Fraud alert. Trump’s “bribe.”  Bigger than the NFL?

A Fraud Warning!

The calls started coming fast. My phone was buried in texts, calls, and voicemails telling me that my American Express card had been compromised — charges popping up in Texas, then New Mexico, then California, as if I’d developed a sudden, reckless taste for cross-country shopping.

The caller who claimed to be from American Expressed asked me to confirm my last three purchases. That’s backwards, I told him — American Express confirms transactions with me, not the other way around. Oh, he said smoothly, this is a different system. Then came the real ask: my card number. I refused, pointing out that if this were legitimate, they’d already have it. No matter, he said — they needed it to reverse the disputed charge. Just give me the three numbers on the back of your card for confirmation. I said the three on the back? That’s weird because American Express always uses the four on the front.

Meanwhile, the calls kept coming, each one with an ID originating from a different state, each one escalating the pressure. Worn down, I made my worst mistake of the day: I agreed to a video call. The second it connected, it captured my face, and I hung up because I was then asked to identify my bank. I knew that my bank was irrelevant to my account. But then I woke up in the middle of the night picturing that my image floating around in some facial recognition database somewhere.

When I called the real American Express, they confirmed what I’d started to suspect: no fraud on the account, but they would cancel the card and send a new one anyway, just to be safe. My security software found no malware. And then, almost daring me, another one of these calls came in — supposedly from yet another state, but unmistakably the same voice as before. Conclusion: the scammers have upgraded to AI.

It brought to mind something my father said late in his life, after a wave of solicitations aimed squarely at his age: “Please tell me when I become a fool.” He never did become one. His son, on the other hand might just have.

Caveat Emptor!

Hack Warning! Trump’s “Bribe”

When Trump said he was going to give every adult $5,000 if republicans retained the House and Senate, I thought he was joking — the latest iteration of dropping money from helicopters. But apparently not the media, which seemed to give it serious consideration. Of course, they do have a 24/7 news cycle to fill. Still, a few things occurred to me:

1. He obviously meant to exclude undocumented immigrants and non citizens.
2. Why would he give the money to democrats too?
3. Why not do it now? Aren’t bribes usually offered ex ante, not ex post?

It turns out the Trump translators were compelled to act as though it were a serious proposal. JD Vance was asked by Fox’s Bret Baier how it was going to be paid for. When Baier accepted a serious-sounding but nonsensical answer. It was just another sign that Vance is a political hack. Vance said it would be paid for by the tariffs. I’ve gone over this again and again — it is impossible for the tariffs, even if ruled legal, to come anywhere close to the $1.3 trillion needed. Remember when Trump said he’d replace the income tax with tariff revenues, too?

Vance said Americans should share “this incredible wealth that we are creating.” That’s even more disqualifying — governments redistribute wealth, not create it. Another writer pointed out that Vance is anything but a “serious, thoughtful critic of the political and economic status quo.” True: he’s a hack.

Bigger Than the NFL!!!

Did you watch the “midterm” convention? Seems like precious few did, but don’t tell that to the MAGA (fake news) media. The ratings show that Fox News drew 2.5 million viewers during the speech. The Washington Examiner was giddy, saying “Fox News tops cable ratings during Trump’s opening-night midterm speech!” The problem is that Fox News always tops cable ratings in that time slot, and Trump’s speech actually drew fewer viewers than Fox’s regular programming — Gutfield! Fox would have gotten even higher ratings if it had stuck with its regular programming. CNN, MS NOW, ABC, CBS, and NBC did not carry the speech.

Here is the president, his usual bombastic self:

Beat the NFL’s opening day game? Want to bet? Even the low-key Seahawks–Titans preseason game this year drew 4.9 million viewers. Last year’s NFL opening game drew 28 million. He also boasted that thousands were outside and could not get in, despite the obvious sight of empty seats in the arena.

By the way, as to the “bribe”, the president also said he’ll give $500 rebate checks to about a million people enrolled in the Affordable Care Act, claiming they were overcharged by the Biden administration. And what happened to those $2,000 stimulus checks funded by tariff revenue and the $5,000 “DOGE dividend” checks?

Here’s the president, in his NFL pose from “Truth” Media: