ********
I received this text message from the mobile number: ***********

 

Please can you confirm whether this is a genuine text message or  if it's a scam message?

 

Kind Regards,
******* ****
Leicester

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-57654967

 

Delivery text scams and how to deal with them

 

If you have a habit of ordering stuff online, you're probably no stranger to a "your parcel has been delivered" text.

That's why they're a good way for scammers to hook unsuspecting people in.

Three in five of us have had fake delivery company texts over the past year, according to new figures from consumer group, Which?.

The messages often contain a link that brings you to a scam website.

Adam French is a senior consumer rights editor at Which? and says there's no way you can really stop scammers from texting you.

They track down your number using "pot luck", he tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

"We set up four brand new mobile phones, phone numbers that had never been used anywhere before, and two of those phones still received these scam messages," he said.

"They just send out these text messages to as many phone numbers as possible."

Thankfully, 79% of those who had a scam delivery text in the past year said they immediately knew it was fake.

But some still fall victim to the trick - and 3% of people said they ended up losing money because of one of these scams.

One young couple lost all of their savings because of a scam Royal Mail text last year.

Tom and Freyja Cuff, from Frome, Somerset, received a text about a parcel collection which eventually led to their bank account being emptied of £2,500.

Which? wants it to become standard practice for certain types of companies, such as banks, not to include links or payment requests in texts generally.

This, they say, would make the advice clearer - because, for example, if Royal Mail told customers they never send external links in texts, the scams would be easy to spot.

There are things you can do to make sure you're not one of the unlucky ones.

1. Take precautions

Quite simply, don't click links in texts.

Adam says: "The best thing you can do is actually look at the URL within the text message.

"If the domain name (that's the bit just before .co.uk or .com) doesn't match the business it says it is, that's a pretty sure sign that text is not legitimate.

"But that can be quite fiddly to spot, and sometimes it can be cloned as well, so it's not foolproof.

"The best way to stay safe is still to ignore any links in text and contact the business yourself."

2. Report it

If you do get one of these texts, Adam says you can help to protect others by reporting it.

You can do this by forwarding the text to 7726, the network operator.

"Until the network have that information, they don't know to shut it down," Adam says.

An easy way to remember who to forward it to is that 7726 are the digits on a telephone keypad that spell out the word "spam".

3. Contact your bank, ASAP

If you've clicked the link and sent money before you realised it was a scam, try not to worry.

You can report it to your bank, and you have "every chance" of getting your money back, Adam says.

"There's a few different routes to go down to recover some money. The best thing to do is speak to your bank straightaway."

If that doesn't work, try making a complaint to the bank.

Failing that, the Financial Ombudsman Service might be able to help.

Edited by Buce
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tom27111

tom27111

Posted
Posted (edited)

Going to Sandown Park next week for the horse racing.

 

Does anyone know if the trackside bookies still take cash, or have they moved to contactless/card payments?

 

I can't seem to find a definitive answer online.

 

I could just place bets on my phone if worst comes to worst, but betting trackside adds to the experience in my opinion.

 

Not been to the races for years.

 

We're only going because Craig David is doing a gig afterwards and I bought tickets as part of my Mrs birthday present.

 

Edit...I've just found out that they do still take cash.

Edited by tom27111
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tom27111

tom27111

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Paninistickers said:

I'm not a drug user so this isn't a loaded question, but...

 

Why are drugs illegal?

 

Well, where do you start?

 

If you look at Portugal, there's a good argument for at least de-criminalising them.

 

If you get caught in possession over there, you have to be sent to rehab and drug use has dropped a massive proportion out there.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/05/portugals-radical-drugs-policy-is-working-why-hasnt-the-world-copied-it

 

Edit...there's also a good argument to legalise cannabis. Especially given the financial deficit that Covid has caused.

 

Literally billions of pounds could be made in taxes, without having to raise other taxes for future generations. 

 

People will always use drugs, so why don't the government regulate it and reap the rewards.

 

I'm not a drug user myself. Tried something once when I was about 17, never touched anything again, never wanted to.

Edited by tom27111
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Milo

Milo

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Wymsey said:

Has anyone (presume some have) made or are considering making a Will?

If so, what would your advice be on this aspect?

 

Thanks.

Depends how complicated it is, I’d say. 
 

If it’s pretty straightforward, then an online will maker may suffice. 
 

If you have multiple properties, investments, overseas interests, shares and/or fingers in business pies then it may be wise to seek some legal advice from a specialist. 
 

(Similarly, if you have a variety of wives/husbands, girlfriends/boyfriends, children, etc…then I’d suggest an expert eye..)!! 

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FoxesDeb

FoxesDeb

Posted
Posted
38 minutes ago, Wymsey said:

Has anyone (presume some have) made or are considering making a Will?

If so, what would your advice be on this aspect?

 

Thanks.

Yes I have, and my advice is to use the free will writing service if your intentions are pretty straightforward. 

 

If you google it you will find many charities who offer the service, you just choose a solicitor who is part of the scheme and they will do your will for free. You can choose to make a bequest to the charity you choose, but there's absolutely no obligation, and the will service is exactly the same as if you were paying. 

 

I think we chose the Red Cross, and the solicitor was definitely Lawson West in Market Harborough. 

 

 

 

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Wolfox

Wolfox

Posted
Posted
On 27/07/2021 at 16:38, FoxesDeb said:

I really don't want to start a new thread, so I'll ask here, is anyone here knowledgeable about employment law? 

You or your partner may have access to it via your current employer?  Sounds odd, but, at my previous place of employment I had ‘catch all’ employee welfare package  that included basic legal advice…. And when my wife got massively hunped in potential job move I was able to seek employment law advice on her behalf…. The advice was good too

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The People's Hero

The People's Hero

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, Paninistickers said:

I'm not a drug user so this isn't a loaded question, but...

 

Why are drugs illegal?

 

Because they haven't yet thought up a good enough system to control their distribution and tax them.

 

Plenty of drugs are legal (and very heavily taxed).

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Buce

Buce

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, FoxesDeb said:

Do any of you clever people have any idea roughly how much data I might use working from home, per day? 

 

I'm no expert but isn't that like asking, "how long is a piece of string?"

 

We need more data...

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StanSP

StanSP

Posted
Posted
25 minutes ago, FoxesDeb said:

Do any of you clever people have any idea roughly how much data I might use working from home, per day? 

Depends what you do/what you use. If you're doing a lot of video calling/phone calling then it'll shoot up. If you're classed as a home-worker I think there is an allowance your employer can pay to you towards the costs.

 

This may help as well.
https://www.moneysupermarket.com/store/broadband/cost-of-working-from-home-online/

 

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FoxesDeb

FoxesDeb

Posted
Posted
42 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Depends what you do/what you use. If you're doing a lot of video calling/phone calling then it'll shoot up. If you're classed as a home-worker I think there is an allowance your employer can pay to you towards the costs.

 

This may help as well.
https://www.moneysupermarket.com/store/broadband/cost-of-working-from-home-online/

 

Thanks. It's not the cost though, it's the actual amount of data I need an idea of. I know it's probably a how long is a piece of string question! 

 

I don't video call much, but I'm constantly online, using work programmes that possibly don't actually use that much data? 

 

I really have no idea though lol

 

We've been given the opportunity to house sit in Portugal for a couple of weeks but they have limited internet, so I need an idea of roughly how much data I'll be using 

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Paninistickers

Paninistickers

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, The People's Hero said:

 

Because they haven't yet thought up a good enough system to control their distribution and tax them.

 

Plenty of drugs are legal (and very heavily taxed).

Yeah, seems plausible.  cocaine, opium, mushrooms and weed were all.legal.once upon a time. They are only plant, after all. 

 

Xanax and diazepam are legal. Ecstasy isn't. 

 

I'm.not conspiracising for the sake if it here, but I guess the Pharma, Tobacco and alcohol industries have lots of vested interest in lobbying that drugs remain verboten. 

 

11 minutes ago, Parafox said:

Are you serious?

 

Totally 

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brucey

brucey

Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, FoxesDeb said:

Thanks. It's not the cost though, it's the actual amount of data I need an idea of. I know it's probably a how long is a piece of string question! 

 

I don't video call much, but I'm constantly online, using work programmes that possibly don't actually use that much data? 

 

I really have no idea though lol

 

We've been given the opportunity to house sit in Portugal for a couple of weeks but they have limited internet, so I need an idea of roughly how much data I'll be using 

If you're using Windows you may be able to check how much data you currently use

 

 

9142206C-85DD-4005-88C8-D9F44BB0E3C0.jpeg

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