Beware of internet phishing

Just when you think you know everything, someone finds a way of knocking that superior smirk off your face.

I have worn that smirk a time or two, but often, in the back of my mind I know karma is getting ready to roll down hill.

Here at the Rome News-Tribune, we hear plenty of stories about internet scammers. Sometimes people call to tell us what happened to them. Sometimes the police call us and urge us to do a story to protect local residents.

Of course, just like you, I get the emails, too.

Earlier this week on Facebook, a phishing attempt masquerading as a coupon offer was making the rounds.

If you don’t know what phishing is, I will quote Microsoft:

“Phishing email messages, websites and phone calls are designed to steal money. Cybercriminals can do this by installing malicious software on your computer or stealing personal information off of your computer.

“Cybercriminals also use social engineering to convince you to install malicious software or hand over your personal information under false pretenses. They might email you, call you on the phone, or convince you to download something off of a website.” MIKE COLOMBO

Allegedly, a home-improvement warehouse company was giving out free $50 coupons last Monday. According to the Facebook post all you had to do was “like it” and then give them some brief information, including your email address.

So I admit it. I should have known this wasn’t real. I did “like it” on my Facebook page. I noticed other Facebook friends did, too.

Luckily, when it started asking for personal information, the warning light flashed in my brain, the warning light that should have gone off before I even liked determining custody issues and to streamline international adoption procedures.

In late February, Reeves’ bill passed out of the state House of Representatives unanimously and then was sent to the state Senate.

At the request of the Senate Judiciary Committee, changes to the bill were made and agreed upon and everything seemed in order to pass the bill out of the full committee, through the Senate and then onto the governor’s desk for his signature.

That is when the stink of petty politics began to permeate the place. As the Senate Judiciary Committee was getting set to consider Reeves’ bill, Sen. William Ligon, R-Brunswick, informed Reeves he had tacked on an amendment to the bill that would allow mission-based adoption agencies not to have to place children with same-sex parents. Suddenly, bipartisanship became politically toxic.

Let me stop at this point to say that if this matter was that important to Ligon and his colleagues, they had had all session to introduce a separate bill to deal with that issue. He didn’t. He chose to hijack Bert Reeves’ bill.

By springing his amendment on Rep. Reeves a couple of hours before the hearing, he disrespected the bill’s author by not giving Reeves ample time to discuss the proposed amendment. The Marietta Daily Journal called it a “cowardly act.” I call it unprofessional and unbecoming a principled legislator who should know better.

Again, you don’t like the idea of samesex couples adopting children? Great. Then pass a law to that effect. There’s no law against that. You had all session to do so. Don’t stick a last-minute amendment into a bill that would have helped streamline an outdated process and made it easier Staff graphic

Of the readers who responded to our most recent poll about coyotes, 66 percent said Yes, coyotes are enough of a nuisance to warrant a special effort to reduce the population; 28 percent voted No; and 6 percent responded No opinion. Poll results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate. it. I stopped short of giving them what they were really looking for. All I could think of was Bugs Bunny’s caustic quote: “What a maroon.” Although they have slowed down a bit, I have received the emails from my distant relative in Kenya who either won the lottery or earned an inheritance from our unknown great-uncle. I never fell for those and for the most part don’t understand who does. Don’t you KNOW if you have a cousin named Imbegweege Malawaki? Did your long lost uncle with a great fortune ever dangle you on his knee? Those who end up giving their bank account number or Social Security number or email address in those situations are either sadly confused or extremely greedy. Years ago I nearly fell for something a little more serious. When my older kids were first in college I had to fill out federal aid forms. It can be done online at https://fafsa.gov. And word to the wise, FAFSA stands for FREE application for federal student aid. One year I Googled FAFSA and went to the site and started filling out the application. It asks for nearly EVERYTHING personal you can think of. When I had nearly completed the process, it asked me to pay a fee. That’s when I knew I made a mistake, because remember it is FREE application for federal student aid. I was NOT On fafsa.gov. I was on fafsa.net or fafsa.com or in some other spider web. Luckily, I did not submit any of the information, but the lesson learned here is to KNOW what website you are visiting. So, remember that guy from Kenya isn’t your cousin; the Orange Despot is NOT giving out free $50 coupons and no, you can’t win a free iPad just by clicking “share.” to find homes for a group of kids that don’t deserve to be caught in the middle of this kind of political gamesmanship.

