[simes]

So it all worked out okay in the end. What are you doing for your birthday? Could have a beer in the garden if you fancy...?

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Thanks for the birthday wishes guys 

Simes, I’ll text you xx

However..

I’ll report this to the police/action fraud, and call Vodafone. I’m not necessarily that confident I’ll end up keeping it. Realise this handset may not have been legitimately paid for by the “vendor”, and effectively under contract, even if I’m not liable. Someone pays for it at some level. We’ll see.
It’s worth the £30 just to know that multiple payments were stopped, and scam thwarted, but especially if any of the details available help to uncover things.
Lastly, this is a very fancy piece of plastic, glass and difficult to mine world resources. Really difficult to understand how owning one can make so much difference to a life, that it’s worth paying so much money (and other things) for!

[Snoops]

Once the fraudsters have gained personal and banking details over the phone, they pretend to be the victim and order as many mobile contracts as they can in their name.

The phones are delivered to the victims house and the fraudsters call and email again pretending they’ve made a mistake and it’s someone else’s order.

They convince the victims to send the phones via their local post office to addresses in the Bolton, Preston and Coventry areas.

The fraudsters then wait at the properties for the deliveries and steal the phones!

This leaves the victims with multiple, expensive contracts (usually £80+ a month!) and no phones to send back to where they were actually ordered from to cancel the contracts.

Devious scum, nice one for spotting.

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Once the fraudsters have gained personal and banking details over the phone, they pretend to be the victim and order as many mobile contracts as they can in their name.

The phones are delivered to the victims house and the fraudsters call and email again pretending they’ve made a mistake and it’s someone else’s order.

They convince the victims to send the phones via their local post office to addresses in the Bolton, Preston and Coventry areas.

The fraudsters then wait at the properties for the deliveries and steal the phones!

This leaves the victims with multiple, expensive contracts (usually £80+ a month!) and no phones to send back to where they were actually ordered from to cancel the contracts.

Devious scum, nice one for spotting.

Thanks Snoops.

That's exactly what happened.

Have just spoken with Vodafone, who explained the same thing to me - that the phone/contract had been set up in my name.

I now have to check my credit file, for other fraudulent accounts. Vodafone have said they'll of course remove their account.

Looks like I'll be sending the phone back. Any info I can provide to help investigate will be gladly provided.

Nice when things are all square. Except when Man U are playing Liverpool.. later 

Something to look forward to.

[cheque]

Man U are playing Liverpool.. later 

Something to look forward to.

I take it you didn’t watch them play each other last weekend.

[cheque]

It was actually pretty good.

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Man U are playing Liverpool.. later 

Something to look forward to.

I take it you didn’t watch them play each other last weekend.

Sounds as though it was a better game to listen to than watch.

Different with a cup tie, playing for .. a result   

Re the above scam, we were thinking, could have played along, to arrange "collection"/interception, but who knows what would have happened in the meantime.

[DAVETHOMAS90]

..always great when a plan comes together, as a friend of mine said recently.

Here's another good one, but with a different outcome.

I was walking past the local park this evening - where I do a lot of my training - and a woman was stomping around in the mud, waving her mobile as a torch, with all the power of a Dickensian candle, so I called out to ask her what she was looking for.

That's one of those potentially awkward moments, where you're sticking your nose in, in a don't I think I'm clever, "yes, what makes you think you'll do any better?" moments, while also trying to process the feeling that part of you knows why you've asked.

The woman then explained the great significance of a very bedraggled, floppy old Panda, to her daughter, that they'd lost a little while ago.

I knew I'd seen something like that, but it was still being processed at a machine code level, so I retraced my steps along the back road round the corner.

Five houses down, there was the floppy black and white cloth, not looking much like a Panda, placed carefully on a windowsill.

Ran back to the park, and returned the Panda, resulting in much delight.

Just one of those completely priceless moments, made possible by the person who'd recognised the value of the toy, and picked it up.

Ace 

[SamT]

 

Nice one Dave, good Karma for you, and not just token internet Karma.

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Nice one Dave, good Karma for you, and not just token internet Karma.

Thanks Sam. It really was such a cheerful moment 

[Andy F]

Once the fraudsters have gained personal and banking details over the phone, they pretend to be the victim and order as many mobile contracts as they can in their name.

The phones are delivered to the victims house and the fraudsters call and email again pretending they’ve made a mistake and it’s someone else’s order.

They convince the victims to send the phones via their local post office to addresses in the Bolton, Preston and Coventry areas.

The fraudsters then wait at the properties for the deliveries and steal the phones!

This leaves the victims with multiple, expensive contracts (usually £80+ a month!) and no phones to send back to where they were actually ordered from to cancel the contracts.

Devious scum, nice one for spotting.

Nice when things are all square. Except when Man U are playing Liverpool Sheffield United.. later 

Something to look forward to.

Fixed that for ya 

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Once the fraudsters have gained personal and banking details over the phone, they pretend to be the victim and order as many mobile contracts as they can in their name.

The phones are delivered to the victims house and the fraudsters call and email again pretending they’ve made a mistake and it’s someone else’s order.

They convince the victims to send the phones via their local post office to addresses in the Bolton, Preston and Coventry areas.

The fraudsters then wait at the properties for the deliveries and steal the phones!

This leaves the victims with multiple, expensive contracts (usually £80+ a month!) and no phones to send back to where they were actually ordered from to cancel the contracts.

Devious scum, nice one for spotting.

Nice when things are all square. Except when Man U are playing Liverpool Sheffield United.. later 

Something to look forward to.

Fixed that for ya 

Touché Andy!

The Blades'll do the double over the Mancs clubs this weekend  ..

maybe

Hope things are all going OK  with plenty of positives to spur you on Sounds like you've been climbing well BTW.

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Something lighthearted for a bit of humour.

Dragged myself outside into the cold after chores, and more unhelpful footy results.

Self pity didn't yet warrant wine, or anything as indulgent, but fancied something from Lidl before they shut. Needed butter anyway, which always feels like a luxury!

It was cold enough to keep hands in pockets, telling myself I could indeed be bothered to pick up the discarded Easter Egg box I was walking past, on the way back, and put it in the bin.

At Lidl, I decided I hadn't earned beer either, or indeed chocolate. But I had saved money, finding the mould treatment I was using in my kitchen - not having to buy it.
I picked up a packet of crumpets.

I reached the corner of my road - where "Love Our Streets" have kindly put up an anti-litter campaign notice. Thank you 

I stamped down on the egg box with inflated virtue,  but feeling a satisfying crunch from the egg obviously still inside it 



It's worth remembering, there are more calories missing from free chocolate, than mass missing from the universe.

Hope that lifts someone's mood a little 

[tomtom]

Maybe Jurgen dropped the egg....

[DAVETHOMAS90]

I had a message from Simes earlier. I don't think I've seen this posted elsewhere:

More free £50 bike repair vouchers. Be quick.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fix-your-bike-voucher-scheme-apply-for-a-voucher

This is part of the government incentive scheme, to get people out on their bikes.

I've just applied, and was successful in getting a voucher.

Thanks Simes  x

[DAVETHOMAS90]

I'd like to say that, through lockdown, I've sat on my arse, creaked my way to the fingerboard, and rocked out a set of one-armers on the smallest edge.

Owt for Nowt isn't working like that, but some great finds and stories.

Someone called me the other night. They'd broken down, on their way from Leeds to London. With most places shut, and late at night, they couldn't find anyone selling the 15mm spanner they needed. I had one listed on Gumtree, in a bag of spare spanners for a fiver.
Half an hour later, they came back, needing a flat head screwdriver, which I gave them, and they were safely on their way. Kind of cool. Really nice folk too.

A year and a half ago, out for a walk with someone special, I found a Sony Minidisc player in a skip, but didn't have the correct lead to charge it - until the other night, when I found one in a different skip 
Bought a new battery for £6 and spent the evening listening to 2 hours of Silicone Soul on the Essential Mix with Pete Tong from 2003. Classic.

Moved onto the next disk, which was Massive Attack, for my fingerboard session at 3am 
Cheers folks 

[Fultonius]

I've got the exact same MD player in a box of stuff at my mum's that's about to go out to PC World (they apparently take any waste electrical (WEEEEEE) stuff and recycle.

Could post it on if you want some spares?

[SA Chris]

I loved my MD player, found a load of discs the other day, all copied to take with me when I was working in Colorado plus compilations carefully crafted for ski trips etc, and some music intros I did as a challenge at a local pub quiz. I'd happily post the discs if they will get used?

[steveri]

An hour or so's careful sawing and a tired mat brought back to life courtesy of Awesome Foam...





Seems promising so far. Upgraded from 9+1 to 10+1 layers

[DAVETHOMAS90]

I've got the exact same MD player in a box of stuff at my mum's that's about to go out to PC World (they apparently take any waste electrical (WEEEEEE) stuff and recycle.

Could post it on if you want some spares?

Fultonius! Sorry, I missed this.
Do you still have the MD player? I'll send you a message.
Dave.

[DAVETHOMAS90]

An hour or so's careful sawing and a tired mat brought back to life courtesy of Awesome Foam...

Seems promising so far. Upgraded from 9+1 to 10+1 layers

Brilliant stuff.
There's some great foam in a skip around the corner. Maybe I should go and collect it.

..a bit too soft I think, but loads of it.

The real reason I'm posting here now:



This Fracino machine had been left out, looking a bit worse for wear, and in need of collection. Passed it, walking back from Tesco earlier. I just needed to find a skateboard first

It'll be fun servicing it, and bringing it back to life.
CM.. if you're reading this, hope it brings a smile x





Also had a go at matched betting recently. I'll post up about that another time.
A great way to carry a sideline around with you on your mobile. Something to do while you're resting at the gym.

[Steve R]

Also had a go at matched betting recently. I'll post up about that another time.
A great way to carry a sideline around with you on your mobile. Something to do while you're resting at the gym.

Would be interested to hear your recent experiences Dave.  Did a lot of matched betting 10+ years ago.  As you say, really good way to make a few grand on the side with very little capital required.  Just a shame it's not sustainable income -  I found what starts off as a really good hourly rate (occasionally >£100 p/h) drops off as you exhaust the bigger offers and I got blacklisted at a couple of the bookies with good weekly/re-load type offers.  Got to the stage where I felt I'd picked all the low to medium hanging fruit and not really worth the time grubbing around for a tenner here and there.  However, I'd guess there's been quite a turn over of bookies in the last decade or so perhaps time to get back into it.  Imagine there might be some spicy promotions/offers from bookies around as we enter post-covid regime...     

[ali k]

Also had a go at matched betting recently. I'll post up about that another time.
A great way to carry a sideline around with you on your mobile. Something to do while you're resting at the gym.

Would be interested to hear your recent experiences Dave.

Likewise. If this is something I can do while I'm sat at my desk anyway I'd be keen. How idiot proof is it? Asking for a friend obvs...

[Steve R]

How idiot proof is it?

Can't go wrong if you put a bit of effort into research and have some ability with numbers/optimisation.  The best resource when I started was the matched betting forum on money saving expert.  Possibly now outdated.  Key thing for me was to have sufficient understanding of what was going on so rather than just following a recipe and plugging the numbers into a spreadsheet I could work it out myself from scratch (and then use the spreadsheet to speed up).  Maybe 1st year A-level sort of level maths.     

[M1V0]

I did some matched betting a few years back when I was only working part-time. I stopped when I was working more regularly and the amount of money and time required to be put in, I was not comfortable with. A friend of a friend supposedly funded a large holiday solely from matched betting (at the expense of his UG degree, mind). It was relatively foolproof, I only made a couple of silly mistakes that lost me money, but even that was covered by my past and then future bets.

I had a spreadsheet that recorded most of my winnings and profit, I seem to recall I made about £300+ over a few months. Can't remember which website I was using, but that was money made from all the easy/basic bets (the initial sign up ones). I was paying for the services of a site at ~£6 a month for them to tell me which bets to make and when.