Only On The Walters Post

These are my own thoughts from what I’ve seen and lived through. I’m sharing them to spark some thinking and honest conversation, not because I have all the answers.

The other day, the phone rang here at home, nothing unusual about that, except the call display read Port Loring, Ontario. Now, folks around here will know, Port Loring’s not exactly teeming with people, and I can just about name everyone who’d likely be calling, and this wasn’t one of them.

Still, curiosity had me, so I let it go to voicemail first. Sure enough, it was one of those scam recordings:
“Someone has made a $700 purchase on your account. We’ve put it on hold. To fix this, press one.”

Right then I knew it was a scam.

But here’s the part that gets me. They’d spoofed a local number, making it look like this call was coming from right here in our little town. That’s the trick these scammers are using now. They know we’re more likely to trust a local call, and maybe pick up out of habit.

Truth is, they can make any number show up on your phone, whether they’re sitting in a basement in another country, or running a scam mill somewhere else. It’s all automated. The town name showing on your screen doesn’t mean the call came from here, or that your phone line’s been hacked.

Now here’s the real danger: if you do press one, or talk to whoever they transfer you to, they’ll go to work fast.

They might say they’re from your bank or credit card company, and ask for your name, card number, security code, even your PIN. Some will ask you to download something to your phone or computer to “fix” the issue, which gives them access to everything on your device. Others might tell you to move money around, saying it’s part of a fraud investigation. The truth though, it’s all smoke and mirrors, and it’s all aimed at getting your money or your identity.

And here’s something new, and a little scary. Scammers can now record or mimic your voice. That’s right. Just a few seconds of you talking, even saying something simple like “yes” or “hello”, can be enough for them to build a digital copy of your voice. And it should be noted, that once they have that, they can use it to fool voice-activated systems, impersonate you on phone calls, or even trick your family or your bank.

So here’s my bit of advice:
If you get one of these calls, hang up. Don’t press any buttons. Don’t talk to the voice on the other end. If it sounds like a serious bank issue, hang up and call your bank directly, using the number on your card or their official website — not the number the scammer used.

Until the next time: Keep Your Minds Open & Your Stories Alive. GW

Only On The Walters Post

These are my own thoughts from what I’ve seen and lived through. I’m sharing them to spark some thinking and honest conversation, not because I have all the answers.

Lately, we have seen a lot of statues toppled, monuments defaced, and books pulled from classrooms, all because some say they represent the wrong things. The latest act, vandalizing the National Holocaust Monument in downtown Ottawa with hateful graffiti, feels like another reminder of how some people want to erase or rewrite what once was. In saying that, though, I think it is only a select few causing this destruction.

The thing is yes, many of these statues or books remind us of times that were wrong, unfair, and harsh, but tearing them down or hiding them away does not fix the past. In fact, it risks losing the very lessons those things were meant to teach. Just like the books we remember from school, these monuments and statues stand as markers of history …. sometimes painful, sometimes uncomfortable, but always important.

Another point, I believe, is that our powers that be should also not be the ones deciding to erase these reminders. Instead, they should stand firm, ensuring these pieces of history stay where they belong in public view as reminders of what was and warnings for what must never be again.

We do not have to celebrate the wrongs of the past, but we do have to remember them.

Because forgetting history is the surest way to repeat it. That’s my take on the subject!

Until the next time: Keep Your Minds Open & Your Stories Alive. GW