Gov. Deal opposed the effort to amend the legislation, as did DFACS Executive Director Bobby Cagle.

House Speaker David Ralston urged the Senate to pass Reeves’ bill. But as time dwindled down to the wee moments before adjournment, Senate President Pro Tempore David Shafer, who is making noises about running for lieutenant governor, threatened to have Rep. Reeves thrown off the Senate floor for trying to encourage senators to pass his bill. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who is obviously running for governor, seems to have taken a pass on the whole matter. As the session ended, the Senate “recommitted” the bill for more study, effectively killing two years of hard work by Rep. Reeves.

How did a good-faith effort to update Georgia’s adoption laws turn into such a rancid piece of sausage? It’s the politics, stupid. This wasn’t about Georgia’s foster children. It was about ambitious politicians getting themselves positioned to run for statewide office next year and trying hard not to offend their right-wing base or the business community who sit on different sides of the same-sex-anything argument. Georgia’s foster children were merely pawns.

Do me a favor: The first politician who comes to you seeking your vote for statewide office and tells you it is all about the future of our children — throw up on their shoes and tell them it was the sausage that made you do it. 6,524 views 3,799 views 3,703 views 3,476 views 3,090 views 2,988 views 2,597 views 2,261 views 1,914 views 1,881 views

When my children were younger, in this very space, I detailed how I attempted to teach them how to tell time.

I failed — miserably. Thank God for teachers.

My children are older now. They know how to tell time. Other things, they don’t know.

“Daddy, turn it to 101.9, please,” my youngest son requested from the back seat on our way out of town recently.

The kids’ favorite Top 40 Pop station at home is 101.9.

“Son, we’re about 90 miles from home now,” I explained. “I doubt we can pick it up.” Half a minute later — “Huh?” I turned to 101.9. Nothing but static.

“See, you can’t hear it,” I said, peering into the rearview mirror to see if he recognized my attempt. He didn’t.

An hour later, I was listening to the cool song stylings of Steely Dan.

“Daddy, can you turn 101.9, please?”

I turned down “Deacon Blues” to deliver the news.

“Son, we’re 150 miles from home. We can’t pick up that station,” I said.

Fifteen seconds “Huh?”

“Let me explain something,” I began. “Radio stations have frequencies that travel a certain distance. Once you go past that distance, you can’t pick those stations up any longer, unless you have satellite radio or something?”

“Why don’t we have satellite radio, then?” my daughter asked. “Because I’m old. And poor,” I retorted.

I peered into the mirror to see if my son was listening to my explanation, and understood the concept of radio frequencies. He was asleep. Thirty minutes later, my other son started getting chatty. This interrupted my enjoyment of the cool song stylings of the Beastie Boys.

“Hey, Dad, can you turn it to 101.9?” he inquired.

“Weren’t you listening to me earlier? You can’t pick up 101.9 here...” Before I could finish my explanation, or listen to the stirring ending of “Body Movin,’” he had moved the radio dial to 101.9 — from the backseat. How? I don’t know.

“What do you mean? It’s on 101.9 now,” he said, tuning in to Freddie Fender’s “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights.” I took another stab at a teaching moment.

“No, son, see, this isn’t the 101.9 you are used to hearing. It’s another station that is using that frequency. As I explained earlier, radio stations have frequencies that travel a certain distance. Once you go past that ...”

The confusion had already set in as he interrupted me with “Huh?”

My wife touched my arm. “Kids, we’re almost there!,” she said excitedly, saving herself from witnessing failure once more.

Again, thank God for teachers.

They do teach about radio technology in seventh grade, don’t they? it to later —