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The Mad Hatter's Ball
I don't know about you, but I've had about enough of the spammers and scammers and hoodlums. I never cease to be amazed at what some people (and I use the word people loosely) will do in an attempt to separate someone from their money or possessions.
About two or three times a year I get an email informing me that I have been selected to help someone in Nigeria move a King's fortune out of the country, if only I will forward about $8,000 to the other party and be sure to keep all this information closely guarded. Then I will receive a substantial chunk of the funds in exchange for my assistance. The sad thing is that too often, some unsuspecting senior citizens will fall for this scheme and lose a goodly portion of their life's savings to these rogues.
Just about everyone in this industry is familiar with the "Fair Guide" scam as most of us have been solicited to advertise in this "International" Green Industry publication for Free. They claim affiliations with some very respected trade shows and nursery associations in the U.S (which happens to not be true ). It is presented as a No Lose situation because you will be getting international exposure and it doesn't cost anything. What they don't tell you is that this "free" advertising is then followed by a huge invoice (like $2,000.00) because they have cleverly hidden this information somewhere in the document where the reader would never find it. This one has been going on for years.
But equally as bad as these people are the people on our side of the fence who allow these rascals (this is a family publication, but you may use your imagination to replace that word) to get away with such activities.
One classic example that comes to mind is a sales scam that happened to us a few years ago. My wife, an artist, received an URGENT FAX one day, warning that her website domain was about to expire, and that she needed to PAY $200 IMMEDIATELY in order not to lose her domain!!
Unfortunately I was out of the office that morning, so being properly frightened when she received this fax and feeling the need to take care of this immediately, she grabbed the nearest credit card and called in the payment. A classic case of Murphy's Law.
When I returned and was informed about this incident, I asked to see the fax which had started the ruckus. I just could not believe it. The domain name that was about to "expire" was not even hers! In the obscure fine print, these weasels had attached a different suffix (which my wife did not notice in her panic), replacing her dot "net" domain with dot "USA". In effect, this deceptive information had coerced her to pay them for KEEPING a domain that she did not even own!! And please note that the premise for this urgent response was that her domain name was "expiring" which was literally impossible, since an Internet property can not expire if it does not even exist!!
Well, no harm done, I said. I will simply call Wachovia and explain to them the FRAUD that was perpetrated and have them credit the money back. Now this is where it gets really weird.
 When I spoke to the Wachovia people, I could not believe their response. They informed me that according to their guidelines defining fraud, "no fraud had taken place". Come again?? Did I really hear you say that?? The very premise that elicited the payment was a bald faced LIE and the criminals get a pass on that?? Lying doesn't matter???
According to Wachovia, THEIR definition of fraud is that it only takes place "when one pays for a product or a service and receives nothing in return". In this case, my wife received ownership of a domain name (that she was tricked into paying for) and that was the end of it according to the Big W (also known in some circles as Walk-Ova-You).
I vowed that I would dump this Wachovia account and leave them with a $200 balance to even the score (while of course creating a nice blemish on my credit report). But that plan never worked out as I was too busy trying to make an HONEST living. So before I could ever get around to carrying out my plan, Wachovia sold out to another company.
The point of the matter is that situations like this make me feel like like I'm at the Mad Hatter's Ball, and everyone else (but me) has drunk the Kool-Aid. First, I do not understand who these low lifes are, whose job is to go out every day and try to swindle people out of money. Do they wear a suit, do they carry a briefcase and commute to an office every day and drive in the HOV Lane or sit on the subway with the honest people? Do they kiss their spouses goodbye and come home in the evening, pick up the dry cleaning, and go to PTA meetings? I mean what rock did these slime balls crawl out from under??? And how do they look themselves in the mirror every day?
And how about the Wachovias of the world. Is it required to be a total robot or drone in order to work there? Does anyone there have a brain or heart or feelings? How can they tell me that LYING in order to falsely provoke someone to send an urgent payment isn't fraud and somehow not be embarrassed to hear this ridiculous statement come out of their own mouths? Have these people just turned into an extension of a computer or a software program with a pulse? Can they not somehow reason for themselves?
Folks, this is scary stuff. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case; I run into more and more of it all the time. And frankly, I don't know what the answer is, but I promise you one thing: I refuse to be seated at The Mad Hatter's Ball and I sure as Hell ain't drinking the Kool-Aid.
Lord, please gimmee shelter!
Selah.
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