Sunday 27 September 2015

It's everywhere

Good morning. I am sitting here sewing and my mind wanders, as it does. Thinking about what's going on, things that's happening in the world, things that I read about and listen to on the radio. Reading my free copies of the Times is expanding my repertoire of bigger words, and making me think of topics which I might not have been interested in a few years ago. I am not a crafter of words, they usually come from incessant bashing of the keyboard, rather than digging deep into the maze of grey matter within my skull. A thesaurus and dictionary on my desk lend a hand to re arranging a sentence or paragraph into something aesthetically pleasing to read.

Sometimes a word comes into my head which I fall in love with, just saying it out loud in different tones and pitches can give it a life all of it's own. It can then be adapted to many different meanings and circumstances. The word I have in my head at the moment is skullduggery. Go on, say it, it's great isn't it, skullduggery.

It's a word that we should all keep at the forefront of our mind, for there is a lot of skullduggery going on in the world today in all walks of life. The Free Dictionary also offers similar words which are fun, but with an underlying serious message. Hanky panky, hocus-pocus, jiggery pokery, and trickery. Great words. At first glance they seem harmless and fun, like juggling things about for entertainment, such as magic tricks and illusions. Setting someone up for a practical joke seems harmless enough but you have to be careful that the recipient does not take offence at being made to look silly. It's down to knowing their personality and whether they can take a joke.

At the other end of the scale, mass skullduggery can have disasterous consequences, especially for people who are duped by intricate lies and deceit. This is the dark side of skullduggery and it can rear it's ugly head when you are least expecting it. Pulling the wool over someone's eyes may seem like a harmless bit of fun, but one lie can escalate and change the fabric of humanity. I'm thinking big here, the press, especially on the internet, TV, and radio, have the biggest influence on shaping how people behave, yet look at how much skullduggery goes on there. Years ago before the internet, people had only a limited knowledge of what was happening on the other side of the world, now everyone knows every detail, warts and all. That would be fine if everything that was printed, filmed, photographed, or written about, was true, but it isn't. It's up to every consumer to weed out the lies, the skullduggery.

Why am I writing on this topic? Because I want every one of you to protect yourselves from being taken for a mug. Don't be the person who falls for a random stranger on holiday, shells out shed loads of money to get the toyboy/girl a visa allowing him/her to set up home with you. Nine times out of ten, they will bugger off when all the paperwork has gone through.

Don't be the person who hands over their bank details on the phone to someone who has rung you on the off chance that you might be the one daft enough to transfer the whole of your savings into a bogus account, and set them up for life. There are some elaborate scams both on the phone, and web sites, don't believe a bluddy word of it, scam scam scam. Big skullduggery going on there. Best put the phone down on a genuine call than be worrying yourself sick when your bank or credit card statement comes through with huge discrepancies on it. If you need to contact your bank, go into the branch, any branch, or get their genuine phone number from them. Do not ring any other number.

Don't be the one to agree to a loan, buy a car on finance, take on any form of borrowings, without reading the very small print. They want to trick you into agreeing terms that are beneficial to them, and detrimental to your own financial situation. In short, avoid borrowing money at all if you can.

I could go on, but the gist of it is, question everything you read, everything you are told, and everything you see. Skullduggery is everywhere. Have you been taken in, do you take everything at face value, has someone turned out not to be who they say they are? Now you have this knowledge put it into practice and protect yourself.

Have a peaceful and stress free Sunday.
Toodle pip.
PS, I had an enjoyable day yesterday, visiting uncle and aunt, and sister.

14 comments:

  1. How true and also don't give any of your details to a charity as I foolishly did when making a donation and now I am getting unsolicited appeals from other charities - of course they just go in the bin but it's annoying especially as I said I didn't want my details passed on. Maybe it is just coincidence but....

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  2. Glad you had a good visit to your family yesterday. My current favourite word is "idiosyncratic". I like to use quite often, mostly when I say "no, of course I am not bonkers, I just have a very idiosyncratic point of view"!!

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    1. That's a great word, sounds good as well. I just had to look it up. Personal peculiarity of mind, habit, or behaviour. Sounds a bit like me, ha ha.

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  3. The Times used to be an excellent newspaper and every so often I would buy the printed version here in the U.S. But I make it a point to stay away from anything Murdoch owns and sadly that now includes the Times.

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  4. Absolutely on point. Great post. We have had numerous articles in the news about scams often focused on the elderly.

    It pays great dividends to be skeptical of all media propaganda. If something is so great, why do they need to pay millions to advertise? The question I ask myself all the time. Note all the words they use also. "Natural" is a big one and totally meaningless. Ana usa

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  5. Well said Ilona, they're all out to get us, they just want our money. We got a card from the Post Office this week, saying they couldn't deliver some mail because it was short on postage, so we need to go and pay first before we get our letter. Hmm, last time this happened the other half went to the Post Office and paid, only to find it was junk mail! We're not expecting anything right now, so I think we're going to leave it at the post office, if you don't claim within 18 days they return it to the sender.As for all the other scams, we don't do them. Don't buy anything from anyone at the door either, if I want anything I'll go out and get it myself.

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    1. When you go to our sorting office to pick up the underpaid mail you are allowed to see what it is first. Then you can decide whether to pay or leave it.

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    2. I seem to remember that happening to me once, Jenny. It was a complimentary calendar, I accepted it because it had pictures of trucks on it.

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  6. Courier fraud is the one that's been going on for a couple of years. Let me tell you, these people are really really good at what they do. In short they ring your home phone, usually an elderly person and they know their first and last name. (Lots of older people are in the phone book) they pretend to be a police officer or your bank and tell you they have arrested a person who has cloned your card. Eventually they you to ring your bank which you do but they stay on the line and then answer the phone to you as your bank. They get your PIN number and finally say you must seal your cards in an envelope which they will send a courier to collect, usually an innocent cab driver. Then then spend your money.
    It sounds so simple but I can tell you thousands of people have fallen for it.
    Please pass on to any elderly neighbours or relatives. Thank you.

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    1. Thank you for that, FIB. We do need to keep passing information like this one, even if it saves just one person from being ripped off.

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  7. This was a timely post! Recently, i had a conversation with The Mr. about words. I was telling him that i liked the sound of ponder.
    As to someone stealing your information/life; My daughter had hers stolen from her locked mailbox from a gated community. She discovered the problem when she got to the mail first and found a new credit card that she had not ordered. (Her name can be male or female) The man who stole the information ended up in jail on unrelated charges. She had to do all the leg work to get things straightened out; the bank did nothing to help. It took months!
    So, great advice! Be diligent! (Another great word!)

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    1. What a terrible experience your daughter had. Diligent indeed, and question question question everything you don't understand.

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  8. My 99 yr old dad met a conwoman earlier this year. The police were very interested and gave lots of help. Natalie

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  9. Hi.Skullduggery is prevalent in all forms of life today,sadly.It takes place in many conniving, cruel,unscrupulous and unethical forms.Thank you for reminding us to be aware to the reality of it.Interesting read,Ilona.Bye for now,D.

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