Scams – some light relief

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This month we will look at two of the strangest scams of 2021
It’s been a turbulent year in the pandemic, with the recent rise of the Omicron variant turning the tide of earlier optimism into one of concern about our Christmas and New Year festive plans. Even as we were enjoying the relative freedoms of summer – with some people even jetting off on holiday – fraudsters didn’t take a single day off.

But for every sophisticated scheme spun by scammers, there are the more preposterous attempts which are capable of raising a smile – even in these worrying times. Read on to see some of the strangest enticements, from caves stuffed with ‘gold and crystals’ to random windfalls from Hollywood actors.

1. How about this for an optimistic Spam email
This is a creative variation of the classic ‘Nigerian Prince’ scam which promises fabulous riches, if only you stump up a small fee to ‘release’ your windfall. It’s the ‘let me know if you are interested’ that really makes it.

2. The 007 impostor

Can someone please forward this to Daniel Craig. I thought he should see , someone is running a scam with his name

It looks like Daniel Craig has found his post-Bond calling as the unlikely star of this ludicrous scam attempt. As with the Iraqi cave of gold above, this is likely another ‘advance fee’ fraud, which aims to con you out of an upfront payment and probably your personal details too. In this case, the fraudsters are employing the common trick of using a celebrity’s reputation to seem more credible – though arguably it has the opposite effect here.

Let’s keep vigilant in 2022 and remember: Never share your personal details with anyone if you can’t confirm they are who they say they are.

David Rose

Pub Quiz

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Our second Pub Quiz in two years was on December 13th, 2021 and had a distinctive Christmas theme when, once again, 26 of us met at the newly refurbished Nabb Inn.

Sadly, due to the current Covid situation we feel it is better to postpone our Pub Quiz visit for at least January. So please check your diaries and cancel this event for 10th January. But please give our January Quiz a try; answers next month.

Here are the answers to the December quiz.
1.Which form of clean ‘transport’ do Norwegians hide away somewhere in the house on Christmas – Brooms (in order to keep the witches away)
2.Who wrote each of the following words?
a. “It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge” Charles Dickens
b. “Maybe Christmas” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store” Dr. Seus
3.What kind of animal delivers gifts at Christmas in Syria? Camel (one of the wise men’s camels)
4.On which three feast ‘days’ do Americans consume the most food? Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day and Superbowl Sunday
5.Plus or minus one year, when did Queen Elizebeth II deliver her first ‘televised Christmas message to the nation’? 1957
6.In which European country do malicious creatures called Kallikantzaroi get up to mischief around Christmas? Greece
7.Which percentage of Americans don’t celebrate Christmas at all? a. circa 4 %
8.Who composed the music for the festive season ballet ‘The Nutcracker’? Tchaikovsky
9.Plus or minus one year, how long does it take a Scotch Pine Christmas tree to reach a typical retail height of 6 to 7 feet? 7 years
10.Which two figures deliver gifts in Russia during the festive season? Little snowflake (Snegurochka) and Grandfather Frost (Dedushka Moroz).

And here’s your January Quiz: we did use this quiz at The Nabb Inn on 13th December so apologies to those who have seen it before.

1. According to an old wives’ tale, bread baked on which day will never go mouldy?
2. Which beloved, quiet little man passed away on Christmas Day 1977?
3. In which European country does a kindly witch named La Befana deliver children’s Christmas presents?
4. What are the first 2 lines of the Christmas song ‘Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow’?
5. In an old nursery rhyme, who “sat in the corner eating his Christmas pie”?
6. Which former Hollywood child star once said “I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked me for my autograph.”
7. What kind of ‘bread’ is traditional at German Christmas markets?
8. Which chart-topping Christmas song from Bony M was originally recorded by Harry Belafonte in 1956?
9. The communist dictatorship of which European country came to a bloody end on Christmas Day 1989?
10. Which critically acclaimed film about King Henry II takes place over the Christmas holidays in the year 1183?
11. The name Santa Claus evolved from Sinter Klass, a nickname for Saint Nicholas. What language is Sinter Klaas?
12. Plus or minus 3 years, in which year did Barbie first appear under the Christmas tree?
13. What did Harry Potter get as a Christmas present during his first semester at Hogwarts?
14. Where does the Danish version of Santa Claus live throughout the year?
15. Which US ‘First Lady’ wrote the book ‘Christmas 1940’?
16. In which country is Santa Claus known as ‘Julemanden’? a. Denmark b. Austria c. Poland d. Germany
17. The name of which toy, popular since Christmas 1929, translated means “come-come” or “come-back”?
18. The words “God and sinners reconciled” are from which Christmas carol?
19. The name for which traditional festive season accessory is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words for “dung on a twig”?
20. Which mind boggling and very frustrating device, named after its inventor, was one of the best-selling Christmas gifts of 1980?
21. US President and staunch conservationist Theodore Roosevelt banned what in the White House?
22. Which electronic device in an egg-shaped container was the best-selling Christmas toy for children and adults alike in the year 1997?
23. Although she was secretly expecting a necklace, what does the disappointed wife played by Emma Thompson in the film ‘Love Actually’ get from her husband for Christmas?
24. Which Christmas carol was sung by soldiers on both sides of the trenches during the Christmas Eve ceasefire of 1914?

Science Group

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Our meeting this month is on January 21st, 2022. Provisionally this will be upstairs in the Portland Room at the John Godber Centre from 10.00 am to 11.45 am

I have a presentation about extreme weather and tornados plus Terry Hill will be sharing some background about two important but relatively little known scientists.

David Rose

Reading Group

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For November we read “The Child” by Fiona Burton, which was the librarian’s choice. We all enjoyed this story which had a twist at the end.

We are planning our 2022 programme and we like to have a different genre of book each month; so once again I would be pleased to hear of any which you might like to recommend. The Library organised our December book which was a futuristic one; “How to Stop Time” is about Tom Hazard who looks like your average forty-something but actually has a rare condition that makes him age slower than the average human. So, he’s around four hundred years old!

We have decided not to hold a January Reading Group session but will share on line our comments on books we have read. In February we will be discussing “any book you read at school/college etc” which gives scope for a wide variety of books.

Weekenders

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The Weekenders January Newsletter will be sent out on 1st January. Once again, many thanks to Margaret Whilde & Lindsay Smith for printing off copies for those members not on email and for delivering them on their morning walks.

We had a Broomhill Birthday lunch for Ruth Houldsworth on the 10th December, which was also our Christmas lunch. Again, an excellent lunch but a bit on the large side!

Eight of us also met up for Coffee Club Lunch on 18th December at the Nabb Inn.

Please note I have cancelled all Weekender events for the month of January. Hopefully we hope the increased Covid activity will soon be eased so that we can meet more socially “in house”. Meanwhile let us hope the new year will bring us better news.