New scam to be on guard for - Page 5

Lipstickdiva · ‎03-10-2010

I had a relative who had a drug issue when he was in high school. He was over a friend's house, used the bathroom and found meds in a cabinet and took them.

This was 50 years ago.

corita · ‎08-20-2012

@ID2 wrote:
I probably would let a worker use my bathroom but my house has a half bath on the main floor and 2 other bathrooms upstairs. My half bath just has a toilet and sink so getting into medications won't happen.
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I had a cable guy ask to use the bathroom. I said 'yes'; he used the guest bath. But I later wondered about rules. I mentioned it to another cable person and she came unglued. She told me that their service people are trained to never ever ask to use the bathroom!!
I have had service people leave the house and tell me that they need to go buy a part. I always thought they probably were taking a bathroom break.....

Financialgrl · ‎03-13-2010

I lived in a rural area and I never opened the door - looked through the viewfinder and if it was someone I didn't know didn't open it up. Had they seen me inside I'd open a window, ask what they want and always turn them away. Needing to use a bathroom in rural areas - what do you suppose these same guys do when they spend hours on end out in the woods during hunting season and have to go to the bathroom??

PinkSunset · ‎09-01-2016

I trust NO ONE that I don't know. I don't answer phone calls from numbers I don't know, don't answer the door, and sadly won't stop to help someone who looks in distress. That one really saddens me as to how low we've become as a society because of all the scams, criminal activity and such.

Many, many years ago I was driving home at night from a late night job. My car stalled out on the freeway and wouldn't start back up. No cell phones back then, no pay phones on the freeway. I sat in my crying and a car stopped, A gentleman got out, tried to look at the engine in the dark and offered to give me a lift as he was going that way. I took the ride and he dropped me off at home. Said he did it because his own daughter might be in that situation and he'd be glad she got home safely. I was 20 years old. It was a different world back then where people stopped to help strangers. Not now. Not ever.

I, myself, stopped by a bus stop once when I saw a young mother with a small child and another in a stroller and a bag of groceries It was winter, snowing, and they looked like they were all freezing. the little one was crying. I stopped and asked her if she wanted a lift and she said yes. When she got in, she started crying and said they'd been waiting for the bus for 15 minutes and she wrapped her scarf around the little one's face so she was freezing herself. I wish we could all feel safe doing thse acts of kindness today but you just can't. In today's world, she could have pulled a gun on me and stolen my car. You just never know anymore.

And yes, even 45 years ago there might have been scammers and such but acts of kindness towards strangers was much more the norm than people out to scam or hurt someone.

Anyone who would let in a stranger today is very, very naive to say it kindly.

LilacTree · ‎03-25-2012

@Tinkrbl44 wrote:
@depglass wrote:
I live in a rural area with many small towns. A woman in a class I take was telling us this story about her neighbor. She let some guy in to use her bahroom, a complete stranger. Later that day she noticed some of her prescription medications were missing from the medine cabinet, painkillers, no doubt. First of all, I can't imagine letting a stranger into my house, much less letting them use the bathroom. And second, you shouldn't leave meds in the bathroom anyway because of the moisture.
@depglass

There are two distinct points here, from my POV ...

First, letting in a stranger .... this isn't a "new scam" ... it's the oldest trick in the book!

Secondly, do people really still leave important medications in the bathroom? If so, WHY? They can be weakened by bathroom moisture, spill down the sink, be stolen by who knows who. People tend to snoop in medicine cabinets, so I wouldn't leave anything important or personal in them.

I keep my meds in a little box in my bedroom .... never in the bathroom! JMO

@Tinkrbl44

I have one of those wall medicine cabinets with a mirror on the front of it in the bathroom. Inside I keep a package of new sponges and a small bottle of Tea Tree Oil (because it stinks and stains).

I keep my meds in a plastic bag in the back zipper pocket of my handbag, which I keep under my bed.

I keep OTC meds (Aleve, Zantac) and hand creams, water bottle, etc. on my night table next to my bed.

I also have a basket on my bed where I keep personal items (cotton swabs, bandages, facial wipes, and other assorted stuff, like chocolate sometimes).

I have two other baskets in my room, one on my computer desk where I keep computer stuff, and one on the cabinet beneath my windows where I keep my printer. That basket contains makeup, hair dryer, body lotions . . . and a lot of junk.

In short, everything is in my bedroom.

AND, I would never let a stranger into my house!! One time a guy who lived a few doors down from me (in another neighborhood) told me he lost his keys and could he come in and make a phone call. I asked for the number he wanted to call and what to tell them. He stayed outside while I made the phone call.

I may be old, but I don't trust anyone.

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986

LilacTree · ‎03-25-2012

A good place to hide stuff if you have to keep it in your bathroom, is inside your sanitary napkin package. Your husband won't even look there!

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986

Financialgrl · ‎03-13-2010

@StylishLady wrote:
Never thought about a worker asking to use the bathroom. Maybe we should have locks on our medicine cabinets.
As for letting a stranger in, I've seen a TV crime show that had a young man pretending to need water or something for his diabetes. He was "scouting" for a victim to murder. That's scary.

If someone I've asked into my home (family, friend, workers) asks to use the bathroom, that's what a "guest bathroom" is for and in my home that has no medicine cabinet, no drawers, and the vanity only has open space under the sink for toilet paper and cleaning supplies. There is absolutely no reason someone has to go into the master bathroom.

silkyk · ‎03-03-2011

@LilacTree wrote:
A good place to hide stuff if you have to keep it in your bathroom, is inside your sanitary napkin package. Your husband won't even look there!

This is a great book on hiding "stuff".

Image result for book how to hide anything

missy1 · ‎03-10-2010

If you knew workers were coming to your home to fix something, they may possibly need to use the bathroom. One should not keep rx in a easily accessible location. I don't put my rx/etc. in the bathroom anyways (guests etc.). This was not the case with op's friends neighbor. She shouldn't have let a stranger in her home. This was not a scam. If it was a rural community, he could have just went to the bathroom in the woods.

Financialgrl · ‎03-13-2010

@missy1 wrote:
If you knew workers were coming to your home to fix something, they may possibly need to use the bathroom. One should not keep rx in a easily accessible location. I don't put my rx/etc. in the bathroom anyways (guests etc.). This was not the case with op's friends neighbor. She shouldn't have let a stranger in her home. This was not a scam. If it was a rural community, he could have just went to the bathroom in the woods.

Yep, bc as I said, these same guys who "urgently need to use your bathroom" spend all day out in the woods hunting and you know they don't drive into town to try to find a bathroom!