Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Fraud Alert

 

Yesterday, we got home from a day out in the boat and intended to relax on the patio and enjoy a little happy hour.

I brought out my laptop, my cocktail and proceeded to enjoy my evening but I was immediately stopped in my tracks with an email from out bank stating was suspicious activity on our account.

After looking at the email from Bank of America, I noticed a link that would allow me to sign on to our account.   I was suspicious and felt certain the email was a scam, but clicked on the link anyway. (probably shouldn’t have)  I never intended to give my password information to try to log onto our bank accounts.

A few days prior to this Rick did a post about the Heartbleed bug.  You can read it HERE.

Rick suggested if you used Google Chrome (which I do, thanks to Rick’s recommendation) you should get their extension to tell you if the Heartbleed bug was on any programs you were using.

As soon as I clicked on the link from the email supposedly from the bank, I got the notification warning me of the Heartbleed bug on the site I was on.

At this point, I noticed another dead give-away in a misspelled word in the email.  Another clue. 

I called the bank to make sure nothing was wrong on our accounts and was assured everything was fine.  They asked that I forward the fake email to them, which I did.

So…..thanks Rick!   I had figured out already that I had an issue, but the warning from Chrome sealed the deal, that and the misspelled word.

 

I mentioned that Al had another mishap yesterday.   He is okay, but is a bit sore.

We had gone out boating and were loading the boat onto the trailer at the marina.  He backed the trailer into the water and waded out to guide the boat on the trailer.

As he was walking towards the trailer, he slipped on some slimy algae covered concrete. He fell hard, landing on his butt, and  breaking the fall with his elbow.  He is sore all over today, but it doesn’t appear anything is broken.  Poor Al.

That was the third event from our day of boating.

The first one was after we were out a few miles in the Kemp channel, heading to the back country to do some fishing.

I went to get my camera to take a picture of a dolphin and realized the “blue bag” was missing.   Uh oh.  It had my camera, his wallet (fishing license) and phones.  

When Al carried the blue bag out from the motor home, he put it in the back seat of the truck, where it was easily forgotten.  I thought he had put it in the boat and only realized it was missing when I went to get my camera.

So, our choice was to stay out with no phone  or fishing license or go back to shore?  Although we do have a marine radio, I kind of like having a phone along for emergencies.   So, we decided to head back in to pick up the bag. 

When we got back to the dock, we decided to pull up to the gas pumps and top off our tank.

The truck had just come that morning and filled up the fuel tanks, so we were expecting a price increase, but the sign still said $4.93 a gallon.

After we topped off the tank, Al went inside to pay, and the park manager came by.  He asked if we had gotten our fuel yet, because he was getting ready to change the price of the gas, but wanted to wait for us to get our gas at the lower price.  I watched as he changed the numbers.

Here is the NEW fuel price for the non-ethanol marine fuel.

Yikes!   We got a deal at only $4.93.

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Regular gasoline is $3.79 a gallon, but it’s worth it for the sake of the new motor to pay the difference for the non-ethanol fuel.   Good thing our new motor is more fuel efficient than the old one!

Al thinks he is off the hook for the missing blue bag, since it allowed us to get gas for the pre-increase prices.  I’m wondering how much we really saved by having to go back in those few miles.  :)

The next issue was someone forgot to secure the lid on the 5 gallon bucket we keep in the boat and it was missing.   I won’t say who that person was, but it may be enough to say it was the third “oops” of the day for that person.   :)

We finally got back out on the water for some fishing. We got on a good spot and were seeing fish on the fish finder.  Al caught a small grouper, but as we sat there, we noticed the seas were building a little. It wasn’t much fun rocking and rolling while trying to fish or read, so we decided to go back closer to shore where it was calmer.  It was definitely calmer, but the fish were not there.  Al did a little snorkeling, but only saw a barracuda and another small grouper.  The water temperature was 83 degrees though, so he was happy.

 

After we came home, we decided to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful full moon.  It peaks through the palm trees in just the perfect spot.  It comes up over the Atlantic.

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We waited for it to get dark and then went over to the hot tub.

The pool and the hot tub are right near the water, overlooking the Atlantic.  It’s the perfect place for them.

Here is a photo of the hot tub enclosure.  This was taken during daylight, but you can see the lattice for privacy and the open top.  You get a wonderful sea breeze and if the moon is in the right place, you can see the moon over your head.  It’s wonderful.

 

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When we got to the hot tub, it was occupied with 4 very noisy people having a really good time.  We decided not to ruin their party, so we went for a swim in the pool while we were waiting for them to leave.  The pool was nicely heated and it felt wonderful, even for me.  I like very warm water and have absolutely no objection to pool water temps of 90 degrees!

When we got out of the hot tub, we noticed the bright full moon over looking the ocean and right behind a palm tree.  It would have been a beautiful photo, so we went home for the camera.  By the time we got back, the moon was much higher in the sky and the picture wasn’t quite as spectacular.

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It was one of those special moments that I try to put down in my memory so that I can later recall the beauty and the feeling I get when I see such beauty.

We stood there for a long time enjoying the moon over the Atlantic.

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Sorry for so many repeat pictures, but I cannot choose between them all.

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It was a special night.  We’re hoping to re-live it again tonight.  Time to go to the hot tub.

11 comments:

  1. First of all, so glad Al is okay! In the big scheme of things, these mishaps qualify for the "don't sweat the small stuff" category. Now, watching the full moon from the hot tub, to me, is much more significant. Glad you took lots of shots to capture the magic.

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  2. Tell Al I'll send him sympathy. Looks like his first two oops got repaid in that last one. I had the same scam thing. The email to me came to an address I seldom use which was the first clue and said that it appeared someone was trying to compromise my account. RIGHT!
    Phishing. Glad you didn't get caught. That moon and hot tub sound like a perfect combination.

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  3. I was thinking about a boat with twin 250 engines, but with those prices, I will think some more:(

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    1. Our single 90 hp engine does just fine on our small boat. Twin 250's would cost a fortune to run!

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  4. So glad to hear that Al is okay even though he is sore. Beautiful pictures of the moon. Enjoy your hot tub.

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  5. Been there and done that with slipping on the boat ramp- ouch.

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  6. The moon was really beautiful that night. You guys have a nice place to enjoy it at the same time :)

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  7. Thanks for passing on the alert on the virus. Glad you had no issue there. Ouch! - hate those mishaps and glad is ok after slipping on the algae. As always lovely photos of the moon!

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  8. Good instincts on that banking email. Unless you are absolutely certain it's legit the best advice is to delete it. Glad to hear the Heartbleed warning worked as advertised too. I've had it pop-up twice for me in the last week.

    I have a big, black and purple bruise from my slip last week so I can sympathize with Al. It seems I've had more slips in the past year or so than the past 50! Could that be age or just carelessness? In my case, a bit of both I suspect.

    Beautiful shots of the moon and Palm trees.

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  9. With those gas prices, I think I'll stick to rowing. Diesel fuel is bad enough...

    Good thinking not using gas with ethanol. Ethanol is creating a business bonanza for repair shops. :c(

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